An adjective is a word that tells us
more about a noun. There are many things that an adjective
could tell us about a noun.
Attributive and
Predicative Adjectives
The happy family
sat down to dinner. The family is happy.
In the first sentence,
when the adjective is used before the noun, we say that it is used
attributively or is an attributive adjective.
In the second sentence,
the adjective follows the verb and is a part of the predicate of the sentence.
Therefore, the adjective is a predicative adjective. The predicative adjective
comes after the verb be, or verbs like feel, become and seem.
Most adjectives can be
both attributive and predicative. Certain adjectives, however, can only be used
predicatively.
It was a beautiful play.
(used attributively) The play was beautiful. (used predicatively)
Everybody was glad to
be there. (always used predicatively) There are also a number of adjectives
which are always attributive.
It is a mere box.
(never predicative)
The former captain
of the team was also there. (never predicative)
This is the main event. (never predicative)
An adjective is a word
that tells us more about a noun. There are many things that an adjective could
tell us about a noun.
Karan is a naughty boy.
(What kind of boy?) Can you show me the red pen? (Which pen?)
There
are five computers in the room. (How many computers?)
Attributive and Predicative Adjectives
Look at these sentences:
In the first sentence,
when the adjective is used before the noun, we say that it is used
attributively or is an attributive adjective.
In the
second sentence, the adjective follows the verb and is a part of the predicate
of the sentence. Therefore, the adjective is
a predicative adjective. The predicative adjective comes after the
verb be, or verbs like feel, become and seem.
Most adjectives can be
both attributive and predicative. Certain adjectives, however, can only be used
predicatively.
It was a beautiful play.
(used attributively) The play was beautiful. (used predicatively)
She is always alone.
(always used predicatively) Preeti is asleep. (always used
predicatively)
Everybody was glad to
be there. (always used predicatively) There are also a number of adjectives
which are always attributive.
It is a mere box.
(never predicative)
The former captain
of the team was also there. (never predicative)
This is the main event.
(never predicative)
Nouns as Adjectives
Depending on usage, a noun may play
the role of an adjective. Here are a few nouns: geography, city, village and school.
When we join them with some other nouns, we get words such as: geography teacher, city girl, village school and school girl.
In all these examples, the first word is a noun which describes the second word, also a noun.
The first noun then plays the role of an adjective, and the second is in the role of a noun.
The noun used as an adjective always comes
before the noun.
When we use a noun as an adjective, the noun used as
an adjective must always be singular.
The table fan is
not working.
The table fans
are not working. (tables fan)
More than one noun can
also be used to describe another noun.
cricket
team captain, company board meeting
Adjectives
with -ly
There are some adjectives that end with -ly and are also
used as adverbs. We can make out whether such words
are adjectives or adverbs from the way they are used in
a sentence.
They left the
party early. (adverb)
We took the early train
to Chandigarh. (adjective) I used to meet Sunita daily last
year. (adverb) Nitin’s daily walk begins at 5 o’clock.
(adjective)
Some adjectives that end
with -ly may be used only as adjectives and never as adverbs.
Some such words are cowardly, friendly, elderly, princely,
etc.
His cowardly behaviour
surprised us. (He behaved cowardly.)
Rita is a friendly girl.
(Yours friendly…)
The elderly gentleman
goes to the park every day. I bought this tiny box for the princely sum
of a thousand rupees.
Participial Adjectives
It was a beautiful sight
with the sparkling water and the setting sun.
The tired man
sat down wearily. In the
first sentence, the -ing forms of the verbs sparkle and set have been used. This form of the verb is called the present
participle. In the second sentence, the -ed form of the
verb tire has been used. This form of the verb is called the
past participle.
A participial adjective
qualifies a noun or a pronoun.
In the second sentence,
putting the participial adjective in the beginning of the sentence creates a
dramatic effect.
An
Adjective may be used attributively or predicatively. The rolling car
hit the cart. (attributive)
You must file a report
for your lost credit card. (attributive)
The dancers were tired.
(predicative) The man appeared worried. (predicative)
I was most
tired and went to sleep while the others partied.
(Here the participle tired is
used with the superlative most.)
