ADJECTIVES ENGLISH VOCABULARY IN USE PRE INTERMEDIATE

 

ENGLISH VOCABULARY IN USE PRE INTERMEDIATE UNIT 89 ADJECTIVES

 

A Extreme adjectives There are many ‘extreme’ adjectives we use to say that something is very good, or very small, or very surprising, etc. We were lucky – the weather was marvellous [very good; syns terrific, wonderful, amazing]. Don’t go and see that film – it’s awful [very bad; syn dreadful]. I was delighted she passed her exam. [very pleased] It’s a nice modern flat, but it’s absolutely tiny [very small].   I wasn’t very hungry, but they gave us a huge meal. [very big; syn enormous] You should watch that programme; you’ll find it absolutely fascinating [very interesting]. Everyone was really exhausted by the end of the day. [very tired] Bungee jumping is the most terrifying thing I’ve ever done. [very frightening] Computers are an essential part of modern life. [very important and necessary] The food was delicious [very good; but usually only for food]. Language help   The food was absolutely marvellous. (NOT The food was very marvellous.) We can use absolutely or really before extreme adjectives, e.g. absolutely awful, really terrific, but we can’t use very. We use very or really with gradable adjectives which do not have an extreme meaning, e.g. very big, very good, very nice, very tired, really good, really tired, etc. (NOT absolutely big) B Adjectives ending in -ing and -ed A large group of adjectives can have an -ing or -ed ending. The -ing ending describes a person, thing or situation; the -ed ending describes the effect on someone of this person, thing or situation. I don’t know if other people were bored, but I thought it was a very boring lesson. The weather is so depressing at the moment; it’s making everyone feel depressed. Common mistakes   I was bored by that film. (NOT I was boring by that film.) We’re very interested in the new designs. (NOT We’re very interesting in the new designs.) These adjectives can all end in -ing or -ed, depending on the meaning. It was really tiring going up that hill. [making you feel tired] I was amazed she could climb that wall. [very surprised] My exam results were very disappointing [not as good as I expected]. She was annoyed that I forgot to tell her. [angry] I kept calling her Emma, so I was embarrassed when Ben told me her name was Angela. [feeling a bit stupid because of something you have said or done] The map he gave us was very confusing [difficult to understand]. We were shocked by the violence in the film. [very surprised in an unpleasant way] EXERCISES 89.1 Put the words into the correct column. bad dreadful important small exhausted terrified tired essential frightened tiny gradable adjectives extreme adjectives bad dreadful 89.2 Change the adjectives where possible to give the email a more positive and/or more extreme effect. Include absolutely or really two or three times. 89.3 Complete the dialogues so that B agrees with A, using a suitable adjective from the opposite page. 1 A: I was very interested in her talk. B: Yes, it was _____fascinating __________. 2 A: Were you very frightened? B: Yes, it was absolutely _________________. 3 A: It was surprising to see the children behave so badly. B: I know. We were _________________. 4 A: Did you have a nice holiday? B: Yes, absolutely _________________. 5 A: I expect you were very pleased with your score. B: Yes, I was absolutely _________________. 6 A: I expect you were a bit angry when they arrived an hour late? B: Yes, I was very _________________. 89.4 Write an adjective to describe how the people felt in these situations. 1 They walked ten miles, then spent the afternoon cutting down trees. ____exhausted______ 2 From the description on the travel website, they expected a beautiful big villa by the sea. In actual fact it was quite small, not very nice, and miles from the beach. ______________________ 3 I arrived in jeans, but everyone else was wearing very formal clothes. ______________________ 4 One person told them the street was on the left, another told them to turn right, and a third person said they had to go back to the station. ______________________ 5 My brother has a flat and it’s usually in a terrible mess – he’s very untidy. But yesterday when I visited him, the place was incredibly tidy. In fact, everything looked new. ______________________ 6 I got my results yesterday and I passed every exam with a grade A. ______________________

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