ENGALX Campus Grammar

Spring 2010

Anna Linzie

Lecture 4:

Adjectives, adverbs and aDVERBIALS

Adjectives: What is he/she/it like?

An adjective

  1. is usually the head of an adjective phrase and can sometimes be used as the head of a noun phrase
  2. can either be gradable (angry - very angry) or not (dead - *very dead) (some adjectives are both)
  3. can usually occur directly before a noun (attributive function): She wore a red dress.
  4. can usually be used with words like be and become (predicative function): Her dress is red.
  5. can usually be compared (young – younger - youngest)
  6. can often add –ly to form an adverb
  7. can be formed by a verb or a noun + a suffix (wonder-ful) and is sometimes a participle form of a verb (stunning)

The two main functions of adjectives

An adjective can have two different grammatical functions.

  1. When the adjective is a (pre)modifier in a noun phrase, coming before the head noun, it is used in the attributive function.
  2. When the adjective is used in combination with words like be, become, go, turn and so on, it is used in the predicative function. As such, it can say something about the subject (subject predicative) or the object (object predicative).

A few adjectives can only be used in one of these functions.

Examples of adjectives used in the attributive function only: chief, elder, former, joint, latter, main, major, minor, occasional, principal, utter, very. This group consists mainly of non-gradable adjectives. The corresponding Swedish term is often a compound noun (chief witness“huvudvittne”) or a different construction (an occasional letter “ett brev då och då”).

Some adjectives occur only or almost only in the predicative function. There is often another similar adjective which can be used in the attributive function. Examples: afloat, afraid, alike, alive, alone, asleep, awake, glad, well. Compare: The baby is well. We have a healthy baby. (It is possible to say a well baby but not very common.)

Some types of adjectives can have a third function, serving as the heads of noun phrases (see below).

Adjective comparison

Most adjectives can be compared in the absolute form, the comparative form and the superlative form: sweet – sweeter – sweetest.

  1. Adjectives with one syllable: comparison with –er/-est. Exception: real, right, wrong are compared with more/most.Fun (noun) is sometimes used as an adjective and is then compared with more/most. More is also used when you contrast two adjectives (more sweet than sour) and sometimes in constructions like more and more dark (darker and darker is possible too).
  2. Adjectives with two syllables: comparison with either –er/-est or more/most. a) Adjectives ending in –er, -le, -ow and –y usually take the -er/-est endings: narrow-narrower-narrowestb) A few adjectives can take either form: common, handsome, mature, obscure, pleasant, polite, quiet, solid and wicked. All these except quiet are more frequent with the more/mostcomparison. c) Other adjectives in two syllables take more/most.
  3. Adjectives with three or more syllables: comparison with more/most. (cf Swedish: intressant-intressantare-intressantast) Verb participles used as adjectives, such as charming, take more/most.
  4. Adjectives with irregular comparison. Examples: bad-worse-worst, good-better-best, ill-worse-worst, little-less/lesser-least, well-better-best (lesser is only used in a few expressions, such as to a lesser extent).

The superlative form usually takes the definite article. It is required when the adjective phrase functions as the premodifier of a noun in a noun phrase: The most interesting part is yet to come. When the adjective phrase functions as a predicative, the definite article is optional (but more frequent and more formal).

The spelling of compared adjectives

There are two cases of spelling change in the comparative form and the superlative form:

1. One-syllable adjectives ending in a single consonant take a double consonant before –er/-est. 2. Adjectives ending in a consonant + -y are spelt with –ier and –iest in the comparative and superlative forms.

Variation in the comparative and the superlative

  1. Further/furthest vs. farther/farthest. The adjective far has two comparative and superlative forms. Further and furthest are more frequent and can be used about both physical distance (“längre”) and in a more abstract sense (“ytterligare”). Farther/farthest is less frequent and mainly used about physical distance.
  2. Later/latest vs. latter/last. The adjective late has two comparative and superlative forms as well. Latter is more common in academic writing. It says something about order rather than time and is the opposite of former (cf later/earlier). The difference between latest and last is that latest means “most recent” (“senaste”) whereas last means “previous” (“förra”) or “final” (“sista”).
  3. Nearest vs. next.Nearest is typically used to talk about place, and next to talk about time or series. Exception: the girl next door
  4. Older vs. elder. Older and oldest are the most frequent forms and the only ones used in American English. In British English, elder and eldest are sometimes used about family members. There are also a few expressions with elder (respect your elders).

In Swedish we often use a superlative when comparing only two things. Sometimes this construction is used in English as well but only in informal language and it is not generally accepted. The more formal construction is to use the comparative form when we compare two things, and the superlative only for comparisons of more than two things. The younger of the two brothers... The youngest of the five children...

You can also compare to a lower degree, using less and least. To compare to the same degree, we use as...as and so...as. The construction the...the in English corresponds to Swedish “ju...desto”.

Sometimes Swedish can use either the basic (absolute) or the comparative form of the adjective (theabsolute comparative). In English, only the basic form is used (which indicates that there is no actual comparison involved) (“inga större förändringar” – no great/major changes). Exceptions: The words younger and older can be used in English in cases where there is no real comparison: theyounger generation.

Note: In English there is a construction that can be called “absolute superlative” where mostis used as a synonym of “very”: a most peculiar man.

Adjectives and word order

In terms of word order, English and Swedish use adjectives in the same way in most cases. There are some exceptions.

Adjectives following their heads

The general principle in English and Swedish is that an adjective in attributive function comes before the noun it describes, as a premodifier. The adjectives galore and immemorial follow rather than precede the noun, they function as postmodifiers. Some adjectives can occur in both positions with different meanings (adopted, concerned, present, proper, responsible): the present students – the students present (“nuvarande” – “närvarande”). A few adjectives can occur in both positions without a difference in meaning (affected, available, required, suggested): the available methods – the methods available.

Besides particular adjectives being used as postmodifiers, there are a few cases where any adjective follows rather than precedes the noun phrase head.

  1. When an adjective is followed by a prepositional phrase: He is a man concerned about these issues.
  2. When the head of a noun phrase is a compound pronoun or adverb starting with some-, any-, every- or no-: Something beautiful can make all the difference. Exception. A noun phrase including special: Can I bring my special someone?
  3. When a verb participle used as an adjective is actually a shortened relative clause: A tip-off that setting will be important might be large sections of the passage devoted to descriptions and details. (=the passage which is devoted to…)

Word order with two or more adjectives

  1. If there is an adjective expressing evaluation, this usually comes before other types of adjective. If there is also a premodifying noun in the noun phrase, this modifier comes just before the head noun (beautiful shiny goldfabric).
  2. If there is an adjective expressing some kind of material, this comes just before the head noun (the big golden book of poetry).
  3. If there is a classifying adjective (an adjective classifying a particular type of noun rather than describing it), this comes just before the head noun (a posh public school).
  4. If there is both an adjective that describes something temporary and an adjective that describes something permanent, the former usually comes before the latter (a frightened domestic cat).

Note: Cases where old and little are used together with characterizing (often evaluative) adjectives like boring or good are problematic for Swedish learners, since in Swedish other adjectives can usually come either before or after old and little, but in English they always come first (a fine old English gentleman).

Word order in phrases with last, past, next and first

When last, past, next and the ordinal first are used with a numeral and a plural noun, the word order is often different in English and Swedish. In English, the adjective always comes first, whereas in Swedish the word order varies (over the past three days – “de senaste tre dagarna” or “de tre senaste dagarna”). When last, past, next and first are used with a plural noun and there is no numeral, few (or couple of) is usually added (the next few weeks).

Adjectives functioning as heads of noun phrases

There are only two cases where an adjective can be used as a noun phrase head together with the definite article in English, and in both cases the adjective refers to something in a generic sense. Swedish usage differs from English in this respect and Swedish learners of English need to be a bit careful.

Referring to a group of people in a generic sense.

An adjective can be used as the head of a noun phrase when we refer to all people of a certain kind (sometimes all people of a certain kind in a certain place), including certain nationality adjectives. Examples: the beautiful, the homeless, the brave, the disabled, the elderly, the old, the poor, the unemployed, the rich, the French.

Note 1: Adjectives referring to groups of people cannot be used in the genitive, only with the of-construction (the privileges of the well-paid).

Note 2: These adjectives always take a verb in the plural (the middle-aged are often overlooked). They should not be confused with collective nouns like family and government where we can sometimes choose between a singular and a plural verb form. An adjective referring to a group of people is never used with a singular verb form.

Note 3: When the noun phrase head is a plural noun used in a generic sense (lonely people), the definite article is not used in English, but it is used when the head of a noun phrase is an adjective (the lonely).

Referring to an abstract phenomenon in a generic sense. This is the only other case where an adjective can be used as the head of a noun phrase in English. Examples: the absurd, the experimental, the good, the impossible, the subconscious, the unknown.

The main problem for Swedish learners of English is that Swedish adjectives can also be used as noun phrase heads when referring to specific people and things (“den enda som kan göra det”), but this is usually not possible in English. With adjectives referring to specific people, the most common way of avoiding an adjective as the head of a noun phrase is to add a noun (the only person who can do it). In some cases, a noun can be used instead of the adjective + noun structure.

Exceptions. A) In a few cases, individual people can be referred to with an adjective used as the head of the noun phrase: the accused, the deceased and the latter (about one or more people) and the dead, the injured and the wounded (about two or more people). These words function precisely as nouns, and can therefore occur in the genitive form (the accused’s lawyer). B) When the adjective is a participle in – ed or –ing, we can use it as the head of a noun phrase, but the definite article (the) is then replaced by the demonstrative pronoun those (those remaining are told to leave).

Note: Some adjectives have developed into nouns and take –s in the plural (black/blacks, intellectual/intellectuals).

The most frequent structure in English corresponding to a Swedish construction like “det enda” referring to a specific situation is the one where a noun like thing or part is added to the adjective (the least interesting part). Another possibility is to use a dependent clause introduced by what is/was (what is important is...). Sometimes a noun + of can be used instead of an adjective (the significance of). Exception: An adjective can sometimes be used as the head of a noun phrase referring to specific situations, mainly in some set phrases (prepared for the worst, do your best, to the full).

Substitution with one/ones

When you use an adjective referring to a noun already mentioned, the pronoun one/ones can be inserted after the adjective in order to avoid repetition. Note: One is not used if the noun is uncountable.

There are a few cases where one/ones is (or can be) left out even though the noun is countable:

  1. With adjectives in the comparative and superlative forms and with words like first, last and next, one is optional: He’s simply the best /one/!
  2. With a superlative adjective followed by an of-phrase or a to-infinitive, one is always left out: This day is the most wonderful of all. He is the most likely to succeed.
  3. With the adjective own, one is always left out: I'm not sure I follow your point, or more specifically I'm not sure how it differs from my own.

Adjective complementation

Sometimes an adjective takes a complement, something that follows the adjective and makes the adjective phrase complete. Adjective complementation mainly occurs when the adjective functions as a predicative (rather than as a premodifier) and it can be one of the following structures:

  1. A prepositional phrase (afraid of making a fool of myself)
  2. A verb in the –ing form (after busy and worth) (he is busy cooking)
  3. A verb in the infinitive (happy to oblige)
  4. A dependent clause introduced by a verb in the –ing form (happy seeing you)
  5. A dependent clause introduced by a verb in the infinitive (with superlatives and a number of adjectives such as certain, last, liable, likely, next ,stupid, sure) (this show is sure to thrill you)
  6. A dependent clause introduced by that (I am so unhappy that it is over)

Nationality words

Nationality words comprise adjectives and nouns describing different nationalities and always begin with a capital letter. There are four different groups:

  1. English (adjective + language), the English (the people), an Englishman (individual)
  2. Swedish(adjective + language), the Swedes (the people), a Swede (individual)
  3. American(adjective + language), the Americans (the people), an American (individual)
  4. Swiss(adjective + language), the Swiss (the people), a Swiss (individual)

Please refer to MEV (241-244 and Appendix 7) for more information on nationality words.

Adverbs and adverbials: Information providers

An adverb

  1. is a member of a word class
  2. can describe a verb, an adjective, another adverb or a whole clause
  3. is the head of an adverb phrase
  4. can be formed by adding a suffix to an adjective or a noun, but sometimes has the same form as an adjective or is a totally different word
  5. can be a question word or a negative word

An adverbial

  1. is a clause element
  2. gives information about things like time, place, manner, degree, reason, attitude or is used to organize a text
  3. can consist of an adverb phrase, a prepositional phrase, a noun phrase, a finite clause or a non-finite clause
  4. can sometimes occur in several different positions in the clause

The difference between adjectives and adverbs

Adjectives and adverbs provide information about different things. An adjective describes a noun or a pronoun (either as a pre- or postmodifier in the noun phrase or as a predicative after a word like be or become). An adverb describes a verb, and adjective, an adverb or says something about a whole clause. An adverb typically functions as an adverbial or as a modifier.

Note: In English, smell, sound and taste are followed by adjectives, but the Swedish equivalents are followed by adverbs (it sounded beautiful – “det lät vackert”).

Adverb endings

An adverb is often formed by adding the suffix –ly to an adjective (note that there are a few adjectives that end in –ly as well, such as friendly, and this ending is sometimes left out in informal English). The spelling of –ly endings:

  1. If the adjective ends in –le, the e disappears. The same happens with true and due. (In other cases the e is retained: extremely)
  2. If the adjective ends in –y after a consonant, this is changed into –i (easily)
  3. If the adjective ends in –ic, the adverb ending is –ally (economically) (Exception: publicly)

An adverb can also be formed by adding a suffix to a noun (northwards, clockwise)

Adverbs which look the same as adjectives

Examples: fast, straight, bloody. (bloody nonsense vs. bloody pathetic)

There are also a few words (some of them expressing frequency) which end in –ly both as adjectives and as adverbs. (an early train vs. went home early)

However, with the majority of –ly adjectives (costly, cowardly, deadly, lively, lonely, lovely, silly, ugly) we usually use another construction in English when we use them as adverbs: in a/an X way/manner

Some adverbs have two forms, one with –ly and one without. Shout out loud! She was laughing loudly.

Adverbs not related to adjectives

Many of the most common adverbs are not related to adjectives or nouns at all.

Very is used with the basic form of adjectives and adverbs. Much (or very much) is used with the comparative form of adjectives and adverbs and with verbs. Very much is the only alternative before a prepositional phrase:I am very much for health care reform. Past participles are intensified by very when used as adjectives and by much when used as verbs in the passive form (we are very thrilled vs. he is much appreciated).