Describing things: adjectives

2.2 When you want to give more information about something than you can give by using a noun alone, you can use an adjective to identify it or describe it in more detail.

...a new idea.

...new ideas.

...new creative ideas.

Ideas are important.

...to suggest that new ideas are useful.

main points about adjectives 2.3 The most important things to notice about an English adjective are

• what structure it is in (e.g. before a noun or after a link verb)

• what type of adjective it is (e.g. qualitative or classifying).

WARNING 2.4 The form of an adjective does not change: you use the same form for singular and plural and for subject and object.

We were looking for a good place to camp.

The next good place was forty-five miles further on.

Good places to fish were hard to find.

We found hardly any good places.

structure 2.5 Adjectives are nearly always used in connection with a noun or pronoun to give information about the person, thing, of group referred to. When this information is not the main purpose of a statement, adjectives are placed in front of a noun, as in 'hot coffee'. Adjectives which are used in a noun group are said to be used attributively.

The use of adjectives in a noun group is explained in paragraphs 2.19 to 2.20.

2.6 Sometimes, however, the main purpose of a statement is to give the information expressed by an adjective. When this happens, adjectives are placed after a link verb such as 'be' or 'become', as in 'I am cold' and 'He became ill'. Adjectives which are used after a link verb are said to be used predicatively. They are called the complement of the link verb. The subject can be any noun group, including pronouns.

The use of adjectives as complements of a link verb is explained in paragraphs 3.127 to 3.138.

types of adjective 2.7 There is a large group of adjectives which identify qualities which someone or something has. This group includes words such as 'happy' and 'intelligent'. These are called qualitative adjectives.

Qualitative adjectives are explained in paragraphs 2.24 to 2.28.

2.8 There is another large group of adjectives which identify someone or something as a member of a class. This group includes words such as 'financial' and 'intellectual'. These are called classifying adjectives.

Classifying adjectives are explained in paragraphs 2.29 to 2.32.

Some adjectives can be both qualitative and classifying. These are explained in paragraph 2.33.

2.9 There is a small group of adjectives which identify the colour of something. This group includes words like 'blue' and 'green'. They are called colour adjectives.

Colour adjectives are explained in paragraphs 2.34 to 2.39.

2.10 Another small group of adjectives are used to emphasize your feelings about the person or thing you are talking about. These adjectives are called emphasizing adjectives, and they include adjectives such as 'complete', 'absolute', and 'utter'.

Emphasizing adjectives are explained in paragraph 2.40 to 2.43.

2.11 There is a small group of adjectives which are used in a very similar way to determiners (see paragraphs 1.161 to 1.236) to make the reference more precise.

These are called postdeterminers because their place in a noun group is immediately after the determiner, if there is one, and before any other adjectives.

Postdeterminers are explained in paragraph 2.44.

2.12 Most adjectives can be used in attributive and predicative structures. However, there are some which can be used only in one or the other. This is explained in paragraphs 2.45 to 2.57.

2.13 There are a small number of adjectives that can be used after the noun rather than attributively or predicatively. They are explained in paragraphs 2.62 to 2.66.

2.14 When two or more adjectives are used in a structure, they usually occur in a particular order. This is explained in paragraphs 2.58 to 2.61.

2.15 There are a large number of English adjectives ending in '-ing', many of which are related to the present participle of a verb. In this grammar they are called '-ing' adjectives.

There are also a large number of English adjectives ending in '-ed', many of which are related to the past participle of a verb. In this grammar they are called '-ed' adjectives.

'-ing' adjectives are explained in paragraphs 2.67 to 2.80. '-ed' adjectives are explained in paragraphs 2.81 to 2.97.

2.16 Compound adjectives are made up of two or more words, usually written with hyphens between them.

Compound adjectives are explained in paragraphs 2.98 to 2.107.

2.17 When you want to indicate the amount of a quality that something or someone has, you can use comparative and superlative adjectives. There are also some other ways of comparing things.

Comparatives are explained in paragraphs 2.103 to 2.116, and superlatives are explained in paragraphs 2.117 to 2.127. Other ways of comparing things are explained in paragraphs 2.128 to 2.144.

2.18 You can also indicate the amount of a quality that something or someone has by using a submodifier with an adjective. You can also use some submodifiers with some comparatives and superlatives.

Submodifiers are explained in paragraphs 2.145 to 2.173.