1st part:Introduction.

2nd part: classification of adjectives.

3rd part: comparison of adjectives.

4th part: word order of adjectives.

5th part:conclusion.

6th part: bibliography.

1.Introduction:What are adjectives?

An adjective is a word used to describe or give more information about a noun,or

rather more fully,a word that qualifies a noun,adds its application.Modern grammars
prefer to define adjectives by its position and function, form and inflection.

Now,we are going to deal with adjectives taking into account its
position,function,form and inflection.

1.1.Defining adjectives by its form.

Adjectives in English have the same form for singular and plural,masculine and
feminine.The only exceptions are the demonstrative adjectives “this/that”, which
change to “these/those” in the plural.The form does not indicate its syntactic function
because some suffixes are found only with adjectives,such as “-ous”, but many
common adjectives have no identifying shape,such as good,hot, little,young,fat,and so
on.

1.2.Defining adjectives by its function.

 

The major syntactic functions of adjectives are attributive and predicative, so that a
word that cannot function in either of these ways is not recognised as an adjective.

1.2.1.Attributive function.

Adjectives are attributive when they precede or follow the noun they qualify:

A large house is usually expensive

The adjective attributes a quality or characteristic to the noun.

The beautiful painting

1.2.2.Predicative function.

Adjectives are predicative when they predicate with the verb “ to be” or other verbs
of incomplete predication like: become,appear,seem,look(appear).

Predicative adjectives can be:

a) Subject complement: when we are describing the subject of the sentence,not the
action of the verb:

That house is new

 

b)Object complement:when there is a co-reference between direct object and adjective:

He made his wife happy

Some adjectives can only go in one of these positions:

-Attributive only(joint efforts, an utter fool)

-Predicative only (he stood alone,ticket available)

-others can appear in both positions ( a hungry man, the man is hungry)

2.Classification of adjectives.

2.1.Traditional classification.

There are many possible classifications of adjectives.Thomson and Martinet´s is a

traditional, clear and simple one.They say that the main kinds are:

Demostrative: this,that,these,those

Distributive: each,every ,either ,neither

Quantitative: some,any,no ,little ,few,many etc….

Possessive:my,your,etc…

Interrogative: which,what,whose,etc….

Of quality: clear, wet,big,square,pretty etc…

A qualifying adjective serves to single out one quality, which may be ascribed to
several things.

2.2.According to the syntactic function they can perfom.

a) both attributive and predicative: a hungry man/ this man is hungry.

b) Attributively only: joint efforts, an utter fool

c) Predicatively only: he stood alone

2.3.From a semantic point of view.

2.3.1.Stative/ Dynamic.

Stative does not imply change,they cannot be used with the progressive aspect or with
the imperative.Dynamic adjectives refers to transitory conditions of behaviour or
activity:

He is tall ( stative), Be careful (dynamic )

2.3.2.Gradable / non-gradable.

 
Gradable adjectives van be modified by adverbs which convey the degree of intensity
of the adjective.Gradability includes comparison and other forms of
intensification.Non-gradable adjectives does not admit such modifications.

A tall man ( gradable)

The previous page ( non-gradable)

2.3.3.Inherent / non-inherent.

Adjectives that characterize the referent of the noun directly are termed as non-
inherent.

A black coat ( inherent, since black applies to the referent of the object directly)

An old friend ( non-inherent, the person referred to is not being identified as old)

3.Comparison of adjectives.

There are three degrees of comparison in English: positive( dark, useful ),comparative
( darker, more useful ) and superlative ( darkest, most useful )

 
3.1.Form.

The comparative and superlative are formed by adding the suffixes “-er”, “-est” or by
means of the adverbs “more” and “ most”.

a) “-er” and “-est” are used with:monosyllables (darker,darkest),and two-syllable

adjectives ending in a vocalic sound(narrow,pretty),in a syllabic “l”
(simple,simpler,simplest),in “-ly” ( silly, silliest,sillier) or having the stress on the last
syllable (polite, politer, politest)

b) we use “more” and “most” with: all longer words,especially if ending in a hard
group of consonants (ridiculous) and in two-syllable adjectives ending in “-ful” and “-
re” (doubtful)

3.2.Some spelling notes.

a)Adjectives ending in a single vowel followed by a single consonant, double the final
consonant:

fat/ fatter/fattest

b)Adjectives ending in a mute -e , add “-r “ and “-est”.

brave/braver/bravest

c)Two-syllable adjectives ending in “-y”, the “-y” becomes “-I” and they add –er/ -est.

pretty/prettier/prettiest

 
 

3.3.Irregular comparisons.

Good/well better best

Bad/ill/evil worse worst

Old older oldest

elder eldest

little less least

many/much more most

far farther farthest

further furthest

3.4.Comparing structures.

3.4.1.With the positive form.

For an equal comparison we use “ as……as” instead of “more….than”.In the negative

we use “not so/as…..as”.
 

She´s always as busy as a bee

It´s not so/as dangerous as you think

3.4.2.With the comparative form:

a)Superiority ( -er / more….than)

It´s quicker than you may think

This one is more interesting than the other.

Sometimes a comparison is made between an object and a definite standard or norm

understood in the context.In such cases we use “ than that” or “as that”, or simply
omit the comparative phrase or clause altogether:

Peter must be ten years old

No, he is taller (than that)

b)Inferiority: less….than.

The film is less interesting than the novel.

 
 

c)Gradual increase: (….and….)

It´s used to indicate continuing change we repeat thecomparative word with “and”.In
these kind of sentences we cannot use a “than-construction”.

I´m getting fatter and fatter.

c) two changes happen together ( the…the…).

The more he reads, the less he understands

The subject and the verb of the second clause,orof both clauses, may be omitted if
their meaning is obvious:

The sooner the better

3.4.3.With the superlative form.

a) Relative comparative.

When comparing only two things,we use the comparative forms:

 
Mary is prettier of the two girls

When comparing more than two things we use the superlative forms:

It´s the most interesting of his books.

“of +plural noun phrase” is used to name the objects.The of-phrase is sometimes
placed in initial position for emphasis.

Of all girls I know, you are the best

“of” is substituted for “in” to name the group oe sphere within which the comparison
is made.

She is the most intelligent girl in her class

3.4.4.Other comparing structures.

a)”as” and “like”.

She walked like a queen( the way she walked)

She walked as a queen( she was a queen)

b) “enough” and “too”.

They indicate sufficiency and excess.The norm ti which they make reference is
indicated by a to-infinitive clause or by a for-clause.

He is old enough to drink

He is too old to drive

The flat is too expensive for them

4.Word order of adjectives.

Adjectives usually precede the noun they qualify.

An incredible story

However,sometimes the adjective goes after the noun they modifies.

a) when the head of the noun phrase is a unit of measurement premodified by a

numeral, and when the adjective describes size or dimension:

two feet high sixteen years old five centimetres wide

 

b) in forms of address indicating rank, position, etc…

Attorney General

The more precise adjective is placed nearest the noun.

A dry West wind

However,it is not always easy to decide which adjective is more precise.The table
bellow will serve as a general guide but will not always represent the order you will
find in English texts.From left to right,the adjectives are considered to be more
precise the nearer they are placed to the noun:

General mental physical age colour origin material noun

Beautiful

Intelligent

Tall

Old

Red

Dutch
Oil dress

5.Conclusion.

So we can say that an adjective performs several functions but its main function is to
describe things and give general information about a noun and it also qualifies a noun.

6.Blibliography.

-Quirk,R.Greenbaum,s. Leech,g. Svartik,J,”A Grammar of contemporary

English”.Longman.London, 1972.