Adjectives - PowerPoint

							Adjectives
     Formation of adjectives




• What an adjective is and what it does
• An adjective describes the person, thing,
  etc which a noun refers to We use
  adjectives to say what a person, etc is like
  or seems like For example, adjectives can
  give us information about
• An adjective can also describe the idea (s)
  contained in a whole group of words, as in
• Professor Roberts lecture on magnetism
  was fascinating
• To maintain that we can survive a nuclear
  war is absurd
• Many adjectives can answer the question
  What like? and, depending on context, can
  give general or precise information
The suffixes and prefixes of one-word
adjectives

• Some words function only as adjectives
  (tall) Others function as adjectives or
  nouns (cold)
• Many adjectives which are related to verbs
  or nouns have a characteristic ending (or
  suffix) For example, able added to a verb
  like en\oy gives us the adjective enjoyable
• ful added to a noun like truth gives us the
  adjective truthful
• Present participle ing forms often function
  as adjectives (running water
• Many of these ing forms have ed adjectival
  past participle equivalents (interesting
  interested)
• Some irregular past participles function as
  adjectives (broken)
• Prefixes added to adjectives generally
  have a negative effect For example, dis-
  added to agreeable gives us disagreeable,
  un added to interesting gives us
  uninteresting
 The formation of compound adjectives


• Compound adjectives formed with
  participles, etc.
  – - compounds formed with past participles e g
    a candle-lit table a horse-drawn cart a self-
    employed author a tree-lined avenue
• - compounds formed with present
  participles e g a long-playing record a
  long-suffering parent a time-consuming
  job
 Gradable and non-gradable adjectives


• Adjectives can be divided into two classes:
  a large class of words which can be
  graded (gradable adjectives) and a small
  class that cannot be graded (non-gradable
  adjectives).
• An adjective is gradable when:
  – - we can imagine degrees in the quality
    referred to and so can use it with words like
    very, too, and enough- very good too good,
    less good not good enough, etc.
  – - we can form a comparative and superlative
    from it (big) bigger, biggest, (good) better,
    best, etc.
• - we cannot modify it (i.e. we cannot use it
  with very too, etc.)
  – - we cannot make a comparative or
    superlative from it: e.g. daily dead, medical,
    unique, etc.
  Attributive and predicative adjectives


• The terms attributive and predicative
  refer to the position of an adjective in a
  phrase or sentence. We say that an
  adjective is attributive or is used
  attributively when it comes before a noun
  (and is therefore part of the noun phrase
• an old ticket a young shop-assistant he is
  an old man
• We say that an adjective is predicative or
  that it is used predicatively when it comes
  directly after be seem, etc. It can be used
  on its own as the complement
  – This ticket is old Your mother seems angry