⏱ 5 Minutes · B1
One of the things I noticed moving from hospitality English to academic English is that ‘very tired’ felt wrong in writing. In speaking, it is fine. But the more precise you are — ‘utterly exhausted’ or ‘completely drained’ — the more professional you sound. Intensifiers matter.
Gradable (can be more or less): tired, big, hot, good
→ Use: very, quite, really, extremely, fairly
very tired · quite big · extremely hot
Non-gradable / absolute (already at the extreme): exhausted, enormous, boiling, perfect, furious
→ Use: absolutely, completely, totally, utterly, simply
absolutely exhausted · completely perfect · utterly furious
⚠️ Do NOT say: very exhausted · very perfect · very furious
- She was extremely tired. ✔ [tired = gradable]
- She was absolutely exhausted. ✔ [exhausted = non-gradable]
- The view was simply stunning. ✔
The view was very stunning.✖ [stunning is non-gradable]
Choose the correct intensifier:
- It was ___ freezing that night. (very / absolutely)
- He was ___ angry — I could hear him in the next room. (very / absolutely)
- The food was ___ delicious. (fairly / absolutely)
- I am ___ tired, but I can still help. (quite / utterly)
💡 Check Answers
- absolutely freezing (non-gradable — you can’t be more than freezing)
- absolutely furious / very angry — both work depending on the adjective used
- absolutely delicious (delicious is non-gradable)
- quite tired (gradable — you are somewhat tired but still functional)
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