We use adjectives to describe nouns.
Most adjectives can be used in front of a noun…:
They have a beautiful house.
We saw a very exciting film last night.
or after a link verb like be, look or
feel:We saw a very exciting film last night.
Their house is beautiful.
That film looks interesting.
A lot of adjectives are made from verbs by adding -ing or -ed:That film looks interesting.
-ing adjectives:
The commonest -ing adjectives are:
amusing
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shocking
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surprising
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frightening
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interesting
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disappointing
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exciting
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tiring
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worrying
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boring
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terrifying
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annoying
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If you call something interesting you mean it interests you.
If you call something frightening you mean it frightens you.
I read a very interesting article in the
newspaper today.
That Dracula film was absolutely terrifying.
That Dracula film was absolutely terrifying.
-ed adjectives:
The commonest –ed adjectives are:
annoyed
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bored
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frightened
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worried
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tired
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closed
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excited
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delighted
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disappointed
|
|
|
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The children had nothing to do. They were bored.
Sometimes we use more than one adjective in front of a noun:
He was a nice intelligent young man.
She had a small round black wooden box.
She had a small round black wooden box.
Opinion adjectives:
Some adjectives give a general opinion. We can use these adjectives to describe almost any noun:
good
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bad
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lovely
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strange
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beautiful
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nice
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brilliant
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excellent
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awful
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important
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wonderful
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nasty
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Food: tasty; delicious
Furniture, buildings: comfortable; uncomfortable
People, animals: clever; intelligent; friendly
We usually put a general opinion in front of a
specific opinion:Furniture, buildings: comfortable; uncomfortable
People, animals: clever; intelligent; friendly
Nice tasty soup.
A nasty uncomfortable armchair
A lovely intelligent animal
Usually we put an adjective that gives an opinion in front of
an adjective that is descriptive:A nasty uncomfortable armchair
A lovely intelligent animal
a nice red dress; a silly old man; those horrible yellow
curtains
We often have two adjectives in front of a noun:
a handsome young man; a big black car; that horrible big
dog
Sometimes we have three adjectives, but this is unusual:
a nice handsome young man;
a big black American car;
that horrible big fierce dog
It is very unusual to have more than three adjectives.a big black American car;
that horrible big fierce dog
Adjectives usually come in this order:
1
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2
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3
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4
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5
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6
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7
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8
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General
opinion |
Specific
opinion |
Size
|
Shape
|
Age
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Colour
|
Nationality
|
Material
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afraid
|
alive
|
alone
|
asleep
|
content
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glad
|
ill
|
ready
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sorry
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sure
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unable
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well
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annoyed; finished; bored; pleased; thrilled
We say:
Our teacher was ill.
My uncle was very glad when he heard the news.
The policeman seemed to be very annoyed
but we do not say:My uncle was very glad when he heard the news.
The policeman seemed to be very annoyed
We had an ill teacher.
When he heard the news he wasa very glad uncle
He seemed to be avery annoyed policeman
A few adjectives are used only in front of a noun:When he heard the news he was
He seemed to be a
north south east west |
northern southern eastern western |
countless occasional lone |
eventful indoor outdoor |
He lives in the eastern district.
There were countless problems with the new machinery.
but we do not say:There were countless problems with the new machinery.
This car is certainly better but it’s much
more expensive.
I’m feeling happier now.
We need a bigger garden
We use than when we want to compare one thing with another:I’m feeling happier now.
We need a bigger garden
She is two years older than me.
New York is much bigger than Boston.
He is a better player than Ronaldo.
France is a bigger country than Britain.
When we want to describe how something or someone changes we
can use two comparatives with and:New York is much bigger than Boston.
He is a better player than Ronaldo.
France is a bigger country than Britain.
The balloon got bigger and bigger.
Everything is getting more and more expensive.
Grandfather is looking older and older.
We often use the with comparative adjectives to show that one thing depends
on another:Everything is getting more and more expensive.
Grandfather is looking older and older.
When you drive faster it is more dangerous
> The faster you drive, the more dangerous it is.
When they climbed higher it got colder
> The higher they climbed, the colder it got.
> The faster you drive, the more dangerous it is.
When they climbed higher it got colder
> The higher they climbed, the colder it got.
Superlative adjectives:
We use the with a superlative:It was the happiest day of my life.
Everest is the highest mountain in the world.
That’s the best film I have seen this year.
I have three sisters, Jan is the oldest and Angela is the youngest .
We use words like very; really and extremely to make adjectives stronger:
It’s a very interesting story
Everyone was very excited.
It’s a really interesting story.
Everyone was extremely excited
We call these words intensifiers. Other intensifiers are:Everyone was very excited.
It’s a really interesting story.
Everyone was extremely excited
amazingly - exceptionally - incredibly - remarkably - particularly
We also use enough as an intensifier, but enough comes after its adjective:
If you are seventeen you are old enough to
drive a car.
I can’t wear those shoes. They’re not big enough.
I can’t wear those shoes. They’re not big enough.
Intensifiers with strong adjectives:
When we want to describe something or someone as exceptional you can use a strong adjective. Strong adjectives are words like:
Enormous; huge = very big
Tiny = very small
Brilliant = very clever
Awful; terrible; disgusting; dreadful = very bad
Certain = very sure
Excellent; perfect; ideal; wonderful; splendid = very good
Delicious = very tasty
We do not use very with these adjectives.
We do not say something is "Tiny = very small
Brilliant = very clever
Awful; terrible; disgusting; dreadful = very bad
Certain = very sure
Excellent; perfect; ideal; wonderful; splendid = very good
Delicious = very tasty
With strong adjectives, for intensifiers we normally use:
absolutely - exceptionally - particularly - really - quite
The film was absolutely awful.
He was an exceptionally brilliant child.
The food smelled really disgusting.
He was an exceptionally brilliant child.
The food smelled really disgusting.
Warning!
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Intensifiers with particular adjectives |
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Some intensifiers go with particular adjectives depending on their
meaning:
I’m afraid your wife is dangerously ill.
Some intensifiers go with particular adjectives. For example we use the
intensifier highly with the adjectives successful,
intelligent, likely and unlikely:He was driving dangerously fast. The car was seriously damaged. Fortunately none of the passengers was seriously hurt
He was highly intelligent.
… but we do not say:She’s a highly successful businesswoman
I was bitterly unhappy at school.
You need to use your dictionary to find what sort of nouns these
intensifiers go with.We were bitterly disappointed to lose the match. It can get bitterly cold in winter. |
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Intensifiers with comparatives and superlatives:
We use these words and phrases as intensifiers with comparative adjectives:much - far - a lot - quite a lot - a great deal - a good deal - a good bit - a fair bit
He is much older than me.
New York is a lot bigger than Boston.
We use much and far as
intensifiers with comparative adjectives in front of a noun:New York is a lot bigger than Boston.
France is a much bigger country than Britain.
He is a far better player than Ronaldo.
We use these words as intensifiers with superlatives:
easily - by far - far
The blue whale is easily the biggest animal in the world.
This car was by far the most expensive.
Mitigators are the opposite of intensifiers. When we want to make an adjective less strong we use these words:
fairly - rather - quite
By the end of the day we were rather tired.
The film wasn’t great but it was quite exciting.
and in informal English: pretty
We had a pretty good time at the party.
We call these words mitigators.
Warning
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quite
|
When we use quite with a strong adjective it
means the same as absolutely:
The food was quite awful. = The food was
absolutely awful.
As a child he was quite brilliant. = As a child he was absolutely brilliant. |
Mitigators with comparatives:
We use these words and phrases as mitigators:a bit - just a bit - a little - a little bit - just a little bit - rather - slightly
She’s a bit younger than I am.
It takes two hours on the train but it is a little bit longer by road
This one is rather bigger.
We use slightly and rather as mitigators with comparative adjectives in front of a noun:
This is a slightly more expensive model than that.
This is rather bigger one than that.
Adjectives as intensifiers:
We use some adjectives as intensifiers:
absolute
total - complete
utter - perfect
real
We say:total - complete
utter - perfect
real
He’s a complete idiot.
They were talking utter nonsense.
They were talking utter nonsense.
… but we do not say:
the village church; the car door; the kitchen window; the chair leg;
my coat pocket; London residents
Warning
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We do not use a possessive form for these things. We do not talk about: |
a gold watch; a leather purse;
a metal box
We often use noun modifiers with nouns ending in -er
and -ing:
an office worker; a jewellery maker; a potato peeler; a
shopping list; a swimming lesson; a walking holiday.
We use measurements, age or value as
noun modifiers:
a thirty kilogram suitcase; a two
minute rest; a five thousand euro platinum watch; a fifty
kilometre journey;
We often put two nouns together and readers/listeners have work out
what they mean. So:- an ice bucket = a bucket to keep ice in
- an ice cube = a cube made of ice
- an ice breaker = a ship which breaks ice
- the ice age = the time when much of the Earth was covered in ice.
London
office workers; grammar practice exercises
Position of noun modifiers
Noun modifiers come after adjectives:
The old newspaper seller
A tiring fifty kilometre journey
A tiring fifty kilometre journey
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