Understanding "Nearly," "Almost," "Just," "Half," "Twice," and "As...As" with Gradable and Non-Gradable Adjectives and Adverbs

In English, certain adverbs and adjectives modify the intensity or degree of actions, qualities, or conditions. Words like nearly, almost, just, half, and twice modify adjectives or adverbs, while as...as is used for comparisons. These can be used with gradable or non-gradable adjectives, which differ in how they express degrees of meaning.

Gradable Adjectives and Adverbs

Gradable adjectives and adverbs describe qualities that can have different degrees. For example, "cold" can range from slightly cold to freezing. Similarly, adverbs like slowly can describe actions that occur at varying speeds. These adjectives and adverbs can be intensified or modified using words like very, quite, almost, a bit, a little, fairly, quite, really, too and nearly.

For example:

1. The weather is nearly perfect today. (Here, perfect is a gradable adjective, and nearly suggests it is very close to being perfect.)
2. She speaks almost fluently. (Here, fluently is gradable, and almost shows she speaks nearly as fluently as a native speaker.)

Explanation: Gradable adjectives and adverbs allow for variations in the degree of the quality. Words like almost, nearly, just, and twice modify these gradable terms to express different levels of intensity or frequency.

Non-Gradable Adjectives and Adverbs

Non-gradable adjectives and adverbs describe qualities that cannot have varying degrees. For example, absolutely, essentially, totally, dead, unique, or perfect are non-gradable because they are absolute in meaning—something is either dead or not, unique or not, perfect or not.

For example:

1. She is absolutely perfect. (Here, perfect is a non-gradable adjective. It cannot be more or less perfect.)
2. He is completely dead tired. (Here, dead is a non-gradable adjective describing an extreme level of tiredness.)

Explanation: Non-gradable adjectives and adverbs cannot be modified by words like very or almost, as they are already absolute. However, completely, totally, and absolutely are often used to emphasize these qualities.

As...As for Comparisons

The structure as...as is used to compare two things in terms of equality. It is typically used with gradable adjectives or adverbs, showing that two items share the same degree of a certain quality.

For example:

1. She is as tall as her brother. (This means she and her brother have the same height.)
2. He runs as fast as anyone. (This indicates that his running speed is equal to that of others.)

Explanation: As...as compares two things to show that they are equal in terms of a quality. It can be used with adjectives or adverbs that are gradable.

Using "Nearly," "Almost," "Just," "Half," and "Twice" with Gradable Adjectives

These words modify gradable adjectives to show varying degrees of qualities or actions.

• Nearly and almost can indicate a high degree of proximity to something but not quite reaching it.
  • She is nearly finished with her homework. (Very close to being finished, but not yet.)
• Just can show something has happened very recently or in a very small way.
  • He just finished the report. (The report was finished recently.)
• Half shows 50% or a portion of something.
  • She ate half of the pizza. (50% of the pizza was eaten.)
• Twice shows an action happening two times.
  • He calls me twice a week. (He calls two times a week.)