An adjective is a part of speech which modifies a noun, usually making its meaning more specific. Adjectives are used in a predicative or attributive manner. In some languages, attributive adjectives precede the noun. This is the case in the Germanic languages, to which the English language belongs. In other languages, e.g. the Romance languages, the adjective follows the noun. However, adjective is not a universal word class; in other words, some languages do not have any adjectives. The Chinese languages, for example, have no adjectives; all the words ''that are translated into English as adjectives'' are, in fact, stative verbs. Some linguists also classify possessive pronouns, such as ''his'' or ''her'', and demonstratives, such as ''this'' or ''that'' as adjectives. However, they can only be used in an attributive manner. An adjectival phrase is a phrase with an adjective as its head (e.g. ''full of toys''). Adjectival phrases may occur as ''postmodifiers'' to a noun (''a bin full of toys''), or as ''predicatives'' to a verb (''the bin is full of toys''). Adjectives are sometimes used in place of nouns, as in many of the Beatitudes (e.g. ''"Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy"''); these are called ''substantive adjectives''. Such usage is very common in the Romance languages. In languages with grammatical genders, such as Latin, the gender of the adjective may indicate the gender of the implied noun; thus ''malus'' means ''the bad man''; ''mala'', ''the bad woman''; ''malum'', ''the bad thing''. In some languages, participles are used as adjectives. English is rather unusual in that it allows nouns to be used attributively, as in ''a Georgia peach''. These are not adjectives, as they cannot be used predicatively. While ''ripe'' has both roles (''a ripe peach'' is similar in meaning to ''the peach is ripe''), ''a Georgia peach'' cannot be rephrased as ''*the peach is Georgia''. == Comparison of adjectives == In many languages that have adjectives, the adjectives may have comparative and superlative forms, as does English. This is not the case for all languages however. For instance the Chadic language Bole uses verbs meaning "to surpass" and "to be equal to": "I am taller than you" would in Bole be something like "I surpass you concerning height", no comparative needed. As for showing equality, the verbs used mean "to reach", "to suffice" and even "to do": "I am as tall as you" would be "I do you concerning height". == Comparison of adjectives in English == Adjectives in English have comparative and superlative forms. These are formed in one of two ways: either by suffixes (''big, bigger, biggest'') or by the use of the grammatical particles ''more'' and ''most''. Some adjectives in English have suppletion forms in their comparison, such as ''good, better, best''. Which English adjectives are compared by which means is a complex matter of English idiom. Generally, shorter adjectives, Old English language words, and shorter, fully domesticated French language words (e.g. ''noble'') use the suffixes. Longer words, especially those derived from Greek language and Latin, require ''more'' and ''most''. A fair number of words, especially longer adjectives that end in Anglo-Saxon derivative suffixes like ''-ly'', can take either form. Prescription and description frequently object to phrases such as ''more perfect'', on the grounds that being ''perfect'' is a quality that by definition admits to no comparison. Most speakers of English understand the phrase to mean ''more nearly perfect'', however, and dismiss the prescriptivists' objection as pedantry. ''General usage guide'' Most one syllable adjectives take the suffixes ''-er/-est''. Two syllable adjectives tend to be split between the two possibilities. Some take either and the situation determines the usage. For example, one will see ''commoner'' and ''more common'', depending on which sounds better in the context. Adjectives with three or more syllables generally use ''more/most'' but there are exceptions. The use of ''-er/-est'' extends to more longer words in American English than British English. There are a number of endings which generally do not use ''-er/est'' but there are exceptions. For example adjectives which end in ''ous'' do not take ''-er/-est'' yet you will find ''curiouser'' in both Websters Third and the Oxford English Dictionary Second Edition. This is only because Lewis Carroll used it incorrectly in ''curiouser and curiouser'' to produce a particular effect. It would not be used in good English except for effect. Whilst most adjectives are gradable there are also many that are not gradable and therefore do not use either. For example in ''a planktonic organism'' the adjective ''planktonic'' simply means plankton-type and does not take either since there are no degrees or grades of planktonic; an organism is either one of those in plankton or it isn't. For gradable adjectives ''-er/-est'' and ''more/most'' are only used on the base form of the adjective (eg you do not use ''lessest''). A good general rule is to use whatever sounds natural and gives the desired effect. Shorter adjectives are generally well known and using ''-er/-est'' sounds natural and the meaning is clear. Longer adjectives are less well known and the use of ''-er/-est'' may not be clear and using ''more/most'' leads to clarity. It should be remembered in particular that the use of ''-er'' for adjectives is a relatively minor part of the overall usage of this ending. For example ''-er'' is extremely common as a way of converting action nouns to someone who does the action stated by the noun eg break gives breaker, talk gives talker, etc (there are thousands of these). Putting ''-er'' on an unfamiliar adjective can easily lead to confusion. == Order of adjectives == One of the details of proper English usage involves the conventional sequence in which adjectives are concatenated before a noun. Native speakers pick this up as a matter of course; those who are learning it as an adult have to memorize it. Other languages will have other sequences. The adjectives which go nearest the noun may be called ''phrase-making'' adjectives; ''e.g.,'' tree frog. Before this can come color adjectives; ''e.g.,'' red tree frog, and before that, participial adjectives; ''e.g.,'' whining red tree frog. The first adjectives are sometimes called absolute adjectives; ''e.g.,'' nasty whining red tree frog. Articles, which may be considered a form of adjective, come first of all; ''e.g.,'' the nasty whining red tree frog. The reason this must be learned is that the reverse order is incomprehensible; ''e.g.,'' the *''tree red whining nasty'' frog. *Value/Opinion *Size *Age/Temperature *Shape *Color *Origin *Material == See also == * grammar * List of non-standard English adjectives == References == * Brown, K. and Miller, T. (1999) "Concise Encyclopedia of Grammatical Categories". Elsevier. ISBN 008043164X == External links == *[http://www-users.cs.york.ac.uk/~susan/cyc/a/adj.htm Adjective order in English] *[http://www.ego4u.com/en/cram-up/grammar/adjectives-adverbs Adjectives and Adverbs] *[http://www.humnet.ucla.edu/humnet/aflang/Bole/bole_papers.html Downloadable Papers on Bole] Parts of speech simple:Adjective
The list is a little bit annoying, esp. if you want to print the article. --User:Zenogantner 09:49, 11 Feb 2004 (UTC) :I completely agree. Anyone else in favor of moving the list to a separate page? It's not relevant to the topic of "adjective" as a whole, since it only lists English language adjectives (and only certain obscure ones, at that). It clutters up the page and doesn't provide useful, general information. —User:Bkell 21:20, 5 Apr 2004 (UTC) :As a writer, I find the list very helpful but I would not have a problem with it being moved to another page. Could another user make it so? User:Cormac Canales == Does anyone know where the rule for adjective order is written? == I added the external link for a little more info, but I still don't know the source of the rule, if indeed it exists. User:Spalding 16:25, Oct 19, 2004 (UTC) == General usage guide == I found the section on the comparative and superlative as rather unhelpful in giving the reader some insight into when to use "-er/-est" and when to use "more/most". About four years ago there was a lot of discussion about this on alt.usage.english. The whole area of the use of "er/est" and "more/most" is very confused. I have done a lot of research trying to get a clearer picture of the situation for myself. The problem is that there are bits and pieces all over the place but I have not seen any complete coverage anywhere and there is not universal agreement. At that time I provided some general usage guidance which was favourably received and I got a number of personal emails about it. I have added it with a few minor changes as a subheading within the section. It summarises my reading and may be helpful in clarifying the situation. --User:Drjdcollins 11:58, 13 Nov 2004 (UTC)
See other meanings of words starting from letter:
Words begining with Adjective:
Adjective
Adjective
Adjectives
Adjective
An adjective is a part of speech which modifies a noun, usually making its meaning more specific. Adjectives are used in a predicative or attributive manner. In some languages, attributive adjectives precede the noun. This is the case in the Germanic languages, to which the English language belongs. In other languages, e.g. the Romance languages, the adjective follows the noun. However, adjective is not a universal word class; in other words, some languages do not have any adjectives. The Chinese languages, for example, have no adjectives; all the words ''that are translated into English as adjectives'' are, in fact, stative verbs. Some linguists also classify possessive pronouns, such as ''his'' or ''her'', and demonstratives, such as ''this'' or ''that'' as adjectives. However, they can only be used in an attributive manner. An adjectival phrase is a phrase with an adjective as its head (e.g. ''full of toys''). Adjectival phrases may occur as ''postmodifiers'' to a noun (''a bin full of toys''), or as ''predicatives'' to a verb (''the bin is full of toys''). Adjectives are sometimes used in place of nouns, as in many of the Beatitudes (e.g. ''"Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy"''); these are called ''substantive adjectives''. Such usage is very common in the Romance languages. In languages with grammatical genders, such as Latin, the gender of the adjective may indicate the gender of the implied noun; thus ''malus'' means ''the bad man''; ''mala'', ''the bad woman''; ''malum'', ''the bad thing''. In some languages, participles are used as adjectives. English is rather unusual in that it allows nouns to be used attributively, as in ''a Georgia peach''. These are not adjectives, as they cannot be used predicatively. While ''ripe'' has both roles (''a ripe peach'' is similar in meaning to ''the peach is ripe''), ''a Georgia peach'' cannot be rephrased as ''*the peach is Georgia''. == Comparison of adjectives == In many languages that have adjectives, the adjectives may have comparative and superlative forms, as does English. This is not the case for all languages however. For instance the Chadic language Bole uses verbs meaning "to surpass" and "to be equal to": "I am taller than you" would in Bole be something like "I surpass you concerning height", no comparative needed. As for showing equality, the verbs used mean "to reach", "to suffice" and even "to do": "I am as tall as you" would be "I do you concerning height". == Comparison of adjectives in English == Adjectives in English have comparative and superlative forms. These are formed in one of two ways: either by suffixes (''big, bigger, biggest'') or by the use of the grammatical particles ''more'' and ''most''. Some adjectives in English have suppletion forms in their comparison, such as ''good, better, best''. Which English adjectives are compared by which means is a complex matter of English idiom. Generally, shorter adjectives, Old English language words, and shorter, fully domesticated French language words (e.g. ''noble'') use the suffixes. Longer words, especially those derived from Greek language and Latin, require ''more'' and ''most''. A fair number of words, especially longer adjectives that end in Anglo-Saxon derivative suffixes like ''-ly'', can take either form. Prescription and description frequently object to phrases such as ''more perfect'', on the grounds that being ''perfect'' is a quality that by definition admits to no comparison. Most speakers of English understand the phrase to mean ''more nearly perfect'', however, and dismiss the prescriptivists' objection as pedantry. ''General usage guide'' Most one syllable adjectives take the suffixes ''-er/-est''. Two syllable adjectives tend to be split between the two possibilities. Some take either and the situation determines the usage. For example, one will see ''commoner'' and ''more common'', depending on which sounds better in the context. Adjectives with three or more syllables generally use ''more/most'' but there are exceptions. The use of ''-er/-est'' extends to more longer words in American English than British English. There are a number of endings which generally do not use ''-er/est'' but there are exceptions. For example adjectives which end in ''ous'' do not take ''-er/-est'' yet you will find ''curiouser'' in both Websters Third and the Oxford English Dictionary Second Edition. This is only because Lewis Carroll used it incorrectly in ''curiouser and curiouser'' to produce a particular effect. It would not be used in good English except for effect. Whilst most adjectives are gradable there are also many that are not gradable and therefore do not use either. For example in ''a planktonic organism'' the adjective ''planktonic'' simply means plankton-type and does not take either since there are no degrees or grades of planktonic; an organism is either one of those in plankton or it isn't. For gradable adjectives ''-er/-est'' and ''more/most'' are only used on the base form of the adjective (eg you do not use ''lessest''). A good general rule is to use whatever sounds natural and gives the desired effect. Shorter adjectives are generally well known and using ''-er/-est'' sounds natural and the meaning is clear. Longer adjectives are less well known and the use of ''-er/-est'' may not be clear and using ''more/most'' leads to clarity. It should be remembered in particular that the use of ''-er'' for adjectives is a relatively minor part of the overall usage of this ending. For example ''-er'' is extremely common as a way of converting action nouns to someone who does the action stated by the noun eg break gives breaker, talk gives talker, etc (there are thousands of these). Putting ''-er'' on an unfamiliar adjective can easily lead to confusion. == Order of adjectives == One of the details of proper English usage involves the conventional sequence in which adjectives are concatenated before a noun. Native speakers pick this up as a matter of course; those who are learning it as an adult have to memorize it. Other languages will have other sequences. The adjectives which go nearest the noun may be called ''phrase-making'' adjectives; ''e.g.,'' tree frog. Before this can come color adjectives; ''e.g.,'' red tree frog, and before that, participial adjectives; ''e.g.,'' whining red tree frog. The first adjectives are sometimes called absolute adjectives; ''e.g.,'' nasty whining red tree frog. Articles, which may be considered a form of adjective, come first of all; ''e.g.,'' the nasty whining red tree frog. The reason this must be learned is that the reverse order is incomprehensible; ''e.g.,'' the *''tree red whining nasty'' frog. *Value/Opinion *Size *Age/Temperature *Shape *Color *Origin *Material == See also == * grammar * List of non-standard English adjectives == References == * Brown, K. and Miller, T. (1999) "Concise Encyclopedia of Grammatical Categories". Elsevier. ISBN 008043164X == External links == *[http://www-users.cs.york.ac.uk/~susan/cyc/a/adj.htm Adjective order in English] *[http://www.ego4u.com/en/cram-up/grammar/adjectives-adverbs Adjectives and Adverbs] *[http://www.humnet.ucla.edu/humnet/aflang/Bole/bole_papers.html Downloadable Papers on Bole] Parts of speech simple:Adjective
Adjective
The list is a little bit annoying, esp. if you want to print the article. --User:Zenogantner 09:49, 11 Feb 2004 (UTC) :I completely agree. Anyone else in favor of moving the list to a separate page? It's not relevant to the topic of "adjective" as a whole, since it only lists English language adjectives (and only certain obscure ones, at that). It clutters up the page and doesn't provide useful, general information. —User:Bkell 21:20, 5 Apr 2004 (UTC) :As a writer, I find the list very helpful but I would not have a problem with it being moved to another page. Could another user make it so? User:Cormac Canales == Does anyone know where the rule for adjective order is written? == I added the external link for a little more info, but I still don't know the source of the rule, if indeed it exists. User:Spalding 16:25, Oct 19, 2004 (UTC) == General usage guide == I found the section on the comparative and superlative as rather unhelpful in giving the reader some insight into when to use "-er/-est" and when to use "more/most". About four years ago there was a lot of discussion about this on alt.usage.english. The whole area of the use of "er/est" and "more/most" is very confused. I have done a lot of research trying to get a clearer picture of the situation for myself. The problem is that there are bits and pieces all over the place but I have not seen any complete coverage anywhere and there is not universal agreement. At that time I provided some general usage guidance which was favourably received and I got a number of personal emails about it. I have added it with a few minor changes as a subheading within the section. It summarises my reading and may be helpful in clarifying the situation. --User:Drjdcollins 11:58, 13 Nov 2004 (UTC)
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