Unit 2 position of adjectives

1. Usually the adjective in English precedes the noun it describes: unspeakable joy, available figures. (Not only adjectives but many English nouns are commonly used as premodifiers of other nouns and thus resemble adjectives though remain to be nouns: a stone wall, a love poem.)

 

2. The adjective may follow the word it modifies in the following cases:

1) for emphatic use of adjectives (usually ending in –able/-ible): joy unspeakable;

2) in certain fixed forms, mainly legal terms that must be learned, such as court martial, attorney general;

3) after the pronouns derived from some, any, no, every: Is there anything new today?

4) when the adjective is a member of an adjectival group of words: a steamer ready to sail off; the only figures available on this question. (In Russian the adjectival group may follow or precede the noun: готовый к отплытию пароход и пароход, готовый к отплытию);

5) the adjective enough may follow or precede the noun it modifies: We have enough time = We have time enough.

 

3. In sentences the adjectives may be placed in the predicate, following a linking verb to be, get, become, seem, smell, sound, taste, feel, look, etc.: a deep river – the river is deep; a sweet peach – the peach tastes sweet. However, some adjectives, usually relative ones, for example, analytical chemistry, can not be transformed into *chemistry is analytical. (See the next unit).

 

4. Some adjectives are restricted to predicative position only: asleep, alone, alive. The most common of them refer to health or lack of health: ill, well, unwell. Another large group of them take complementation: afraid (that, of, about), conscious (that, of), fond (of): She is afraid of him.

 

5. When two or more adjectives are used, the one that describes a more objective quality stands closer to the noun: a huge wooden salad bowl.

The general rule is that purpose and material adjectives stand closer to the noun, then still further from it goes origin, colour, shape, age, size and opinion adjectives:

opinion + size+ age + shape + colour + origin+ material + purpose + NOUN

as in: a marvelous big old oval brown Swiss wooden plate; two lovely tiny nineteenth-century circular pink and blue French water-colour paintings.

 

 

E x e r c i s e s

 

2.1. Put the adjective in the right place and explain the rule:

1) (Ready) a steamer to sail off – A steamer ready to sail off.

2) (general) attorney;

3) (enough) we have time;

4) (sour) milk tastes;

5) (nice) you look;

6) (interested) anyone is most welcome here;

7) (ready) a girl to cry;

8) (martial) court;

9) (enough) he has experience;

10) (sweet) a rose by any other name would smell as;

11) (public) notary;

12) (brave) he is enough to do it;

13) (easiest to teach) the boys were in my class;

14) (afraid) she is that she will fail the exam.

 

2.2. Using linking verbs make the following attributive adjectives predicative:

A hungry wolf – the wolf gets hungry; an angry man; strange tea, a nice friend, a sweet apple, tired Tom, loud music, good dinner, an ugly dress, good flowers.

 

2.3. Put the adjectives in the right order:

1) a (silk, white, long, American, expensive) dress – an expensive long white American silk dress.

2) a (brick, red, high, old) wall.

3) a (Japanese, fast, cool, blue) motorcycle.

4) a (new, wooden, black, huge, comfortable) armchair.

5) a (Irish, sentimental, traditional) song.

6) (clean, dark, wavy, lovely) hair.

7) (smart, snake-skin, hand-made, brown) shoes.

8) a (red, plastic, cheap, Taiwanese) raincoat.

9) a (young, Belarusian, handsome) doctor.

10) (two, white, small, paper) cups.

UNIT 3 CLASSES OF ADJECTIVES

According to their meaning and grammatical characteristics adjectives are basically divided into qualitativ e and relative.

Qualitative adjectives (soft, wide, clever) denote qualities directly. Most of them are gradable and have degrees of comparison (soft – softer – the softest), derive adverbs by the suffix – ly (soft ly, wide ly, clever ly) and can be used as attributes (a soft voice)or predicatives (the voice is soft).

Relativeadjectives (woolen, analytical, preparatory) denote qualities through their relation to entities or actions. They do not have degrees of comparison, usually do not form adjectives with – ly and chiefly are used as attributes, not predicatives (analytical chemistry).