PEOPLE’S DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF ALGERIA

MINISTRY OF HIGHER EDUCATION AND SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH

UNIVERSITY OF GHARDAIA ‫جامعة غرداية‬

FACULTY OF LETTERS AND LANGUAGES ‫كلية اآلداب واللغات‬
DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH ‫قسم اللغة اإلنجليزية‬

Module: Grammar of the Language Level & Semester: L1 (Gs 1+3)/ (S1)
Teacher: Ms. ALLAOUI Academic Year: 2024/25

Lecture (3/a): Adjectives

I. Definition:
Adjectives are words used to give more information about nouns. They answer questions like:
What kind of …? What colour…? What is someone/something like?

II. Position:
An adjective can be put either before the noun they describe and are called attributive, or follow
linking verbs such as appear, be, become, feel, get, seem…and be called predicative:
 They had dinner in a quiet restaurant.  The food was delicious.
 It's a warm evening.  Henry is feeling tired.
But a few adjectives can go in one position but not in the other:
 Adjectives like afraid, alone, awake, ashamed… or content, fine, glad, ill (notice that 'sick'
can be used before a noun), poorly, sorry, (un)sure, upset, (un)well... are seldom or never used
before the noun they describe:
 The child was alone at home. He was very afraid when he woke up.
 (NOT the alone child…/the afraid child…)

 Some adjectives are seldom or never used after a linking verb. For example, we can talk about
'a nuclear explosion', but we can't say 'The explosion was nuclear.' Other adjectives like this
include: atomic, digital, medical, entire, initial, main, eventual, occasional, northern
(southern…etc.), maximum, minimum, underlying:
 I spent my entire life dreaming about this. (NOT my life was entire…)

 Concerned, present, responsible… have different meanings when they are used before a noun
and immediately after it:
 I was asked for my present address.  my address now
 All the people [who were] present approved of the decision.  people who were there

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 Some adjectives are commonly followed by particular prepositions: interested in, keen on, fond
of, concerned about, angry with…
 They tried to leave the country, afraid for their own lives.
 Janet had always been afraid of animals.
 I'm a little concerned about your exam results.
 This section of the book is concerned with ordinal numbers.
 I'm not angry with you, Paul.
 They are angry about flight delay.
 You're right about Tom. He is moving to Spain.
 We're sending her to a school that we think is right for her.

Sometimes when a verb follows an adjective + preposition, it takes an -ing form:

 I don’t agree with smacking children if they do something wrong.
verb + preposition
 I am not okay/pleased/glad with smacking children if they do something wrong.
adjective + preposition
 He was famous for holding the world land speed record.
adjective + preposition
Compare:
 You were right to report them to the police.
 You were right about seeing Mark in town. He's got a new job there.
 We're anxious to avoid problems.
 I'm anxious about not having enough time.

III. –ing/-ed Adjective Pairs:

Adjective pairs like these: alarmed/alarming, amazed/amazing, bored/boring, excited/exciting,
frightened/frightening, pleased/pleasing… are a bit confusing to use. When we use these
adjectives to describe how someone feels about something/someone, the -ing adjectives describe
what 'something/someone' did (e.g. a surprising decision) and the -ed adjectives describe how
'someone' felt (e.g. I was surprised).

IV. Adjective Order:

We can use more than one adjective before a noun. There is usually a fairly fixed order based on
their meaning:
1) Opinion nice, awful, excellent, beautiful…
2) Size large small, long, short…
3) Quality difficult, important, quiet, cold…
4) Age new, old, middle-aged, antique…
5) Shape round, oval, fat, thin…
6) Colour red, blue, white, blond…

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 7) Participle Form broken, terrified, amazed, sleeping…
8) Origin Algerian, Chinese, English, Roman…
9) Material stone, plastic, wooden, paper…
10) Type electric, political, economic, atomic…
11) Purpose tennis, bath, alarm, bread…
 an old cardboard box (age + material)
 a German industrial company (origin + type)
 two small round green toys (size + shape + colour)
 a large informative street plan (size + quality + type)

In general, the adjective closest to the noun has the closest link in meaning with it 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.

Notes
 These rules are not absolute. The order can sometimes be different. We sometimes prefer
to put a short adjective before a long one. Great/big tend to precede all adjectives:
 a bright, cheerful person
 a great wonderful house
 a big horrible company
 Sometimes two different orders are both possible.
 a peaceful, happy place a happy, peaceful place
 Old and young referring to people often come next to the noun:
 a dignified old lady, a pale young man
 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).
 We sometimes put commas or and between adjectives of the same category that have
similar meanings. We can also use but when two qualities are in contrast:
 an ugly, horrible building or an ugly and horrible building
 a busy, lively, exciting city or a busy, lively, and exciting city
 The chair was soft and comfortable.
 The city is old and beautiful.
 The solution is cheap but effective or a cheap but effective solution

 We usually use and with adjectives of colour:

 Algeria’s green and white flag
 He wore blue and black shirt.

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V. Comparison of Adjectives:
Adjectives can have a comparative form (newer, more modern), and a superlative form (newest,
most modern).
We usually add the endings –er + (than) to one-syllable adjectives and two-syllable adjectives
ending in y to make their comparative form and (the) + -est to make their superlative forms:
 Emma needs a bigger computer.
 Gold is much softer than copper.
 This is the nicest colour.
 The biggest buildings, brightest lights, greatest concentration of big business and
largest complex of theaters and concert houses are all found here in Manhattan.

For adjectives with three or more syllables we usually add more/less and most/least:
 Copper is more durable.
 The film was more exciting than the book.
 This dress is less elegant than the one we saw earlier.
 This machine is the most reliable.
 The area here has the most exclusive couture houses and the most specialized
services.

NOTE
 No doubling of e: fine finer finest
 Doubling of some consonants: hot hotter hottest
 Y changing to i: heavy heavier heaviest
 Some adjectives have a comparative or superlative meaning so they are rarely used with -
er/-est or more/less/ most/least. These include complete, equal, favourite, ideal, unique.
 Adjectives in ed (e.g. pleased, bored) and the adjectives real, right and wrong take the
more/less/ most/least rule:
 The film made the story seem more real.
 Some one-syllable adjectives of abstract meaning like clear, free, keen, safe, sure, true,
wise take either -er/-est or more/most :
 I wish I felt surer/more sure about what I'm doing.
 Two-syllable adjectives like able, common, cruel, feeble, gentle, handsome, narrow,
pleasant, polite, simple, sincere, stupid, tired take either -er/-est or more/most:
 That’s the stupidest/most stupid move you’ve ever done.
 Sometimes we use comparatives together to say that something is changing continuously:
 Finding a job is becoming harder and harder these days.
 Your English is improving; it is getting better and better.
 More and more people are interested in learning computer programming.
 We use the…the… structure (with two comparatives) to say that one thing depends on
the other:

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  The colder the weather is here, the harder it becomes to move.
 The earlier we leave, the sooner we’ll arrive.
 “What time should we leave?” “The sooner, the better.”
There are a few adjectives that do not follow either of these rules and are known as irregular
adjectives:

Adjective Comparative Superlative

good better best
bad worse worst
far farther/further farthest/furthest
little (quantity) less least
much/many (quantity) more most

N.B. We can use elder, eldest + noun instead of older, oldest, but only for members of the
family:
 My elder/older sister got married last year.
 Grandfather is the eldest/oldest in the family.

We also use as+ …… +as with all types of adjectives to say that things are equal or unequal:
 Our house is as big as yours. = They're the same size.
 The chair is as expensive as the table.
 Was the film as funny as his last one?

Negative forms of sentences can use either not as+… as or not so+…. as:
 The gap between the sides is not as wide as it was.
 The bees are plentiful, but not so common as last summer.

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 References

Eastwood, J. (1994). In Oxford Guide to english grammar. essay, Oxford University Press.

Eastwood, J. (1999). Oxford Practice grammar with answers. 2nd ed. Oxford University Press.

Hewings, M. (2002). Advanced grammar in use book with answers: A self -study reference and

Practice book for advanced learners of english. Cambridge University Press.

Murphy, R. (2007). English grammar in use: A reference and practice book for Intermediate

students of english. Cambridge University Press.

Naylor, H., & Murphy, R. (1996). Essential grammar in use supplementary exercises.

Cambridge University Press.

Powell, D., Walker, E., & Elsworth, S. (2011). Grammar practice for Upper Intermediate

Students: With key. Pearson-Longman.

Walker, E., & Elsworth, S. (2000). Grammar practice for Upper Intermediate Students: With

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