ADJECTIVES Adjectives describe people, places, things, ideas, etc. They have only one form in all genders, singular and plural, ond can be placed before nouns or after verbs such as appear, keep, make, feel, sound, smell, look, taste, ele She is 0 protiy girl. ‘i smells horrible They are hardworking students Keep quiet, please! ‘Most common adjectives (large, long, heavy, late, etc) do not have « particular ending. However, there are ceriain common endings for adjectives which are formed from nouns and verbs. These are fashionable -ous courageous -ist rocist classical ~ esque picturesque less careless petulant ful careful - like business ‘ongular Canadian “yy friendly imaginary possible -ory introductory fortunate historie ~ous famous wooden historical ~ some quarrelsome dependent hilorious *y lucky Shakespearean reddish The most common prefixes used with adjectives are: a. amoral im- impossible pre- premoture ob- abnormal in involerant pro pro-Americon anti - anttaircraft ir irregular sub- subtropical dis- dishonest mal - malnourished super - superhuman extra - extracurricular ron - nonstop un unis hyper - hypersensitive over - overgrown under - undermanned ile illegal post postmodernNoles on Adjectives © Compound adjectives ore formed with: present participles long-standing debt, longplaying record pas participles selfemployed carpenter, candlelit restaurant cardinal numbers + nouns one-year-old girl, threeday course, a £30 pair of shoes prefixes and suffixes nonstop show, waterproof watch well, badly, il, poorly + participles wellpaid clerk, iMfiting shirt, poorlypaid assistant 4 Some adjactives ending -ly look like adverbs (hiendly, motherly, lonely, lovely). These adjectives form their adverbs by adding the word way/manner/fashion. She behaved in a very friendly way/manner/fashion. * Some adjectives such as peor, late and old have different meanings, according to where they are placed in the sentence. My grandfather is very old, {in years) Teny is an old friend of mine. (ve known him for a long time) © Certain adjectives can be used with the to represent a group as a whole: the rich, the dead, the young, the unemployed, the homeless, the blind, otc 4 Present and past participles can be used as adjectives. Present participles describe the quality of a noun ‘anoying behaviour (What kind of behaviour? annoying) Post participles describe how the subject feels annoyed teacher (How does the teacher feel? annoyed) * Nouns describing materials, substances, purpose, and use con be used as adjectives, but they do not have comparative or superlative forms and cannot be modified by very. @-cotton shirt a gold necklace “ «@ siher brooch 2 summer dress bu Weeden table fot “wood tbl) stone wall a chopping board @ woollen coat (not *wool coal) However, there are adjectives derived from the above nouns. These adjectives have a metaphorical meaning, siky hair (hair lke silk), golden hair, silvery moon, stony look ete * There ore certain adverbs such os above, upstairs, downslairs, inside, eic which can be used as adjectives. ‘an upstairs room the downstairs bathroom the above rule the inside page etc * litle, old and young are offen used in fixed adjectivenoun combinations, so they are always placed next to the noun they modify. This young man spends too much money. That litle gil seems to be lost. * Adjectives which describe absolute qualilies such os left, right, single, correct, equal, absent, etc do not have comparative or superlative forms. 3 Make compound adjectives to describe the following: 1 Aboy who has straight hair. 2 Awoman with green eyes 3 Adog which barks constantly. 4 Acar that moves fast. § Aparent who hos @ broad mind, 6 Atable with three legs 7 Ateacher with good qualifications 4 Asiudent who speaks French § Aworkshop which lasis four hours. 10 Aroom with poor lighting,‘ORDER OF ADJECTIVES ‘A general quide to the ordering of adjectives is given below. However, this cannot always be strictly followed since when there is more than one adjective in a sentence, itis rather difficult to say in exactly what order they should be placed, as this depends on the speaker's feeling or intention. umber [opinion | size7 | age | shape colour? | verb/ origin? | material | noun ‘weight temperature | participle | nationality form lal/both/ three [nice | small round brown [carved wooden | tables half/frst one large | old | rectangular Chinese itor Notes When two or more adjectives of the same category are used, the more general adjective comes before the mere specific one, a kind, gentle mon * Commas are only used to separate adjectives which are equally important; they are never used to separate te final adjective from the noun it modifies. «a long, distinguished career rare, colourful bird 6 Put the adjectives into the correct order. 1. The screenplay was written by a[n) (eccentric, 4 The fruit tart is made with (red, fresh, delicious French, brilliant) writer. strawberries. 2. The flower girl wore a (safin, pretty, white) dress at 5 The company has produced a new sports car wit the wedding ceremony. (leather, maroon, sof} seats 2. I'm going to the (spring, Asian, annual) festival on 6 Corals are (microscopic, orangey-pink, tropical Sunday, sea animalsRegular Comparisons Rr one-syllable adjectives small sod nice Nwosyllable adjectives happy more than Wwo syllables adjectives inteligent Note Comparative "Y _Superlative smaller (han) the smellest (of/in) sodder (than) the saddest (of/in) nicer (than) the nicest (of/in) happier (than) the hoppiest(of/in) more intelligent (han) the most intelligent [oA Twosyllable adjectives ending in -er, -ly or = usually form their comparative ond superlative by adding - er or =e to the positive form, whereas those ending in - re or - ful take more and most clever - cleverer cleverest, careful Positive onesyllable adverbs fast twosyllable adverbs early compound adverbs quickly Note more careful most careful Comparative: faster (than) Superlative the fastest (of/in) the earliest (of/in) the most quickly (of/in) earlier (than) more quickly (than) Compound adverbs are adverbs which are formed by adding ly to the adjective form: careful - carefully Irregular Comparisons Z eine rr bad/badly worse worst good/well better best litle less least many/much more most for farther (of distance only) farthest further furthest old older oldest elder (never used with than} Types of Comparisons and Similarities © a8 ...08 - not as/s0/such ...as He is as stubborn as o mule. I's not such hard work as | though’. + the + comparative ...the + comparative The older he gets, the more forgetful he becomes. * comparative + and + comparative The lecture was becoming more and more boring. such + ...as + noun/pronoun/clause I've never seen such a nice baby as theirs. * the same... + as (pronoun + clause She has the same blouse as the one you gave me * less + positive degree + than Pam is less helpful than John. + the least... + positive degree + of/in She was the least interested of all. eldest (of members of a family, only implying seniority of oge) comparative + than + clause He is more tired than he looks. prefer + gerund + to + gerund = like doing (general | prefer dancing to singing. prefer + 10 infinitive + rather than + bare infinite (general) ! prefer to walk to school rather than take the bike. would prefer + 10 - infinitive + rather than + bare infinitive (specific) ! would prefer to swim rather than sunbathe. ‘would rather/sooner + bare infinitive + than + bare infinitive = would like to I'd rather/sooner be a doctor than (be) teacher clause + as if + clause She looks as if she’s in pain.+ clause + whereas/while/but + clause (comparison by contrast) She can hide her feelings whereas/while/but he is like an open book. * very + positive degree (+ noun) This is @ very difficult task As isused * for what sb or sth really is {jobs or roles). She works as an airhostess, (She is on airhostess) * before clauses/phrases 1" do as you say. * in certain expressions: as usual, as ... as, as much, such os, He came late as usual * afer accept, dascribe, be known, class, refer to, use, regard. She is regarded as an authority on Physics 1 Complete the second sentence, so that it has similar meaning to the first sentence using the word given. Do not change the word given. You must use between three and eight words, including the word given. 1 Wiltshire is older than most other counties in England. one Wiltshire . . . a England. 2 More students pass their exams at the new language school than the others in the area. rote The new language school a the other schools in the area 3 Comparative literature is an intriguing subject, whereas linguistics is less so fascinating Comparative literature 2. than linguisties, 2 Fill in the blanks with as or like. 1 Pam behaved an idiot ot the party usual. 2 Jason is not coctive he used to be; he doesn’t play much sport he did when he was at high school 3 My cherry cake wasn't such o disaster .......0. Id thought it would be, but it didn’t taste anything my mother's. te FOP s.s.ssas the tour goes. It looks .. if the bus has run out of fuel. ‘© mmuch/far/even/rather + comporative (+ noun} This is afn) much/far/even/rather more dificult task + any/no/a lot/a litle/a bit + comparative This task is not any/no/a lot/a litle/a bit more dificult * by far + the + superlative (+noun) This is by far the most difficult task Like is used * for what sb or sth is not really but looks or is like. (similes) She works like a slave. (She’s not a slave) * with nouns/pronouns/- ing. 1 was like travelling in a spaceship. * ther sound, smell, look, feel + noun. It feels like velvet. * after negative expressions. There is no place like home. 5 If Jane were her sister, she wouldn't have behaved rashly os... she had 6 Ken's ambition to work ........ @ feshion designer wes soon shattered; his creations lacked originality and looked lost year’s designs CONVERSATIONAL GRAMMAR 13 Choose the correct item. 1 “So, what do you think of his new novel?” “I's definitely ........ than his previous one.” A most controversicl_C far controversial B > more controversial © D much controversial 2. This car's ....... ofthe two models in the showroom. A the more modern C more modern B the most modern Done of the most modern 3. She was chosen as one of dressed women in the world, A a botter C most best B the better D the best 4. “There's a great film on at 111 tonight!” “" wish it started ...... because I'm too tired to slay up and watch it.” A more early B_ more earlier 5 John is A oldest than B the older of C the earliest D earlier . the five children. C the oldest of D the oldest than