Adjectives (прилагательные)

1. When we use an adjective after a link verb, we can often use the

adjective on its own or followed by a prepositional phrase.

e.g. He was afraid.

2. Some adjectives cannot be used alone after a link verb. If they are

followed by a prepositional phrase, it must have a particular preposition:

aware of          unaware of           fond of 

accustomed to     unaccustomed to      used to

e.g. I've always been terribly fond of you.

3. Some adjectives can be used alone, or followed by a particular

preposition.

used alone, or with ‘of ’ to specify the cause of a feeling

afraid      critical      jealous  suspicious   

ashamed     envious       proud    terrified    

convinced   frightened    scared   tired        

They may feel jealous of your success.

used alone, or with ‘of ’ to specify the person who has a quality

brave      good           polite     thoughtful      

careless   intelligent    sensible   unkind          

clever     kind           silly      unreasonable    

generous   nice           stupid     wrong           

That was clever of you!

used alone or with ‘to’, usually referring to:

similarity: close equal identical   

related similar                      

marriage: married engaged            

loyalty: dedicated devoted loyal     

rank: junior senior

 e.g.My problems are very similar to yours.

used alone, or followed by 'with' to specify the cause of a feeling  

bored    displeased       impatient   pleased    

content  dissatisfied     impressed   satisfied  

e.g. I could never be bored with football.

used alone, or with ‘for’ to specify the person or thing that quality

relates to

common      essential   possible       unusual 

difficult   important   unnecessary    usual   

easy        necessary                          

e.g. It's difficult for young people on their own.

4. Some adjectives can be used alone, or used with different prepositions.

used alone, with an impersonal subject and ‘of ’ and the subject of the

action, or with a personal subject and ‘to’ and the object of the action

cruel      good nasty   rude         

friendly   kind nice    unfriendly   

generous   mean polite  unkind       

e.g. It was rude of him to leave so suddenly.

                    Adjectives with ‘to’-infinitive or ‘that’-clauses

1. After link verbs, we often  use  adjectives  that  describe  how  someone

   feels about an action or situation. With some adjectives, we  can  add  a

   ‘to’-infinitive clause or a ‘that’-clause  to  say  what  the  action  or

   situation is.

afraid   disappointed     happy    sad        

anxious  frightened       pleased  surprised  

ashamed  glad             proud    unhappy    

    If the subject is the same in  both  clauses,  we  usually  use  a  ‘to’-

infinitive clause. If the subject  is  different,  we  must  use  a  ‘that’-

clause. 

e.g. I was happy to see them again.

    We often use a ‘to’-infinitive clause when talking about future  time  in

relation to the main clause.

e.g. I am afraid to go home.

    We  often use a ‘that’-clause when talking about present or past time  in

relation to the main clause.

e.g. He was anxious that the passport was missing.

2. We often use ‘sorry’ with a ‘that’-clause.  Note  that  ‘that’  is  often

omitted.

e.g. I'm very sorry that I can't join you.

3. Some adjectives are not usually used alone, but  have  a  ‘to’-infinitive

clause after them to say what action or situation the adjective relates to.

able  due        likely     unlikely   

apt   inclined   prepared   unwilling  

bound liable     ready      willing    

e.g. They were unable to help her.

4. When we want to express an opinion about someone or something,  we  often

use an adjective followed by a ‘to’-infinitive clause.

difficult easy impossible possible right 

wrong                                    

e.g. She had been easy to deceive.

5. With some adjectives, we use a ‘that’-clause to express an opinion  about

someone or something.

awful       extraordinary     important      sad 

bad         funny             interesting    true

essential   good              obvious            

e.g. I was sad that people had reacted in this way.

6. We can also use adjectives with ‘to’-infinitive  clauses  after  ‘it’  as

the impersonal subject. We use the preposition ‘of ’ or  ‘for’  to  indicate

the person or thing that the adjective relates to.

e.g. It was easy to find the path.

                               Adjectives ending in ‘-ing’ or ‘-ed’

    We use many ‘-ing’ adjectives to describe the effect that something has on

our feelings, or on the feelings of people in general. For example, if we

talk about 'a surprising number', we mean that the number surprises us.

alarming       charming          embarrassing     surprising   

amazing        confusing         exciting         terrifying   

annoying       convincing        frightening      tiring       

astonishing    depressing        interesting      welcoming    

boring         disappointing     shocking        worrying     

e.g. He lives in a charming house just outside the town.

We use some ‘-ing’ adjectives to describe something that continues over a

period of time.

ageing   decreasing    existing      living     

booming  dying         increasing    remaining  

e.g. Britain is an ageing society.

    Many ‘-ed’ adjectives describe people's feelings. They have the same form

as the past participle of a transitive verb and have a passive meaning. For

example, ‘a frightened person’ is a person who has been frightened by

something.

alarmed       delighted        frightened    surprised  

amused        depressed        interested    tired      

astonished    disappointed     satisfied     troubled   

bored         excited          shocked       worried    

e.g. She looks alarmed about something.

4. Like other adjectives, ‘-ing’ and ‘-ed’ adjectives can be:

used in front of a noun

They still show amazing loyalty to their parents.

5.  A small number of ‘-ed‘ adjectives are normally only used after link

verbs such as ‘be‘, ‘become‘, or ‘feel‘. They are related to transitive

verbs, and are often followed by a prepositional phrase, a ‘to‘-infinitive

clause, or a ‘that‘-clause.

convinced   interested    prepared   tired   

delighted   involved      scared     touched 

finished    pleased       thrilled   worried 

e.g. The Brazilians are pleased with the results.

                                   Practical part

                              Degrees of Comparison.

    There are sentence patterns in which comparison is expressed:

a) comparison of equality (as … as)

After his bathe, the inspector was as fresh as a fish.

       When he had left Paris, it was as cold as in winter there.

b) comparison of inequality (not so ... as, not as ... as)

The sun is not so hot today as I thought it would be.

      You are not as nice as people think.

c) comparison of superiority (... –er than, ... –est of (in, ever)

To my mind the most interesting thing in art  is  the  personality  of

the artist.

      My mother was the proudest of women, and she was vain, but in the  end

she had an eye for truth.

      It’s the biggest risk I’ve ever had to take.

d) comparison of inferiority ( less ... than)

He had the consolation of noting that his  friend  was  less  sluggish

than before.

e) comparison of parallel increase or decrease (the ... the, ...-er as)

The sooner this is done, the better.

       He became more cautious as he grew older.

    There are set phrases which contain the comparative  or  the  superlative

degree of an adjective:

a) e.g. There seem to be a change for the better  in your uncle. He had a  very

hearty dinner yesterday.

b) e.g. It did not take him long to make up his mind. None the less she  showed

her scorn for his hesitation.

c) e.g. If he will help us, so much the better.

       If he doesn’t work, so much the worst for him.

d) e.g. He is rather the worst for drink.

e) e.g. You’ll be no worse for having her to help you.

       You are none the worse for the experience.

f) e.g. If the worst comes to the worst, I can  always  go  back  home   to  my

parents.

g) e.g. Thinks went from bad to worse in the family.

h) e.g. He made a living as best he could.

i) e.g. She cannot get away from her home for long. At (the) best she can  stay

with us for two days.

Substantivization of Adjectives.

1) They may indicate a class of persons in a general sense (e.g. the poor  =

   poor people, the dead = dead people, etc.) Such adjectives are plural  in

   meaning and take a plural verb.

The young are always romantic, aren’t they?

       The blind are taught trades in special schools.

2) Substantivized adjectives may also  indicate  an  abstract  notion.  Then

   they are singular in meaning and take a singular verb.

      My mother never lost her taste for extravagant.

               Syntactic Functions of Adjectives.

1) an attribute

The lights of the farm blazed out in the windy darkness.

2) a predicative

He looked mature, sober and calm.

3) part of a compound verbal predicate

She lay motionless, as if she were asleep.

4) an objective predicative

       She wore her hair short.

5) a subjective predicative

Her hair was dyed blonde.

               Position of Adjectives.

1  Most adjectives can be used in a noun group, after determiners and

numbers if there are any, in front of the noun.

She bought a loaf of white bread.

      There was no clear evidence.

2  Most adjectives can also be used after a link verb such as ‘be’,

‘become’, or ‘feel’.

       I felt angry.

       Nobody seemed amused.

3. Some adjectives are normally used only after a link verb.

For example, we can say ‘She was glad’, but you do not talk about ‘a glad

woman’.

I wanted to be alone.

We were getting ready for bed.

I'm not quite sure.

He didn't know whether to feel glad or sorry.

4. Some adjectives are normally used only in front of a noun.

For example, we talk about ‘an atomic bomb’, but we do not say ‘The bomb

was atomic’.

He sent countless letters to the newspapers.

This book includes a good introductory chapter on forests.

5. When we use an adjective to emphasize a strong feeling or opinion, it

always comes in front of a noun.

Some of it was absolute rubbish.

He made me feel like a complete idiot.

6. Some adjectives that describe size or age can come after a noun group

consisting of a number or determiner and a noun that indicates the unit of

measurement.

He was about six feet tall.

The water was several metres deep.

The baby is nine months old.

Note that you do not say ‘two pounds heavy’, you say ‘two pounds in

weight’.

7. A few adjectives are used alone after a noun.

There are empty houses galore. 

8. A few adjectives have a different meaning depending on whether they come

in front of or after a noun.

For example, ‘the concerned mother’ means a mother who is worried, but  ‘the

mother concerned’ means the mother who has been mentioned.