ADJECTIVES

ADJECTIVES

• Types

• Forms and Formation

• Positions

• Comparison
 ADJECTIVES

• Adjectives: words modifying nouns, expressing

physical and other qualities and the writer’s opinion/
of the thing N refer to
attitude (subjective) (objective)

2 ways to categ.
• Types of adjectives
• Attributive and Predicative
• Gradable and Non-gradable
 TYPES OF ADJECTIVES
Qualities, characteristics, features
Thuộc tính
• Attributive adjectives
--> used
• Used before nouns attributively

• a good book, many excellent meals

• Many nouns used as attributive adjectives: a paper cup

Tính từ vị ngữ
• Predicative adjectives
--> used
• Used after verbs (linking verbs) predicatively

• The book was very good.

to be
 TYPES OF ADJECTIVES
Có cấp/mức độ
• 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

Qualities can't change to lesser or more, at a

• Non-gradable adjectives static state
• Not having a certain property to a greater or lesser degree
superior, excellent,
• Not modified by very, enough, too: very main terrible...

• Not having comparative and superlative forms: mainer, the

mainest
very wonderful ~ very very good, more superior than --> superior to
 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

 FORMATION
Derivational - Phái sinh
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.
 FORMATION

can be created on-the-go

Compound adjectives
• Noun + adjective: tax-free
• Determiner + adjective: all-American
• Number + noun: four-wheel
• Adverb + participle: well-balanced
• Adverb + adverb: well-off
 POSITIONS
1 - Almost all adj can be used both
ways w/o any changes
2 - Attrib. only

1. 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.

 POSITIONS
•Attributiveonly: chief, elder, eldest, eventual, former,
indoor, inner, latter, main, mere, only, outdoor, outer,
principal, sheer, sole, upper, utter , various There are various reasons.
The reasons are various.

used predicatively in some situations

That cottage is little... [size]
• Little is mostly attributive: a little cottage When I was little... [age]

• 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.
 POSITIONS
•Predicative only
aboard, abroad, alone,...
• 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
I bear him no ill will ['ill' not abt health]
• Some words to do with health: well, fine, ill, unwell
That's an ill person. --> a sick person, is ill

• 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 a pleased person, the glad girl, an upset student
 POSITIONS
Different meanings in different positions
Attributive only Either position

a real hero (degree) real wood/The wood is real. (=not false)

a perfect idol degree) a perfect day/The day was perfect. (=excellent)
You poor thing! a poor result/The result was poor. (=not good)
(sympathy) poor people/The people are poor. (=having little money)

Attributive only Predicative only

a certain address (=specific)
I’m certain. (=sure)
the present situation (=now)
I was present. (=here/there)
a late bus (=near the end of the day)
The bus was late. (=not on time)
the late president (=dead)

Attributive Predicative

She’s a beautiful dancer. The dancer is beautiful.

(= Her dancing is beautiful.) (= The dancer is a beautiful person.)
 POSITIONS
2. Adjectives after nouns and pronouns

After nouns

• Sometimes adjectives can go after nouns

• (end-weight): a string
He has a face thin and worn, but eager and resolute.
of adj go after a N

• Adjective + prepositional phrase cannot go before the noun

• He is a man greedy for money. a man (who is) greedy, pp (who are) anx

• 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)
He's a responsible doc.
• It’s a rather involved story. (= complicated) Who is the doc responsible?
 POSITIONS

After pronouns

• Adjectives come after indefinite pronouns

(that is)
• You mustn't do anything silly.
THE ORDER OF ATTRIBUTIVE ADJECTIVES
Opinion
furthest from the N
nice, wonderful, lovely, awful, etc.
Size large, small, long, short, tall, etc.
Quality
nearer to the N
clear, busy, famous, important, etc.
Age old, new
Shape round, square, fat, thin, wide, etc.
Color red, white, etc.
Participle forms broken, running, etc.
Origin British, American, etc.
Material brick, wooden, etc.
Type human, chemical, money, etc.
Purpose alarm, walking, etc.
THE ORDER OF ATTRIBUTIVE ADJECTIVES
Bản dịch TV ~ h/ả phản chiếu trong gương

• Two excellent public tennis courts (opinion + type +

purpose)
Size Opinion
• The order can sometimes change: a big horrible
comp. to a horrible big building
building
(age) --> charac. of pp
• Old and young referring to people often come next to
the noun: a dignified old lady
--> Functional Gr.
• 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.
bản chất cố định - near N - objective tính chất dễ thay đổi - far from N - subj.
THE ORDER OF ATTRIBUTIVE ADJECTIVES
• When two adjectives have similar meanings, the shorter often
comes first
• A bright, cheerful smile or a soft, comfortable chair
(same num. of syll.)
• Sometimes two orders are possible: a peaceful, happy face/a
happy, peaceful face

• And can be put between two adjectives: a soft and comfortable

chair

• And is not used between adjectives with different meanings:

beautiful golden sands beautiful, golden sands

• But is used when the adjectives refer to two qualities in contrast: a

cheap but effective solution
PARTICIPLES AS ADJECTIVES

• -ing adjectives vs. -ed adjectives

He's an interesting person.
--> people's/things' features, characteristics [nghĩa chủ động - tính chất]
I'm interested in him.
--> people's feelings/emotions [nghĩa bị động - cảm giác]
 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:
(the unknown)
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
 COMPARISONS
Emphatic use w/ "as many/much as", "as few/little as":
There are sometimes as many as 40 students in the class.
Some of these fish can weigh as much as 80kg.
You can fly to Paris as little as 20 euros.
Twice/two times/three times/... + as + adj/adv + as
My new laptop is twice as expensive as my old one.
My old laptop is half as expensive as my new one.

• Equatives (not (so)) as adj as

• Comparatives for 2 people/things

• Superlatives for >= 3 people/things

 NOTES
1. She is as tall as I.

2. She is as tall as me.

3. She is as tall as I am.

1. She is taller than I.

"I" is not enough for a clause.

2. She is taller than me.

"than" + proN => preposition
more popular, informal

3. She is taller than I am.

connect 2 cl. --> parallel. than + clause => conjunction --> most correct ver.
 NOTES
as ________ as iron HARD
as ________ as gold GOOD
as ________ as lead HEAVY
as ________ as a ghost WHITE
as ________ as a judge SOBER
as ________ as a new pin CLEAN
as ________ as a hunter HUNGRY
as ________ as a daisy FRESH
as ________ as a donkey STUPID
as ________ as gall BITTER
as ________ as a skunk DRUNK
Comparatives and Superlatives
1. Regular (-er/the -est, more/the most): Short and long adj
- most one-syllable adj are short
except -ed (p.p): bored..., like, real, right, wrong
- clear, free, keen, sage, sure, true, wiser: long or short form is
fine => trend to use the long form (more true) in speech
- two-syllable:
+ -ful, -less, -ing, -ed --> long
+ -y --> short (likelier)
+ able, clever, common, cruel, feeble, gentle, handsome,
narrow, pleasant, polite, simple, sincere, stupid --> both forms
- three-syllable: long
BUTunhappy --> unhappier, unhappiest
2. Irregular
+ good/well - better - the best
+ bad - worse - the worst
+ many/much - more - the most
+ little - less - the least
+ far - farther/further - the farthest/furthest
+ ill - worse - the worst (BUT sick - sicker - sickest)
+ few - fewer [fml]/less - the fewest/least
 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 they 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

twice as cheap as
bought it now.
He's more lazy than stupid. [compare two descriptions --> long form]
Thank you very much. That is most kind of you. [formal, ~ very only in formal situations, not the most]
=> expressing approving/disapproving attitude in formal situations
Of all my friends, he's (the) nicest. (informal - to compare different people)
He's nicest when he's with children. (not the nicest, to compare the same person in different situations)
• We probably had three times as many strawberries as
we’re getting this year.

• Twice/ two times / three times + as + adj/adv + as

 `

• farther/ farthest vs. further/ furthest?

• older/ oldest vs. elder/ eldest?

• latest vs. last?

• nearest vs. next?

• vase / glass, old, lovely

•➔ a lovely old glass vase

• mirror / wall, attractive

•➔ an attractive wall mirror

• desk / office, modern

•➔ a modern office desk

• chairs / kitchen, red, metal

•➔ red metal kitchen chairs

• boat / model, splendid, old

•➔ a splendid old model boat

• stamp / postage, valuable, Australian

•➔ a valuable Australian postage stamp

• game / new, family, exciting

•➔ an exciting new family game

• computer / business, Japanese, powerful

•➔ a powerful Japanese business computer

• fire / electric, excellent, small

•➔ an excellent small electric fire

• comedy / American, television, terrific

•➔ a terrific American television comedy

• doors / aluminum, garage, stylish

•➔ stylish aluminum garage doors

• shoes / modern, sports, wonderful

•➔ wonderful modern sports shoes