Most adjectives can be either in attributive position (nice weather) or in predicative position (The weather is nice). But a few go in one position but not in the other.
1 Attributive only
That was the main reason, NOT That reason was main. The story is utter nonsense.
inner ring road
These adjectives are attributive but not predicative: chief, elder (= older), eldest (= oldest), eventual, former (= earlier), indoor, inner, main,
mere (a mere child = only a child), only, outdoor, outer, principal (= main), sheer(=complete), sole (= only), upper, utter (= complete).
NOTE
a Little is mostly attributive.
a little/small cottage
The cottage is small.
b Same cannot be predicative except with the.
Yes, I had the same experience./Yes, my experience was the same. c A noun as modifier can only be attributive.
a tennis club
a water pipe
afternoon tea
But nouns saying what something is made of can go in either position.
It's a metal pipe./The pipe is metal.
2 Predicative only
Thechildren weresoon asleep. NOT theasleep children The manager seemed pleased with the salesfigures. One person was ill and couldn't come.
These adjectives are predicative but not attributive.
Some words with the prefix a: asleep, awake, alive, afraid, ashamed, alone, alike
Some words expressing feelings: pleased, glad, content, upset Some words to do with health: well, fine, ill, unwell
NOTE
aMany of these adjectives can be attributive if they are modified by an adverb. the wide awake children
an extremely pleased customer
bThere is sometimes a word that we can use attributively instead of one with the prefix a. a sleeping child NOT an asleep child
a living person NOT an alive person
thefrightened animal
NOT the afraid animal
There are also other words expressing feelings which we can use attributively.
a satisfied/contented customer NOT a pleased customer
c
Pleased, glad and upset can be attributive when not referring directly to people.
a pleased expression
the glad news
an upset stomach
d
For more details about well, ill etc in Britain and the USA, • 305(1).
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201 Adjectives after nouns and pronouns
3 Different meanings in different positions
Either position
Attributive only
Attributive
Predicative
a real hero
real wood
The wood is real.
(degree)
(= not false)
a perfect idiot
a perfect day
The day was perfect.
(degree)
(= excellent)
You poor thing!
a poor result
The result was poor.
(sympathy)
(= not good)
poor people
The people are poor.
(= having little money)
Predicative only
a certain address
I'm certain.
(= specific)
(= sure)
the present situation
I was present.
(=now)
(= here/there)
a late bus
The bus was late.
(= near the end of the day)
(= not on time)
the late president
(= dead)
4 A beautiful dancer
In phrases like a beautiful dancer, an interesting writer, a heavy smoker, afrequent visitor, an oldfriend, the adjective usually modifies the action not the person.
Attributive
Predicative
She's a beautiful dancer.
The dancer is beautiful.
(= Her dancing is beautiful.)
(= The dancer is a beautiful person.)
He was a frequent visitor.
(= His visits were frequent.)
201 Adjectives after nouns and pronouns
1 Some adjectives can have a prepositional phrase after them.
People were anxiousfor news. The field wasfull ofsheep.
The adjective + prepositional phrase cannot go before the noun, but it can go directly after it.
People anxiousfor news kept ringing the emergency number. We walked across a field full of sheep.
2 Sometimes the position of the adjective depends on the meaning.
The amount ofmoney involved is quite small. (= relevant) It's a rather involved story. (= complicated)
The person concerned is at lunch, I'm afraid. (= relevant)
A number ofconcerned people havejoined the protest. (= worried)
24 ADJECTIVES
PAGE 256
There were ten members of staff present. (= there)
Our present problems are much worse. (= now)
Judy seems a responsible person. (= sensible)
The person responsible will be punished. (= who did it).
Words from these groups usually come in this order:
opinion + size + quality + age + shape + colour + participle forms + origin + material + type + purpose
an old cardboard box (age + material)
a German industrial company (origin + type)
two small round green discs (size + shape + colour) a large informative street plan (size + quality + type) a hard wooden seat (quality + material)
a new improvedformula (age + participle form) increasing financial difficulties (participle form + type)
two excellent public tennis courts (opinion + type + purpose)
NOTE
aThese rules are not absolute. The order can sometimes be different. We sometimes prefer to put a short adjective before a long one.
abighorriblebuilding
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202 The order of adjectives
b
Old and young referring to people often come next to the noun.
a dignified old lady
a pale young man
Here old and young are unstressed,
c
Words for material are mostly nouns (brick), but some are adjectives (wooden).
Words for type can be adjectives (chemical) or nouns (money problems). Words for purpose are nouns (alarm clock) or gerunds (walking boots).
bIn general, the adjective closest to the noun has the closest link in meaning with the noun and expresses what is most permanent about it. For example, in the phrase two excellent public tennis courts, the word tennis is closely linked to courts, whereas excellent is not linked so closely. The fact that the courts are for tennis is permanent, but their excellence is a matter of opinion.
c When two adjectives have similar meanings, the shorter one often comes first. a bright, cheerful smile a soft, comfortable chair
Sometimes two different orders are both possible. a peaceful, happy place/a happy, peaceful place
2 And and but with attributive adjectives
a We can sometimes put and between two adjectives.
a soft, comfortable chair la soft and comfortable chair
But we do not normally use and between adjectives with different kinds of meanings.
beautiful golden sands (opinion, colour)
b We use and when the adjectives refer to different parts of something. a black and white sweater (partly black and partly white)
We use but when the adjectives refer to two qualities in contrast. a cheap but effective solution
3 Predicative adjectives
aThe order of predicative adjectives is less fixed than the order before a noun. Except sometimes in a literary style, we use and before the last adjective.
The chair was soft and comfortable.
Adjectives expressing an opinion often come last.
The city is old and beautiful.
NOTE
We can use nice and lovely in this pattern with and.
The room was nice and warm. (= nicely warm)
b We can use but when two qualities are in contrast.
The solution is cheap but effective.
24 ADJECTIVES
PAGE 258
203Amusing and amused, interesting and interested
Compare the adjectives in ing and ed.
The show made us laugh. It was very amusing.
The audience laughed. They were very amused.
I talked to a very interesting man.
I was interested in what he was telling me.
I find these diagrams confusing.
I'm confused by these diagrams.
This weather is depressing, isn't it?
Don't you feel depressed when it rains?
Adjectives in ing express what something is like, the effect it has on us. For example, a show can be amusing, interesting or boring. Adjectives in ed express how we feel about something. For example, the audience can feel amused, interested or bored.
Some pairs of adjectives like this are: alarming/alarmed exciting/excited
NOTE These words have the same form as active and passive participles. • 137
204 The + adjective
1 Social groups
a We can use the + adjective to refer to some groups of people in society.
In the England of1900 little was done to help the poor. (= poor people)
Who looks after the old and the sick? (= old people and sick people)
The poor means 'poor people in general'. It cannot refer to just one person or to a small group. Here it means 'poor people in England in 1900'. The poor is more impersonal than poor people.
The + adjective takes a plural verb.
The old are greatly respected.
bHere are some examples of adjectives used in this way.
Social/Economic: the rich, the poor, the strong, the weak, the hungry,
the (under)privileged, the disadvantaged, the unemployed, the homeless Physical/Health: theblind, thedeaf, thesick, thedisabled, thehandicapped,
the living, the dead
Age: the young, the middle-aged, the elderly, the old
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204 The + adjective
The adjective can be modified by an adverb.
the very rich
the severely disabled
Some adjectives normally take an adverb.
the more/less fortunate
the mentally ill
NOTE
aIn a few contexts, the + adjective can mean a specific group rather than people in general.
The injured were taken to hospital.
bA few adjectives can come after a/an to mean a specific person.
Now a superstar, she was an unknown only two years ago.
cThere are a few adjectives that we can use as nouns, such as colour words. They take s in the plural.
a black (= a black person) the Greens (= supporters of the green movement)
dFor the French, • 2 8 8 .
2 Abstract qualities
aWe can use some adjectives after the to refer to things in general which have an abstract quality.
There are a lot ofbooks on the supernatural.
The human race has a great thirstfor the unknown.
The supernatural means 'supernatural happenings in general'. Other examples: the mysterious, the unexplained, the absurd, the ordinary, the old, the new.
The noun phrase takes a singular verb.
The new drives out the old.
bA few adjectives can have a more specific meaning.
The unexpected happened. (= something that was unexpected)
Have you heard the latest? (= the latest news)
Also: fear the worst, hopefor the best, in the dark
cWe use the+ adjective + thing to talk about a particular quality or aspect of a situation. This usage is rather informal.
It was an amusing sight, but the annoying thing (about it) was that I didn't have my camera with me.
We cannotleave out thing here.
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25
Adverbials
205 Summary
Introduction to adverbials • 206
An adverbial can be an adverb phrase, prepositional phrase or noun phrase.
Luckily the money was on my desk when I arrived this morning.
Adverb forms • 207
Many adverbs end in ly: quietly, finally, certainly. There are some pairs of adverbs like hard and hardlywith different meanings.
The position of adverbials • 208
Some adverbials come next to the word or phrase they modify. those people over there really nice
Some adverbials modify a verb or a whole clause. They come in front, mid or end
position.
Front
Mid
End
Today the train
actually left
on time.
Types of adverbial Adverbs of manner • 209 slowly, with a smile (how?)
Place and time • 210
here, at the post office (where?) yesterday, next week (when?) ages, for three weeks (how long?)
Adverbs of frequency • 211 often, every week (how often?)
Adverbs of degree • 212
very, a bit (how?)
Focus and viewpoint • 213
only,especially
medically, from a political point of view
Truth adverbs • 214 probably, on the whole
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Comment adverbs • 215
luckily, to our amusement
206 Introduction to adverbials
Linking adverbs • 216 also, on the other hand
NOTE
For phrasal verbs, e.g. Switch the light off, • 230. For means, e.g. I cut it with a knife, • 228(5).
For function/role, e.g. I use this room as my office, • 228(6).
For where, when, why and how in questions, • 27, and as relative adverbs, • 279.
206 Introduction to adverbials
In this real conversation Liz is telling a friend how she and Tony were stopped by the police.
STOPPED BY THE POLICE
Liz: It was at about eleven o'clock at night, and at that sort oftime the police are always lookingfor people who've been drinking. And I can remember very well that we were in a hurry to get home because Catherine was with a babysitter, but she wasn't at home, she was in someone else's house, and we wanted to get back before they were ready to go to bed. Do you remember?
Tony: We'd been to the cinema.
Liz: Mhm. And I can remember...
Tony: Hadn't had a drinkfor days.
Liz: No. I can remember distinctly that you were going very very slowly as you saw the police car infront of you, and then you said in a very impatient fashion, 'Oh, they're doing this on purpose. They're going very slowly. I will overtake them.' You overtook them, and sure enough they thought that that was worth stoppingyoufor. So they did.
Tony: So they got out, and they inspected the car thoroughly in a very officious manner.
(from M. Underwood and P. Barr Listeners)
1 An adverbial can have these forms.
Adverb phrase:
You were going very slowly.
We wanted to get back.
Prepositional phrase:
Catherine wasn't at home.
You saw the police car infront of you.
Noun phrase:
We wanted to get home.
It happened last week.
2 Sometimes an adverbial is necessary to complete a sentence.
Catherine was with a babysitter. We'd been to the cinema.
But very often the adverbial is an extra element.
I can remember very well. You saw the police car in front of you.
For details, • 12.
Putting in an extra adverbial adds something to the meaning. For example, it can tell us how, when or where something happened.
25 ADVERBIALS
PAGE 262
3 An adverbial can modify different parts of the sentence.
The car infront ofus was a police car. You were getting really impatient. They were going very slowly.
They inspected the car thoroughly. Then you decided to overtake.
Here the adverbials add information about the noun car, the adjective impatient, the adverb slowly, the action inspected the car and the clause you decided.
207
Adverb forms
1
Some adverbs are unrelated to other words, e.g. always, soon, very, perhaps.
But many adverbs are formed from an adjective + ly, e.g. quick quickly,
certain
certainly.
NOTE
There are some spelling rules for adverbs in ly.
Y changing to i: easy
easily • 294
Adjectives ending in consonant + le: probable
probably • 292(5)
Adjectives ending in ic: magic
magically • 292(5)
2We cannot add ly to an adjective which already ends in ly. Instead we can either use a prepositional phrase with manner/way/fashion, or we can use another adverb.
We received afriendly greeting.
They greeted us in afriendly manner.
NOT friendlily
That isn't very likely.
That probably won't happen.
Some adjectives in lyarefriendly, lively, lovely, silly, ugly, cowardly, lonely, costly, likely.
NOTE
Some adjectives ending in ed have no adverb form.
Thewomanstaredinastonishment, NOTastonishedly
But those ending in ted can take an ly ending.
Thecrowdshoutedexcitedly.
3 Some adverbs have the same form as adjectives.
Adjective
Louise caught thefast train. We didn't have a long wait. I had an early night.
Adverb
The train was going quitefast. We didn't have to wait long.
I went to bed early.
Other adverbs like this are walk straight, sit still and bend low. For hard, hardly, late, lately etc, • (5).
4 Sometimes the adverb can be with or without ly. It is more informal to leave out ly. You can buy cassettes cheap/cheaply in the market.
Do you have to talk so loud/loudly? Get there as quick/quickly as you can.
Go slow/slowly here.
Cheap(ly), loud(ly), quick(ly) and slow(ly) are the most common. Others are direct(ly), tight(ly) and fair(ly). For American usage, • 305(2).
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NOTE
208 The position of adverbials
aWe use the form without ly only in common expressions, e.g. talk so loud, go slow, fly direct, playfair. We use ly with longer or less common expressions.
Do you have to rustle that newspaper so loudly? We need to take action quickly. b Right and wrong are adverbs of manner, but rightly and wrongly express a comment.
I'll try to do it right this time.
Helen decided rightly to call the police.
c First and last are both adjectives and adverbs.
Karen took first place/came first in the race. Firstly and lastly are linking adverbs.
First/Firstly, I'd like to thank you all for coming.
5 There are some pairs such as hard and hardly which have different meanings.
You've all worked hard.
I've got hardly any money.
(hardly any = almost no)
There's a bank quite near.
We've nearly finished. (= almost)
I often stay up late.
I've been unwell lately. (= recently)
The plane flew high above
The theory is highly controversial. (= very)
the clouds.
Submarines can go very deep.
Mikefeels very deeply about this.
Airline stafftravel
free.
The prisoners can move around freely.
(= without paying)
(= uncontrolled)
This ear hurts the most.
We mostly stay in. (= usually)
6Hourly, daily etc are formed from hour, day, week, month and year. They are both adjectives and adverbs.
It's a monthly magazine. It comes out monthly.
7 Good is an adjective, and well is its adverb.
Roger is a good singer, isn't he?
Rogersings well, doesn'the? NOT Hesingsgood.
But well is also an adjective meaning 'in good health'.
I was ill, but I'm well/I'm all right now. How are you? ~ Very well,IFine, thank you.
NOTE We use well in expressions such as well organized, well deserved and well known.
208 The position of adverbials
The position of an adverbial depends on what it modifies. It can modify a word or phrase or a whole clause. Its position also depends on what type of adverbial it is and whether it is a single word or a phrase.
1 Modifying a noun, adjective or adverb
a An adverbial which modifies a noun usually goes after it.
The shop on the corner is closed. Who's the girl with short hair? Those people outside are getting wet.
For more examples, • 148.
b An adverb which modifies an adjective or adverb usually goes before it. • 212
That's very kind of you. We heard the signal fairly clearly.
