Adjectives

Adjectives

1. An adjective is a word that modifies a noun or a pronoun.

2. An adjective may be

   • Proper adjective
     • It is an adjective formed from a proper noun. It always begins with capital letter.
       • Example
         • Korean people
   • Common adjective
     • It gives a general trait to the words they modify.
       • Example
         • Skinny jeans

3. Characteristics of adjectives

   • Morphological
     • Some of them have inflection -er and -est in comparison. Derivation with affixes: (a-, -y, -ful, less, -able, -ic (al)). Invariable words (for gender, case and number).
       • Example
         • prettier, tallest, unfaithful, useless, two
   • Notional
     • They qualify things, people and states.
       • Some can have different degrees:
         • Gradable
           • They provide a scalar degree and also, they can take degree modifiers.
             • Example
               • a very expensive house
         • Non-gradable
           • Non-gradable adjectives do not take modifiers of degree.
             • Example
               • Phonetic
         • Stative
           • They denote a state
             • Example
               • Old
         • Dynamic
           • Denote an action or getting to a state. They can appear in the predicative position with the imperative and progressive forms of "to be".
             • Example
               • careful, be careful
         • Inherent
           • This adjective characterizes the referent of the noun directly.
             • Example
               • a red lipstick
         • Non-inherent
           • Do not characterize the referent of the noun directly.
             • Example
               • a new pet
   • Functional
     • They can have an attributive or predicative function and position.

4. Syntactic functions of adjectives

   • Attributive
     • They can pre-modify the head of a noun phrase
       • Example
         • a little boy
   • Predicative
     • They appear after a linking verb.
       • Example
         • The dog smells bad
   • Postpositive
     • They inmediately follow the noun or pronoun they modify. Compound indefinite pronouns and adverbs can only be modify postpositively.
       • Example
         • accounts payable

5. Placement and order of adjectives

   • When we use more than one adjective, it is important to know the order in which the adjective must be.
     • NOSASCOMP
       • Number
         • Example
           • Two watches
       • Opinion
         • Example
           • Two beautiful watches
       • Size
         • Example
           • Two beautiful big watches
       • Age
         • Example
           • Two beautiful big old watches
       • Shape
         • Example
           • Two beautiful big old round watches
       • Color
         • Example
           • Two beautiful big old round brown watches
       • Origin
         • Example
           • Two beautiful big old round brown Salvadorean watches
       • Material
         • Example
           • Two beautiful big old round brown Salvadorean leather watches
       • Purpose
         • Example
           • Two beautiful big old round brown Salvadorean leather fashion watches