Introduction
Adjectives modify nouns. They express a quality (huge, windy), opinion
(wonderful, terrible) or classify them (colonial, regional).
Adjectives do not change their form. There are no inflections for number or
gender.
an old man an old woman old people
The only inflections an adjective can have are the comparative (er) and
superlative (est) endings, which are not explained in detail in this summary.
!y sister is five years older than me. "elen is the oldest of my friends.
Although most adjectives do not have a special form that identify them, there
are some endings (ful, y, ial) used to form adjectives from other words.
beautiful sandy residential
#ome adjectives have the same form as adverbs (fast, hard, long, still)
$e can use an adverb of degree in front of most adjectives with the exception
of classifying adjectives.
a very large bac%yard
a really beautiful sunset
a quite boring party
&'T a very residential neighbourhood
The Position of Adjectives
Adjectives can occur before a noun ((attributive) position) or after a lin%ing verb
such as be.
ATT*+,-T+./ 0'#+T+'& 0*/1+2AT+./ 0'#+T+'&
+t is a huge house. The house is huge.
"elen is a lovely girl. "elen is lovely.
A noisy party %ept us awa%e. The party seemed very noisy.
#he is facing difficult times. This situation is getting difficult.
#ome adjectives can occur only in attributive position.
The library is on a main road. &'T The road is main.
+ wo%e in utter dar%ness. &'T The dar%ness was utter.
The following are adjectives used in attributive position only3
chief
elder
eldest
eventual
former
indoor
inner
lone
main
mere
only
outdoor
outer
own
premier
principal
sheer
sole
upper
utter
&ote3 4enerally, a noun as modifier is attributive ( a water pipe5 a tennis club5 afternoon
tea)."owever, if the noun refers to what something is made of, it can occur in either position
(+t)s a plastic pipe. 5 The pipe is plastic. )
'ther adjective can occur only in the predicative position.
The children were soon asleep. &'T The asleep children.
6ive students are ill. &'T 6ive ill students.
.
The following are groups of words used in the predicative position only3
$ords with the prefix a afraid, ali%e, alive, alone, asleep,
awa%e
$ords expressing feelings ashamed, content, glad, pleased,
upset
$ords related to health fine, ill, unwell, well
#ometimes there is a word of similar meaning that can be used before a noun.
a sleeping child being asleep &'T an asleep child
a living person being alive &'T an alive person
the frightened dog being frightened5afraid &'T the afraid dog
a satisfied customer feeling satisfied5pleased &'T a pleased customer
a lonely feeling 6eeling lonely5 alone &'T an alone feeling
&ote3 ashamed, glad, pleased, and upset can be used before a noun when they do not refer
directly to a person.
an ashamed loo% a glad news a pleased expression an upset stomach
#ome adjectives can be used after as and than.
0lease, let me %now as soon as possible.
/verything remains the same as usual.
They assured we won)t spend more money than necessary.
"e came bac% from wor% earlier than usual.
Adjectives can be used immediately after conjunctions, especially in written
/nglish and in instructions.
0ic% the fruit when ripe.
*oast the potatoes until crisp.
+f possible, +)d li%e to have some free time.
Although confident of success, she %new it would be hard.
+n literary /nglish, adjectives can be used before or after noun phrases,
separated from them by a comma.
Terrified, the woman wal%ed into the dar% room.
The spring, warm and colourful, cheered everybody up.
Adjectives after Nouns and Pronouns
#ome adjectives followed by a prepositional phrase can occur after a noun, but
never before it.
#tudents anxious for the results waited for hours
(&'T Anxious for the results students).
The police found a briefcase full of documents and cash.
(&'T A full of documents and cash briefcase).
&otes3 The adjective available can occurs before or after a noun.
/ither of the available dates5 dates available is convenient.
0ossible and imaginable can come after a noun when are used with every, all or a
superlative adjective.
$e too% the shortest possible way5 the shortest way possible.
The sweater comes in every imaginable colour5 every colour imaginable.
$ith some titles and idiomatic phrases, adjectives can occur after nouns.
the 1irector 4eneral the 0rincess *oyal the sum total
#ometimes the position of adjectives depends on the meaning.
The amount of money involved is
quite small.(7required)
+t was a rather involved plot.
(7complicated)
The person concerned haven)t
arrived yet.(7involved)
A group of concerned parents is
having an meeting with the judge.
(7worried)
There were a very few people present
at the concert. (7there)
The present situation is unsustainable.
(7now)
$e all agree this is the responsible
course of action.(7sensible)
The person responsible for the
mista%e will be fired. (7whose fault it
is)
Adjectives can be used after a compound with every, some, any, and no.
8et)s find somewhere quiet.
9ou mustn)t do anything silly.
There was nobody surprised with the outcome.
The order of adjectives
$hen two or more adjectives come before a noun, there is often a fixed order3
: 'pinion3 beautiful, nice, wonderful, excellent,
; #i<e3 long, small, large, short, tall
= 'ther qualities3 clear, busy, famous, soft
> Age3 new, old
? #hape3 round, square, fat, thin, wide
@ 2olour3 yellow, red, blac%
A 0articiple 6orms3 running, missing, covered, bro%en
B 'rigin3 ,ritish, +talian, American, 2hinese
C !aterial3 sandy, wooden, bric%, paper, plastic
:D Type3 electronic, human, chemical, domestic, urban
:: 0urpose3 wal%ing, tennis, pac%aging
/xamples3
A large old red cardboard (si<e E age E colour)
Two nice public tennis courts (opinion E type E purpose)
F The order can sometimes be different. 6or example, we sometimes prefer to
put a short adjective before a long one3
a big beautiful house.
F $e can found two nouns together3
the town wall,
the 6inance !inister
"ere, we use town and finance li%e adjectives, to modify wall and minister.
$hen we use adjectives and noun modifiers, the adjectives come first3
the old town wall
the former 6inance !inister
F #ometimes, we use two adjectives of similar meaning. $hen this happens, the
shorter one comes first3
a soft, comfortable chair
,ut, we can use this order too3
a comfortable, soft chair.
F $e can put and between two attributive adjectives when they have a similar
meaning3
a soft and comfortable chair
F $e also use and when the adjectives refer to different parts of something3
a blac% and white sweater (partly blac% and partly white)
F $e use but when the adjectives refer to two qualities in contrast3
a small but comfortable chair.
F The order of predicative adjectives is not fixed. $e normally use and before
the last adjective3
The house was expensive, big and green.
An adjective expressing an opinion comes last3
The table is small and beautiful.
$e can use but when the two qualities are in contrast3
The chair was small but comfortable.
Gradable and Ungradable adjectives
F !ost adjectives are gradable because they express qualities that can exist in
different grades or degrees3
+ feel a bit tired today.
This film is too good.
F #ome adjectives are ungradable. They cannot exist in different degrees. $e
do not normally use words li%e very, extremely, a bit with an ungradable
adjective but we can use absolutely3
9ouGre absolutely brilliant.
$e can also use completely or totally with some ungradable adjectives3
+t)s a totally incredible story.
#ome examples of ungradable adjectives3
Ama<ing, ama<ed, brilliant, awful, complete, delicious, devastating, enormous,
exhausted, false, horrible, huge, ideal, impossible, incredible, marvellous,
perfect, terrible, useless.
Adjectives ending in -ing and -ed
F Adjectives ending in ing express the idea that something affect us3
The film made us laugh a lot. +t was very amusing.
(is amusing because it ma%es us laugh).
Adjectives ending in ed express the feelings we have about something3
The audience laughed a lot. They were very amused.
(we are amused because we see something funny).
The + adjective
F To refer to some groups of people in society3
the poor, the old, the rich, the young
+n the :Bth century, the poor died younger than the rest of the
population.
F The E adjective ta%es a plural verb3
The rich are more frequently ill than the rest of the population.
F The E adjective can have an adverb in front of it3
the very rich
F There are some adjectives and participle forms that we use after the to refer
to things in general which have a particular quality3
the supernatural, the un%nown, the absurd, the mysterious, the new, the
old
8ots of people believe in the supernatural.
They ta%e a singular verb3
The new ta%es over from the old.
F There are a few words that we use after the with a more specific meaning3
the unexpected, the latest, the worst, the best, the dar%, the impossible.
9ou are as%ing the impossible.
F $e use the E adjective5participle E thing to tal% about a particular aspect of a
situation.
the annoying thing, the good thing, the great thing, the awful thing
The good thing about friends is that you can choose them.