Adjectives & Adverbs

Gradability: absolute vs gradable adjectives

"perfect", "unique", "dead" — technically absolute, but "nearly perfect" is acceptable

Submodifiers: a bit / slightly vs very

"a bit tired" (downgrade) / "slightly warm" / "fairly quick" vs "very tired" (standard)

Boosters and downgraders in discourse

completely agree, strongly suggest, slightly doubt, tentatively propose

Adverbial scope and meaning

"She almost ate everything" vs "She ate almost everything" — position changes meaning

Split infinitive and style

"to boldly go" — split infinitive; now widely accepted in modern English

Stance adverbs in academic writing

Arguably, the most significant... / Interestingly, the results suggest...

Fronted negative adverbials + inversion

Under no circumstances should you... / At no point was it clear...

Adjectival modification of degree

considerably more expensive / significantly better / marginally faster

Coordinate vs cumulative adjectives

"a hot, dry summer" (coordinate: comma) / "a lovely old red car" (cumulative: no comma)

Adverb placement and emphasis

"He only ate rice" (not other food) / "Only he ate rice" (no one else) — placement matters