Grammar I – Tecnicatura en Traducción en Inglés

Adjectives:
• Describe the person, thing, etc which a noun refers to.

• Give information about: size, quality, origin, age, temperature, shape, color, etc.

Quality a beautiful dress - a nice day Size a big car - a small coin a tall man

Age a new handbag - a young man Temperature a cool evening - a hot day

Shape a round table a square box Colour blue eyes - grey hair

Origin a Japanese camera a Swiss watch

• Suffixes and prefixes can be added

Eg. - able/ ible disposable – audible

- al /ial normal - editorial - ful Beautiful -less helpless

Other suffixes: ic, ical, ish , ive, ative, ous/ious/eous, y

Formation of adjectives

 Compound adjectives written with hyphen:

a) Formed with past participles, e.g. candle-lit table

b) Formed with present participles, e.g. long-playing record

c) -ed words that look like participles although they are formed from nouns, e.g. open-minded,
hard-hearted

 Compound adjectives of measurement ( ordinal numbers)

Age a three-year-old building Duration a four-hour meeting

Length a twelve-inch ruler Time a ten-minute walk

+ ordinal numbers: a second-hand car

 Compound adjectives with prefixes and suffixes

e.g. tax-free, loose-fitting, waterproof, fire-resistant

 Compounds with well, badly, poorly

e.g. well-behaved, well-built, badly-paid, poorly educated

Adjective classes according to function

a) Pre-modifier of a noun It was a comfortable ride. Attributive

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b) Subject complement The ride was comfortable.

Predicative
c) Object complement I made the bed comfortable.

We say that adjectives occur in an ATTRIBUTIVE position when they precede the noun they modify.
In contrast, PREDICATIVE adjectives do not occur immediately after the noun. Instead, they follow
a verb.  
 Sometimes an adjective does occur immediately after a noun, especially in certain
institutionalized expressions: 
the Governor General    the Princess Royal    times past 
time available/ available time the doctor concerned ≠ the concerned doctor
We refer to these as Post positive adjectives. Postposition is obligatory when the adjective
modifies a pronoun: 
something useful    everyone present    those responsible 
• There is a limited number of adjectives, mostly ending in -ible and able, which can come
before or after a noun with no change in meaning. Eg. eligible, taxable, available,
imaginable.

eligible prisoners/ prisoners eligible for early release

• A few adjectives change in meaning depending on whether they are use in an attributive or
post-positive position. E.g.

The concerned doctor (=worried) called an ambulance.

The doctor concerned (=responsible, in charge) is on maternity leave.
This elect (=specially chosen) body meets once a year.
The president elect (=who has been elected) takes over in May.
Janet is a responsible girl. (=she has a sense of duty)
The girl responsible (who was blamed) was expelled.

 Adjectives used attributively or predicatively only

There are some adjectives that are only used in attributive position. Within this group we can
find adjectives which restrict the reference of the noun. E.g. main ( the main concern) ,
particular (the particular aim), only ( the only explanation).

There are adjectives that are used only predicatively. Within this group we can include
adjectives beginning with ‘a’, e.g. afloat,afraid, awake, alike, alive, ashamed, , asleep, alone,
etc.

In these cases we can express similar ideas with attributive adjectives:

The vessel is afloat. The floating vessel

 Grammar I – Tecnicatura en Traducción en Inglés

The children are afraid. The frightening children

The baby is asleep. The sleeping baby

Nouns that behave like adjectives

Names of material substances resemble adjectives (e.g. leather boots, a cotton T-shirt), as well
as some nouns indicating purpose or use (e.g. summer dress, kitchen table)

They behave like adjectives but they do not have comparative or superlative forms, they can not
be modified by very.

Note: wooden (adjective meaning made of wood) and woolen/woollen (adjective meaning made
of wool)

Some names of material have adjectival forms but the adjectival forms generally have a
metaphorical meaning.

e.g. a gold watch ( a watch made of gold) a golden sunset ( a sunset which is like ‘gold)

a silk blouse ( a blouse made of silk) silky hair ( hair that feels like silk)

Adjectival participles ending in ‘-ed’ and ‘-ing’

Present and past participles can be used as adjectives.

E.g. breaking glass - frightening stories a broken window a locked door

Adjectives ending in -ed are often combined with personal subjects and those ending in -ing are
often combined with impersonal ones.

The story excites me. I’m excited by the story. It is exciting.

Adjectives as complements after verbs

We use adjectives and not adverbs after verbs of perception, particularly those relating to the
senses, e.g. appear strange, feel rough, look good, smell sweet, sound nice, taste sour. These
adjectives are describing the subject of the verb, e.g. That pie tastes awful.

Adverbs as adjectives

A few adverbs and adverb participles can function as adjectives, especially in fixed phrases, e.g the
above statement, the downstair bathroom, the inside cover, the then chairman, the down train.

Inherent and non-inherent adjectives

Most attributive adjectives denote some attribute of the noun which they modify. For instance, the
phrase a red car may be said to denote a car which is red. 

an old man ~a man who is old round glasses~glasses which are round

These adjectives denote an attribute or quality of the noun they modify. These adjectives are known
as inherent adjectives.
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However, not all adjectives are related to the noun in the same way. For example, the
adjective small in a small businessman does not describe an attribute of the businessman. It cannot
be reformulated as a businessman who is small. Instead, it refers to a businessman whose
business is small. We refer to adjectives of this type as non-inherent adjectives. They refer less
directly to an attribute of the noun than inherent adjectives do. Analyse these examples:

  Inherent Non-inherent
distant hills distant relatives
a heavy bag a heavy smoker
a social survey a social animal
an old man an old friend

Stative and Dynamic Adjectives

As their name suggests, STATIVE adjectives denote a state or condition, which may generally be
considered permanent, such as big, red, small. Stative adjectives cannot normally be used in
imperative constructions:  
 
*Be big/red/small  

Further, they cannot normally be used in progressive constructions:  

 
*He is being big/red/small 

In contrast, DYNAMIC adjectives denote attributes which are, to some extent at least, under the
control of the one who possesses them. For instance, brave denotes an attribute which may not
always be in evidence (unlike red, for example), but which may be called upon as it is required. For
this reason, it is appropriate to use it in an imperative:   
Be brave! 

Dynamic adjectives include: calm, careful, cruel, disruptive, foolish, friendly, good, impatient, patient,
rude, shy, suspicious, tidy.   

All dynamic adjectives can be used in imperatives (Be careful!, Don't be cruel!), and they can also
be used predicatively in progressive constructions:   
 
Your son is being disruptive in class   
My parents are being foolish again   
We're being very patient with you 

Gradable and non-gradable adjectives

Most adjectives are gradable, that is, we can arrange them on a scale of comparison. So we can
say that something is a bit hot, quite hot, very hot, or extremely hot. We can also compare things
and say that something is hotter than something else or that it is the hottest of a number of things.
We use intensifiers to indicate the point on the scale. The most common intensifier of adjectives is
the adverb very. Other examples of intensifiers, in addition to those already given, include:

fairly warm entirely different pretty difficult

incredibly dull rather dark too old

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There are three degrees of comparison:

1. higher
(a) Ann is politer than Michael. (comparative)
(b) Ann is the politest child in the family. (superlative)
2. same
Ann is as polite as Michael.
3. lower
(a) Ann is less polite than Michael.
(b) Ann is the least polite child in the family.

The superlatives in (1b) and (3b) are required when the comparison involves more than two units or
sets of units. Higher degrees of comparison are expressed either through the inflections -er and -est
or through the pre-modifiers more and most:
inflection polite politer politest
pre-modifier polite more polite most polite
Some very common adjectives have irregular inflections:
good better best
bad worse worst
far farther/further farthest/furthest

Words of one syllable generally take inflections: older, oldest, purer, purest. Many words of two
syllables can usually take either form: politer, politest or more polite, most polite, noisier, noisiest or
more noisy, most noisy. Words with more than two syllables take the pre-modifiers: more important,
most important; more expensive, most expensive.

Note: For practice go to the Use of English Handout in Language I

Non gradable adjectives are adjectives like ‘married’ or ‘wooden’. You can’t be very married or a bit
married. Non-gradable adjectives do not have different degrees. Other examples include: medical,
unique, dead.

Order of adjectives
Adjectives: word order

When we use more than one adjective to describe a noun, we have to take care with the word
order. Hard-and-fast rules cannot be given, since much depends on the emphasis a speaker wishes
to make. A general guide is as follows:
adjectives usual order noun
quality size/age/shape colour origin past participle
beautiful old brown French handmade cupboard

Note that general qualities go before particular qualities. The more particular the quality, the closer
the adjective is to the noun.

Bibliography
Alexander, L. (1990). Longman English Grammar Practice For Intermediate Students. Longman.

Alexander, L. (2007). Longman English Grammar. Longman.

Greenbaun, Q. (n.d.). A Students' Grammar of the English Language. Longman.

Greenbaun, S. N. (2002). An Introduction to English Grammar. Longman.

 Grammar I – Tecnicatura en Traducción en Inglés

London, U. C. (1998). The Internet Grammar of English. Retrieved from

http://www.ucl.ac.uk/internet-grammar/frames/contents.htm

Class activity:

a) Make compound nouns or use adjectival forms.

1 a raincoat made of plastic. 10 a blouse made of cotton

2 a shirt made of silk 11 a teapot made of silver

3 hair like silk 12 a voice like silver

4 a table-top made of glass 13 a wall made of stone

5 eyes like glass 14 silence like stone

6 a wallet made of leather 15 a tile made of ceramic

7 a spoon made of stainless steel 16 a nailbrush made of nylon

8 nerves like steel 17 a tongue like leather

9 a pullover made of wool 18 a spoon made of wood

Tecnicatura- Translate these nouns phrases.

Word order: two-word and three-word nouns: 'a teak kitchen cupboard'
1 Materials (nouns) behave like adjectives when we use them to form compound nouns:

a cupboard(noun) made of teak (noun) --- a teak cupboard (compound noun)

2 We can have three-word compound nouns. 'Material' comes before 'purpose' or 'use':
a teak cupboard, used in the kitchen -- a teak kitchen cupboard (compound noun)
Adjectives go in front of nouns . We cannot separate a compound noun by an adjective:
a fine teak kitchen cupboard. (Not *a teak fine kitchen cupboard*)
A) Write: Make two-word and three-word nouns.
1 a shirt made of cotton .......................................................................................................................

2 a shirt made of cotton l worn in the summer .........................................................................................

3 a rake made of wire ...........................................................................................................................

4 a clock used in the kitchen ..................................................................................................................

5 a clock made of plastic/used in the kitchen ..........................................................................................

Word order: past participle + noun: 'a handmade cupboard'

Study: An adjectival past participle (damaged, handmade, etc.) comes in front of a noun:
 Grammar I – Tecnicatura en Traducción en Inglés

adjective + one-word noun: a handmade cupboard

adjective + two-word noun: a handmade teak cupboard

adjective + three-word noun: a handmade teak kitchen cupboard

B) Write: Add these adjectives to the nouns made in A above: unused, damaged, worn, broken, handmade.
1 a worn cotton t-shirt 2......................................................................
3 .................................................................. 4 ......................................................................

5..................................................................

Word order: adjective+ noun: 'a big round table'

The order of adjectives in front of a noun is as follows (in reverse order):

3 where from? + past participle: a French handmade kitchen cupboard

Or: past participle + where from?: a handmade French kitchen cupboard

2 size / age / shape / colour + where from? + past participle: a large French handmade cupboard

1 quality / opinion+ size, etc. The most general adjective usually comes first:

a beautiful large French handmade teak cupboard

summary:
opinion size age shape colour from? past part. noun
a valuable - - - brown Victorian handmade teak cupboard
Or: handmade Victorian
C) Write: You're looking for items you want to buy. Begin each sentence with I'm looking for ...

-
1 clock radio white- Taiwanese- cheap- for my bedside table

2 sports car- well-maintained- second-hand-with a low mileage

3 polished- beautiful- antique- dining-table- mahogany- English

4 canvas- American- a pair of -trainers - grey and red- which I can use for jogging

5 cottage- stone-built- small- old-country