Preface for word

In grammar, an adjective is a word whose main syntactic role is to modify a noun or pronoun, giving more information about the noun or pronoun's referent. Some examples can be seen in the box to the right. Collectively, adjectives form one of the traditional English eight parts of speech, though linguists today distinguish adjectives from words such as determiners that also used to be considered adjectives.

Not all languages have adjectives, but most, including English, do. (English adjectives include big, old, and tired, among many others.) Those that do not, typically use words of another part of speech, often verbs, to serve the same semantic function; for example, such a language might have a verb that means "to be big", and would use a construction analogous to "big-being house" to express what English expresses as "big house". Even in languages that do have adjectives, one language's adjective might not be another's; for example, while English uses "to be hungry" (hungry being an adjective), French uses "avoir faim" (literally "to have hunger"), and where Hebrew uses the adjective "זקוק" (zaqūq, roughly "in need of"), English uses the verb "to need".

In most languages with adjectives, they form an open class of words; that is, it is relatively common for new adjectives to be formed via such processes as derivation.

Theoretical part

Adjectives.

Adjectives are the third major class of words in English, after nouns

and verbs. Adjectives are words expressing properties of objects (e.g.

large, blue, simple, clever, economic, progressive, productive, etc) and,

hence, qualifying nouns.

Adjectives in English do not change for number or case. The only

grammatical category they have is the degrees of comparison. They are also

characterized by functions in the sentence.


Degrees of Comparison.

There are three degrees of comparison: positive, comparative and

superlative. The positive form is the plain stem of an adjective (e.g.

heavy, slow, straight, etc) . The comparative states that one thing has

more of the quality named by the adjective than some other thing (e.g.

Henry is taller than John). The superlative states that the thing has the

greatest degree of the quality among the things being considered (e.g.

Henry is the tallest boy in the class)

Most one-syllable adjectives, and most two-syllable adjectives ending in

-y, -ow, -er, or consonant +-le , with loud stress on the first syllable

and weak stress on the second, form their comparative and superlative by

the addition of the suffixes -er and -est.

Positive Comparative Superlative

clever cleverer cleverest

narrow narrower narrowest

pretty prettier prettiest

simple simpler simplest

Adjectives derived by prefixes from those that use -er/-est also use

these suffixes, even though the addition of prefixes makes them longer that

two syllables: unhappy - unhappier –unhappiest.

All adjectives other than those enumerated above form their comparative

by using the intensifier more and their superlative by using the

intensifier the most.

Positive Comparative Superlative

interesting more interesting the most interesting

generous more generous the most generous

personal more personal the most personal

In a very few cases, English permits a choice between the two devices:

commoner / more common, commonest / the most common. Ordinary, when one

form is prescribed by the rules, the other is forbidden.

A few adjectives have irregular forms for the degrees of comparison.

They are:

good - better - the best

bad - worse - the worst

far - farther - the farthest (for distance)

- further - the furthest (for time and distance)

near - nearer - the nearest (for distance)

- next (for order)

late - later - the latest (for time)

- last (for order)

old - older - the oldest (for age)

- elder - the eldest (for seniority rather the age; used only

attributively)

There are some adjectives that, on account of their meaning, do not

admit of comparison at all, e.g. perfect, unique, full, empty, square,

round, wooden, daily, upper, major, outer, whole, only and some others.

There are sentence patterns in which comparison is expressed:

a) comparison of equality (as … as)

e.g. The boy was as shy as a monkey.

b) comparison of inequality (not so ... as, not as ... as)

e.g. His skin was not so bronzed as a Tahiti native’s.

c) comparison of superiority (... –er than, ... –est of (in, ever)

e.g. He looked younger than his years, much younger than Sheila or me.

d) comparison of inferiority ( less ... than)

e.g. John is less musical than his sister.

e) comparison of parallel increase or decrease (the ... the, ...-er as)

e.g. The longer I think of his proposal the less I like it.

There are set phrases which contain the comparative or the superlative

degree of an adjective:

a) a change for the better (for the worst) – перемена к лучшему ( к

худшему)

b) none the less – тем не менее

c) so much the better ( the worst) – тем лучше (хуже)

d) to be the worst for – делать что-то хуже, еще больше

e) no (none the) worse for – хуже не станет (не стало) от ...

f) if the worst comes to the worst – в худшем случае

g) to go from bad to worse – становиться все хуже и хуже

h) as best - в полную меру старания, как только можно

i) at (the) best - в лучшем случае

Substantivization of Adjectives.

Sometimes adjectives become substantivized. In this case they have the

functions of nouns in the sentence and are always preceded by the definite

article. Substantivized adjectives may have two meanings:

1) They may indicate a class of persons in a general sense (e.g. the poor =

poor people, the dead = dead people, etc.) Such adjectives are plural in

meaning and take a plural verb.

e.g. The old receive pensions.

If we wish to denote a single person we must add a noun.

e.g. The old man receives a pension.

If we wish to refer to a particular group of persons (not the whole

class), it is aslo necessary to add a noun.

e.g. The young are usually intolerant.

Some adjectives denoting nationalities (e.g. English, French, Dutch) are

used in the same way.

e.g. The English are great lovers of tea.

2) Substantivized adjectives may also indicate an abstract notion. Then

they are singular in meaning and take a singular verb.

e.g. The good in him overweighs the bad.
Syntactic Functions of Adjectives.

Adjectives may serve in the sentence as:

1) an attribute

e.g. Do you see the small green boat, which has such an odd shape?

Adjectives used as attributes usually immediately precede the noun.

Normally there is no pause between the adjective and the noun. Such

attributes are called close attributes.

However, an adjective placed in pre-position to the noun may be

separated from it by a pause. Then it becomes a loose attribute.

e.g. Clever and tactful, George listened to my story with deep concern.

Yet loose attributes are more often found in post-position to the noun.

e.g. My father, happy and tired, kissed me good-night.

2) a predicative

3) part of a compound verbal predicate

4) an objective predicative

5) a subjective predicative

It should be noted that most adjectives can be used both attributively

and predicatively, but some, among them those beginning with a-, can be

used only as predicatives (e.g. afraid, asleep, along, alive, awake,

ashamed and also content, sorry, well, ill, due, etc.)

A few adjectives can be used only as attributes (e.g. outer, major,

minor, only, whole, former, latter and some others)

Position of Adjectives.

1 Most adjectives can be used in a noun group, after determiners and

numbers if there are any, in front of the noun.

e.g. He had a beautiful smile.

2 Most adjectives can also be used after a link verb such as ‘be’,

‘become’, or ‘feel’.

e.g. I'm cold.

3. Some adjectives are normally used only after a link verb.

afraid asleep due ready unable

alive aware glad sorry well

alone content ill sure

4. Some adjectives are normally used only in front of a noun.

eastern existing neighbouring

northern atomic indoor occasional

southern countless introductory outdoor

western digital maximum

5. When we use an adjective to emphasize a strong feeling or opinion, it

always comes in front of a noun.

absolute outright pure true

complete perfect real utter

entire positive total

6. Some adjectives that describe size or age can come after a noun group

consisting of a number or determiner and a noun that indicates the unit of

measurement.

deep long tall wide

high old thick

7. A few adjectives are used alone after a noun.

designate elect galore incarnate

8. A few adjectives have a different meaning depending on whether they come

in front of or after a noun.

concerned involved present proper responsible

Order of Adjectives.

1. We often want to add more information to a noun than you can with one

adjective, so we need to use two or more adjectives. In theory, we can use

the adjectives in any order, depending on the quality you want to

emphasize. In practice, however, there is a normal order.

When we use two or more adjectives in front of a noun, we usually put an

adjective that expresses our opinion in front of an adjective that just

describes something.

e.g. You live in a nice big house.

2. When we use more than one adjective to express our opinion, an adjective

with a more general meaning such as ‘good’, ‘bad’, ‘nice’, or ‘lovely’

usually comes before an adjective with a more specific meaning such as

‘comfortable’, ‘clean’, or ‘dirty’.

e.g. I sat in a lovely comfortable armchair in the corner.

3. We can use adjectives to describe various qualities of people or things.

For example, we might want to indicate their size, their shape, or the

country they come from.

Descriptive adjectives belong to six main types, but we are unlikely

ever to use all six types in the same noun group. If we did, we would

normally put them in the following order:

size shape age colour nationality material

This means that if we want to use an ‘age’ adjective and a ‘nationality’

adjective, we put the ‘age’ adjective first.

We met some young Chinese girls.

Similarly, a ‘shape’ adjective normally comes before a ‘colour’

adjective.

e.g. He had round black eyes.

Other combinations of adjectives follow the same order. Note that

‘material’ means any substance, not only cloth.

e.g. There was a large round wooden table in the room.

The man was carrying a small black plastic bag.

4. We usually put comparative and superlative adjectives in front of other

adjectives.

e.g. Some of the better English actors have gone to live in Hollywood.

5. When we use a noun in front of another noun, we never put adjectives

between them. We put any adjectives in front of the first noun.

e.g. He works in the French film industry.

6. When we use two adjectives as the complement of a link verb, we use a

conjunction such as ‘and’ to link them. With three or more adjectives, we

link the last two with a conjunction, and put commas after the others.

e.g. The day was hot and dusty.

Adjectives with prepositions.

1. When we use an adjective after a link verb, we can often use the

adjective on its own or followed by a prepositional phrase.

e.g. He was afraid.

2. Some adjectives cannot be used alone after a link verb. If they are

followed by a prepositional phrase, it must have a particular preposition:

aware of unaware of fond of

accustomed to unaccustomed to used to

e.g. I've always been terribly fond of you.

3. Some adjectives can be used alone, or followed by a particular

preposition.

used alone, or with ‘of ’ to specify the cause of a feeling

afraid critical jealous suspicious

ashamed envious proud terrified

convinced frightened scared tired

They may feel jealous of your success.

used alone, or with ‘of ’ to specify the person who has a quality

brave good polite thoughtful

careless intelligent sensible unkind

clever kind silly unreasonable

generous nice stupid wrong

That was clever of you!

used alone or with ‘to’, usually referring to:

similarity: close equal identical

related similar

marriage: married engaged

loyalty: dedicated devoted loyal

rank: junior senior

e.g.My problems are very similar to yours.

used alone, or followed by 'with' to specify the cause of a feeling

bored displeased impatient pleased

content dissatisfied impressed satisfied

e.g. I could never be bored with football.

used alone, or with ‘for’ to specify the person or thing that quality

relates to

common essential possible unusual

difficult important unnecessary usual

easy necessary

e.g. It's difficult for young people on their own.

4. Some adjectives can be used alone, or used with different prepositions.

used alone, with an impersonal subject and ‘of ’ and the subject of the

action, or with a personal subject and ‘to’ and the object of the action

cruel good nasty rude

friendly kind nice unfriendly

generous mean polite unkind

e.g. It was rude of him to leave so suddenly.

Adjectives with ‘to’-infinitive or ‘that’-clauses

1. After link verbs, we often use adjectives that describe how someone

feels about an action or situation. With some adjectives, we can add a

‘to’-infinitive clause or a ‘that’-clause to say what the action or

situation is.

afraid disappointed happy sad

anxious frightened pleased surprised

ashamed glad proud unhappy

If the subject is the same in both clauses, we usually use a ‘to’-

infinitive clause. If the subject is different, we must use a ‘that’-

clause.

e.g. I was happy to see them again.

We often use a ‘to’-infinitive clause when talking about future time in

relation to the main clause.

e.g. I am afraid to go home.

We often use a ‘that’-clause when talking about present or past time in

relation to the main clause.

e.g. He was anxious that the passport was missing.

2. We often use ‘sorry’ with a ‘that’-clause. Note that ‘that’ is often

omitted.

e.g. I'm very sorry that I can't join you.

3. Some adjectives are not usually used alone, but have a ‘to’-infinitive

clause after them to say what action or situation the adjective relates to.

able due likely unlikely

apt inclined prepared unwilling

bound liable ready willing

e.g. They were unable to help her.

4. When we want to express an opinion about someone or something, we often

use an adjective followed by a ‘to’-infinitive clause.

difficult easy impossible possible right

wrong

e.g. She had been easy to deceive.

5. With some adjectives, we use a ‘that’-clause to express an opinion about

someone or something.

awful extraordinary important sad

bad funny interesting true

essential good obvious

e.g. I was sad that people had reacted in this way.

6. We can also use adjectives with ‘to’-infinitive clauses after ‘it’ as

the impersonal subject. We use the preposition ‘of ’ or ‘for’ to indicate

the person or thing that the adjective relates to.

e.g. It was easy to find the path.

Adjectives ending in ‘-ing’ or ‘-ed’

We use many ‘-ing’ adjectives to describe the effect that something has on

our feelings, or on the feelings of people in general. For example, if we

talk about 'a surprising number', we mean that the number surprises us.

alarming charming embarrassing surprising

amazing confusing exciting terrifying

annoying convincing frightening tiring

astonishing depressing interesting welcoming

boring disappointing shocking worrying

e.g. He lives in a charming house just outside the town.

We use some ‘-ing’ adjectives to describe something that continues over a

period of time.

ageing decreasing existing living

booming dying increasing remaining

e.g. Britain is an ageing society.

Many ‘-ed’ adjectives describe people's feelings. They have the same form

as the past participle of a transitive verb and have a passive meaning. For

example, ‘a frightened person’ is a person who has been frightened by

something.

alarmed delighted frightened surprised

amused depressed interested tired

astonished disappointed satisfied troubled

bored excited shocked worried

e.g. She looks alarmed about something.

4. Like other adjectives, ‘-ing’ and ‘-ed’ adjectives can be:

used in front of a noun

They still show amazing loyalty to their parents.

5. A small number of ‘-ed‘ adjectives are normally only used after link

verbs such as ‘be‘, ‘become‘, or ‘feel‘. They are related to transitive

verbs, and are often followed by a prepositional phrase, a ‘to‘-infinitive

clause, or a ‘that‘-clause.

convinced interested prepared tired

delighted involved scared touched

finished pleased thrilled worried

e.g. The Brazilians are pleased with the results.

Practical part

Degrees of Comparison.

There are sentence patterns in which comparison is expressed:

a) comparison of equality (as … as)

After his bathe, the inspector was as fresh as a fish.

When he had left Paris, it was as cold as in winter there.

b) comparison of inequality (not so ... as, not as ... as)

The sun is not so hot today as I thought it would be.

You are not as nice as people think.

c) comparison of superiority (... –er than, ... –est of (in, ever)

To my mind the most interesting thing in art is the personality of

the artist.

My mother was the proudest of women, and she was vain, but in the end

she had an eye for truth.

It’s the biggest risk I’ve ever had to take.

d) comparison of inferiority ( less ... than)

He had the consolation of noting that his friend was less sluggish

than before.

e) comparison of parallel increase or decrease (the ... the, ...-er as)

The sooner this is done, the better.

He became more cautious as he grew older.

There are set phrases which contain the comparative or the superlative

degree of an adjective:

a) e.g. There seem to be a change for the better in your uncle. He had a very

hearty dinner yesterday.

b) e.g. It did not take him long to make up his mind. None the less she showed

her scorn for his hesitation.

c) e.g. If he will help us, so much the better.

If he doesn’t work, so much the worst for him.

d) e.g. He is rather the worst for drink.

e) e.g. You’ll be no worse for having her to help you.

You are none the worse for the experience.

f) e.g. If the worst comes to the worst, I can always go back home to my

parents.

g) e.g. Thinks went from bad to worse in the family.

h) e.g. He made a living as best he could.

i) e.g. She cannot get away from her home for long. At (the) best she can stay

with us for two days.

Substantivization of Adjectives.

1) They may indicate a class of persons in a general sense (e.g. the poor =

poor people, the dead = dead people, etc.) Such adjectives are plural in

meaning and take a plural verb.

The young are always romantic, aren’t they?

The blind are taught trades in special schools.

2) Substantivized adjectives may also indicate an abstract notion. Then

they are singular in meaning and take a singular verb.

My mother never lost her taste for extravagant.

Syntactic Functions of Adjectives.

1) an attribute

The lights of the farm blazed out in the windy darkness.

2) a predicative

He looked mature, sober and calm.

3) part of a compound verbal predicate

She lay motionless, as if she were asleep.

4) an objective predicative

She wore her hair short.

5) a subjective predicative

Her hair was dyed blonde.

Position of Adjectives.

1 Most adjectives can be used in a noun group, after determiners and

numbers if there are any, in front of the noun.

She bought a loaf of white bread.

There was no clear evidence.

2 Most adjectives can also be used after a link verb such as ‘be’,

‘become’, or ‘feel’.

I felt angry.

Nobody seemed amused.

3. Some adjectives are normally used only after a link verb.

For example, we can say ‘She was glad’, but you do not talk about ‘a glad

woman’.

I wanted to be alone.

We were getting ready for bed.

I'm not quite sure.

He didn't know whether to feel glad or sorry.

4. Some adjectives are normally used only in front of a noun.

For example, we talk about ‘an atomic bomb’, but we do not say ‘The bomb

was atomic’.

He sent countless letters to the newspapers.

This book includes a good introductory chapter on forests.

5. When we use an adjective to emphasize a strong feeling or opinion, it

always comes in front of a noun.

Some of it was absolute rubbish.

He made me feel like a complete idiot.

6. Some adjectives that describe size or age can come after a noun group

consisting of a number or determiner and a noun that indicates the unit of

measurement.

He was about six feet tall.

The water was several metres deep.

The baby is nine months old.

Note that you do not say ‘two pounds heavy’, you say ‘two pounds in

weight’.

7. A few adjectives are used alone after a noun.

There are empty houses galore.

8. A few adjectives have a different meaning depending on whether they come

in front of or after a noun.

For example, ‘the concerned mother’ means a mother who is worried, but ‘the

mother concerned’ means the mother who has been mentioned.

It's one of those incredibly involved stories.

The people involved are all doctors.

I'm worried about the present situation.

Of the 18 people present, I knew only one.

Her parents were trying to act in a responsible manner.

We do not know the person responsible for his death.

Order of Adjectives.

1. When we use two or more adjectives in front of a noun, we usually put an

adjective that expresses our opinion in front of an adjective that just

describes something.

He is a naughty little boy.

She was wearing a beautiful pink suit.

2. When we use more than one adjective to express our opinion, an adjective

with a more general meaning such as ‘good’, ‘bad’, ‘nice’, or ‘lovely’

usually comes before an adjective with a more specific meaning such as

‘comfortable’, ‘clean’, or ‘dirty’.

He put on a nice clean shirt.

It was a horrible dirty room.

3. We can use adjectives to describe various qualities of people or things.

For example, we might want to indicate their size, their shape, or the

country they come from.

4. We usually put comparative and superlative adjectives in front of other

adjectives.

These are the highest monthly figures on record.

5. When we use a noun in front of another noun, we never put adjectives

between them. We put any adjectives in front of the first noun.

He receives a large weekly cash payment.

6. When we use two adjectives as the complement of a link verb, we use a

conjunction such as ‘and’ to link them. With three or more adjectives, we

link the last two with a conjunction, and put commas after the others.

The room was large but square.

The house was old, damp and smelly.

We felt hot, tired and thirsty.

Adjectives with prepositions.

1. When we use an adjective after a link verb, we can often use the

adjective on its own or followed by a prepositional phrase.

He was afraid of his enemies.

2. Some adjectives cannot be used alone after a link verb. If they are

followed by a prepositional phrase, it must have a particular preposition:

He is unaccustomed to the heat.

3. Some adjectives can be used alone, or followed by a particular

preposition.

used alone, or with ‘of ’ to specify the cause of a feeling

I was terrified of her.

4. Some adjectives can be used alone, or used with different prepositions.

She was rude to him for no reason.

Adjectives with ‘to’-infinitive or ‘that’-clauses

1. After link verbs, we often use adjectives that describe how someone

feels about an action or situation. With some adjectives, we can add a

‘to’-infinitive clause or a ‘that’-clause to say what the action or

situation is.

He was happy that they were coming to the party.

2. We often use ‘sorry’ with a ‘that’-clause. Note that ‘that’ is often

omitted.

I'm sorry I'm so late.

3. Some adjectives are not usually used alone, but have a ‘to’-infinitive

clause after them to say what action or situation the adjective relates to.

They were not likely to forget it.

I am willing to try.

I'm prepared to say I was wrong.

4. When we want to express an opinion about someone or something, we often

use an adjective followed by a ‘to’-infinitive clause.

The windows will be almost impossible to open.

Am I wrong to stay here?

5. With some adjectives, we use a ‘that’-clause to express an opinion about

someone or something.

. It is extraordinary that we should ever have met!

6. We can also use adjectives with ‘to’-infinitive clauses after ‘it’ as

the impersonal subject. We use the preposition ‘of ’ or ‘for’ to indicate

the person or thing that the adjective relates to.

It was good of John to help me.

It was difficult for her to find a job.

Adjectives ending in ‘-ing’ or ‘-ed’

We use many ‘-ing’ adjectives to describe the effect that something has on

our feelings, or on the feelings of people in general. For example, if we

talk about 'a surprising number', we mean that the number surprises us.

She always has a warm welcoming smile.

We use some ‘-ing’ adjectives to describe something that continues over a

period of time.

Increasing prices are making food very expensive.

Many ‘-ed’ adjectives describe people's feelings. They have the same form

as the past participle of a transitive verb and have a passive meaning. For

example, ‘a frightened person’ is a person who has been frightened by

something.

A bored student complained to his teacher.

She had big blue frightened eyes.

4. Like other adjectives, ‘-ing’ and ‘-ed’ adjectives can be:

used in front of a noun

This is the most terrifying tale ever written.

I was thanked by the satisfied customer.

The worried authorities cancelled the match.

used after link verbs

It's amazing what they can do.

The present situation is terrifying.

He felt satisfied with all the work he had done.

My husband was worried.

5. A small number of ‘-ed‘ adjectives are normally only used after link

verbs such as ‘be‘, ‘become‘, or ‘feel‘. They are related to transitive

verbs, and are often followed by a prepositional phrase, a ‘to‘-infinitive

clause, or a ‘that‘-clause.

He was always prepared to account for his actions.

She was scared that they would find her.

Conclusion

It should be noted that the meaning of unrestricted superiority is in- built in the superlative degree as such, though in practice this form is used in collocations imposing certain restrictions on the effected comparison; thus, the form in question may be used to signify restricted superiority, namely, in cases where a limited number of referents are compared. Cf.: Johnny was the strongest boy in the company.

Some linguists approach the number of the degrees of comparison as problematic on the grounds that the basic form of the adjective does not express any comparison by itself and therefore should be excluded from the category. This exclusion would reduce the category to two members only, i.e. the comparative and superlative degrees.

However, the oppositional interpretation of grammatical categories underlying our considerations does not admit of such an exclusion; on the contrary, the non-expression of superiority by the basic form is understood in the oppositional presentation of comparison as a pre-requisite for the expression of the category as such. In this expression of the category the basic form is the unmarked member, not distinguished by any comparison suffix or comparison auxiliary, while the superiority forms (i.e. the comparative and superlative) are the marked members, distinguished by the comparison suffixes or comparison auxiliaries.

On the other hand, due to the tendency of colloquial speech to contrastive variation, such extreme qualifiers can sometimes be modified by intensifying elements. Thus, "the final decision" becomes "a very final decision"; "the ultimate rejection" turns into "rather an ultimate rejection"; "the crucial role" is made into "quite a crucial role", etc.

As a result of this kind of modification, the highest grade evaluative force of these words is not strengthened, but, on the contrary, weakened; the outwardly extreme qualifiers become degraded extreme qualifiers, even in this status similar to the regular categorial superlatives degraded in their elative use.

List

1. Dixon, R. M. W. (1977). Where have all the adjectives gone? Studies in Language, 1, 19–80.

2. Dixon, R. M. W.; R. E. Asher (Editor) (1993). The Encyclopedia of Language and Linguistics (1st ed.). Pergamon Press Inc. pp. 29–35. ISBN 0080359434. 

3. 
   Dixon, R. M. W. (1999). Adjectives. In K. Brown & T. Miller (Eds.), Concise encyclopedia of grammatical categories (pp. 1–8). Amsterdam: Elsevier. ISBN 0-08-043164-X.
   
4. 
   Warren, Beatrice. (1984). Classifying adjectives. Gothenburg studies in English (No. 56). Göteborg: Acta Universitatis Gothoburgensis. ISBN 91-7346-133-4.
   
5. 
   Wierzbicka, Anna. (1986). What's in a noun? (or: How do nouns differ in meaning from adjectives?). Studies in Language, 10, 353–389.