вторник, 5 марта 2013 г.

It's a terrible, terrible tragedy.

There was a major flood nearby. You've been watching news reports about it. You and a coworker are talking about how bad it is for the people that live there.
It's a terrible, terrible tragedy.

a terrible tragedy 

When something very bad happens to other people, you can call the situation "a terrible tragedy". These are some examples of terrible tragedies:
  • an earthquake
  • a bombing
  • a school shooting
The adjective "terrible" is an ungradable adjective, which means that you can't use words like "very" in front of it. The word "terrible" itself is already extreme on its own.