Let’s look at a few student speaking test examples and one from an expert using extreme adverbs modifying gradable adjectives:
There are a few cases in which the parents have been excellent guides to the students,
and as you know guides are extremely important for a child‘s career.
TLC male India C1
Native speaker: I haven’t read it but I‘ve seen the film, have you seen the film?
Student: Yes, I have, but it’s totally different from the book.
TLC male India B1
It’s absolutely necessary to find a solution,
and I know that in some cases, for example,
in some sports facilities built in Madrid, they are trying to remodel the space.
TLC male Spain C1
These are all details that are incredibly easy to record contemporaneously but are also incredibly easy to forget later on.
We can grade most adjectives with different levels of their quality. (There are only a few non-gradable adjectives such as ‘dead‘)
There are some adverbs that have the meaning ‘very high degree’ like ‘extremely’. Which CEFR level can do this?
In OXFORD at B1 for example: ‘Absolutely + adjective’ is defined as:
express strong feelings or extreme qualities to mean ‘extremely’ or emphasize that something is completely true
In the English Grammar Profile, C1 point 69 in ADJECTIVES is defined as:
modify gradable adjectives with extreme adverbs of degree (‘absolutely’, ‘extremely‘, ‘incredibly’, ‘totally‘) to intensify their meaning.
This point also overlaps ‘a wide range of adverbs with adjectives to express degree or intensity‘
An iWeb search for:
extremely|absolutely|incredibly|totally _JJ
1 EXTREMELY IMPORTANT 53789
2 TOTALLY DIFFERENT 47353
3 EXTREMELY DIFFICULT 36700
4 EXTREMELY HIGH 36501
5 EXTREMELY HELPFUL 25387
6 ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY 22485
7 EXTREMELY LOW 21791
8 EXTREMELY RARE 20804
9 EXTREMELY POPULAR 20682
10 EXTREMELY EASY 20394
That‘s extremely easy for you to say.
11 EXTREMELY USEFUL 19352
12 ABSOLUTELY AMAZING 18132
13 INCREDIBLY EASY 16094
14 EXTREMELY HARD 15872
15 INCREDIBLY IMPORTANT 15640
16 TOTALLY NEW 12674
17 EXTREMELY HAPPY 12486
18 ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL 12348
19 ABSOLUTELY PERFECT 11923
20 EXTREMELY POWERFUL 11885
21 ABSOLUTELY RIGHT 11451
22 EXTREMELY GOOD 11446
23 EXTREMELY EFFECTIVE 11347
PELIC STUDENT: Arabic,Male,5,w
Third, exercise can be an extremely effective stress reliever for several reasons.
24 ABSOLUTELY ESSENTIAL 11339
25 EXTREMELY PROUD 10947
26 INCREDIBLY DIFFICULT 10482
27 ABSOLUTELY STUNNING 10442
It has absolutely stunning jewellery, like what you can see here.
28 EXTREMELY VALUABLE 10347
29 EXTREMELY DANGEROUS 10344
30 ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC 9978
31 ABSOLUTELY FREE 9863
32 EXTREMELY PLEASED 9858
33 TOTALLY FREE 9857
34 ABSOLUTELY GORGEOUS 9094
35 INCREDIBLY POWERFUL 9036
36 ABSOLUTELY SURE 8939
37 EXTREMELY COMFORTABLE 8912
38 EXTREMELY STRONG 8875
39 ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS 8776
40 EXTREMELY SMALL 8365
41 INCREDIBLY USEFUL 8310
42 EXTREMELY DURABLE 8148
43 EXTREMELY LARGE 7800
44 EXTREMELY EXPENSIVE 7382
45 EXTREMELY HOT 7209
46 ABSOLUTELY WONDERFUL 7171
47 TOTALLY FINE 7112
48 EXTREMELY SIMPLE 7011
49 EXTREMELY VERSATILE 6938
50 INCREDIBLY HARD 6675
51 EXTREMELY SENSITIVE 6557
52 INCREDIBLY POPULAR 6500
53 INCREDIBLY HELPFUL 6401
54 EXTREMELY FAST 6314
55 EXTREMELY LONG 6218
56 INCREDIBLY HIGH 6137
57 EXTREMELY GRATEFUL 6078
58 EXTREMELY BENEFICIAL 6064
59 INCREDIBLY STRONG 6048
60 EXTREMELY SUCCESSFUL 5977
61 EXTREMELY COMMON 5906
62 ABSOLUTELY BRILLIANT 5892
63 EXTREMELY COMPETITIVE 5823
64 TOTALLY WRONG 5774
65 ABSOLUTELY CERTAIN 5764
66 EXTREMELY UNLIKELY 5719
67 ABSOLUTELY CORRECT 5597
68 ABSOLUTELY CRITICAL 5589
69 INCREDIBLY SIMPLE 5534
70 EXTREMELY EXCITED 5308
71 TOTALLY AWESOME 5286
72 INCREDIBLY TALENTED 5280
73 ABSOLUTELY TRUE 5225
74 EXTREMELY BUSY 5204
75 EXTREMELY TALENTED 5173
76 ABSOLUTELY INCREDIBLE 5158
77 EXTREMELY COMPLEX 5016
78 TOTALLY UNIQUE 4995
79 INCREDIBLY PROUD 4949
80 EXTREMELY KNOWLEDGEABLE 4852
81 EXTREMELY FRIENDLY 4834
82 EXTREMELY COLD 4656
83 EXTREMELY POOR 4601
84 ABSOLUTELY FINE 4595
85 EXTREMELY EFFICIENT 4494
86 EXTREMELY PAINFUL 4489
87 TOTALLY NORMAL 4425
88 INCREDIBLY VERSATILE 4291
89 INCREDIBLY LOW 4230
90 ABSOLUTELY DELIGHTED 4185
91 EXTREMELY CAREFUL 4145
92 INCREDIBLY VALUABLE 4141
93 EXTREMELY INTERESTING 4117
94 EXTREMELY LIGHT 4084
95 EXTREMELY ACCURATE 4073
96 EXTREMELY FLEXIBLE 4068
97 INCREDIBLY BEAUTIFUL 4032
98 EXTREMELY POSITIVE 3931
99 EXTREMELY SLOW 3900
100 INCREDIBLY GOOD 3868
B2 vocabulary:
beneficial, competitive, complex, critical, effective, flexible, sensitive, stunning, unique