Adjective

ADJECTIVE

A.  Definition

An adjective is a describing word. Adjective tells about a noun or pronoun. Adjectives tell what kind, which one, or how many.

B.  Functions of Adjectives

1.      Describe feelings or qualities.

Example:

·       He is a lonely man.

·       A good student

2.      Give nationality or origin.

Example:

·       Our house is Victoria.

3.      Tell more about a thing's characteristics.

Example:

·       The knife is sharp.

4.      Tell us about age.

Example:

·       He is a young man.

5.      Tell us about size and measurement.

Example:

·       John is tall man.

6.      Tell us about color.

Example:

·       Paul wore a red shirt.

7.      Tell us about material/what something is made of.

Example:

·       It is a wooden table.

8.      Tell us about shape.

Example:

·       A rectangular box.

9.      Express a judgment or a value.

Example:

·       A fantastic film.

C.    The Position of Adjectives

There are 2 positions of Adjectives, as follows:

1.    Attributive position.

An adjective is located before noun.

Example:

·       The beautiful woman is wearing a white blouse.

2.    Predicative position.

Its position is located after subjective complement (linking verbs), to be, or object complement.

Example:

·         You look beautiful.

·         Lea is clever.

·         He made his children happy.

D.    The Adjectival Formations

There are several ways to make adjectives, we add suffix after nouns or verbs, as follows:

-                                        al     : educate→ educational; origin→ original

-                                        ial    : influent→ influential

-                                        ic / ical         : hero→ heroic; historic→ historical

-                                        ar     : family→ familiar; regulate→ regular

-                                        ary   : element→ elementary

-                                        ed    : educate→ educated; talent→ talented

-                                        en    : wood→ wooden; gold→ golden

-                                        ful   : beauty→ beautiful; skill→ skillful

-                                        id     : humid; vivid; lucid; timid

-                                        ish   : self→ selfish; child→ childish

-                                        istic : optimist→ optimistic; real→ realistic

-                                        ive   : sport→ sportive; active; native; passive

-                                        less  : care→ careless; fear→ fearless

-                                        ly     : friend→ friendly; early

-                                        ous  : danger→ dangerous; fame→ famous

-                                        ward            : back→ backward; awkward, forward

-                                        y      : health→ healthy; cloud→ cloudy

E.     The order of the adjectives

Ø       Determiner      : a, an, the, etc.

Ø       Opinion           : pretty, ugly, smart, cheap, etc.

Ø       Size                 : big, fat, thin, tall, etc.

Ø       Age                 : old, young, etc.

Ø       Temperature    : hot, cold, cool, warm, etc.

Ø       Shape              : circle, square, round, etc.

Ø       Color               : red, blue, purple, etc.

	Comparative	Superlative	Notes
ONE SYLLABLE ADJECTIVES	“adj + -er” e.g: - hotter       - cooler       - wider	“adj + -est” e.g: - hottest       - coolest       - widest	Ø  When an adjective ends in one vowel + a consonant, double the consonant and add –er / -est. Ø  When an adjective ends in two vowels +  a consonant Ø  When an adjective ends in -e, don’t double the consonant.
TWO SYLLABLE ADJECTIVES	“adj + -er or more + adj” e.g: - more famous       - busier       - yellower /more yellow        - simpler / more simple	“adj + -est or most + adj” e.g : - most famous - busiest -yellowest/most yellow	Ø  For most two syllable adjectives, more and most are used. Ø  For two syllable adjectives that end in –y. the –y is changed to –i. Ø  Ending in: -y, -ow ending in: -le, -er or -ur these common adjectives - handsome, polite, pleasant, common, quiet.
	Comparative	Superlative	Notes
THREE OR MORE SYLLABLE ADJECTIVE	“more + adj” e.g: more important	“most + adj” e.g: most important	Ø A superlative begins with “the”
IRREGULAR	Good > better > best Bad > Worse > worst Little >  less > least Much > More > Most

Ø      Origin              : American, English, Asian, Chinese, etc.

                 Material           : cotton, wooden, plastic, etc.

 Example:

·         Some small round plastic tables.

·         There are two amazing big old round yellow American golden cars.

F.     Comparison of Adjective

• Comparison

AS + ADJECTIVE + AS or

NOT LESS + ADJECTIVE + THAN

 

It used to compare people, places, events or things, when there is no difference. It means that the two parts of a comparison are equal or the same in some way. Examples:

·     Peter is 24 years old. John is 24 years old. Peter is as old as John.

·     Einstein is as famous as Darwin.

·     A pen is not less large than a book.

NOT + AS + ADJECTIVE + AS or

LESS + ADJECTIVE + THAN

It used to compare people, places, events or things, when there is difference.

Example:    

·     His ruler is not as long as yours.

·     Those cars are less expensive than these cars.

• Comparative and superlative

Examples:

• A car is heavy, a truck is heavier, but a train is the heaviest.
• A park bench is comfortable, a restaurant chair is more comfortable, but a sofa is the most comfortable.


Mt. Everest is higher than Mt. Blanc.
A car is more expensive than a bicycle.
Albert is more intelligent than Arthur.
He is the richest man in the world.
That is the biggest crocodile I have ever seen.
She is the tallest girl in her class.

EXERCISE

  Questions:

1. Choose the correct adjective from the sentences.

a.       He is foolish boy.

b.      The rose is beautiful flower.

c.       The hot coffee is not drunk.

d.      The students are clever.

e.       That beautiful book is cheap.

2. Arrange the following sentences into the correct sentences.

a.       A Chinese small beautiful dog.

b.      The Japanese young pretty girl.

c.       An ugly black wooden old round table.

d.      My yellow gold small new round beautiful ring.

e.       A big strong black Australian horse.

3. Choose the correct answer.

a.       His behavior is (childish/child/children).

b.      Leonardo de Caprio is (the most famous/the more famous) Hollywood actor.

c.       Of all the gentlemen I’ve known, Kevin is the (handsome/handsomer/handsomest).

d.      This pair of jeans is the (less/least/lest) expensive of all.

e.       You are (the more careless/the most careless) person I’ve ever met.

  

Key Answer:

1. a. Foolish

b. Beautiful

c. Hot

d. Clever

e. Beautiful, cheap

2. a. A beautiful small Chinese dog

b. The pretty young Japanese girl

c. An ugly old round black wooden table

d. My beautiful small new round yellow gold ring

e. A strong big black Australian horse

3. a. Childish

b. Handsome

c. The most famous

d. Least

e. The more careless

REFERENCES

Ali, Faidal Rahman.2010.English Grammar.Yogyakarta: Pustaka Widyatama.

Alter, J.B.1991.Essential English usage and grammar. Jakarta: Binarupa Aksara.

Azar, Betty Schrampfer.1992.Fundamentals of English grammar. UK: Prentice hall, Inc.

Dikson, Robert.1972.Tests n drills in English grammar. USA: Regents publishing company,inc.

Hewings, Martin.2001.Advanced grammar in use. Jakarta: Erlangga.

Jaya, Alexander mongot,dkk.2006.English revolution. Jepara: Mawas Press.