Adjectives

Adjectives

An adjective is a word that modifies a noun or a pronoun.
An adjective may be
1. Proper adjective
  1. It is an adjective formed from a proper noun. It always begins with capital letter.
    1. Example
      1. Korean people
2. Common adjective
  1. It gives a general trait to the words they modify.
    1. Example
      1. Skinny jeans
Characteristics of adjectives
1. Morphological
  1. Some of them have inflection -er and -est in comparison. Derivation with affixes: (a-, -y, -ful, less, -able, -ic (al)). Invariable words (for gender, case and number).
    1. Example
      1. prettier, tallest, unfaithful, useless, two
2. Notional
  1. They qualify things, people and states.
    1. Some can have different degrees:
      1. Gradable
        They provide a scalar degree and also, they can take degree modifiers.
        Example
        a very expensive house
      2. Non-gradable
        Non-gradable adjectives do not take modifiers of degree.
        Example
        Phonetic
      3. Stative
        They denote a state
        Example
        Old
      4. Dynamic
        Denote an action or getting to a state. They can appear in the predicative position with the imperative and progressive forms of "to be".
        Example
        careful, be careful
      5. Inherent
        This adjective characterizes the referent of the noun directly.
        Example
        a red lipstick
      6. Non-inherent
        Do not characterize the referent of the noun directly.
        Example
        a new pet
3. Functional
  1. They can have an attributive or predicative function and position.
Syntactic functions of adjectives
1. Attributive
  1. They can pre-modify the head of a noun phrase
    1. Example
      1. a little boy
2. Predicative
  1. They appear after a linking verb.
    1. Example
      1. The dog smells bad
3. Postpositive
  1. They inmediately follow the noun or pronoun they modify. Compound indefinite pronouns and adverbs can only be modify postpositively.
    1. Example
      1. accounts payable
Placement and order of adjectives
1. When we use more than one adjective, it is important to know the order in which the adjective must be.
  1. NOSASCOMP
    1. Number
      1. Example
        Two watches
    2. Opinion
      1. Example
        Two beautiful watches
    3. Size
      1. Example
        Two beautiful big watches
    4. Age
      1. Example
        Two beautiful big old watches
    5. Shape
      1. Example
        Two beautiful big old round watches
    6. Color
      1. Example
        Two beautiful big old round brown watches
    7. Origin
      1. Example
        Two beautiful big old round brown Salvadorean watches
    8. Material
      1. Example
        Two beautiful big old round brown Salvadorean leather watches
    9. Purpose
      1. Example
        Two beautiful big old round brown Salvadorean leather fashion watches

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	Created by Diana Lima about 7 years ago