Recherche parmi différents professeurs en Anglais…
Angela
Is it correct to say :
It is a very terrific work !!
Or does it should better " really terrific".?
Thanks a lot 😁
25 juin 2022 05:35
Réponses · 9
2
Hello Angela, my name is John, nice to meet you.
You can use the word "terrific" but not with "very" or "really" because terrific is a non-gradable adjective. So, you would say "That's a terrific job."
hope this helps.
25 juin 2022
Invité·e
1
John is correct. Most adjectives are gradable, which means they can be described at different levels of intensity (e.g. "Very happy, "a little happy", "somewhat happy"). Other adjectives are non-gradable, which usually can't be described in such a way. For example, someone is either pregnant or they aren't, so "She's a little pregnant" doesn't make sense.
In the case of words like "terrific" or "amazing", words like "really" or "very" are already built into the definition ("terrific" = "very good"), so adding them sounds awkward.
One caveat: sometimes speakers will intentionally break this rule for emphasis or humor. For example, "very pregnant" is grammatically incorrect, but some speakers will say to emphasize that someone is in the final weeks of her pregnancy ("A very pregnant woman like her shouldn't be exercising that hard!").
25 juin 2022
1
It should be "It's a really great job!"
(Se vuoi dire, "è un eccellente lavoro !")
(Invece, se vorremmo dire, "è un'eccellente opera !", diremmo "It's an excellent work!")
Notes:
1. "Work" as in "lavoro" is usually uncountable (if I've correctly guessed your intended meaning).
2. You're correct that we cannot use "very" with an ungradable adjective such as "terrific". "Really" can be used with all adjectives, whether gradable or ungradable.
25 juin 2022
You can just say “it is a terrific work”.
26 juin 2022
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Angela
Compétences linguistiques
Anglais, Italien, Japonais, Ladino (judéo-espagnol), Espagnol
Langue étudiée
Anglais, Ladino (judéo-espagnol)
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