In this quick-win lesson, you’ll learn 5 POWERFUL adjectives to boost your fluency when you speak in English.
LEVEL: Upper Intermediate and Advanced English Lesson
Hi English learners!
Welcome to another quick fix lesson for common mistakes! Today, we’re learning a technique that will make your English more creative, elevated, and precise.
I often hear my students using ‘very‘ with absolute adjectives. For example, I might hear something like this: “That solution might have a very massive cost“. Additionally, I often notice my students using somewhat boring vocabulary by pairing “very” with a basic adjective. For instance, saying “The house is very big” instead of “The house is enormous“.
In this lesson, we’re going to change that! You’ll understand how these special adjectives work, see plenty of examples, and learn at least five powerful adjectives to boost your vocabulary.
Let’s get started and take your English to the next level!
with love, Kerin
What is a powerful adjective?
A powerful adjective is an adjective that replaces ‘very + adjective’. Clear?! Probably not! Let me give you an example:
- Last weekend we went to Bologna. We had lunch at this very cool cafe in the main piazza. I had some very good tortellini and a very nice glass of wine…
Read those sentences again. Does it sound a bit repetitive and boring to you?
I’m using the word ‘very’ far too much. And it doesn’t sound great, does it?!
Let’s try again:
- Last weekend we went to Bologna. We had lunch at this hip cafe in the main piazza. I had some tasty tortellini and an excellent glass of wine…
See? More interesting!
What is an absolute adjective?
Absolute adjectives in English are adjectives that express a definitive, non-gradable state or condition, meaning they typically do not have varying degrees. These adjectives describe qualities that are either present or not, without any intermediate stages.
Examples of absolute adjectives include:
Perfect: Something is either perfect or it is not. There are no degrees of perfection.
Unique: If something is unique, it is the only one of its kind. It cannot be “very unique” or “somewhat unique.”
Dead: An organism is either alive or dead; there are no degrees of being dead.
Empty: A container is either empty or it is not. It cannot be “very empty.”
Full: A container can be full or not, without intermediate stages like “very full.”
Can I use ‘very’ with powerful and absolute adjectives?
We do not normally use “very” with these kind of adjectives. We do not say something is ‘very enormous‘ or someone is ‘very brilliant‘.
The primary reason we don’t use “very” with absolute adjectives is that these adjectives already express an absolute state that doesn’t allow for variation in intensity or degree. Adding “very” or other modifiers that imply degrees would be logically inconsistent with the meaning of these adjectives.
For example:
- Saying “very perfect” is redundant because perfection, by definition, is an ultimate state that cannot be exceeded or intensified.
- Saying “very unique” is illogical because uniqueness implies being one of a kind, and one cannot be more one of a kind than another.
With powerful adjectives, we normally use intensifiers like:
- absolutely
- completely
- extremely
- exceptionally
- particularly
- really
- quite
- totally
- utterly
Examples:
The book was absolutely terrible.
It was an extremely powerful film.
He is an exceptionally brilliant child.
The kitchen smelled really disgusting.
Why use powerful adjectives?
As you can see in the examples above, when you use powerful and stronger adjectives, you can be more creative in English. You can express exactly what you want more easily, and your conversations are more interesting and fluent.
Below, you’ll learn 5 more powerful adjectives that will help you on your way to speaking in a more creative and confident way.
5 new powerful adjectives!
1. Very busy – swamped
“I wish I could attend the talk tomorrow, but I’m absolutely swamped with this new project we’re working on.”
2. Very poor – destitute
“The fires have left thousands of people destitute.”
3. Very painful- excruciating
“I had an excruciating headache all weekend, so I just stayed home.”
4. Very noisy- deafening
“I like the atmosphere in that bar, but the music is deafening.”
5. Very damaging/upsetting = devastating
“The drought has had devastating consequences.”
“We are deeply saddened by the devastating tragedy yesterday in London.”
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Conclusion
Powerful adjectives are a fascinating aspect of English grammar because they challenge our usual understanding of how adjectives work. Understanding them helps in using creative, precise and logical language, although natural language use sometimes bends these rules for stylistic or emphatic purposes.
So that’s it! Now you’ve learned 5 quick win powerful adjectives to upgrade your English! If you want to go deeper into this topic, read this lesson next: Make your English more powerful and interesting: avoid using VERY!
Activate
I hope you’ve enjoyed this lesson. Before you go, why not put into practice what you’ve been learning? Write a phrase or two of your own in the comments showing how you would use these powerful adjectives.
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