UsingEnglish.com

Gradable and Ungradable Adjectives Pelmanism

A LESSON PLAN FOR ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHERS

Students practise gradable and extreme adjectives with the card game pairs/ the memory game, first matching by grammar and then matching gradable and ungradable pairs, before trying to remember the words they just used.

      Page: /

Lesson Plan Content:


Gradable and ungradable adjectives pelmanism card game

with useful vocabulary for writing reviews

Spread the pack of cards across the table. Your teacher will tell you if they should be face up or face down. Try to pick two cards which you think are both gradable or two cards which you both think are ungradable/ extreme. If you think they don’t match, put them back (exactly) where they came from. If you think they do match, say “It’s absolutely…” with both or “It’s fairly…” with both depending on which kind of adjectives you think those cards are. If your partner agrees that both sentences sound correct, you can keep both cards and score two points. If not, you have to put the cards back in the same places and get no points. If you’re not sure, you can:

  • try the same thing with “very” and “totally/ utterly/ completely” (because “very” doesn’t go with gradable adjectives)
  • check that both ungradable adjectives mean “very + gradable adjective”
  • try to think of gradable versions or ungradable versions of those adjectives

When you finish the game, match up cards which have similar meaning but have different grammar (are gradable and are ungradable). There is always one of each kind in each pair.

Check your answers below.

Play a similar pelmanism game, but this time matching pairs of gradable and ungradable adjectives with the same meaning.

Fill the gaps in the blanked worksheet.

Test each other in pairs. See if your partner can:

  • Identify gradable adjectives and ungradable/ extreme adjectives
  • Identify which one is which in a pair of one gradable adjective and one ungradable adjective/ extreme adjective
  • Identify gradable and ungradable/ extreme adjectives and make the other one of the pair
  • Make as many pairs of gradable and ungradable/ extreme adjectives as possible (including ones not here, with you helping if they get stuck)

 

Cards to cut up/ Suggested answers 

 

amusing/ funny

 

 

 

hilarious

 

tasty

 

delicious

 

scared/ frightened

 

 

 

terrified

 

hungry/ peckish

 

starving

 

interesting

 

 

 

fascinating

 

crowded

 

(cram)packed

 

warm/ hot

 

 

boiling

 

 

 

loud

 

ear-splitting

 

tired/ sleepy

 

 

 

exhausted

 

cool/ cold

 

freezing

 

big/ large

 

 

 

huge/ enormous/ massive

 

small/ little

 

tiny/ minuscule/ minute

 

angry/ irritated/ annoyed

 

 

furious

 

bad

 

terrible/ awful/ dreadful/ disastrous

 

good

brilliant/ fantastic/ fabulous/ terrific/ splendid/ perfect/ flawless/ impeccable

 

happy

 

delighted/ overjoyed

 

nice

 

 

 

lovely/ delightful

 

distinctive/ original

 

unique

 

pretty

 

 

 

gorgeous/ stunning

 

memorable

 

unforgettable

 

exciting

 

 

 

gripping/ thrilling

 

moving

 

heart-wrenching

 

confusing

 

 

 

mind-boggling

 

expensive/ overpriced/ pricey

 

exorbitant


Brainstorming stage

Without looking above, brainstorm as many words as you can into each gap below. Other words not above may also be possible.

 

amusing/ funny

 

 

 

 

 

 

delicious

 

 

 

 

terrified

 

hungry/ peckish

 

 

 

interesting

 

 

 

 

 

 

(cram)packed

 

warm/ hot

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ear-splitting

 

tired/ sleepy

 

 

 

 

cool/ cold

 

 

 

big/ large

 

 

 

 

small/ little

 

 

 

 

 

 

furious

 

bad

 

 

 

good

 

 

 

 

happy

 

 

 

nice

 

 

 

 

distinctive/ original

 

 

 

pretty

 

 

 

 

memorable

 

 

 

exciting

 

 

 

 

 

 

heart-wrenching

 

 

 

 

mind-boggling

 

 

 

exorbitant

Check above. Other answers are possible, so please check if you wrote something different.

Terms of Use

Lesson plans & worksheets can be used by teachers without any fee in the classroom; however, please ensure you keep all copyright information and references to UsingEnglish.com in place.

You will need Adobe Reader to view these files.

Get Adobe Reader


Trustpilot