adjectives

ADJECTIVES

A Presentationby

Group B

Table of Contents• General Idea.• Types of Adjectives.

• Descriptive Adjectives• Possessive Adjectives• Demonstrative Adjectives• Interrogative Adjectives• Indefinite Adjectives• Collective Adjectives• A- Adjectives.• Superlative Adjectives.• Comparative Adjectives

• Identifying Adjectives.• Position of Adjectives.• Degree of Adjectives.

GENERAL IDEA.

General Idea on Adjectives.

• Modifies a noun or a pronoun by describing, identifying, or quantifying words.

• Usually precedes the noun or the pronoun which it modifies

• Can be modified by an adverb, or by a phrase or clause functioning as an adverb.

• Some nouns, many pronouns, and many participle phrases can also act as adjectives.

• Articles (the, a, and an) are also considered as adjectives in certain circumstances.

TYPES OF ADJECTIVES.

Types of Adjectives.

• There are 9 types of adjective that are commonly used in the English Language.• Descriptive Adjectives

– Simple, Compound & Proper Adjectives.

• Possessive Adjectives• Demonstrative Adjectives• Interrogative Adjectives• Indefinite Adjectives• Collective Adjectives• A- Adjectives• Superlative Adjectives• Comparative Adjectives

To find an adjective you need to locate the nouns first.

Three happy children played at the park.

The donkey stepped on my large hat.

The child was brave.

SIMPLE ADJECTIVES

• Simple adjectives, as their name suggests, are the most basic type of descriptive adjectives.

• They function to express quality. • Aspects such as feelings, time, sound,

quantity, taste, appearance, size, age, color, shape, and material are expressed through simple adjectives.

• SWIFT • MODERN • ANCIENT • SWEET

• ALERT • BEIGE • FUZZY • GIANT

• TEENY • MASSIVE • MELLOW • DIM

• DULL • CRAZY • SANE • HUNGRY

• RED • YELLOW • BLUE • SOFT

COMPOUND ADJECTIVES

• Compound adjectives are created when two words are combined to create a descriptive adjective.

• The two words are typically connected with a hyphen.

• self-centered • ice-cold • next-door

• life-giving • bow-legged • long-legged

• four-sided • three-headed • pigeon-toed

• high-heeled • candy-stripped • left-handed

• freckle-faced • short-tempered

• heavy-handed

• red-blooded • tight-fisted • hard-nosed

• baby-faced • sure-footed • hard-hearted

PROPER ADJECTIVES

• Nations, regions, and religions are common qualities described by proper adjectives.

• Because they are derived from proper nouns, proper adjectives are always capitalized.

• Italian • French • English • Mayan

• Mexican • Peruvian • Chinese • Canadian

• Antarctic • Pacific • Atlantic • Roman

• Cuban • American • Turkish • Christian

• Hindu • Greek • Spanish • Buddhist

For example:

USING DESCRIPTIVE ADJECTIVES

• When using multiple descriptive adjectives in a sentence, there is an order in which they should be arranged.

• Adjectives that describe opinion typically preceded adjectives that describe color, size, shape, etc.

• For example, the sentence

The ugly red chair sat in the corner is preferable to The red ugly chair sat in the corner.

• In addition, adjectives are usually arranged in a sentence from those that are more general

in scope to those that are more specific.

• For example, The big Egyptian mask hanging on the wall. is preferable toThe Egyptian big mask hanging on the wall.

The blue silken curtains hanging in the bedroom.is preferable toThe silken blue curtains hanging in the bedroom.

Possessive Adjectives

• Explanation:• Possessive pronouns that are used as adjectives and

modifies a noun or a noun phrase.

• Examples :Possessive AdjectivesNouns or Nouns Phrase

– I can’t complete my assignment because I don’t have the textbook. (Object)– What is your phone number? (Subject Complement)– After many years, she returned to her homeland. (Object of Preposition ‘to’)

Demonstrative Adjectives.

• Explanation :– Demonstrative pronouns that are used to modify nouns or

noun phrases.

• Examples :Demonstrative AdjectivesNouns or Nouns Phrase

– When the librarian tripped over that cord, she dropped a pile of books. (Object of Preposition ‘over’)

– This apartment needs to be fumigated. (Subject of The Sentence)– Even though my friend preferred those plates, I bought these.* (Object of Verb

‘preferred’)

Interrogative Adjectives.

• Explanation :– Interrogative pronoun, it modifies a noun or noun

phrase rather than standing on its own.• Examples :

Interrogative AdjectivesNouns or Nouns Phrase

– Which plants should be watered twice a week? (Object of Compound Verb ‘ should be watered’)

– What book are you reading? (Direct Object of Compound Verb ‘are reading’)

Indefinite Adjectives.

• Explanation :– Indefinite pronoun, except that it modifies a noun,

pronoun, or noun phrase.

• Examples :Indefinite AdjectivesNouns or Nouns Phrase

– Many people believe that corporations are under-taxed. (Subject of The Sentence)– I will send you any mail that arrives after you have moved to Sudbury. (Direct Object of

The Compound Verb ‘will send’)– They found a few goldfish floating belly up in the swan pound. (Direct Object of Verb

‘found’)–

Collective Adjectives• When the definite article, the, is combined with an adjective

describing a class or group of people, the resulting phrase can act as a noun: the poor, the rich, the oppressed, the homeless, the lonely, the unlettered, the unwashed, the gathered, the dear departed.

• The difference between a Collective Noun (which is usually regarded as singular but which can be plural in certain contexts) and a collective adjective is that the latter is always plural and requires a plural verb:– The rural poor have been ignored by the media. – The rich of Connecticut are responsible. – The elderly are beginning to demand their rights. – The young at heart are always a joy to be around.

A- Adjectives• The most common of the so-called a- adjectives are ablaze, afloat, afraid,

aghast, alert, alike, alive, alone, aloof, ashamed, asleep, averse, awake, aware. These adjectives will primarily show up as predicate adjectives (i.e., they come after a linking verb).

– The children were ashamed. – The professor remained aloof. – The trees were ablaze.

• Occasionally, however, you will find a- adjectives before the word they modify: the alert patient, the aloof physician. Most of them, when found before the word they modify, are themselves modified:

– the nearly awake student, the terribly alone scholar.

• And a- adjectives are sometimes modified by "very much": very much afraid, very much alone, very much ashamed, etc.

SUPERLATIVES ADJECTIVES

• The form of an adjective indicating the greatest degree of the quality that the adjective describes.

Formation of Superlative Adjectives

• As with comparative adjectives, there are two ways to form a superlative adjective:

• short adjectives: add "-est"• long adjectives: use "most“• We also usually add 'the' at the

beginning.

SHORT ADJECTIVES

• 1-syllable adjectives old, fast

• 2-syllable adjectives ending in -y happy, easy

• Normal rule: add "-est" old > the oldest

• Variation: if the adjective ends in -e, just late > the latest • add -st

• Variation: if the adjective ends in consonant, big > the biggest • vowel, consonant, double the last consonant

• Variation: if the adjective ends in -y, happy > the happiest • change the y to i

2-syllable adjectives not ending in -y

modern, pleasant

all adjectives of 3 or more syllables

expensive, intellectual

Normal rule: use "most" modern > the most modernexpensive > the most

expensive

With some 2-syllable adjectives, we can use '-est' or 'most':

-quiet > the quietest/most quiet -clever > the cleverest/most clever -narrow > the narrowest/most narrow -simple > the simplest/most simple

• ExceptionThe following adjectives have irregular forms:

~ good > the best ~ bad > the worst ~ far > the furthest

When we compare one thing with itself, we do not use "the":

•England is coldest in winter. (not the coldest)

• My boss is most generous when we get a big order. (not the most generous)

Forming regular superlatives

• How these forms are created depends on how many syllables there are in the adjective.

Syllables are like "sound beats". For instance, "sing" contains one syllable, but "singing"

contains two -- sing and ing.

ADJECTIVE SUPERLATIVE

Only one syllable, ending in E.

wide, fine, cute

Add -ST:widest, finest, cutest

Only one syllable, with one vowel and one consonant

at the end. hot, big, fat

Double the consonant, and add -EST:

hottest, biggest, fattest

Only one syllable, with more than one vowel or

more than one consonant at the end.

light, neat, fast

Add -EST:lightest, neatest, fastest

Use of Superlative Adjectives

We use a superlative adjective to describe one thing in a group of three or more things.

Look at these examples:

• John is 175cm. David is 180cm. Chris is 185cm. Chris is the tallest.

• Canada, China and Russia are big countries. But Russia is the biggest.

• Mount Everest is the highest mountain in the world.

Superlatives are used to compare more than two things. Superlative sentences usually use

THE, because there is only one superlative.

Examples:

• Masami is the tallest in the class.• Yukio is tall, and Jiro is taller, but Masami is the

tallest.

COMPARATIVE ADJECTIVES

WHAT IS COMPARATIVE ADJECTIVES?

•When we talk about two things, we can "compare" them. We can see if they are

the same or different. Perhaps they are the same in some ways and different in other ways. We can use comparative adjectives

to describe the differences.

• We can use comparative adjectives when talking about two things (not three or

more things).

Formation Of Comparative Adjectives

•There are two ways to make or form a comparative adjective:

•short adjectives: add "-er“

•long adjectives: use "more“

SHORT ADJECTIVES

•1-syllable adjectivese.g old, fast

•2-syllable adjectives ending in -ye.g happy, easy

Normal rule:•add "-er“

e.g old > older fat- fatter hot -hotter

•Variation: if the adjective ends in -e, just add –re.g late > later

nice -nicer safe -safer

•Variation: if the adjective ends in consonant, vowel, consonant, double the last consonant

e.g big > bigger fat- fatter hot -hotter

•Variation: if the adjective ends in -y, change the y to i e.g happy > happier

early - earlier crazy - crazier

LONG ADJECTIVES

•2-syllable adjectives not ending in -ye.g modern, pleasant

•all adjectives of 3 or more syllablese.g expensive, intellectual

•Normal rule:Use "more“modern > more modern

expensive > more expensive honest > more honest difficult > more difficult

•With some 2-syllable adjectives, we can use '-er' or 'more': quiet > quieter/more quiet clever > cleverer/more clever narrow > narrower/more narrow simple > simpler/more simple

Use of Comparative Adjectives•We use comparative adjectives when talking about 2 things (not 3 or 10 or 1,000,000 things, only 2 things).•Often, the comparative adjective is followed by "than".•Look at these examples:

- John is 180cm. He is tall. But Chris is 185cm. He is taller than John. - Is French more difficult than English?

•Although we use comparative adjectives when talking about two things (not three or more things), in fact one or both of the things may be a group of things.

Example :- Mt Everest is higher than all other mountains.Here, we are talking about hundreds of mountains, but we are still

comparing one thing (Mt Everest) to one other thing (all other mountains).

How Do Comparatives Work Grammatically?

•Comparative + than as a conjunction-when than is used as a conjunction it introduces a clause, called a

comparative clause

Example :•Samantha is slimmer than her mother.•Harry says his sister is heavier than he is.

Comparative + than as a preposition- in normal everyday English, people often used the object form of personal pronouns when omitting the verb after than; so than is then operating like a

preposition.

Example :Hazel has neater handwriting than me.She is keener on dancing than them.

Comparative + than clauses of other kinds-the comparison need not be between the relative

qualities of different individuals or things; it can be between states or performances of the same thing or person at different times,

Example :I’m fatter now than I was two years ago.We’ve had better weather than is usual for the time of year.

- or it can be between expectation and reality

Example :My holiday was more enjoyable than I expected.Sales were lower than was anticipated.

• Comparative with the than clause omitted- very often it is unnecessary to include a than clause

Example :• My headache was getting worse.

[than it had been]• It’s cooler today, isn’t it?

• Comparative + and + repeated comparative- you can use the forms such as angrier and angrier to express the idea of a situation intensifying.

Example :• The sky grew lighter and lighter in the east.• She keeps accepting more and more work- no

wonder she’s exhausted

• Comparative + than + amount- than act as a preposition in expressions

Example :• Choose any number greater than zero.• We had fewer than 20 volunteers helping with the

search.

• Comparative + to- there are some adjectives with the ending

–ior in English that come from Latin, and can be used in a comparative or non-

comparative way. When they are used comparatively, they are followed by to, not than.

Example :• The junior pupils finish school at 3.30pm.• The senior pupils finish school at 4.30pm.

• Comparative + of- the + comparative can be followed by of + the two people or things being compared.

Example :• The taller of the two girls was called Minnie.• Travelling by train is the more convenient of the two

options.

Much, far, a lot, a little, etc + comparative- the usual intensifiers used with comparatives

are much (also very much), far and a lot. You can also use a little, a bit, and slightly to

indicate that there isn’t much difference.

Example :I’m feeling much better, thank you.This route is slightly quicker than the other one.

Any and no + comparative- you use no + comparative, or not any + comparative to indicate that there is no difference

Example :I felt no better after taking the pills.It isn’t any cheaper to travel by bus than by train.

IDENTIFYING ADJECTIVES.

Identifying Adjectives.

• There are a few ways in identifying adjectives, including of knowing the forms and the characteristics of adjectives.

• Adjectives can be identified using a number of formal criteria. However, we may begin by saying that they typically describe an attribute of a noun:– cold weather – large windows – violent storms

• Some adjectives can be identified by their endings. Typical adjective endings include:

Endings Examples

-able/-ible achievable, capable, illegible, remarkable

-al biographical, functional, internal, logical

-ful beautiful, careful, grateful, harmful

-ic cubic, manic, rustic, terrific

-ive attractive, dismissive, inventive, persuasive

-less breathless, careless, groundless, restless

-ous courageous, dangerous, disastrous, fabulous

• However, a large number of very common adjectives cannot be identified in this way. They do not have typical adjectival form:

bad bright clever cold

common complete

dark Deep

difficultdistant

elementary good great

honest hot

main morose

oldquiet real

red silent

simple strange wicked wide young

Characteristics of Adjectives.

• Adjectives can take a modifying word, such as very, extremely, or less, before them: – very cold weather – extremely large windows – less violent storms

• Here, the modifying word locates the adjective on a scale of comparison, at a position higher or lower than the one indicated by the adjective alone.

Cont.• This characteristic is known as GRADABILITY. Most adjectives

are gradable, though if the adjective already denotes the highest position on a scale, then it is non-gradable:– my main reason for coming ~*my very main reason for coming– the principal role in the play ~*the very principal role in the play

• As well as taking modifying words like ‘very’ and ‘extremely’, adjectives also take different forms to indicate their position on a scale of comparison:– Big → bigger → biggest.

Cont.• The lowest point on the scale is known as the ABSOLUTE

form, the middle point is known as the COMPARATIVE form, and the highest point is known as the SUPERLATIVE form. Here are some more examples:

Absolute Comparative Superlative

Dark Darker Darkest

New Newer Newest

Old Older Oldest

Young Younger Youngest

Cont.• In most cases, the comparative is formed by adding -er , and

the superlative is formed by adding -est, to the absolute form. However, a number of very common adjectives are irregular in this respect:

Cont.• Some adjectives form the comparative and superlative using

more and most respectively:

Absolute Comparative Superlative

Important More important Most important

Miserable More miserable Most miserable

Recent More recent Most recent

POSITION OF ADJECTIVES.

Position of Adjectives.• Unlike Adverbs, which often seem capable of popping up almost anywhere in a

sentence, adjectives nearly always appear immediately before the noun or noun phrase that they modify.

• Sometimes they appear in a string of adjectives, and when they do, they appear in a set order according to category.

• When indefinite pronouns — such as something, someone, anybody — are modified by an adjective, the adjective comes after the pronoun:– Anyone capable of doing something horrible to someone nice should be punished.

• Something wicked this way comes. And there are certain adjectives that, in combination with certain words, are always "postpositive" (coming after the thing they modify): – The president elect, heir apparent to the Glitzy fortune, lives in New York proper.

DEGREE OF ADJECTIVES.

The Order of Adjectives in a Series

• It would take a linguistic philosopher to explain why we say "little brown house" and not "brown little house" or why we say "red Italian sports car" and not "Italian red sports car."

• The order in which adjectives in a series sort themselves out is perplexing for people learning English as a second language. Most other languages dictate a similar order, but not necessarily the same order.

• It takes a lot of practice with a language before this order becomes instinctive, because the order often seems quite arbitrary (if not downright capricious). There is, however, a pattern.

• You will find many exceptions to the pattern in the table below, but it is definitely important to learn the pattern of adjective order if it is not part of what you naturally bring to the language.

Cont.• The categories in the following table can be described as follows:• Determiners — articles and other limiters. See Determiners • Observation — postdeterminers and limiter adjectives (e.g., a real hero, a

perfect idiot) and adjectives subject to subjective measure (e.g., beautiful, interesting)

• Size and Shape — adjectives subject to objective measure (e.g., wealthy, large, round)

• Age — adjectives denoting age (e.g., young, old, new, ancient) • Color — adjectives denoting color (e.g., red, black, pale) • Origin — denominal adjectives denoting source of noun (e.g., French,

American, Canadian) • Material — denominal adjectives denoting what something is made of

(e.g., woolen, metallic, wooden) • Qualifier — final limiter, often regarded as part of the noun (e.g., rocking

chair, hunting cabin, passenger car, book cover)

END OF SESSION.