542 Chapter 6 Adjectives and adverbs
3 The structure of AdjPs
AdjPs, like other major phrasal categories, may be of considerable internal complexity:
they may contain complements following the head, and modifiers in either pre-head or
post-head position.
3.1 Complementation
Many adjectives license complements in post-head position. Like the post-head com-
plements in NP structure, those in AdjPs almost invariably have the form of PPs or
clauses.
Optional and obligatory complementation
For the most part, complements in AdjP structure are optional elements: they qualify
as complements by virtue of being licensed by the head rather than being obligatory.
Compare:
[1] i a. He was [afraid of dogs]. b. He was [afraid].
ii a. Kim was [very keen to take part]. b. Kim was [very keen].
iii a. He’s [happy to leave it to you]. b. He’s [happy].
In some such cases, however, the interpretation depends on recovering an understood
complement from the context. This is so in [iib], for example, which contrasts in this
regard with [iiib].
There are some adjectives that take a complement that is syntactically obligatory when
the AdjP is in non-attributive function:
[2] i a. They are [mindful of the danger]. b. ∗They are [mindful ].
ii a. We were [loath to accept their help]. b. ∗We were [loath].
iii a. They were [fraught with danger]. b. They were [fraught ].
As usual, we take a complement to be obligatory if its omission results in an unsystematic
change in the meaning of the head. This is the case with [iii]: fraught in [a] means roughly
“full (of), charged, accompanied (by)”, while in [b] it means “anxious, distressed, causing
anxiety/distress”. A high proportion of adjectives that require a complement when used
predicatively or postpositively cannot occur at all in attributive function, but there are
others that can, in which case there is no complement. Compare:
[3] i a. This is [tantamount to a confession]. b. ∗their tantamount confession
ii a. They were [heedless of the danger]. b. this heedless destruction of the forests
The underlined complements in the [a] examples are obligatory, but heedless – unlike
tantamount – can be used in attributive function, where complements are hardly
possible.
§ 3.1 Complementation 543
Adjectives that do not license complements
A large number of adjectives do not license complements of any kind. It is hard or
impossible to find or envisage complements occurring with such adjectives as:
[4] ambulatory bald concise dead enormous farcical
gigantic hasty immediate jaunty lovely main
nefarious ostentatious purple quiet red regular
salty tentative urban vivid wild young
PP complements
We review here a range of constructions with PP complements. For each of the preposi-
tions concerned we give a few examples of AdjPs containing a complement, followed by
a sample of adjectives that license complements headed by this preposition. In the lists of
adjectives we underline those where (for a given sense of the adjective) the complement
is wholly or virtually obligatory in non-attributive constructions.6
Adjective + about
[5] annoyed about the delay concerned about the cost mad about you
[6] aggrieved angry annoyed concerned cross delighted
glad happy knowledgeable mad pleased reasonable
In many cases, about alternates with at (annoyed at the delay). With mad in the sense
“angry”, at and about are possible, but when it indicates enthusiasm or love only about
is used, and here the complement is obligatory; both senses belong to informal
style.
Adjective + at
[7] aghast at the news indignant at the allegations pleased at being invited
adept at making people feel at home good at chess hopeless at arithmetic
[8] adept aghast alarmed amazed amused angry
astonished bad brilliant clever delighted disgusted
gifted good hopeless indignant mad marvellous
pleased puzzled skilled superb talented terrible
Semantically these adjectives fall into two groups. In one (aghast, indignant, etc.) the
adjective denotes a psychological reaction to the phenomenon expressed in the comple-
ment of at : here at is generally replaceable by about. In the other (adept, good, etc.)
the adjective denotes a property, capacity, or failing and the at phrase indicates its
domain.
Adjective + by
[9] very distressed by these insinuations completely unaffected by the changes
[10] amused distressed hurt unaffected unperturbed worried
This construction is confined to adjectives deriving from past participles in their passive
use; it is discussed in Ch. 16, §10.1.3.
6
We do not provide a list for against, but there is one adjective that selects complements headed by this
preposition: No security system is proof against the truly professional burglar.
544 Chapter 6 Adjectives and adverbs
Adjective + for
[11] responsible for the poor performance bad for you greedy for power
[12] answerable anxious bad difficult eager easy
good grateful greedy necessary responsible sorry
Adjective + from
[13] divorced from reality remote from everyday life distinct from each other
[14] alienated averse different differentiated distant distinct
divorced free immune remote removed separated
Averse, different, and immune also take to (which is strongly favoured in the case of
averse). With free, from alternates with of.
Adjective + in
[15] bathed in sunlight fortunate in our choice confident in my ability covered in
dust dressed in military uniform engaged in a court battle steeped in history
[16] bathed clothed confident covered decisive domiciled
dressed embroiled engaged fortunate inherent interested
lacking lucky rooted secure steeped swathed
Covered also takes with, which is preferred over in in examples like covered with a blanket.
Adjective + of
[17] afraid of dogs capable of murder fond of children sure of his facts
indicative of its importance supportive of her husband very kind of you
[18] i afraid ashamed aware beloved bereft capable
certain characteristic cognisant conscious constitutive convinced
desirous destructive devoid distrustful fond full
heedless ignorant illustrative indicative mindful productive
proud reminiscent representative respectful scared short
suggestive supportive sure tired wary worthy
ii careless considerate generous good honest idiotic
kind naive noble pleasant silly stupid
Beloved incorporates a past participle, which accounts for the fact that the semantic roles
are ordered as in a passive clause: compare This tactic is much beloved of administrators and
This tactic is loved by administrators. The adjectives in [18ii] commonly occur in combina-
tion with it + extraposed subject, as in It was very kind of you to wash the dishes, alternat-
ing with a construction with a personal subject: You were very kind to wash the dishes.
Adjective + on/upon
[19] based on/upon firm evidence bent on/upon vengeance incumbent on/upon us
set on/upon regaining power a bit tough on the audience sweet on her
[20] i based bent contingent dependent incumbent intent reliant set
ii big easy hard keen severe sweet
Upon occurs as a somewhat more formal alternant to on with the adjectives in [20i], but
not those in [ii] – where big and sweet are markedly informal.
§ 3.1 Complementation 545
Adjective + to
[21] accustomed to getting his own way allergic to morphine beholden to no one
good to me responsible to the president similar to mine subject to revision
[22] accustomed allergic allied answerable attributable attuned
averse beholden comparable conducive congruent connected
devoted different distasteful due equal equivalent
generous good hospitable hostile impervious inclined
inferior injurious integral kind liable mean
nice opposed parallel prone proportional receptive
reconciled related resigned resistant responsible similar
subject subordinate subservient superior susceptible tantamount
Adjective + toward(s)
[23] very friendly towards us strongly inclined towards the other candidate
respectful towards authority not very sympathetic towards new ideas
[24] antagonistic friendly hostile inclined respectful sympathetic
Except perhaps with inclined, to occurs as an alternant of towards.
Adjective + with
[25] careful with money conversant with the rules fed up with the noise
good with her hands happy with the result obsessed with sex tinged with gold
[26] angry annoyed bored browned off busy careful
cautious comfortable compatible concerned connected consonant
content conversant covered cross delighted depressed
disappointed disgusted distressed effective enchanted familiar
fed up firm fraught friendly furious gentle
good happy harsh impatient obsessed occupied
parallel pleased reckless riddled rife satisfied
sick skilful stricken strict taken tinged
Adjective + comparative as or than
[27] a. %different than it used to be b. the same as last time
[28] a. %different other b. same ?similar such
The adjectives in [28a] express comparison of inequality and take than; those in [b]
express comparison of equality and take as: for detailed description, see Ch. 13. Dif-
ferent also takes comparative complements headed by from or to, with than of ques-
tionable acceptability in BrE, while similar normally takes to, with as marginal in all
varieties.
Clausal complements
The range of clausal complements found in AdjP structure is illustrated in:
[29] i I’m [glad that you were able to come]. [declarative content clause]
ii She was [insistent that the charge be dropped]. [mandative]
iii I’m not [sure whether that will be possible]. [interrogative]
iv I was [amazed what a fuss he made]. [exclamative]
546 Chapter 6 Adjectives and adverbs
v She is [willing to renegotiate the deal]. [to-infinitival]
vi Kim is [hard to please]. [hollow infinitival]
vii She was [busy marking assignments]. [gerund-participial]
viii The offer is certainly [worth considering]. [hollow gerund-participial]
Interrogatives and exclamatives, however, may also be related to the adjective via a
preposition, rather than directly, as in the above examples: compare They weren’t in-
terested in why we were protesting or They seemed surprised at how strongly we felt
about the issue. All these constructions are dealt with in the chapters on subordinate
clauses: see Ch. 11 for the ones involving finite clauses, and Ch. 14 for those involving
non-finites.
NP complements
In the structure of phrases headed by adjectives, as in those headed by nouns, NPs
are usually related to the head via a preposition, rather than immediately. There are,
however, four adjectives that license NP complements: due, like, unlike, and worth.
Compare:
[30] i The book turned out to be [worth seventy dollars].
ii Jill is [very like her brother].
The NP complement of worth expresses the value of the predicand. It may denote a
sum of money, as in [30i], or a more abstract value, as in I’m sure you’ll find this [worth
the effort / your time]. Like and unlike are used to express comparison of equality and
inequality respectively: they are dealt with along with other comparative expressions in
Ch. 13, §5.6. Like and unlike, moreover, belong to the category of prepositions as well as
that of adjectives: we discuss in Ch. 7, §2.2, the issue of distinguishing between adjectival
and prepositional constructions consisting of head + NP complement.
Due
In the sense in which it can take an NP complement, due is semantically and syntac-
tically similar to the past participle of the verb owe, as used in passive constructions.
Compare:
[31] verbal OWE adjectival DUE
i a. The bank now owes you $750. b.
ii a. You are now owed $750. b. You are now due $750.
iii a. $750 is now owed you. b. $750 is now due you.
iv a. The bank now owes $750 to you. b.
v a. $750 is now owed to you. b. $750 is now due to you.
Examples [ia/iva] are active, and have no counterpart with due, but in the three passive
examples with owed, there is an equivalent construction with due. Semantically, there
are three entities involved: the creditor (“you”), the debt (“$750”), and the debtor (“the
bank”). In [ii], the creditor is expressed as subject and the debt as object – reflecting
the fact that in active [ia] you is indirect object and $750 direct object. In [iii/v] the
debt is expressed as subject, and the creditor as either object or complement of the
preposition to – reflecting the alternation between the two active constructions [ia/iva];
[iiib] is predominantly AmE, with BrE favouring [vb]. With the verb owe, the debtor is
expressed as subject in the active and (optionally) as complement of by in the passive:
§ 3.2 Modification 547
You are now owed $750 by the bank, etc. In general, the debtor is not expressed in the due
construction, but some speakers accept by or from phrases: % $750 is due (to) you by/from
the people you worked for last month. This results in a highly exceptional AdjP containing
two complements.
Indirect complements
We have been concerned so far with complements that are licensed by the adjective
lexeme in head position. AdjPs may also contain indirect complements, complements
licensed by a modifier of the head, or by the comparative inflection:
[32] i The bill wasn’t [as large as we’d expected].
ii I’m [fonder of them than you].
iii They were [so small you could hardly see them].
iv This is still [too hot to drink].
Here single underlining indicates the indirect complement (a PP in [i–ii], a clause in
[iii–iv]), while double underlining indicates the modifier or inflectional suffix that li-
censes it. As illustrated in [ii], an indirect complement can combine with a direct one.
