Adjectives and Adjective Phrases



ADJECTIVES AND ADJECTIVE PHRASES

Adjectives are modifiers. They can be formed into phrases – called adjective phrases – that modify nouns. Remember that the definition of a noun phrase is a noun and its modifiers – so an adjective phrase can definitely be part of a noun phrase!

FORM OF ADJECTIVES

*Many adjectives in English end in easily identifiable suffixes that help us to know that the word is an adjective. However, please note that these same suffixes can also be the endings of nouns in many cases! Thus, the form of an adjective is not a fail-proof test for an adjective.

*** -ive

extensive(adj)

selective(adj)

(BUT ALSO: directive (noun))

*** -en

woolen (adj)

wooden (adj)

(BUT ALSO: garden (noun))

***-ic

heroic (adj)

poetic (adj)

***-al

financial (adj)

manual (adj)

(BUT ALSO: recessional (noun))

***-able

portable (adj)

pleasurable (adj)

(BUT ALSO: table (noun))

***-y

hairy (adj)

rainy (adj)

(BUT ALSO: lady (noun))

***- (o)us

mysterious (adj)

ridiculous (adj)

****-ful

hopeful (adj)

beautiful (adj)

*** -less

powerless (adj)

homeless(adj)

NOTE: IT IS A SERIOUS MISTAKE TO RELY EXCLUSIVELY ON THE FORM OF THE WORD TO TELL YOU IF IT IS AN ADJECTIVE. POSITION AND FUNCTION ARE FAR MORE USEFUL IN DETERMINING WHETHER A WORD IS AN ADJECTIVE.

Marine turtles are large, air-breathing reptiles that inhabit tropical and subtropical seas throughout the world.

Their shells consist of an upper carapace and a lower plastron.

Hard scales cover all but the leatherback.

The number and arrangement of these scales can be used to determine the species.

Marine turtles do not have teeth, but their jaws have modified "beaks" suited to their particular diet.

They do not have visible ears but have eardrums with skin.

They hear at low frequencies, and their sense of smell is excellent.

Their vision underwater is good, but they are nearsighted when they are on land.

Their streamlined bodies and large flippers make them remarkably adapted to life at sea.

However, marine turtles maintain close ties to land.

Pregnant females must come ashore to lay their eggs in the sand.

Therefore, all marine turtles begin their lives as tiny hatchlings on land.

Research on marine turtles has uncovered many facts about these ancient creatures.

Most of this research has been focused on nesting females and hatchlings.

Thousands of marine turtles around the world have been tagged to help collect information about their growth, reproductive cycles and routes.

ABOUT ADJECTIVES

One way of talking about adjectives is to describe their position. MOST adjectives are attributive. That means they come BEFORE the noun they modify.

Example: Male marine turtles do not return to shore once they hatch.

But some adjectives are postpositive – which means they come AFTER the nouns they modify.

Example: The president elect has made marine turtles a major part of his agenda.

And when the head of the noun phrase is an indefinite pronoun (example: everybody), the adjectives move to the post-modifying position.

Example: The coordinator told everybody new to move to the center of the room.

ABOUT ADJECTIVES AND THE PREDICATE

Very important definition: A predicate is a verb phrase and all its modifiers, complements, and objects.

Adjective phrases often appear as complements.

There are two major types of complements –

Subject complements and Object complements.

A subject complement happens when the adjective phrase follows a “linking” verb. The adjective phrase modifies the subject of that verb. There aren’t many linking verbs in English: be, appear, become, stay, look, feel, grow (meaning become), remain, sound, and taste are the more common ones.

Examples: The food is tasty. The food appears tasty. The food became tasty. The food stayed tasty. The food looked tasty. The food tasted tasty. The woman felt tired. The woman grew tired. The woman remained tired. The woman sounded tired. The woman sounded tired.

An object complement is an adjective phrase that describes/qualifies the direct object.

Example: The pollution made the turtle ill.

ABOUT ADJECTIVES WITH COMPLEMENTS

Some adjectives (like some verbs) “trigger” complements that are then followed by objects.

Examples:

afraid of

interested in

aware of

serious about

If an adjective is used with a complement, it can not be attributive.

Thus, you can say:

The interested man answered my ad.

The man appeared interested in my ad.

The man interested in my ad called me for more information.

BUT NOT:

The interested in my ad man called me.

TODAY’S CHALLENGE QUESTION

Their vision underwater is good.

1. What type of word is “underwater” in this sentence?

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