It makes perfectly sense.
Do you see a mistake in the above sentence? You should! The phrase ‘makes sense‘ often collocates (or is frequently used with ) with the intensifying adjectives perfect, total and complete. Because these words describe a noun – sense – we should use an adjective and not an adverb to describe them. This is a famous mistake I’ve heard a lot since living in Germany.
Other examples
- It makes complete sense. (NOT It makes completely sense.)
- It makes total sense. (NOT It makes totally sense.)
Hopefully now you can say these sentences perfectly!
Grammar point – intensifying adjectives
Adjectives can have various functions in a sentence. One function can be to act as intensifiers for nouns, like in the examples above. An intensifier makes something stronger. Some common adjectives that intensify nouns are:
| absolute | perfect |
| complete | real |
| total | utter |
Examples
- The interview turned out to be a total disaster.
- That makes absolute sense.
- I’ve never heard such complete and utter nonsense!
- Sarah has come through for me many times. She’s a real friend.
- The book was a perfect distraction for me so that I could forget about the news for awhile.