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o. kind-hearted
p. half-witted

9.Many people avoid negative adjectives by saying not very + the opposite
because it is more tactful. Make the following statements more tactful.

1.He is rude.
2.As far as I can judge, he feels gloomy about the future.
3.Don’t you know he’s just greedy.
4.You can’t imagine that he is a false man.
5.She is careless of her reputation.
6.Helen looks miserable.
7.I think he is lazy.
8.John is a real brute.
9.Upon my word, this pretty doll is so nasty.

10.Some characteristics can be either positive or negative depending on your
point of view. The words in the right-hand column mean roughly the same as
the words in the left-hand column, except that they have negative rather than
positive connotations. Reword the following sentences to give the opposite
impression.

Determined - obstinate, stubborn, pig-headed
thrifty/economical - miserly, mean, tight-fisted
self-assured - self-important, arrogant, full of oneself
assertive - aggressive, bossy
original - peculiar, weird, eccentric, odd
frank/direct/open - blunt, abrupt, brusque, curt
broad-minded - unprincipled, permissive
inquiring - inquisitive, nosy
generous - extravagant
innocent - naive
ambitious - pushy

1.Mary’s very thrifty. …………………………………
2.Dora is quite bossy. …………………………………
3.I find Dave self-important. …………………………
4.Nick’s very stingy. ………………………………….
5.Sam’s usually frank. ………………………………..

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