Please enable JavaScript.
Coggle requires JavaScript to display documents.
ADJECTIVES - Coggle Diagram
ADJECTIVES
THE ORDER OF ATTRIBUTIVE
Opinion (wonderful) - Size (large) - Quality (clear) - Age (old) - Shape (round) - Color (red) - Participle forms (broken) - Origin (British) - Material (brick) - Type (human) - Purpose (alarm)
Two excellent public tennis courts (opinion + type + purpose)
The order can sometimes change: a big horrible building
Old and young referring to people often come next to the noun: a dignified old lady
In general, the adjective closest to the noun has the closest link in meaning with the noun and expresses what is most permanent about it.
When two adjectives have similar meanings, the shorter often comes first:
A bright, cheerful smile or a soft, comfortable chair
Sometimes two orders are possible: a peaceful, happy face/ a happy, peaceful face
AND can be put between adjectives: a soft and comfortable chair
AND is not used between adjectives with different meanings: beautiful golden sands
BUT is used when the adjectives refer to two qualities in contrast: a cheap but effective solution
FORMS AND FORMATION
Simple adjectives: good, bad, fine, short, etc.
Most frequently used
Often mono-syllabic and bi-syllabic words: ill, pretty
No distinctive form to mark as adjectives
Derived adjectives
Derived from nouns, other adjectives, or verbs by adding certain suffixes:
Some of native origin: greenish, hopeful, handy, etc.
Of foreign bases: apparent, secondary, marvelous, etc.
Derived from adjectives by adding prefixes to adjectives: unhappy, insecure, etc.
Derived from verbs or adjectives by adding prefix a-: asleep, alone, etc.
Compound adjectives
• Noun + adjective: tax-free
• Determiner + adjective: all-American
• Number + noun: four-wheel
• Adverb + participle: well-balanced
• Adverb + adverb: well-off
COMPARISON
Equatives
Comparatives
DOUBLE COMPARATIVES
-er and -er, more and more
The -er ... , the -er ...
• The colder it is, the hungrier I get. (As the weather gets colder, I get hungrier.)
The more, the merrier.
The more..., the more...
• The more generous you are towards others, the more generous thay are likely to be towards you.
COMPARATIVE WITH LESS
• The second method was less complicated than the first one.
• This new laptop is not as fast as my old one. I'm sorry I bought it now.
• We probably had three times as many strawberries as we're getting this year.
• Twice/ two times/ three times + as + adj/ adv + as
Superlatives
TYPES
Attributive and Predicative
Attributive adjectives
• Used before nounsa good book, many excellent meals
• Many nouns used as attributive adjectives: a paper cup
Predicative adjectives
• Use after verbs (linking verbs)
• The book was very good.
Gradable and Non-gradable
Gradable adjectives
• Having a certain property to a greater or lesser degree
• Modified by very, enough, too: very nice
• Having comparative and superlative forms: nicer, the nicest
Non-gradable adjectives
• Not having a certain property to a greater or lesser degree
• Not modified by very, enough, too: very main
• Not having comparative and superlative forms: mainer, the mainest
POSITION
Attributive and predicative positions
An adjective can go before a noun (attributive position) or as complement after a linking verb (predicative position) It is a large stadium. The stadium is large.
Attributive only: chief, elder, eldest, eventual, former, indoor, inner, latter, main, mere, only, outdoor, outer, principal, sheer, sole, upper, utter
Little is mostly attributive: a little cottage
Same cannot be predicative without the: Yes, I had the
same experience./Yes, my experience was the same.
A noun as modifier can only be attributive: a tennis club, a water pipe
Nouns saying what something is made of can go in either position: It’s a metal pipe./The pipe is metal.
Predicative only:
Some words with the prefix a-: awake, ashamed, alike, etc.
Many of these can be attributive if modified by an adverb: the
wide awake children
Some words to do with health: well, fine, ill, unwell
Some words expressing feelings: content, glad, pleased, upset
Pleased, glad, and upset can be attributive when not referring directly to people: a pleased expression, the glad news, an upset stomach
Different meanings in different positions:
Attributive:
She’s a beautiful dancer.
(= Her dancing is beautiful.)
Predicative:
The dancer is beautiful.
(= The dancer is a beautiful person.)
Adjectives after nouns and pronouns
After nouns:
Sometimes adjectives can go after nouns
•He has a face thin and worn, but eager and resolute.
Adjective + prepositional phrase cannot go before the noun
• He is a man greedy for money.
• People anxious for news kept ringing the emergency number.
Sometimes the position depends on the meaning.
• The amount of money involved is quite small. (=relevant)
• It’s a rather involved story. (= complicated)
After pronouns:
Adjectives come after indefinite pronouns
• You mustn't do anything silly.
Others
PARTICIPLES AS ADJECTIVES
(-ing adjectives VS -ed adjectives)
THE + ADJECTIVE
Social groups
To refer to some groups of people in the society: the poor, the rich
A few adjectives can come after a/an to mean a specific person: Now as a superstar, she was an unknown, only two years ago.
There are a few adjectives that can be used as nouns: a black (= a black person)
For a whole people=> the + adjective of nationality: the English
Abstract qualities:
To refer to things in general having an abstract quality: the new, the old, the unexplained
DEFINITION: words modifying nouns, expressing physical and other qualities and the writer's opinion/ attitude