Transcript Document
Adjectives To talk or write about a person place or thing, you use nouns like girl, house,or tree. To add descriptions to those nouns that give the reader a clearer picture of what you mean, you add “detail” words in front of the noun like little, blue, rich, old. Words that tell more about nouns or pronouns are called adjectives. Classification of Adjectives one-word adjective--compound adjective dynamic adjective: tall, short, big, small, ugly, beautiful, shallow, deep, blue, white static adjective: abusive, ambitious, awkward, brave, calm, careful, dull, enthusiastic, extravagant, faithful, reasonable, rude, thoughtful, troublesome, vain, vicious, wicked, witty Attributive and predicative adjectives “Attributive” and “predicative” are terms used in grammar to indicate the position of an adjective in a noun phrase. An attributive adjective is one that premodifies a noun (as in “the beautiful girl”). A predicative adjective is one that is used as postmodifier of a noun (“the stars visible”). Attributive and predicative adjectives Attributive adjectives are associated with "permanence", they state -in general- a permanent quality or state of the noun they modify. Predicative adjectives are associated with "temporariness", as in the example "the stars visible", which refers to the stars you can see at a specific time or under specific circumstances. Not all the stars are visible all the time. Attributive and predicative adjectives there are a few general descriptive adjectives which cannot be used as predicate adjectives. For example, the adjectives listed below are normally used only as attributive adjectives. chief, main, principal, sheer, utter Usual Order of Attributive Adjectives a) adjectives indicating size e.g. large, long, narrow b) adjectives indicating weight e.g. heavy, light c) participles and other adjectives e.g. clever, excited, interesting d) adjectives indicating temperature e.g. cold, hot, warm e) adjectives indicating humidity e.g. dry, damp, wet Usual Order of Attributive Adjectives f) adjectives indicating age e.g. new, sixmonth-old, young g) adjectives indicating shape e.g. barrelshaped, round, square h) adjectives indicating color e.g. blue, grey, white i) adjectives indicating materials e.g. cloth, leather, metal Usual Order of Attributive Adjectives j) defining adjectives, usually indicating purpose, method of operation, location, time or categories of people e.g. a small, heavy, snug, warm, 100-yearold, round-bellied black iron Norwegian wood stove Predicate adjectives Adjectives which can be used only as predicate adjectives The following are examples of adjectives with the prefix a- which can be used only as predicate adjectives, not as attributive adjectives. The prefix a- was formerly a preposition meaning on. afloat, afraid, aglow, alive, alone, asleep Gradable and Non-gradable adjectives gradable adjective tall---taller---tallest beautiful---more beautiful---most beautiful Non-gradable adjective: atomic scientist, hydrochloric acid, French food, Chinese carpet, perfect，excellent, extreme Degrees of Adjectives As well as being used to describe persons and things, adjectives which refer to qualities can also be used to compare two or more different persons or things. For instance, in the following sentences. He is as tall as his brother. She is older than her sister. They are the youngest students in the class. Degrees of Adjectives Positive degree: the base form of the adjective or adverb. It does not show comparison. Comparative degree: the form an adjective or adverb takes to compare two things. Superlative degree: the form an adjective or adverb takes to compare three or more things. Positive forms of adjectives preceded and followed by As This type of construction can be used to indicate that the things being compared are equal in some respect. Swans are as white as snow. The meaning of an expression using as, followed by an adjective, followed by as can be qualified by adverbs such as not, almost, twice, three times, half, one-third and so on. “More…than” construction Basic pattern: “comparative degree + than-clause” Eg. This parcel is heavier than that one. Another pattern : “determiner more /less /fewer + noun + than-clause” Eg. I have done more work than he. A variant form pattern: “compatative adjective + noun + than-clause” Eg. John is a more efficient worker than Jack. “(The)+ superlative adjective / adverb + scope of comparison ” Contrast between comparative constructions 1) “More…than” vs quasi-coordinative type 2) “Not so…as”vs “not so much…as” 3) “Not more/ -er…than”vs “no more/- er…than” 4) “The more …the more”vs “more and more”