ADJECTIVES AND ADJECTIVE PHRASES

Traditional definition: refer to the main set of items which specify the attributes of nouns; modifiers of a noun
Morphological definition: can take the inflectional suffixes –er (comparative) and –est (superlative); can be complex in morphology
(derived adjectives, compound adjectives)
Formation of adjectives: participles, derivational suffixes (–al, –ent, –ive, –ous), adjectival compounds (combination of more than
one word)
Semantic definition: adjectives describe the qualities of people, things and abstractions; many of them are gradable (can be compared
and modified for the degree or level of their quality)
Syntactic functions of adjectives:
 head of an adjective phrase
 modifier within a noun phrase
 head of a noun phrase
 exclamation
Structure of an adjective phrase:
 head: adjective
 can have and adverb of degree in front of or sometimes after the adjective
 can have a prepositional phrase or a clause as a complement (adjectival complementation) – often answers the question ‘In what
respect is the adjectival quality to be interpreted?’
 adjective phrase modifying nouns can be split into two parts by the noun head
Syntactic functions of adjective phrases:
 subject complement
 object complement
 premodifier within a noun phrase
 postmodifier within a noun phrase
 linking expression
 free modifier (of a noun phrase)  syntactically not part of the noun phrase; most common in fiction; typically occur in initial
position
Positions of adjectives:
 attributive position (premodifier within a noun phrase)
 predicative position (head of an adjective phrase functioning as subject complement after a linking verb)
 postpositive position (postmodifier within a noun phrase – rare in English)
 after the object direct (object complement)
 sometimes after as or than
 sometimes immediately after a conjunction (verbless clauses)
 the structure as/how/so/too/this/that + adjective + a/an + noun is common in a formal style
 in literary English, an adjective can go before or after a noun phrase, separated from it by a comma
Adjectives used in one position only:
 attributive only: chief, elder, eldest, eventual, former, indoor, inner, lone, main, mere, only, outdoor, outer, own, premier,
principal, sheer, sole, upper, utter; same cannot be predicative except with the; little is mostly attributive (small used
predicatively)
 predicative only: some adjectives with the prefix a- (afraid, alike, alive, alone, asleep, awake); some adjectives expressing feelings
(ashamed, content, glad, pleased, upset – some of these can be used attributively if they don’t refer directly to people); some
adjectives to do with health (fine, ill, unwell, well  ill can come before a noun when it is modified by an adverb, well can come
before a noun in a negative sentence); many of these adjectives can be used attributively if they are modified by an adverb
 different meanings in different positions: real, perfect, poor, certain, present, late
 in phrases like a beautiful dancer, an interesting writer, a heavy smoker, a frequent visitor, an old friend, the adjective usually
modifies the action not the person
Adjectives after nouns and pronouns (postpositive position):
 if an adjective has a PP after it, the AdjP can go directly after a noun, it cannot go before the noun
 available can go before or after a noun; possible and imaginable can come after the noun when every, all or a superlative adjective
is used
 a few titles and idiomatic phrases: the Director General, Secretary General, the Attorney General, the Princess Royal, Poet
Laureate, the sum total, the President Elect, Prime Minister-designate, heir apparent, heir presumptive, notary public, body
politic, proof positive, court martial
 sometimes the position of the adjective depends on the meaning (with involved, concerned, present, responsible)
 adjectives can come after compound indefinite pronouns with every-, some-, any- and no-
 in expressions of measurement adjectives normally come after the measurement noun
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The order of adjectives:
 opinion, size, most other qualities, age, shape, colour, participle forms, origin, material, type, purpose
 in general, the modifier closest to the noun has the closest association with the noun and expresses what is most permanent about it
 the rules are not absolute, the order can sometimes be different: sometimes a short adjective is preferred before a long one
 old and young referring to people often come next to the noun
 a comma is often placed between two adjectives of similar meaning
 adjectives can be coordinated with and (different kinds of meaning or when adjectives refer to different parts of sth) and but (when
the adjectives refer to two qualities in contrast)
 order of predicative adjectives is less fixed; an adjective expressing an opinion often comes last
Gradable and ungradable adjectives:
 most adjectives are gradable (can be premodified with adverbs of degree), some are ungradable (these can be premodified with
absolutely, some can be premodified with completely or totally); really and so can be used with both gradable and ungradable
adjectives; sometimes in informal speech rather, fairly or pretty is used with an ungradable adjective
 some ungradable adjectives: absurd, amazed, amazing, appalled, appalling, awful, brilliant, certain, complete, delicious,
delighted, determined, devastated, devastating, dreadful, enormous, essential, exhausted, exhausting, extraordinary, false,
fascinated, fascinating, ghastly, gorgeous, horrible, huge, ideal, impossible, incomprehensible, incredible, ludicrous, magnificent,
marvellous, perfect, ridiculous, stunning, terrible, terrific, terrified, terrifying, thrilled, thrilling, useless, vast
–ing and –ed participles:
 difference in meaning: alarming/alarmed, amazing/amazed, amusing/amused, annoying/annoyed, boring/bored,
confusing/confused, depressing/depressed, disappointing/disappointed, exciting/excited, exhausting/exhausted,
fascinating/fascinated, frightening/frightened, interesting/interested, pleasing/pleased, puzzling/puzzled, relaxing/relaxed,
shocking/shocked, surprizing/surprized, thrilling/thrilled, tiring/tired, worrying/worried
Adjectives used as nouns (with the):
 used for groups of people in society (well-known groups)  social/economic: the rich, the poor, the strong, the weak, the hungry,
the (under)privileged, the disadvantaged, the unemployed, the jobless, the homeless; physical/health: the blind, the deaf, the sick,
the disabled, the handicapped, the sighted, the living, the dead; age: the elderly, the middle-aged, the old, the young
 the adjective can be modified by an adverb (very, severely); some adjectives normally take an adverb (the more/less fortunate, the
mentally ill)
 in some contexts the + participle can mean a specific group of people
 some adjectives used as nouns can come after a/an referring to a specific person (e.g. unknown); colour adjectives can be used as
nouns (e.g. the blacks, the Greens, the reds); some adjectives of nationality can be used with the to mean a whole people (e.g. the
French, the Swiss, the English)
 other adjectives used as nouns with the: abstract qualities and ideas – the absurd, the mysterious, the new, the old, the ordinary, the
supernatural, the unexplained, the unknown; more specific meaning – the unexpected, the latest, the worst, the best, the dark, the
impossible
 the + adjective/participle + thing: amazing, annoying, awful, best, funny, good, great, interesting, nice, odd, remarkable, sad,
strange, worst
 one can often leave out a noun that has already been mentioned or which doesn’t have to be mentioned, when talking about a
choice between two or more different kinds of thing, so only an adjective is used; superlatives are often used in this way

ADVERBS AND ADVERB PHRASES

Morphological definition: many are formed from adjectives by adding the suffix –ly (quickly, clearly, eagerly); others have no such
ending (however, just, soon); a few adverbs allow comparative and superlative forms like those for adjectives (soon-sooner-soonest,
fast-faster-fastest)
Adverb forms:
 unrelated to other words (always, just, often, never, perhaps, quite, rather, seldom, soon, very)
 -ly  related to adjectives (consonant + y  i + ly; consonant + le  le changes into ly; ic  ically; ll + y)
 with adjectives ending in –ly (costly, cowardly, friendly, likely, lively, lonely, lovely, silly, ugly, unlikely…) a phrase with manner,
way or fashion is used
 adverbs can be formed from –ing participles by adding –ly; adverbs usually cannot be formed from participles ending in –ed, the
only exceptions are a few participles ending in –ed (e.g. excitedly, exhaustedly)
 some adverbs have the same form as adjectives (fast, long, early, straight, still, low, high, hard; daily, weekly, monthly, yearly,
early, leisurely)
 sometimes the adverb can be with or without –ly  no difference in meaning, but the form without –ly is more informal
(cheap/cheaply, loud/loudly, quick/quickly, slow/slowly, direct/directly, fair/fairly, tight/tightly)  the form without –ly is used
only in frequent combinations like talk loud, go slow, fly direct or play fair; with longer or less common expressions, we use –ly

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 some pairs are both adverbs but have different meanings: hard/hardly, near/nearly, late/lately, high/highly, deep/deeply,
free/freely, most/mostly
Semantic definition: as modifiers, adverbs most often express the degree of a following adjective or adverb; as adjuncts or adverbial
complements (elements of clauses), adverbs and adverb phrases have a wide range of meanings (time, place, manner…)
Structure of adverb phrases:
 head word: adverb
 optional modifiers (adverbs) may precede or follow the adverb head; they typically express degree; complements can also follow
(clauses, prepositional phrases)
Syntactic functions:
 adverbs: head of an adverb phrase, modifier within an adverb phrase and an adjective phrase, modifier within a prepositional
phrase (extended), postmodifier within a noun phrase, rarely a premodifier within a noun phrase, modifier of a predeterminer,
modifier of particle of a phrasal verb, modifier of a numeral and other measurement expressions
 adverb phrase: adjunct, adverbial complement, postmodifier within a noun phrase
Adverbs of degree:
 modifying: adjectives, adverbs, verbs (as A), prepositional phrases, quantifiers
 only and even used to focus on a particular word or phrase

COMPARISON (ADJECTIVES AND ADVERBS)

Three types of comparison: to a higher degree, to the same degree, to a lower degree
FORMS (higher degree):
Regular comparison: inflectional:–er, –est; periphrastic: more, the most
Irregular comparison: good, better, best; bad, worse, worst, far, farther/further, farthest/furthest
Adjectives:
One-syllable: most of these end in –er/–est
either –er/–est or more/most: clear, fair, keen, proud, rude, safe, sure, true, wise, etc.
more, the most: real and adjectives ending in –ed
Two-syllable: many of these have more/most: ending in –ful, –less, –ing, –ed + some others (afraid, cautious, central, certain,
complex, correct, eager, exact, famous, foolish, formal, frequent, mature, modern, normal, recent)
either –er/–est or more/most: able, clever, common, cruel, feeble, gentle, handsome, likely, narrow, pleasant, polite,
quiet, secure, simple, sincere, stupid, tired
–er/–est, although more/most is also possible: most two-syllable adjectives ending in –y: angry, busy, crazy, dirty, easy,
empty, friendly, funny, happy, healthy, heavy, hungry, lively, lonely, lovely, lucky, nasty, pretty, silly, thirsty, tidy, ugly,
wealthy, etc.
Three-syllable: more/most (but –un can be used before certain two-syllable adjectives with –er/–est added to them)
always –er/–est usually –er/–est either –er/–est or more/most always more/most
most monosyllabic adjectives disyllabic adjectives some monosyllabic monosyllabic adjectives ending
ending in y some disyllabic adjectives in –ed, most disyllabic,
trisyllabic adjectives,
participles functioning as
adjectives
Different meanings and use: farther/further and farthest/furthest, elder and eldest and older and oldest, latest and last, nearest and next
Adverbs:
the same forms as adjectives: –er, –est
with –ly: more/most
not formed from adjectives: more/most (except soon)
with or without –ly: two forms: more/most + –ly and –er, –est (without –ly) (more informal)
Quantities: compared by using more, most, less, least, fewer, fewest
Patterns expressing comparison:
 than + phrase or clause
 less/least  opposite of more/most; used with both short and long adjectives
 as…as + phrase or clause  used to say things are equal; in idiomatic phrases
 as/so…as + phrase or clause  in a negative statement
 as + adjective + a/an + noun
 such + a/an + adjective + noun
 as high as + numbers and measurements
 modifying comparatives and superlatives: a phrase of time or place, an of-phrase or a relative clause; patterns with one of/some of;
an adverb of degree and even can be used before a comparative or before as; easily and by far can be used before a superlative
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 same, like, similar and different can also be used to make comparisons
 comparatives with and or more and more/less and less + adjective or ever + comparative  to express a continuous change
 the… the  used to say that a change in one thing is linked to a change in another11

PREPOSITIONAL PHRASES
Structure: preposition + prepositional complement (NP or clause)
Extended prepositional phrase: premodified by an adverb
Syntactic functions: adjunct, adverbial complement, postmodifier within NP, adjectival complementation, complement within Adv P
Complex prepositions: combining prepositions with other words (owing to, devoid of, away from, because of; in charge of, by means
of, at variance with, in addition to, as a result of)

ADVERBIALS
Form: adverb phrase, prepositional phrase, noun phrase or clause (F/NF, verbless)
Syntactic functions: adjunct, adverbial complement (also: both functions as “adverbial”  optional, obligatory)
The position of adverbials:
 Front (initial) position: at the beginning of the clause (in front of the subject)
 most adverbials can go here; often the adverbial refers to what has gone before, contains given/known information
 adverbials in front position usually have scope over the entire clause
 adverbials in front position often introduce a new scenario, they set the scene (place and time)
 Mid (medial) position: close to the verb
 usually single-word adverbs or a short adverb phrase with an adverb of degree such as very, quite or hardly is also possible
(adverbials of addition/restriction, degree, one-word adverbials of time)
 most other kinds of phrase cannot go in mid position (but phrases which are truth adverbials, comment adverbials or linking
adverbials can sometimes go in mid position – this is rather formal)
 before the verb  simple VP (but after the ordinary verb to be)
 after the operator (the first auxiliary)  complex VP
 immediately before the main verb (if there are two auxiliaries)  adverbs of manner and some adverbs of degree
 an adverb can be put after the subject and before an auxiliary or before the ordinary verb to be  this happens with a negative,
emphatic do or when the verb is stressed
 some adverbs can come before or after the negative auxiliary with a difference in meaning
 when adverbs come before not, they may also come before the first auxiliary verb; they always come before do
 an adverb also goes before have to, used to and ought to (with used to the adverb can come after used, but this is rather formal)
 End (final) position: at the end of the clause
 almost all adverbials can go in end position
 new or important information often in end position (information flow principle)
 a short adverbial can go before a long object
 order of adverbials in end position: a shorter adverbial goes before a longer one; when there is a close link in meaning between a
verb and an adverbial, then the adverbial goes directly after the verb (e.g. go, come, etc. + adverbial of place); phrases of place and
time can go in either order; manner, time and place usually come before frequency; certain types of adverbials come in the end
position last as a kind of afterthought (truth, comment, linking adverbials)
Semantic roles:
 manner: mostly in end position; a single word adverb can sometimes come in the mid position
 place and time: front or end position; some short adverbials of time can go in the mid position
 frequency: usually in mid position, some can go in front or end position (usually, normally, often, frequently, sometimes,
occasionally); always and never can begin imperative clauses
 viewpoint: front or end position, or modifying an adjective
 truth/certainty: front, mid or end position
 comment: usually front or end position (commenting on the message expressed in the rest of the sentence); front or mid position
(commenting on sb’s behaviour), even in the end position as an afterthought
 linking: linking adverbs (adding, contrast, contradicting, correcting, rephrasing, result, comparing, ordering, summing up, giving
examples, picking up a topic, changing the subject, supporting a statement, dismissing sth)
 clauses: time, place (position or direction), condition, concession, conditional-concessive clauses (alternative and universal),
contrast, exception, reason, purpose, result, manner (similarity and comparison), proportion, preference, comment

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Semantic roles (Quirk):
 place: position, direction, goal, source, distance
 time: position, duration of forward span, duration of backward span, frequency, relationship between one time and another
 process: manner, means, instrument, agency
 respect (to provide a point of reference)
 contingency: cause, reason, purpose, result, condition, concession
 modality: emphasis, approximation, restriction
 degree: amplification, diminution

Compiled by
Marko Majerović
Department of English
Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
University of Zagreb

Sources:
Eastwood, John: Oxford Guide to English Grammar, OUP, 1994
Eastwood, John: Oxford Learner’s Grammar, OUP, 2005
Swan, Michael: Practical English Usage, International Student’s Edition, OUP, 1996
Bieber, Douglas; Susan Conrad, Geoffrey Leech: Longman Student Grammar of Spoken and Written English, Longman, 2002
Greenbaum, Sidney & Randolph Quirk: A Student’s Grammar of the English Language, Longman, 1990