ADJECTIVES AND

ADJECTIVE PHRASES

Prof. dr Samina Dazdarević

 CONTENT
Structure

Adjective phrase
Syntactic functions

The head
 INTRODUCTION
What are Adjectives and the Adjective phrases?
An adjective may be a word or group word with the same
meaning

Adjective phrases are defined as phrases in which an

adjective functions as the head of the phrase

Examples:
1.Susan is clever

2.The doctor is very late

3.My sister is fond of animals

A. STRUCTURE
♦♦♦ Adverb modifier ( or premodification):

modifying, describing or qualifying constituents

which precede the head

♦♦♦ The head:

which is an Adj or participle serving as the
focus of the Phrase

♦♦♦ Cadj( post modification):

constituent which follows head and completes
the meaning implied by the head
THE TABLE SHOWS THE STRUCTURE OF
AN ADJECTIVE PHRASE
 EXAMPLES OF THE
ADJECTIVE PHRASES
1) Premodifier
Partly very, so, extremely, too
=>Form is Adverb and Adverb Phrase

2) Head
Happy, excited, sweet, worry, cloudy
=> Form is Adjective

3) Postmodifier
Indeed inspirit for his age tobe true enough to
me
Form is Adverb, Prepositional Phrase, Infinitive Clause
 Infinitive

phrase

Complementation That
clause

_ing
clause

_PP
clause
ADJECTIVE COMPLEMENT
(POSTMODIFIER)
An adjective complement is a clause or
phrase that adds to the meaning of an
adjective or modifies it.

The adjective complement always follows

the adjective it complements and it is a
noun clause or a prepositional phrase
ADJECTIVE COMPLEMENT
(POSTMODIFIER)
1)_ing clause: verb in adj clause shows V_ing
Ex1: When summer comes, students are busy preparing for the
exam.
Ex2: “Harry Porter” story is worth reading
2) _PP clause: verb in adj clause is a prepositional phrase (pp)
Ex1: We were shocked by the news.
Ex2:The child was eager for Christmas to arrive.
ADJECTIVE COMPLEMENT
(POSTMODIFIER)
3) to Vinf_ clause: Adj clause has the Verb be + adj + inf
complement
Ex1: Retailers seem eager to promote sales.
Ex2: I was surprised to see him doing that.

4) That clause: adj + that clause, when you want to comment a

fact
Ex1:It seems sad that the blue whale is becoming extinct.
Ex2: It is important that she is punctual.
B. SYNTACTIC
FUNCTIONS
SYNTACTIC FUNCTIONS
Noun pre-
modifier

Subject
Complement

Postpositive

Syntactic
functions NP head

Verbless adj
clause

Exclamatory adj
sentence
Syntactic Function of
Adjectives
♦ Noun pre-modifier

• adjectives are placed before nouns

• adjectives are attributive when they

premodify nouns

* eg : a new car

AdjP NP
  * eg :this beautiful girl
  AdjP NP
Syntactic Function of Adjectives
♦ Subject complement
• S + to be/ linking verbs + adj ( SC)
♦ the function of adjectives are predicative
Eg: the book is impressive
Np SC

what he said is wrong

Np SC
POSTPOSITIVE

1.DEFINITION:
An adjective is postpositive when it comes after the
noun it modifies
CASES OF POSTMODIFIERS
1.Reduced as relative clause
Eg: 1.He is a man greedy of flame
2.A room full of people

2.Indefinite pronouns ending in : _body ; _one;

_thing ; _where
Eg : There is nothing special
CASES OF POSTMODIFIERS
3.In some nouns (legal), adjective are compulsory after the noun
Eg: attorney general,
body politic,
court martial,
postmaster general
CASES OF POSTMODIFIERS

4.Superlative construction
Eg: the smallest quantity imaginable
The lowest price possible
The best hotel valuable

5.Measures:
a river two hundred miles long
a road fifty feet wide
a man eighty-five years old
a bulding ten storeys high
CASES OF POSTMODIFIERS
6.Some idioms:

The theatre royal

The princess royal
For time immemorial
By all means possible

Note: an adjective modified by enough, too, so the

modified adjectives can not be separated from its
complement.
HEAD OF NOUN PHRASE
Most commonly, such adjective personal reference:
Eg: The rich built many house for the poor
The rich = rich people
The poor = poor people
The extremely old need a great deal of attention
the extremely old = extremely old people

Note: adjectives functioning as noun phrase heads generally require a

definite determiner if they are conjoined
 HEAD OF NOUN PHRASE

Denoting nationalities
Eg: You British and you French ought to be allies

Superlatives
Eg: The lastest is that he is going to run for election
C. THE HEAD
Syntactic classification of adjs
 CENTRAL
 central = both attributive and predicative
eg: a (1)lazy student→ the student is (2)lazy
attributive predicative

the (1)blue sea → the sea is (2)blue

attributive predicative

Note: (1) attributive position

(2) predicative position
 ATTRIBUTIVE ONLY
Adjectives which are restricted to attributive position do not
characterize the referent of the noun directly
eg. A small businessman
→ a businessman whose business is small
→ not a businessman is small
Note:
words with strongly emotive value:
 poor man, my dear lady, wretched lady…
 ATTRIBUTIVE ONLY
Inherent adjs Non-inherent adjs
 Characterize the referent  Do not characterize the
of the noun directly referent of the noun
 Eg: directly
Distant hills
a complete chapter Distant relatives
a heavy bag a complete idiot
a social survey a heavy smoker
an old man A social animal
an old friend
ATTRIBUTIVE ONLY
 INTENSIFYING
ADJECTIVES
Emphasizers:

 have a general effect on the noun and convey

speaker’s attitude toward the referent

eg. Utter despair,

pure bliss,
a real hero,
a certain winner…
 INTENSIFYING
ADJECTIVES
Amplifiers:

denote the upper extreme of the scale

are central(inherent)

eg. A complete victory →the victory was complete

are attributive only(non-inherent)

eg. A complete idiot (not the idiot is complete)

Notes: mere, sheer, utter (always attributive only)

 LIMITER ADJECTIVES
Particularize the reference of the noun
eg. the main topic, the only person, the precise
reason, etc….

Note: a certain person

a limiter → a particular person
a certain winner
an intensifier→ a sure winner
 RELATED TO
ADVERBIALS
adjs that are attributive only can be related to adverbials.
eg. my former friend ~ formerly my friend
adjs premodify agentive nouns have a relationship to the
verb base
eg. a hard worker ~ a worker who works hard.
the implied process can be associated with an inanimate object.
eg. a fast car ~ a car that one can drive fast
 DENOMINAL
ADJECTIVES
 are derived from nouns and attributive only
eg. A mathematical puzzle (a puzzle based on mathematics )
a criminal law (a law concerning crime)
 Note:
a criminal law ~ a law seems criminal
→ a central adjective
 denominal # nominal adjs
eg. The French are noted for their wines.
The French people are noted for their wines.
 PREDICATIVE ONLY
Eg. Children were asleep. (not asleep children)
S V Cs
 Adjectives which are restricted to predicative position refer to
condition rather than to characterize

 Some group of adjs must take complementation: afraid(that,

of, about); fond(of); conscious(that, of) etc…
Eg. Jean is keen on maths.
S V Cs
 PREDICATIVE ONLY
Some of the common predicative only adjectives
in English are:
ablaze alive unaware
abreast alone
afire aloof
afraid ashamed
aghast asleep
aglow awake
alert aware
alike fond
Thank you for your
attention!