Page 58 - IELTS Preparation Grammar and Vocab

7 Adverbs and adjectives

The usual position for rather is between a/an and an adjective. Less often, but with a similar meaning, rather is
used before a/an and an adjective
My mother was a rather gentle woman. or My mother was rather a gentle woman.
Already, yet, still
Already can go in either mid or end position:
I'd already decided that I wanted to write ... or I'd decided already ...
Yet is usually put in end position in negatives, questions and expressions of uncertainty:
I don't know if I can tell you yet.
Still usually goes in mid position:
I'm still sketching out the plot
Even, only
Even and only usually go in mid position:
He can even speak Swedish.
but if they refer to the subject they usually come before it:
Sometimes even I'm surprised. Only my close family had read anything I'd written.
Really
The meaning of really can change according to its position in a sentence. Immediately before an adjective it
means 'very'. In other positions it can mean 'actually' or 'in fact':
I'd been feeling really tired.
My friends thought I was joking but I really had decided to leave teaching.
ED Position of adjectives

START POINT

His excellent novel. His novel is excellent.
Many adjectives can be used either before the noun they describe, or following the noun and a linking verb
such as be, become, feel and seem that connects a subject with a word or phrase that describes the subject.
The following adjectives can be used immediately after a noun:
many participle adjectives (i.e. adjectives that end with -ing or -ed. See Unit 12,2.1 for more on participle
clauses):
There'll be a lot of people waiting eagerly to get hold of it (= a lot of people who will be waiting)
Some of the geographical settings used in A Woman Alone are based on places I visited. (= settings which are
used in A Woman Alone)
adjectives used after indefinite pronouns (e.g. something nothing):
I really don't think it was anything special.
There was nothing extraordinary about my first novel.

2.4 Gradable adjectives
If an adjective is gradable, we can say that a person or thing can have more or less of the quality referred to
(e.g. ambitious, busy). Gradable adjectives can be used with adverbs such as extremely, slightly or very.
somewhat ambitious, extremely busy, slightly different, very rich, pretty strong
If an adjective is non-gradable, we don't usually imagine degrees of the quality referred to (e.g. huge, impossible).
To emphasise the extreme or absolute nature of non-gradable adjectives we can use adverbs such as absolutely,
completely or totally:
absolutely huge, completely impossible, practically unknown, almost unique, totally useless

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