0:00

Hi there, this is Harry. Welcome back to Advanced

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0:42

this is an Advanced English Lesson, and in

0:44

this lesson we're looking at adjectives,

0:47

and we're looking at Advanced English Adjectives.

0:49

I've 21 in total. Now,

0:51

these, as I said, are Advanced

0:54

Adjectives, and they're really important, particularly

0:56

when it comes to doing proficiency

0:58

exams, either IELTS or CAE.

1:01

It's really good to have adjectives. It's

1:04

easy to write an essay,

1:06

it's easy to write some lines, but

1:08

when you get extra marks

1:10

or you win points, it's

1:12

when you use adjectives

1:14

and adverbs in the right way, because

1:17

adjectives always describe nouns.

1:19

So, instead of just talking about the cat,

1:22

we want to talk about the enormous black

1:24

cat, or if we want to talk about the

1:27

view from a hotel window, it's

1:29

this stunningly beautiful view. So,

1:32

you need to know the type of

1:34

adjectives that go and can be

1:37

used to describe a

1:39

particular noun, and in that way you're

1:41

going to get extra marks. So, the

1:43

whole idea of this particular lesson

1:45

is to give you these adjectives

1:48

all about reviewing

1:50

and how you review different things. OK,

1:53

so, as I said, I've got 21 of

1:55

them. I'm going to go through them one by one,

1:58

and I say we'll... I'll give you examples.

1:59

So number one is exhilarating.

2:03

So just be careful with the pronunciation here

2:05

as well. Exhilarating. Exhilarating

2:08

is a form of excitement. Okay,

2:11

so if you went to a Formula

2:13

One race, if you're lucky enough to go to

2:15

a Formula One race, you might say

2:18

that the atmosphere was exhilarating,

2:20

really exciting. The noise

2:23

of the cars, the buzz

2:26

from the crowd, the engines

2:28

revving, the lights flashing, the

2:31

sound as the cars rev

2:33

up and then boom, they're off.

2:35

Okay, so you can find that and describe

2:37

it as really exhilarating.

2:39

You had a wonderful, wonderful time.

2:42

Overhyped is

2:44

number two. Now, when we

2:46

talk about something being really, really

2:49

good or fantastic or amazing,

2:51

sometimes we slightly exaggerate

2:54

so we talk about it

2:56

the way our friends talk about it, even though we

2:58

may not have witnessed it ourselves or sampled

3:01

it ourselves. So sometimes we

3:03

talk it up too much and then when other

3:05

people go to see the show or

3:07

read the book or watch the movie, they're

3:10

very disappointed. Why? Because

3:12

all of the talk about that movie, that

3:14

show, that book has been overhyped.

3:18

And overhyped means we've built it up too

3:20

much and it doesn't live up to

3:23

expectations. So something that has

3:25

been overhyped fails

3:27

to live up to expectations.

3:30

You could be talking about a football match, okay?

3:32

So there's a big match coming up. Two

3:35

really great teams are going to play

3:37

each other full of stars,

3:39

all costs lots and lots of money.

3:42

And then when the game happens, boom,

3:45

it's so dull and boring. Neither

3:47

team wants to lose. So the play

3:49

is really negative. And at the

3:51

end of the game, you said, well, that was really

3:54

overhyped. I was expecting something amazing.

3:56

And I thought after 25 minutes,

3:59

it was... dullest game I had

4:01

ever seen. So something like football

4:04

match or a special

4:06

occasion or a movie, they

4:08

can be overhyped because we talk them up

4:11

too much. Number three, atmospheric.

4:14

Atmospheric is about the atmosphere, what

4:16

you feel like when you get there.

4:19

So you could be talking about a new

4:22

disco, a new club that is

4:24

opened in the town and you heard about

4:27

it from your friends and you decide to go along

4:29

and when you meet your friends the next day

4:31

or the next weekend, you say, wow, that

4:34

place is so atmospheric.

4:36

When you walk in the music, it's

4:38

all bouncing off the walls,

4:41

wonderful lighting, great

4:43

dance floor, the DJ

4:45

is amazing, really an atmospheric

4:48

place. You can feel it as soon as you

4:51

go in, the place is hopping. It's

4:53

a real buzz to it, so very atmospheric,

4:58

meaning the atmosphere is electric.

5:00

You could almost touch it or feel

5:02

it. It's so exciting. Number

5:05

four, action packed. Lots

5:07

of things can be action packed. You

5:09

could have an action packed holiday. You

5:12

come back from your summer holidays

5:14

and your colleagues or friends are asking you, well,

5:16

how was it? Wow, it was a real action

5:19

packed holiday from beginning to the

5:21

end. We didn't have a moment. One day

5:23

we were hiking, the next day we

5:26

were horseback riding, the

5:28

next day we were white water rafting

5:30

and canoeing and I've forgotten

5:33

half of the activities that we did, but

5:35

I can honestly say this was the most

5:37

action packed holiday I

5:39

have ever had. So action

5:42

packed means real activity,

5:45

not necessarily daring

5:47

sports or risky sports or

5:49

extreme sports, but just something

5:51

that keeps you occupied, active

5:54

on the go the whole time, a real action

5:57

packed. Now, simple way to describe.

6:00

something as action-packed could be a movie

6:02

like a movie about the Second

6:04

World War or a movie about

6:07

invasion of another planet, like Star

6:09

Wars type movies where there's something happening

6:12

every minute, dogfights in the

6:14

sky with the different rockets

6:17

and spaceships and whatever they might be.

6:19

So these can be action-packed or

6:21

fast and furious movies where there's

6:24

constant car chases

6:26

and crashes and all sorts of things happening.

6:29

They are also action-packed.

6:31

So something where there's action from the beginning

6:34

until the very end. Number five,

6:36

powerful. This is probably a better

6:39

known adjective and powerful

6:41

can be something that really

6:44

gets you thinking, that's something

6:46

where the storyline is really deep.

6:49

So if you're watching a movie, it might

6:51

not have a lot of action. So it's not

6:53

that type of power. But the message

6:56

is very powerful. It could be about

6:59

slavery or it could be about

7:01

other moving actions

7:03

of children separated from parents.

7:07

So it's a very powerful

7:09

movie with great meaning and you're

7:11

really watching it and wanting

7:13

to know what happens. It's not, as I said,

7:16

the exciting film that has you sitting on

7:18

the edge of your seat, of course, but

7:20

it is something that is powerful in terms

7:23

of the message that it sends. Clichete.

7:26

Clichete is something that is repeated

7:28

time and time again. You know the typical

7:31

type of movie, particularly

7:33

American movies, the romantic comedy

7:36

where boy meets girl,

7:38

girl falls in love with boy, boy falls

7:41

in love with girl, get married,

7:43

something happens, they split up and

7:45

then at the end they come back together again,

7:48

all lovey-dovey again and then

7:50

everything is as it was

7:52

before. So this is a very cliched

7:55

story meaning it's been repeated time

7:58

and time again and no matter what the name of it is, it's not a movie. name

8:00

of the movie is no matter who the

8:02

actors are you could actually write

8:05

the script yourself because it's very

8:07

cliched something that's used over

8:09

and over again and usually it's used over

8:11

and over again because they're usually

8:14

successful and people like to watch them

8:16

because they like the whole idea of romantic

8:19

movies particularly though the

8:21

romantic comedy movies. Okay

8:23

so these can be very cliched

8:26

you know almost instinctively

8:28

what's going to be said you know

8:30

almost instinctively what the action

8:33

is going to be and you know almost instinctively

8:35

the key points in

8:37

the movie particularly say Christmas

8:40

movies you know there are lots of them and the

8:42

storyline is almost exactly the same

8:44

but guess what we watch them because we

8:46

are suckers for those soft

8:49

romantic movies and even though they are

8:51

cliched they make us laugh

8:54

make a smile or they make

8:56

us feel cozy and warm coming

8:58

up to Christmas so that's cliched.

9:01

Number seven gripping so how

9:04

would we use that to describe

9:06

or review something well gripping

9:09

is usually something that has your attention

9:11

okay so that something really keeps

9:13

you on the edge of your seat it

9:15

could be a book it could be a story

9:18

it could be an action movie

9:20

it could be a play in the theater

9:23

there's all of those type

9:25

of performances that would be

9:27

really really gripping but gripping

9:29

usually means there's a huge

9:31

amount of volatility in the

9:33

movie when the emotions are going up

9:36

and down and it really brings you

9:38

to the edge when you're never really sure

9:41

what's going to happen a murder could

9:43

take place somebody disappears

9:46

you know it really makes your toes

9:49

curl and the hair on the back of

9:51

your neck stand up so the excitement

9:53

is there for everybody to see and

9:55

to feel it's really electric and

9:57

this is how we would describe something

9:59

that is gripping. Now you can't

10:02

be watching a series,

10:04

one of these box set series on TV

10:07

that Netflix and Apple TV

10:09

produce from time to time. So you can't

10:11

wait for the next episode

10:14

and then when the season is over you're

10:17

waiting for season two and then season three.

10:19

So these are can often be gripping

10:21

and people watch them one

10:24

after the other for the very reason that they

10:26

are gripping. They watch the first episode

10:29

and I'll just watch the second one and the second

10:31

one leads to the third one and

10:33

before you know it you've spent half the night

10:35

sitting up watching this gripping series

10:38

and there you want to talk about it with your

10:41

friends when you meet them the next time you meet.

10:43

Compelling, well

10:45

something can be compelling that it gets

10:48

your attention. So even

10:50

though it might not be something you're

10:52

particularly interested in or

10:54

even though it's not something that's

10:57

your genre that you normally like

10:59

but the acting is such a high

11:01

level or the storyline is

11:03

so detailed that is it has

11:06

and makes for compelling viewing.

11:08

So maybe it's specifically

11:11

made for TVs and

11:13

the technology that they've used

11:15

is really state-of-the-art and this

11:18

means that you're really interested to watch

11:20

it and that would make for compelling

11:23

viewing. So something that is compelling

11:25

means you're really driven to watch it

11:28

even though it might not be necessarily

11:31

your cup of tea. So as

11:33

I said that could be anything. It's a book can

11:36

be compelling, a theater

11:38

performance can be compelling, the movie

11:42

can be compelling or something that's

11:44

playing out in politics in your

11:46

local city or country this

11:48

could be compelling you know because it's

11:51

really exciting. At the time of

11:54

Brexit a few years ago and even though

11:56

it might have not affected people directly

11:58

the number of people who spoke to

12:01

me about it, who wanted to discuss

12:03

it, wanted to understand it, even

12:05

though they may not have been directly

12:07

involved in politics or had a great interest

12:10

in politics, the whole idea of

12:12

Britain moving away from the European

12:14

Union and establishing themselves once

12:17

again as an independent country.

12:19

So this was really compelling

12:22

viewing and watching and listening. Number

12:25

nine, implausible. Implausible

12:27

means something that you just simply cannot

12:30

believe. Usually when we

12:32

talk about implausible, we talk about

12:34

excuses. So it's really good to

12:37

use it in the right way. So if you're writing

12:39

an essay or you're trying

12:41

to explain something, then I would use

12:44

implausible specifically when

12:46

you're talking about stories.

12:49

For example, kids who lose their

12:51

homework or don't do the homework or

12:53

are always trying to find some excuse to

12:56

tell the teacher. Most of the excuses

12:58

that they think up are completely

13:00

implausible. Nobody is ever going

13:03

to believe them. How could you possibly believe

13:05

that? That's completely implausible.

13:07

How could you expect me to believe that?

13:09

It's completely implausible. When

13:12

does a dog ever eat the

13:14

homework? When would you

13:16

leave your homework on the

13:18

bus and forget which bus you were

13:20

on? I mean really, these stories are

13:23

completely implausible. So

13:25

usually we're talking about something that's implausible,

13:28

which is a white line that somebody

13:30

tells to get out of a sticky situation.

13:33

You might have a problem, forgotten

13:35

a meeting with a client for example, and

13:37

so you're trying to think, how am I going to tell

13:39

them that I forgot the meeting? Maybe I'll

13:41

tell them the dog was sick or maybe I'll

13:43

tell them my wife was sick or maybe

13:46

I'll tell them I lost my laptop

13:48

or something happened with the technology.

13:51

So these excuses might

13:53

be plausible but at the end of the day

13:55

it's better to tell the truth and just simply own

13:57

up. I forgot I was under a bit of pressure. I

14:00

forgot I'm really sorry so otherwise

14:02

you're telling lies and really people can

14:04

see through them because they are implausible.

14:08

Number 10, so we are almost halfway

14:10

there, number 10 sentimental.

14:12

Now sentimental means something

14:15

that pulls at the heartstrings

14:17

a little bit yeah so those sentimental

14:20

stories again going back to those American

14:23

style movies perhaps where young

14:26

boys parents die when he's

14:28

very very young and he's brought up by

14:31

his grandparents or he's

14:33

got a dog it's his only

14:35

friend and perhaps the boy

14:38

has some emotional problems

14:40

and the dog is the only thing that he

14:42

can communicate with and the

14:44

dog gets sick and the the boy

14:46

is really upset so this really

14:49

pulls at your heartstrings as very emotional

14:51

and very sentimental so

14:53

we get a little bit weepy over movies

14:56

and stories like that so sentimental

14:59

will describe those type of reviews

15:02

in quite a good way. People

15:04

can be very sentimental, they

15:06

can be attached to certain

15:09

belongings that they have you know okay

15:11

so they don't want to get rid

15:13

of a particular coat or a jacket

15:16

because it has sentimental value,

15:18

they don't want to get rid of a

15:20

particular ring or piece of

15:23

jewellery that the mother or grandmother

15:25

left them again because it has what they

15:27

call sentimental value.

15:29

So when we're reviewing something and we're

15:32

going to describe it as sentimental it's

15:34

that type of approach where it makes

15:36

somebody feel a little bit emotional

15:39

some attachment to the particular

15:41

item whether that's a book a movie

15:44

a piece of jewellery whatever it might be sentimental.

15:47

Okay so that's number 10 so we're on to number 11.

15:50

Now earlier we said and we used

15:52

the word implausible now

15:54

we're going to use the word credible which

15:57

is effectively the opposite so when something

15:59

is credible or

18:00

you go to listen to a lecture

18:03

on modern architecture,

18:06

modern technology, some aspect

18:08

to do with science. You're just interested

18:11

in hearing what people say.

18:13

You can walk away from those

18:15

lectures thinking, wow that guy is really

18:18

impressive. He really commands

18:21

the stage, his use of figures,

18:24

the pictures he had. It was really

18:26

a very, very impressive

18:28

performance and he'd really believe

18:31

in what he has to say. So people

18:33

who can use visual

18:35

effects to back up their story,

18:38

people who can use charts

18:40

in a way that will make the story

18:43

sound more realistic. This can often

18:45

be very impressive. Yeah,

18:47

that young man and that young girl, that's

18:50

really impressive. I think they're going to go a long

18:52

way. So somebody who leaves an impression, somebody

18:55

who leaves you thinking, yeah I

18:57

can believe in that. This would be a good

19:00

way to describe that adjective, impressive.

19:03

Next, stunning. Well we often

19:05

use stunning when we're talking about

19:08

views in particular. So we've been on

19:10

a holiday and we're describing

19:13

the view from our hotel balcony.

19:16

We're describing a view from the top of a

19:18

canyon. We're describing the view

19:20

from the top of the mountain slope

19:22

who we've gone on a ski holiday. Then the

19:24

word stunning is a word that we

19:26

would use and would be very familiar with. Stunning

19:30

views, yeah? Stunning

19:32

scenery and you could then use

19:35

the adverb stunningly, stunningly

19:37

beautiful. Okay, so something can be

19:39

stunning or can mean stunningly

19:42

beautiful. So use it as an adverb or adjective

19:44

but we don't have to limit ourselves

19:47

to scenery and views when we want

19:49

to use stunning because it's a word that

19:51

can describe many many things. You could

19:53

describe a dress that your friend

19:56

is wearing for her wedding and she's really

19:59

spent a lot of money. on it but she's gone

20:01

to a lot of trouble to get the ideal

20:04

fit for her, the length and

20:06

when you see her oh she looked

20:09

stunning, the dress was stunning,

20:12

the design was stunning.

20:14

So it doesn't just have to be the

20:16

things in nature, it can also be

20:18

things like outfits, dresses

20:21

and all sorts of aspects like that.

20:24

Okay number 14. Now

20:27

this goes in the opposite direction, we're

20:29

talking about disappointing, it's a common

20:32

adjective and we can use it to describe

20:35

lots of things that don't actually

20:37

match up to our expectations.

20:40

We go back to the football game, yeah it

20:42

was disappointing. The meal

20:44

I had last night, well I was expecting

20:46

it to be a little bit better but unfortunately

20:49

the food was a little bit overcooked so it

20:52

was disappointing. The

20:54

results you got in your test were

20:57

a little disappointing, you're expecting

20:59

higher marks, you'd worked really really

21:01

hard but one or two of the questions just didn't

21:04

suit you and you didn't do so well

21:07

and you knew coming out of the exam

21:09

that you didn't do as well as

21:11

you thought you should have and that

21:13

could be and turned out to be a little

21:16

disappointing. So when you're reviewing your

21:18

performance of that particular paper or

21:21

several papers you know the reasons

21:23

why and it

21:24

is disappointing so we can use

21:26

that word disappointing.

21:28

Number 15. Innovative. Well

21:30

innovative is about all about being new,

21:33

something different, something original

21:35

so we can use it in the modern world particularly

21:38

with technology. Things are changing

21:40

on a regular basis, you know it's

21:42

hard to keep up with it all the time

21:44

so technology is often

21:46

described as innovative but

21:48

it doesn't have to be big big technology

21:51

can be simple things like applications

21:53

something that somebody hadn't thought of.

21:56

I'm sure when somebody introduced

21:58

an application that would

24:00

Besides laughing all the time although there

24:02

are fully clowns in the circus

24:04

and they will be amusing but entertaining

24:07

is something that is something for all of the

24:09

family. Yeah it was a really entertaining

24:12

evening. There were acrobats, there

24:14

were the guys walking on the high

24:17

wire, the trapeze, artists,

24:19

everybody was entertained. So it was

24:22

entertaining for the whole family

24:24

or really good family entertainment.

24:27

So entertaining means something that keeps

24:29

you occupied. There's usually good

24:32

value for money. 18. Memorable.

24:35

Now memorable is about something that leaves

24:37

a lasting memory for you, something that

24:39

you can remember for a long

24:42

long time. So special

24:44

events in our lives are memorable.

24:47

Our wedding day of course, the

24:49

birth of our children, a special

24:51

birthday or 40th birthday

24:53

or 50th or the day in which we retire.

24:56

They all can be memorable and when we

24:59

look back we've got lots of normally

25:01

good memories. So if you're looking at

25:04

photographs then you can remember

25:07

when they were taken. You can remember

25:10

the people in the photographs. You can remember

25:12

the situation. All of this is memorable,

25:15

something that will leave a lasting

25:18

mark on your memory. Yeah

25:20

because there are lots of things in our lives that we would

25:22

like to forget and we forget very quickly

25:25

but something good, something

25:27

happy, something that brings a smile to

25:30

our face, something that was really

25:32

touching can be memorable.

25:34

Unconvincing. Number 19 is unconvincing.

25:37

Now unconvincing a little bit similar

25:40

to we had implausible. Implausible

25:42

we said was something you just couldn't

25:44

believe but unconvincing not quite

25:46

the same. You can give somebody

25:49

the benefit of the doubt but you're

25:51

not convinced so the story was

25:54

unconvincing. Yeah I was listening

25:56

many many years ago to the

25:59

debates. between Hillary

26:01

Clinton and Donald Trump

26:03

for the presidential election.

26:06

But neither of them, to me, was very

26:08

convincing. When they were asked detailed

26:11

questions about the economy or how

26:13

they would handle foreign affairs, they

26:15

weren't convincing. They were unconvincing.

26:18

So, you know, when you're listening to somebody,

26:20

you're trying to get their side

26:23

of an argument, trying to see whether they

26:25

can persuade you to change your

26:27

mind. If they don't, persuade you

26:29

to change your mind, then it's unconvincing.

26:33

So when you're not convinced by what

26:35

somebody has put forward, then it

26:37

doesn't make any impression on you. So their

26:40

arguments were very unconvincing.

26:43

Number 20, excruciating.

26:45

Excuse 18. So just be careful

26:48

here with the pronunciation. Excuse 18.

26:51

A visit to the dentist can be excruciating.

26:54

If you're getting an extraction, a tooth

26:56

taken out and they thought of a needle

26:59

going into the outcome, you know, that ooh,

27:02

wincing with pain, excruciating.

27:05

Okay, so that's something really,

27:08

really painful. Now, when

27:10

we're reviewing something like a really,

27:13

really bad theater performance,

27:15

a really poor movie,

27:18

it's really, really slow. We

27:20

could say, oh, it's so bad. Excuse 18.

27:23

Yeah. I mean, you have to sit there, watch

27:26

it, listen to it, read

27:28

it. Really, really painful. No action,

27:31

no entertainment. I don't know

27:33

who made this particular movie or

27:35

who directed this particular play,

27:38

but it is really painful. I'd prefer

27:41

to stay at home and watch paint

27:43

dry. It was excruciating,

27:46

slow, uninteresting and

27:48

downright boring, excruciating.

27:52

And then finally, moving. Something that

27:54

is moving usually affects

27:57

the emotions. Okay. So these could be really, really,

27:59

really painful. interesting stories

28:01

where people have one

28:06

country to another, perhaps the

28:08

family has been split up

28:10

and then eventually they reunite after

28:13

years of struggling or perhaps

28:15

they are fighting for their rights

28:18

and every time that they put

28:20

forward some argument or evidence

28:22

it's shut down and they can get

28:25

no justice. That can

28:27

be very moving, something that really

28:29

pulls at the heartstrings, that tests

28:32

your emotions, you have to hold

28:35

back the tears or indeed perhaps you're not able

28:38

to hold back the tears because it does

28:40

move you to tears listening

28:43

to those sort of stories. Okay so these

28:45

are all things that we can talk about

28:48

when we are reviewing any particular

28:50

activity, whether it's a book, a

28:52

movie, whether it's a theatre

28:55

production, a speech made by

28:57

somebody, arguments, political

29:00

or otherwise all of these adjectives

29:02

that I've given you can be used some

29:04

way in relation to those. So just try

29:06

and practice them, you won't remember them all,

29:09

of course you won't but try to use some

29:11

of them particularly if you want to prepare

29:13

for those proficiency exams

29:15

you really would like to use some of these

29:17

when you're describing photos or if you're describing

29:20

situations and these are certainly words

29:23

that you can use and if you need any more help,

29:25

you need any more examples, well of course you

29:27

can contact me, very happy to help you, very

29:30

happy to give you more situations

29:32

when you can use them if that's what you need. Okay

29:34

so this is Harry saying thank you for watching,

29:37

thank you for listening and join me again for the

29:39

next

29:40

lesson.