Hi All,

I came across these 2 questions below via usingenglish.com and i am having trouble trying to comprehend it;

1. We can modify non-gradable adjectives with 'very'. True or False?

2. Adjectival nouns usually don't have a plural. True or False?

I got both the questions wrong (obviously!) and appreciate it if someone can shed some light or examples for it. Thank you

1. False.
'non-gradable' means that they can't be measured along a continuum.

something can go from 'luke warm' along a continuum to 'hot' and 'VERY hot'

Something either is, or isn't 'wooden': a wooden toy.

2. True - they don't have a plural.

"Robin Hood stole from the rich and gave to the poor."
Here, 'the rich' and 'the poor' are adjectival nouns.

If we tried to pluralize it, it would be:
"Robin Hood stole from the riches and gave to the poors."