The sentence
The sentence The sentence
Adjectives that can change in meaning before a nun or after ‘be’ - before a noun: John is an old friend of mine. (= I’ve known him for a long time) - after be: My friend, John, is very old. (= old in years) Some other common adjectives that can change meaning according to their position are: early, faint, fine, heavy, ill, late, sick. Note that sick can go before a noun or after be, but ill (like well) comes after be. Sick means ‘ill’ and also means ‘upset in the stomach’. Adjectives before and after nuns with a change of meaning Adjectives go before nouns in English, but there are a few adjectives which go before of after nouns and they change in meaning according to their position: This elect body meets once a year. (before the noun = ‘specially chosen’) This president elect takes over in May. (after the noun = ‘who has been elected’) C. Adjectives that behave like nouns; ‘-ed/-ing’ endings ‘The’ (etc.) + adjective + noun: ‘the blind’ 1. We use a noun after an adjective or we use one/ones: He’s a young man. (Not *He’s a young*) You poor thing! (Not *You poor!*) I sold my old car and I’ve bought a new one. (Not * … and I’ve bought a new*) 2. In the plural, we use no article: They are young men. You poor things! We sold our old cars and bought new ones. 3. We can use a few adjectives on their own after the to refer to ‘the group as a whole’: the blind/the sighted, the deaf, the dumb, the living/the dead, the rich/the poor. the young/the old, the elderly, the healthy/the sick, the injured, the unemployed: We have opened a new school for the blind/for blind people. (Not *for (the) blinds*) We say He is blind. Or He is a blind man. (Not *He is a blind.*) We say They are blind. Or They are blind people. (Not *They are blinds.*) Adjectives ending in ‘-ed’ and ‘-ing’: ‘interested/interesting’ 1. We use some past participle ending in –ed (e.g. excited) and some present participle ending in –ing (e.g. exciting) as adjectives. Common pairs of –ed/ing adjectives are: amazed/amazing, annoyed/annoying, bored/boring, enchanted/enchanting, excited/exciting, interested/interesting, pleased/pleasing, tired/tiring. Similar pairs are: delighted/delightful, impressed/impressive, upset/upsetting. 2. We often use –ed endings to describe people: The story interested John. → John was interested in the story. We often use –ing endings to describe things, events, etc: The story was interesting. 3. We can also use –ing endings to describe people: Isn’t John interesting! Compare: Gloria was interesting to be with. (= that was the effect she had on others) Gloria was interesting. (= that was the effect someone or something had on her) 36
D. Adjectives after ‘be’, ‘seem’, etc.: word order of adjectives ‘Look good’ compared with ‘play well’ 1. After be, look, feel, seem, smell, taste, and sound we use adjectives: That egg is/tastes bad. (Bad is an adjective describing the noun egg.) 2. After other verbs, we use adverbs: John behaved badly. (Badly is an adverb: it adds to the meaning of the verb behave.) Compare: John looks good. (adjective) John looks well. (adjective John plays well. (adverb) Word order: two-word and three-word nouns: ‘a teak kitchen cupboard’ 1. Materials (nouns) behave like adjectives when we use them to form compound nouns: a cupboard (noun) made of teak (noun) → a teak cupboard (compound noun) 2. We can have three-word compound nouns. ‘Material’ come before ‘purpose’ or ‘use’: a teak cupboard, used in the kitchen → a teak kitchen cupboard (compound noun) Adjectives go in front of nouns. We cannot separate a compound noun by an adjectives: a fine teak kitchen cupboard. (Not *a teak fine kitchen cupboard*) Word order: past participle + noun: ‘a handmade cupboard’ An Adjectival past participle (damaged, handmade, etc.) comes in front of a noun: Adjective + one-word noun: a handmade cupboard Adjective + two-word noun: a handmade teak cupboard Adjective + three-word noun: a handmade teak kitchen cupboard Word order: adjective + noun: ‘a big round table’ The order of adjectives in front of a noun is as follows (in reverse order): 3 where from? + past participle: a French handmade kitchen cupboard Or: past participle + where from? a handmade French kitchen cupboard 2 size/age/shape/colour + where from? + past participle: a large French handmade cupboard 1 quality/opinion + size, etc. The most general adjective usually comes first: a beautiful large French handmade teak cupboard Summary: opinion size age shape colour from? past part. noun a valuable - - - brown Victorian handmade teak cupboard Or: handmade Victorian E. The comparison of adjectives Common comparative and superlative forms: ‘cold-colder-coldest’ 1. We add –er and –est to from the comparative and superlative of most one-syllable adjectives: clean-cleaner-the cleanest, cold-colder-the coldest 2. Adjectives like hot (big, fat, sad, wet) double the consonant: hot-hotter-the hottest. 3. Adjectives like nice (fine, large, late, safe) add –r, -st: nice-nicer-the nicest. 37
- Page 1 and 2: The sentence A: Sentence word order
- Page 3 and 4: Verb + object + ‘to’ + noun or
- Page 5 and 6: Noun clause derived from questions
- Page 7 and 8: 3. In sentences like: Our new secre
- Page 9 and 10: Adverbial clauses of purpose with
- Page 11 and 12: t 2. We sometimes use the past part
- Page 13 and 14: Apostrophe s(‘s) or compound noun
- Page 15 and 16: E. Number (singular and plural) (1)
- Page 17 and 18: 3. We still have a few male and fem
- Page 19 and 20: Articles A. The indefinite article:
- Page 21 and 22: ‘The’ to refer to things that a
- Page 23 and 24: 2. Zero for: countries (Turkey), st
- Page 25 and 26: C. ‘It’ and ‘one/some/any/non
- Page 27 and 28: 2. Verbs such as get up, sit down,
- Page 29 and 30: Quantity A. Quantifiers + countable
- Page 31 and 32: ‘Not …any’, ‘no’ and ‘n
- Page 33 and 34: ‘None of’ and ‘neither of’
- Page 35: Adjectives A. Formation of adjectiv
- Page 39 and 40: Adverbs A. Adverbs of manner Adverb
- Page 41 and 42: ‘During’, in’ and ‘for’ 1
- Page 43 and 44: F. Intensifiers ‘Very’, ‘too
- Page 45 and 46: 2. If we begin a sentence with a
- Page 47 and 48: B. Prepositions of movement and pos
- Page 49 and 50: D. Particular prepositions, particl
- Page 51 and 52: E. Particular prepositions, particl
- Page 53 and 54: d. Please put these dishes away. (a
- Page 55 and 56: 4. There are five groups of stative
- Page 57 and 58: 4. Repeated actions with e.g. alway
- Page 59 and 60: G. The simple future tense Some use
- Page 61 and 62: The future-in-the-past Sometimes we
- Page 63 and 64: Be, Have, Do A. ‘Be’ as a full
- Page 65 and 66: There are some children at the door
- Page 67 and 68: Compare: Have you/Do you have/Have
- Page 69 and 70: - present form: He must be right. H
- Page 71 and 72: 2. An ‘uncertain’ question may
- Page 73 and 74: 4. We may use the past perfect of b
- Page 75 and 76: 3. Had to shows that we couldn’t
- Page 77 and 78: The form of ‘dare’ as a modal a
- Page 79 and 80: The passive and the causative A. Ge
- Page 81 and 82: ‘Get’ in the causative: ‘get
- Page 83 and 84: I’ve seen no one/nobody. → I ha
- Page 85 and 86: Parallel responses: ‘John can …
D. Adjectives after ‘be’, ‘seem’, etc.: word order of adjectives<br />
‘Look good’ compared with ‘play well’<br />
1. After be, look, feel, seem, smell, taste, and sound we use adjectives:<br />
That egg is/tastes bad. (Bad is an adjective describing the noun egg.)<br />
2. After other verbs, we use adverbs: John behaved badly.<br />
(Badly is an adverb: it adds to the meaning of the verb behave.) Compare:<br />
John looks good. (adjective) John looks well. (adjective John plays well. (adverb)<br />
Word order: two-word and three-word nouns: ‘a teak kitchen cupboard’<br />
1. Materials (nouns) behave like adjectives when we use them to form compound nouns:<br />
a cupboard (noun) made of teak (noun) → a teak cupboard (compound noun)<br />
2. We can have three-word compound nouns. ‘Material’ come before ‘purpose’ or ‘use’:<br />
a teak cupboard, used in the kitchen → a teak kitchen cupboard (compound noun)<br />
Adjectives go in front of nouns. We cannot separate a compound noun by an adjectives:<br />
a fine teak kitchen cupboard. (Not *a teak fine kitchen cupboard*)<br />
Word order: past participle + noun: ‘a handmade cupboard’<br />
An Adjectival past participle (damaged, handmade, etc.) comes in front of a noun:<br />
Adjective + one-word noun: a handmade cupboard<br />
Adjective + two-word noun: a handmade teak cupboard<br />
Adjective + three-word noun: a handmade teak kitchen cupboard<br />
Word order: adjective + noun: ‘a big round table’<br />
<strong>The</strong> order of adjectives in front of a noun is as follows (in reverse order):<br />
3 where from? + past participle: a French handmade kitchen cupboard<br />
Or: past participle + where from? a handmade French kitchen cupboard<br />
2 size/age/shape/colour + where from? + past participle:<br />
a large French handmade cupboard<br />
1 quality/opinion + size, etc. <strong>The</strong> most general adjective usually comes first:<br />
a beautiful large French handmade teak cupboard<br />
Summary:<br />
opinion size age shape colour from? past part. noun<br />
a valuable - - - brown Victorian handmade teak cupboard<br />
Or: handmade Victorian<br />
E. <strong>The</strong> comparison of adjectives<br />
Common comparative and superlative forms: ‘cold-colder-coldest’<br />
1. We add –er and –est to from the comparative and superlative of most one-syllable<br />
adjectives: clean-cleaner-the cleanest, cold-colder-the coldest<br />
2. Adjectives like hot (big, fat, sad, wet) double the consonant: hot-hotter-the hottest.<br />
3. Adjectives like nice (fine, large, late, safe) add –r, -st: nice-nicer-the nicest.<br />
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