01 - Adjectives - Forms - English Grammar Today - Cambridge Dictionary

5/29/2020 Adjectives: forms - English Grammar Today - Cambridge Dictionary
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Grammar > Adjectives and adverbs > Adjectives > Adjectives: forms
from English Grammar Today
Unlike in many other languages, adjectives in English do not change (agree) with the noun that they
modify:
All new foreign students are welcome to join the clubs and societies.
Not: All new foreigns students …
Every room was painted in different colours.
Not: … in differents colours.
Identifying adjectives
There is no general rule for making adjectives. We know they are adjectives usually by what they do
(their function) in a sentence. However, some word endings (suffixes) are typical of adjectives.
suffix examples
-able, -ible comfortable, readable, incredible, invisible
-al, -ial comical, normal, musical, industrial, presidential
-ful beautiful, harmful, peaceful, wonderful
-ic classic, economic, heroic, romantic
-ical aeronautical, alphabetical, political

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-ive, -ative active, alternative, creative, talkative
-less endless, motionless, priceless, timeless
-eous, -ious, -ous spontaneous, hideous, ambitious, anxious, dangerous, famous
-y angry, busy, wealthy, windy
Warning:
Adjectives ending in -ic and -ical often have different meanings:
The economic policy of this government has failed.

A diesel car is usually more economical than a petrol one.
See also:
Adjectives
Classic or classical?
Economic or economical?
Historic or historical?
Forming adjectives from other words

Suffixes
Some adjectives are made from nouns and verbs by adding suffixes.
noun adjective
hero heroic
wind windy
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noun adjective  
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child childish
beauty beautiful
verb adjective
read readable
talk talkative
use useful
like likeable
I hate windy days.
San Francisco is a very hilly place.
Some words ending in -ly can be both adjectives and adverbs. These include daily, early, monthly,
weekly, nightly, yearly:
Adjective: She gets a weekly payment from her parents. (She gets money every week.)
Adverb: I pay my rent weekly. (I pay my rent every week.)
Some words ending in -ly are only adjectives and not adverbs. These include: costly, cowardly,
deadly, friendly, likely, lonely, lovely, oily, orderly, scholarly, silly, smelly, timely, ugly, woolly.
We enjoyed the trip to America but it was a costly holiday.
Oily fish is very healthy because it contains omega 3.
See also:
Word formation
Adverbs
Prefixes
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Suffixes 
Prefixes
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Prefixes such as un-, in-, im-, il- and ir- change the meaning of adjectives. Adding these prefixes
makes the meaning negative:
un- in- ir-
fair – unfair active – inactive responsible – irresponsible
happy – unhappy appropriate – inappropriate regular – irregular
sure – unsure complete – incomplete reducible – irreducible
im- il-
balance – imbalance legal – illegal
polite – impolite legible – illegible
possible – impossible logical – illogical
See also:
Prefixes
Suffixes
Adjectives: comparative and superlative

Many one-syllable adjectives have endings to show the comparative and superlative.
base form comparative superlative
fine finer finest
young younger youngest

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base formGrammar comparative superlative  
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small smaller smallest
Some two-syllable adjectives which end in an unstressed syllable also have these endings.
easy easier easiest
funny funnier funniest
gentle gentler gentlest
However, we do not use these endings with two-syllable adjectives ending in a stressed syllable nor
with longer adjectives with more than two syllables. The comparatives and superlatives of these
adjectives are formed using more and most.
complete more complete Not: completer most complete Not: completest
more interesting most interesting

interesting
Not: interestinger Not: interestingest
See also:
Comparative and superlative adjectives
Adjectives: with -ing and -ed (interesting, interested)

We use the -ing and -ed forms of regular and irregular verbs as adjectives:
-ing forms
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verb example  
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annoy My brother is five and he’s so annoying.
amaze The Grand Canyon is an amazing place.
boil Be careful! That’s boiling water!
excite This film is not very exciting, is it?
-ed forms
verb example
bore Why do teenagers always look bored?
pack James Bond movies are always action-packed.
smoke Not everyone likes smoked salmon.
make My dress is hand-made. I really like it.
teach My Master’s degree was a taught course.
excite I feel excited about my new job.
Adjectives with -ing and -ed endings have different meanings.
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adjectives -ed adjectives 
-ing adjectives describe the effect -ed adjectives describe how a person feels
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The meeting was very boring. I felt bored at the meeting.

That was an exciting game. We were really excited about the game.
It was shocking to see what the storm had We were shocked to see what the storm had
done to the house. done to the house.
Warning:
Commonly confused pairs of adjectives ending in -ing and -ed are: interesting, interested;
boring, bored; exciting, excited; embarrassing, embarrassed.
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from English Grammar Today

-able, -ible comfortable, readable, incredible, invisible

-al, -ial comical, normal, musical, industrial, presidential

-ful beautiful, harmful, peaceful, wonderful

-ic classic, economic, heroic, romantic

-ical aeronautical, alphabetical, political

-ive, -ative active, alternative, creative, talkative

-less endless, motionless, priceless, timeless

-eous, -ious, -ous spontaneous, hideous, ambitious, anxious, dangerous, famous

-y angry, busy, wealthy, windy

The economic policy of this government has failed.

Forming adjectives from other words

I hate windy days.

San Francisco is a very hilly place.

Adverb: I pay my rent weekly. (I pay my rent every week.)

We enjoyed the trip to America but it was a costly holiday.

Oily fish is very healthy because it contains omega 3.

un- in- ir-

fair – unfair active – inactive responsible – irresponsible

happy – unhappy appropriate – inappropriate regular – irregular

sure – unsure complete – incomplete reducible – irreducible

balance – imbalance legal – illegal

polite – impolite legible – illegible

possible – impossible logical – illogical

Adjectives: comparative and superlative

base form comparative superlative

fine finer finest

young younger youngest

small smaller smallest

base form comparative superlative

easy easier easiest

funny funnier funniest

gentle gentler gentlest

base form comparative superlative

complete more complete Not: completer most complete Not: completest

more interesting most interesting

Adjectives: with -ing and -ed (interesting, interested)

annoy My brother is five and he’s so annoying.

amaze The Grand Canyon is an amazing place.

boil Be careful! That’s boiling water!

excite This film is not very exciting, is it?

bore Why do teenagers always look bored?

pack James Bond movies are always action-packed.

smoke Not everyone likes smoked salmon.

make My dress is hand-made. I really like it.

teach My Master’s degree was a taught course.

excite I feel excited about my new job.

Adjectives with -ing and -ed endings have different meanings.

The meeting was very boring. I felt bored at the meeting.

04 Adverbs and adverb phrases: position

05 At, on and in (place)

07 Discourse markers (so, right, okay)

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