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 "
‫( "זקוק‬zaqūq, 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.

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.