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Business English at Work © 2003 Glencoe/McGraw-Hill Adjectives Identify limiting, descriptive, possessive, Objectivesadjectives in proper, and demonstrative sentences. Use the articles a, an, and the correctly. Hyphenate compound adjectives when appropriate. continued Business English at Work PP 12-1a Adjectives continued Use the positive, comparative, and Objectives superlative degrees of adjectives correctly. Identify nouns modified by adjectives, adjective phrases, and adjective clauses. Determine the correct usage of commonly misused adjectives. Business English at Work PP 12-1b Adjectives Adjective An adjective is a word that modifies (describes) a noun or a pronoun. Several adjectives often appear in one sentence. More than one adjective may describe the same noun or pronoun. Business English at Work PP 12-2a Adjectives continued Adjective An adjective answers these questions: What kind? green, old, round, strong Which one? this, that, these, those How many? two, few, 300, two-thirds, all, some Whose? hers, Maria’s, companies’ Business English at Work PP 12-2b Adjectives Limiting Adjectives Indicate how many. May be numbers or words. We must wait six weeks for the new chairs. Lisa charges a $200 consulting fee. Business English at Work PP 12-3 Adjectives Descriptive Adjectives Before Nouns Answer the question What kind? Usually precede nouns or follow linking verbs. Are placed as closely as possible to the noun or pronoun they modify. We request sealed bids for the workstation estimates. Back disorders may result from poor posture. Business English at Work PP 12-4 Adjectives Descriptive Adjectives After Linking Verbs Modify nouns or pronouns used as subjects. Act as complements (predicate adjectives). Proper office lighting is important. The noise in this office seems excessive. Business English at Work PP 12-5 Adjectives Possessive Adjectives Possessive pronouns such as my, her, his, your, its, our function as adjectives. Modify a noun or a pronoun. Answer the question whose? You should use a keyboard that meets your needs. He liked his chair at work so much that he bought one for his home office. Richard’s degree is in marketing. Business English at Work PP 12-6 Adjectives Proper Adjectives Proper adjectives are proper nouns or words derived from proper nouns that function as adjectives. They answer the question which? Capitalize most proper adjectives as you would proper nouns. We selected the Italian desk lamps. Do not capitalize proper adjectives when they lose their connections with the proper nouns from which they were derived. Shelly recommends a light blue venetian blind. Business English at Work PP 12-7 Adjectives Demonstrative Adjectives The four demonstrative adjectives that modify nouns are this, that, these, those. These adjectives answer the question which one? or which ones? Use this or that with singular nouns. Use these and those with plural nouns. Business English at Work PP 12-8a Adjectives continued Demonstrative Adjectives Examples— We recommend this computer monitor for employees with vision problems. We will have difficulty complying with that safety regulation. Many of these injuries are unnecessary. Are you sure those keyboards reduce wrist discomfort? Business English at Work PP 12-8b Adjectives Guidelines for Using A or An The initial sound (not the first letter) of the word that follows an article determines whether you will use a or an. Use a before words beginning with a consonant sound. a chair a desk a telephone Use a before words beginning with the long sound of u. a university a union a uniform Business English at Work PP 12-9a Adjectives continued Guidelines for Using A or An Use an before words beginning with the vowel sounds a, e, i, o, and the short sound of u. an asset an outcome an unfortunate accident an estimate Use an before words beginning with silent h. an honest sales staff an hour ago an honor Business English at Work PP 12-9b Adjectives The Article The Use with singular or plural nouns. Place before any other adjective when two or more adjectives precede a noun. Take short rest breaks throughout the day. The indoor air quality of the building is excellent. The most well-known category of CTD is carpal tunnel syndrome. Business English at Work PP 12-10 Adjectives Compound Adjectives—Hyphenated Before and After Nouns Some compound adjective combinations use hyphens when appearing before or after nouns or in other locations in a sentence. This work-related injury could have been prevented. This office was described to me as fast-paced. Business English at Work PP 12-11 Adjectives Compound Adjectives—Hyphenated Only Before Nouns Some compound adjective combinations use a hyphen when appearing before a noun. This well-known furniture company is the one we selected. When these combinations appear in other locations in a sentence, they do not require hyphens. We selected this furniture company because it is well known. Business English at Work PP 12-12 Adjectives Common Compound Adjectives Do not use a hyphen when an adjective plus a noun combination is widely recognized as a concept or institution. Our real estate agent recommended moving to a new location. Most of our positions require more than a high school education. To avoid wrist injury, learn the keystroke combinations for your word processing program. Business English at Work PP 12-13 Adjectives Nouns with Numbers Use a hyphen to connect a number (words or figures) and a noun to form a compound adjective before a noun. A 4-foot workstation A 15-pound object Do not use a hyphen when the expression consisting of a number and noun follows the noun. A workstation that is 4 feet An object that is 15 pounds Business English at Work PP 12-14 Adjectives Numerical Compound Adjectives Use hyphens in the numbers between 21 and 99 when the numbers are written as words. Eighty-two out of one hundred adults will suffer back problems at some point in their lives. Our note to the bank is for $35,533 (Thirty-five thousand five hundred thirty-three dollars). Business English at Work PP 12-15 Adjectives Series of Compound Adjectives Use a hyphen in a series of compound adjectives even though the base noun does not follow each adjective. Are you able to lift 15-, 20-, or 30-pound objects? We had an opportunity to choose 4-, 6-, or 8-foot workstations. Business English at Work PP 12-16 Adjectives “Self” Words Use a hyphen when self is connected to another word to form a compound adjective. self-confidence self-reliant self-fulfilling self-worth Business English at Work PP 12-17 Adjectives Positive Degree Use the positive degree as the base form of the adjective to describe one person, place, thing, quality, idea, or one group of things. bright color quiet printer tall building high bid This turquoise fabric is a bright color. Franklin Office Furniture submitted a high bid on the computer chairs. Business English at Work PP 12-18 Adjectives Comparative Degree Use the comparative degree to compare two people, places, ideas, qualities, or things. brighter color quieter printer taller building higher bid This turquoise fabric is a brighter color than the gray fabric. Franklin Office Furniture submitted a higher bid on the computer chairs than Rincon Furniture. Business English at Work PP 12-19 Adjectives Superlative Degree Use the superlative degree to compare more than two persons, places, or things. brightest color quietest printer tallest building highest bid This turquoise fabric is the brightest color of all the fabric samples. Franklin Office Furniture submitted the highest bid of all the vendors. Business English at Work PP 12-20 Adjectives Guidelines for One-Syllable Adjectives Add er to the positive form for its comparative degree. cool + er = cooler tall old safe high clean Business English at Work + + + + + er er er er er = = = = = taller older safer higher cleaner PP 12-21a Adjectives Guidelines for One-Syllable Adjectives Add est to the positive form for its superlative degree. cool + est = coolest tall old safe high clean Business English at Work + + + + + est est est est est = = = = = tallest oldest safest highest cleanest PP 12-21b Adjectives Guidelines for Two-Syllable Adjectives Add er or add more or less to the positive form for its comparative degree. Add est or add most or least to the positive form for its superlative degree. Positive narrow Comparative Superlative quiet narrower or more narrow quieter or more quiet narrowest or most narrow quietest or most quiet simple simpler simplest Business English at Work PP 12-22 Adjectives Guidelines for Three-Syllable Adjectives Add the words more or less before the positive form for its comparative degree. Add the words most or least before the positive form for its superlative degree. Business English at Work PP 12-23a Adjectives continued Guidelines for Three-Syllable Adjectives Positive Comparative Superlative attractive more attractive most attractive essential more essential most essential efficient less efficient least efficient complicated less complicated least complicated Business English at Work PP 12-23b Adjectives Words Ending in y Change the y to i and add er or est to form the comparative and superlative degrees. Positive Comparative Superlative friendly friendlier friendliest busy busier busiest heavy heavier heaviest happy happier happiest Business English at Work PP 12-24 Adjectives Special Forms Some irregular adjectives change forms in their comparative and superlative forms. Positive good bad little many much Business English at Work Comparative better worse less, lesser more more Superlative best worst littlest, least most most PP 12-25 Adjectives Absolute Adjectives Expresses the highest degree. circular horizontal straight complete ideal supreme correct instantaneous unanimous dead perfect unique empty single vertical Business English at Work PP 12-26 Adjectives Adjective Clauses Use who, whose, which, and that to connect to the noun or pronoun that is modified. Place an adjective clause immediately after the noun that is described. Use commas to set aside the clause when it does not add to the meaning of the sentence (nonrestrictive clause) and do not use commas when the clause is necessary to the meaning of the sentence (restrictive). Business English at Work PP 12-27a Adjectives continued Adjective Clauses Example of nonrestrictive clause The firm’s main office, which is in South Carolina, compiled statistics on workplace injuries. Examples of restrictive clauses Workers who must repeat the same motion throughout the day are most likely to develop RSIs. Several Websites that I discovered provide excellent information about ergonomics. Business English at Work PP 12-27b Adjectives Adjective Phrases Function as modifiers of nouns or pronouns and may be infinitive phrases, participial phrases, or prepositional phrases. To avoid pain in my wrists, I wear a wrist support. Having no break from working on the computer, I noticed that my eyes were dry. The wireless mouse from Computer Town was highly recommended. Business English at Work PP 12-28 Adjectives Fewer/Less Use fewer with plural nouns that can be counted. Use less with singular nouns that refer to degree or amount or to things that cannot be counted. Using computer function keys causes fewer hand injuries. Simple ergonomic changes cost less money to implement than you might imagine. Treehorn Books had fewer complaints after lowering the bookshelves. Business English at Work PP 12-29 Adjectives Farther/Further Use farther to refer to physical distance. Use further to mean additional. The printer is farther from my workstation than I like. The new office supply store is farther from our office than we expected. Poor indoor air quality causes further problems to people with asthma. Jane will provide further information about the workstation at the next meeting. Business English at Work PP 12-30 Adjectives Latter/Later/Last/Latest Use latter to refer to the second of two persons, places, or things mentioned. Use later to refer to time. Use last to refer to whatever follows everything else in a series. Use latest to refer to time (as in most recent). Business English at Work PP 12-31a Adjectives continued Latter/Later/Last/Latest Examples The latter plan for the reception area is more comfortable for visitors than the others that were submitted. The latest set of statistics about work-related injuries just arrived. We ordered new computer keyboards last year. The later time for the planning meeting was not suitable for me. Business English at Work PP 12-31b End of Business English at Work © 2003 Glencoe/McGraw-Hill