What is Adjective? ~ Grammar

1. Adjectives

It is important to keep in mind that adjectives in English are almost always invariable, the exceptions being the possessive and demonstrative adjectives. Note that in the following four examples the adjective tall remains the same in singular and plural, masculine and feminine.

a tall boy (un noi alt)

two tall boys (dos nois alts)

a tall girl (una noia alta)

two tall girls (dues noies altes)

There is a common tendency to pluralize Latin-derived adjectives when they appear in predicative position (ie after the verb be); this must be avoided. Examples:

Steel and iron are important (L’acer i el ferro són importants) (not Steel and iron are ~~importants~~).

The concerts were popular (Els concerts eren populars) (not The concerts were ~~populars~~).

1.1. Adjective order

When considering adjective order, it should be remembered that English has two types of adjectives: attributive and predicative. The first are generally noun complements and are typically found before the nouns they modify – eg a white horse (un cavall blanc) –, whereas predicate adjectives can play two roles: as a predicative of the subject (in C_ATALAN, a predicat nominal), linked to it by a copula – eg the horse is white (el cavall és blanc) – or as a predicative of the object (in C_ATALAN, complement predicatiu), following the modified noun – eg you make me happy (em fas feliç).

1.1.1. Attributive adjectives

As is the case in C_ATALAN, English attributive adjectives determine, delimit or classify the nouns they modify and form part of the noun phrase. On the other hand, predicative adjectives, which we will study in section Sy 2.1.2., qualify the nouns they modify and, in both English and C_ATALAN, appear after a copulative verb, such as be, seem or feel. Compare:

Attributive use:

I like dry wine (M’agrada el vi sec).

The adjective dry classifies the noun wine.

Predicative use:

The wine is dry (El vi és sec).

The adjective dry describes a quality of the noun wine.

Attributive adjectives that precede the noun

In English, attributive adjectives generally precede the nouns they modify (we will look at the exceptions later in this section). The following are some typical examples; note that determiners always precede attributive adjectives.

a small problem some dirty clothes an angry woman a dull movie

the bad examples a famous event the daily news the wrong way

a complete failure some hungry people

It should be pointed out that two common C_ATALAN constructions are often erroneously translated literally into English; they are the combinations definite article + noun + més + adjective and determiner + noun + adv. + adj. Examples:

la vista més atractiva = the most attractive view (not ~~the view most attractive~~)

les noies més populars = the most popular girls (not ~~the girls most popular~~) un altre fet molt important = another very important fact (not ~~another fact~~ ~~very important~~)

moltes noies una mica begudes = many slightly drunken girls (not ~~many girls~~ ~~slightly drunken~~)

Ordering groups of attributive adjectives

The ordering in English of attributive adjectives is somewhat complex. Broadly speaking, we can say that adjectives that express essential qualities of the noun they are modifying are placed as close as possible to these nouns, whereas general adjectives that can be used with a large number of nouns are placed further away, that is, further to the left. What follows is a general rule for the placement of adjectives before nouns in English; note, however, that there can be considerable variation in the order of categories IV through VII.

I) articles, possessive adjectives, demonstrative adjectives and the Saxon genitive

II) the adjectives another, other and same

III) numbers

***

IV) general quality adjectives (eg nice, stupid, complicated, etc.)

V) size and weight (eg big, small, heavy, etc.)

VI) dimension and shape (eg tall, round, etc.)

VII) age (eg young, old, etc.)

***

VIII) colour

IX) demonyms (gentilicis) (eg French, Catalan, etc.)

X) material (eg leather, cotton, etc.)

XI) purpose (eg table wine, car tools, etc.)

Examples:

a	fat	old	Russian	horse
article	shape	age	demonym	noun

the	other	six	brown	beer	bottles
article	(II)	number	colour	purpose	noun

an	impressive	tall	grey	metal	radio	tower
article	quality	dimension	colour	material	purpose	noun

numerous	small	carved	Chinese	jade	idols
number	size	quality	demonym	material	noun

It should be added, however, that we can say both a big old fat man and a big fat old man. In the first case we consider the principal quality of the man to be fatness, whereas in the second we consider it to be age.

The use of commas and the conjunction and

Commas are generally used to separate strings of adjectives that come before nouns, but can often be omitted if the adjectives are common and short. They are never placed between the final adjective and the noun. Examples:

an exciting, innovative, revolutionary, new proposal a tall dark handsome cowboy

The conjunction and is almost never used between adjectives that precede a noun. The only exceptions are when the adjectives refer to two or more parts of a single thing – for example, a black and yellow taxi – or, in formal styles, when the two adjectives are similar (eg a cruel and evil tyrant, a refined and elegant air).

Attributive adjectives that follow the noun

There are certain special cases in which English postposes adjectives; the following are the most important.

English always postposes adjectives modifying the indefinite pronouns ending -body, -one

and -thing and the indefinite adverbs ending in either -where or -place. Examples:

Somebody interesting is waiting for you in the hall.

No one interested in ancient Egypt should miss this exhibition.

I’d never do anything really dangerous. Shall we go somewhere a little more quiet?

Certain adjectives beginning with the prefix a-, which are normally found in the predicative position (see section Sy 2.1.2.), are postposed when used attributively. Examples:

ten ships afloat in the bay a boy asleep

a man alone

The adjectives present, concerned, responsible and involved are used both before and after nouns, with a change in meaning. Examples:

All those present agreed.

Tots els presents estaven d’acord.

The present situation is quite difficult.

La situació actual és força difícil.

The man concerned refuses to press charges.

L’home en qüestió es nega a fer acusacions.

The concerned parents called for stricter discipline. Els pares preocupats van demanar una disciplina més severa. The man responsible has been arrested.

Han arrestat l’home responsable.

It’s hard to find a responsible young man these days.

Avui dia és difícil de trobar un jove fiable.

The politicians involved in the fraud have fled the country.

Els polítics implicats en el frau han fugit del país.

I’m reading one of those really involved murder mysteries.

Llegeixo una d’aquestes novel·les de sèrie negra molt enrevessades.

1.1.2. Predicative adjectives

Predicative adjectives are those that appear after a copulative verb, such as be, seem or feel. Broadly speaking, their use corresponds with that of C_ATALAN (see Mo 2.); however, it is important to keep in mind that certain adjectives in English are restricted to predicative use: for example, we can say the man is ill, but we don’t generally refer to ~~an ill man~~, rather a sick man.

We can divide adjectives that are only used predicatively into four groups.

The first group is composed of adjectives that are related to health or moods, such as well, ill, unwell, faint, dizzy, content, glad, and sorry. Note that some of these adjectives can be used attributively, but that in these cases they are not related to health or moods. Examples:

She isn’t well; she’s been ill/unwell for months. I’m feeling a little dizzy.

The graduate students were content with their lot. He seemed glad about the news.

I’d never felt so sorry in my life!

Adjectives that begin with the prefix a-, such as afraid, alike, alive, alone, asleep and

awake, or averse (to) and aware (of). Examples:

He’s hiding because he is afraid. They look alike to me.

Let’s go somewhere where we can be alone. Their party is averse to all change.

I doubt whether they are aware of the difficulties.

Certain participial adjectives in English are used to describe temporal conditions, caused by the action of the verb in question, and these are also restricted to predicative position. For example, we can say My sister was prepared (La meva germana estava preparada) but not my ~~prepared sister~~ ~~(la meva germana preparada)~~. Here is a list of other participial adjectives of this class.

ashamed camped convinced found gone stopped touched

Here is a list of some miscellaneous English adjectives whose meanings change according to whether they are used attributively or predicatively.

Examples of predicative use (for examples of faint and dizzy, see above):

Adjective	Predicative sense	Attributive sense
due	ser previst	degut, oportú
likely	probable	prometedor
ready	preparat, a punt	prompte
welcome	(people) benvingut	(events) agradable
faint	marejat i a punt de desmaiar-se	dèbil
dizzy	marejat quan roda el cap	eixelebrat

The train is due soon.

Publishers are more likely to allow the reproduction of texts. They’re ready for anything!

You’re welcome to spend the night if you like.

1.2. Possessive adjectives (and pronouns)

In modern English grammar, possessive adjectives now fall under the grammatical category of determiners. However, we refer to them here as adjectives because their relation to the corresponding C_ATALAN forms is clearer.

Unlike C_ATALAN, English distinguishes between possessive adjectives and possessive pronouns. We’ll study this distinction in the following section; for now, here is a table showing the correspondence between the English possessive adjectives and pronouns and their C_ATALAN counterparts.

Possessive adjectives and pronouns
English		Catalan
Adjective	Pronoun
my your our your	mine yours ours yours	(el) meu, (la) meva, (els) meus, (les) meves (el) teu, (la) teva, (els) teus, (les) teves (el) nostre, (la) nostra, (els, les) nostres (el) vostre, (la) vostra, (els, les) vostres
his (d’ell) her (d’ella) its (d’una cosa) their (d’ells)	his (d’ell) hers (d’ella) theirs (d’ells)	(el) seu, (la) seva, (els) seus, (les) seves

Determiners are never used before English possessive adjectives or pronouns. Examples:

My dog has fleas (not The my dog...).

El meu gos té puces.

This plane must be ours (not ... must be the ours).

Aquest avió deu ser el nostre.

I like your music more than theirs (not ... than the theirs).

M’agrada més la vostra música que la seva.

In English, the third-person possessive adjectives and pronouns are determined by the possessor, whereas in C_ATALAN they are determined by that which is possessed (masculine or feminine, singular or plural). This difference can be extremely counter-intuitive, as the following table should make clear.

If we say in Catalan:	... and we are referring to:	... in English we say:
	en Jordi	his father
		his mother
		his brothers
		his sisters
el seu pare	la Maria	her father
la seva mare		her mother
els seus germans		her brothers
les seves germanes		her sisters
	en Jordi i la Maria	their father
		their mother
		their brothers
		their sisters

Examples:

Their mother is eighty-eight.

La seva mare [d’ells] té vuitanta-vuit anys.

His sisters visit him often.

Les seves germanes [d’ell] el visiten sovint.

These books are hers.

Aquests llibres són seus [d’ella].

My keys are here, his are over there.

Les meves claus són aquí i les seves [d’ell], allà.

Remember that English has no pronoun corresponding to either vostè or vós; in the same way that both are translated in English by you, their corresponding possessives are translated by your and yours. Thus the sentence We’ve received your letter can be translated Hem rebut la teva carta, Hem rebut la vostra carta (de vosaltres o de vós) or Hem rebut la seva carta (de vostè o de vostès).

English must use a possessive adjective when translating C_ATALAN articles that have a possessive sense. Examples:

Els nens fan els deures – The children are doing their [not ~~the~~] homework.

Perds el temps – You’re wasting your [not ~~the~~] time.

Aquestes festes han perdut la gràcia – These festivals have lost their [not ~~the~~] charm.

The use of English possessive adjectives and pronouns

In English, possessive adjectives are used only attributively (before the nouns they modify: eg my dog) and possessive pronouns are used both as predicative adjectives (after the verb be: eg The dog is mine) and independent possessives (eg Your dog is old and mine is young).

Attributive adjective

Predicative adjective

Independent possessive

my dog

el meu gos

the dog is mine

el gos és meu

mine is old

el meu és vell

your dog

el teu/vostre gos

the dog is yours

el gos és teu/vostre

yours is old

el teu/vostre és vell

his dog, her dog, their dog

el seu gos

the dog is his/hers/theirs

el gos és seu

his/hers/theirs is old

el seu és vell

our dog

el nostre gos

the dog is ours

el gos és nostre

ours is old

el nostre és vell

We should mention that the independent possessive construction is generally used to avoid the repetition of a noun. Here are a few more examples:

My room is small and yours is large. His jacket is blue but hers is yellow.

Our classes are in the morning and yours are in the afternoon.

1.3. Quantifying adjectives (and adverbs)

In modern English grammar, quantifying adjectives and adverbs now fall under the grammatical category of determiners. However, we refer to them here as adjectives and adverbs because their relation to the corresponding C_ATALAN forms is clearer.

We will deal with the following quantifiers in this section.

many much

a lot (of)

few little a few

several a little

enough

(not) any no

none (pronoun)

at all (emphasizer)

These quantifiers can be variously modified by the adverbs too, very and quite, which will also form part of our study.

Quantifying adjectives modify both singular and plural nouns and have a great deal in common with quantifying adverbs, which modify verbs, adjectives or other adverbs. The most difficult aspect of the study of these quantifiers is that they usually take on different forms depending on the part of speech they modify. For example, consider the English equivalents of the C_ATALAN massa, an invariable adjective/adverb that indicates an excessive quantity, number or degree.

massa problemes (modifying a plural noun) = too many problems

massa vi (modifying a singular noun) = too much wine treballo massa (modifying a verb) = I work too much massa dolç (modifying an adjective) = too sweet

massa tard (modifying an adverb) = too late

We will divide this chapter into three main parts: first we will study those quantifiers that, when modifying nouns or verbs, generally include the words many and much. It will also be helpful to see how these forms change when modifying adjectives and adverbs. In the second section, we will look at those quantifiers that include the words few and little, again with a note on their modification of adjectives and adverbs. Finally we’ll study the terms enough, no, any and none, and the emphasiser at all.

Quantifiers that use many and much

There are five expressions in English that commonly use either many, when modifying plural nouns, or much when modifying singular nouns and verbs. (There are also the interrogative expressions how many and how much, which we’ll study in section Sy 5.6.) One of these, so... that, is not strictly speaking a quantitative expression, but we’ve included it here because of its syntactic similarity to the quantifying forms. In the examples section, note that C_ATALAN makes very few changes to quantifying modifiers, whereas the changes in English are significant.

*Quantifiers that generally use many* and much when modifying nouns or verbs**
Plural nouns	Singular nouns/verbs	Adjectives/adverbs	Catalan equivalent
too many	too much	too	massa
many/a lot of	a lot of/a great deal of	very/really	molt/-a/-s/-es
(not) many	(not) much	(not) very	(no) gaire/-s
as many ... as	as much ... as	as ... as	tant/-a/-s/-es (as many/much as)/tan as ... as
so many ... that	so much ... that	so ... that	tant/-a/-s/-es (so many/much that)/tan so ... that

Examples: Too

I have too many problems.

Hunting down the answers to such questions would take too much time. It weighs too much.

The tea is too hot.

They’re working too slowly.

Many/a lot of (a great deal of)/very

There have been many recent initiatives in this field. We stayed there many days.

There are a lot of useful sites. There was a lot of snow.

The senator has a great deal of confidence. It’s very difficult.

He runs very/really fast.

In modern English, the word much generally isn’t used to modify singular nouns and verbs in affirmative expressions. For example, we wouldn’t say ~~There was much snow~~. Passive uses, however, are sometimes found in more formal English: Much work has been done (S’ha fet molta feina), but not ~~We have done much work~~.

Some verbs accept the compound modifier very much: for example, we can say I love you very much (T’estimo molt) but not ~~I love you much~~. Nor can we say ~~I eat very much~~. As a general rule, when modifying singular nouns and verbs, it is safest to use either the informal a lot (of) (or the very informal lots of) or the more formal a great deal (of).

Although many and a lot of are completely synonymous when modifying plural nouns, a lot of is more common in spoken English. An exception to this is that many tends to be used more when modifying time periods: eg many days is more common than a lot of days.

(Not) many, (not) much, (not) very

Do you know many soldiers? We didn’t see many bears.

Was there much traffic?

He hasn’t spent much money. Have you danced much?

I don’t go out much any more. Was it very difficult?

They aren’t very friendly. She didn’t react very quickly.

As many as, as much as, as... as

I have as many problems as you.

It offers as much detail as you could want. Adults don’t sleep as much as children.

It is made as easy as possible.

Were there as many as you expected?.

So many that, so much that, so... that (that is sometimes omitted)

I had so many problems that I got upset.

I drink so much coffee that I can’t sit still.

I work so much that I have no time for my husband. It’s not so hot you can’t drink it.

He paints so well that they offered him a scholarship.

Quantifiers that use few and little

There are three expressions in English that commonly use either few, when modifying plural nouns, or little when modifying singular nouns and verbs. Note that these terms never modify adjectives or adverbs (the exception is a little). English has no equivalent to C_ATALAN expressions such as L’aigua és poc calenta, and must use a negative instead: The water isn’t very hot (L’aigua no és gaire calenta).

*Quantifiers that generally use few* and little when modifying nouns or verbs**
Plural nouns	Catalan equivalent	Singular nouns/verbs	Catalan equivalent
quite a few	bastants, força	quite a lot (of)	bastant, força
quite a lot (of)		quite a bit (of) quite a little
a few/several	uns quants/ unes quantes	a little	una mica
few	pocs/poques	little	poc/-a

Quite a few, quite a lot (of), quite a bit (of), quite a little

The book gives quite a few examples.

We’ve drunk quite a bit of coffee this morning. It rained quite a bit last night.

A few, several, a little

Here are a few general rules. The well is several miles away. Would you like a little wine?

I try to swim a little every day.

Few, little

There were few choices.

Little information has been released. We read little.

Especially in colloquial English, the use of not many and not much is generally more common than few and little. That is, it is more usual to say We don’t have many tomatoes or We don’t see them much than to use their equivalents: We have few tomatoes and We see them little. However, few and little are commonly used after the adverb very. Examples:

He makes very few mistakes. We have very little patience. He studies very little.

Enough, no, none, any, at all

Enough

The word enough always indicates a sufficiency. Here are some examples of its use.

There weren’t enough players to form the team. We have enough oil, for now.

You haven’t helped me enough.

Distance education offers a solution where other systems are not extensive enough.

He didn’t speak loudly enough.

The adverb enough always follows an adjective or adverb, whereas the C_ATALAN adverb prou

always precedes them: eg strong enough (prou fort), late enough (prou tard).

When prou means certament, it is translated in English by of course or some similar expression, never by enough. Example: –Vols més vi? –Prou! “Do you want more wine?” “Of course!”.

It is good to keep in mind that prou is sometimes used colloquially to mean força or bastant (eg Aquest peix és prou bo!). In these cases English will never use enough, but rather quite or even very or really (This fish is quite/very/really good!).

No, none, (not) any

The adjectives no and any can be used to indicate a zero quantity of nouns. Their distribution is as follows.

No and none are used to indicate a zero quantity of the subject of a sentence.

No birds have come to visit us. No women agreed.

None of the women agreed.

No player can win a match alone. No alcohol can be sold after 11 pm.

(Not) any is used to indicate zero quantity of the objects of a sentence.

We haven’t found any mushrooms.

They didn’t send the information to any customers. They didn’t buy any sugar.

The adjective any is not generally used to modify singular count nouns, a case in which the indefinite article is more common. Examples:

I don’t have a car.

I don’t want a coat.

At all

The expression at all is a negative emphasizer and corresponds to the C_ATALAN gens, except that it is occasionally used before plural nouns, in which case its meaning is en absolut. Examples:

We don’t have any bread at all. It doesn’t interest me at all.

I don’t trust him at all.

He isn’t strong at all (or He isn’t at all strong). It shouldn’t happen to any people at all.

1.4. Comparative and superlative adjectives (and adverbs)

In modern English grammar, comparative and superlative adjective/adverbs now fall under the grammatical category of determiners. However, we refer to them here as adjectives and adverbs because their relation to the corresponding C_ATALAN forms is clearer.

In English, the two most important comparative and superlative adjectives (or adverbs, when they modify verbs, adjectives or other adverbs) are, respectively, more (més) and most (el més). They can be used to modify all nouns and verbs as well as the majority of adjectives and adverbs that are not monosyllabic (or bisyllabic ending in -y).

1.4.1. More and most

The use of the comparative adjective/adverb more to modify nouns and verbs is fairly straightforward and corresponds closely with C_ATALAN usage. Examples:

I have more problems than you. I have more time than you.

I study more than you.

However, the syntax of the superlative most when used to modify nouns and verbs is somewhat unusual. Examples:

I have the most problems. I have the most time.

I study the most.

Alternative constructions, such as I am the one who has the most problems, I am the one who has the most time or I am the one who studies the most, are much less frequently used.

1.4.2. Fewer, fewest, less and least

According to many English grammarians, the comparative fewer is used to modify plural nouns and less is used to modify singular nouns and verbs. Examples:

I have fewer problems than you. I have less time than you.

I study less than you.

Unfortunately, there are many cases in which less is also used to modify plural nouns, especially before numerical quantifiers: eg both less and fewer can be used in the following sentence:

Less/fewer than ten people came to the party.

In fact, it is much more natural to say less than three weeks than fewer than three weeks, perhaps because the expression more often refers to a single time period and not to three individual weeks.

In conclusion, it is probably best to simply follow the rule: fewer = not as many, less = not as much. But keep in mind that there can be exceptions.

As in the case of the superlative most, constructions using fewest and least to modify nouns or verbs sound strange to Catalan ears. Examples:

I have the fewest (or least) problems. I have the least time.

I study the least.

As noted in the previous section, alternative constructions such as I am the one who has the fewest/least problems, I am the one who has the least time and I am the one who studies the least are limited to emphatic contexts.

1.4.3. Comparative and superlative adjectives

English adjectives and adverbs form their comparative and superlative forms in two ways. Monosyllabic adjectives and adverbs and bisyllabic ones ending in -y add the suffix -er for comparatives and -est for superlatives. Here are some common examples:

slow, slower, slowest happy, happier, happiest early, earlier, earliest

Most other adjectives and adverbs form the comparative and superlative using, respectively,

more and most.

beautiful, more beautiful, most beautiful nervously, more nervously, most nervously

Examples:

Your house is older than his.

Who has the oldest house in the town? Esteve has been more successful than Toni.

It’s been the most successful project of the year. Marc runs faster than Marià.

Sílvia is the fastest runner on the team. Sara arrived earlier than Alba.

My aunt and uncle always arrive the earliest.

Adverbs derived from adjectives through the use of the -ly suffix are always compared using

more. Examples:

Drive more slowly (not ~~slowlier~~).

These children work more eagerly (not eagerlier) than the others.

Certain adjectives ending in -er, -le, -ow and -ure, as well as some others listed below, can be used with both the suffixes -er and -est and the words more and most. For example, we can say both cleverer and more clever, or nobler and more noble, etc. Here are some of the most important adjectives in this group.

slender, simple, narrow, mature, common, cruel, quiet, handsome, remote, stupid

Comparative adjectives can themselves be positively emphasized by preceding them with much, a lot or far; they can be de-emphasized by preceding them with either a little or slightly. Examples:

He is (much/a lot/far) stronger than you.

You are (a little/slightly) more practical than I am. She’s (much/a lot/far) more intelligent than you. It’s (a little/slightly) colder than yesterday.

1.4.4. Irregular comparative and superlative adjectives and adverbs

Most monosyllabic English adjectives and adverbs use the -er and -est suffixes for their comparative and superlative forms (eg big, bigger, biggest). There are, however, exceptions and the following is a list of the most important.

good/well, better, best bad/badly, worse, worst many, more, most little, less, least

far, farther/further, farthest/furthest

Examples:

Joan plays better than Robert.

It is designed to offer the best service possible. They live worse than we do (or informally than us). It was the worst storm of the year.

Sabadell is farther/further than Terrassa.

Which country in the world is the farthest/furthest from Catalonia?

1.4.5. Proportional comparative constructions

English forms its proportional comparative constructions using the expression the + comparative ..., the + comparative Note that the C_ATALAN equivalent is quite dissimilar.

Examples:

The more books you read, the more confused you get.

Com més llibres llegeixes, més et confons.

The more I think about it, the less I like it.

Com més hi penso, menys m’agrada. The hotter it is, the slower I go. Com més calor fa, més a poc a poc vaig.

1.4.6. Use of subject and object pronouns in comparisons

English often uses the objective form of a personal pronoun in comparisons where one might expect a nominative form. For example, it is more common to say he is taller than me than he is taller than I. The reason for this is that English does not generally like to end sentences with those personal pronouns – I, he, she, we and they – that are used exclusively as subjects. For example, whose mushrooms are they? Another option, especially in formal writing, is to use an auxiliary after the final pronoun: eg he is taller than I am. This solution is especially suitable with certain transitive verbs: for example, he ate more than I did sounds better to many speakers than he ate more than me.

1.5. Participial and gerundial adjectives

As is the case in C_ATALAN, English uses participles and gerunds as adjectives. The former normally describe temporary states and the latter permanent qualities. Here are some simple examples:

We were interested because the speech was interesting. I’m surprised because the news is surprising.

The most common use of participial adjectives in English is to describe emotional states. Here is a list of some of the most important of these adjectives.

amused	excited
bored	frightened
confused	hurt
convinced	interested
disappointed	scared
disgusted	surprised
embarrassed	thrilled
depressed	tired

Gerundial adjectives normally describe permanent qualities of the nouns they modify. In some cases there is a direct correspondence with C_ATALAN gerunds.

alarming	interesting
amazing	surprising
depressing	relaxing
embarrassing	shocking
exciting	thrilling
impending

In other cases, the English gerund is translated in C_ATALAN by adjectives or even occasionally by a participle.

amusing	entertaining
annoying	exhausting
boring	fascinating
challenging	frightening
charming	misleading
confusing	pleasing
daring	promising
disappointing	satisfying
disgusting	tiring

Finally, it should be mentioned that some gerundial adjectives have meanings that are completely different to those of the verbs they are derived from.

Verb	Gerundial adjective
act – actuar	acting – interí, suplent, en funcions
become – esdevenir	becoming – atractiu
cut – tallar	cutting – mordaç, sarcàstic
dash – córrer impetuosament	dashing – elegant i viu
drive – conduir	driving – dinàmic, enèrgic
engage – contractar	engaging – captivador
fetch – buscar	fetching – atractiu
miss – no encertar, perdre	missing – absent
move – moure, bellugar-se, traslladar	moving – commovedor
press – prémer	pressing – urgent
revolt – revoltar	revolting – fastigós
search – buscar	searching – penetrant, minuciós
try – intentar	trying – difícil

1.6. Interrogative adjectives

In modern English grammar, interrogative adjectives now fall under the grammatical category of determiners. However, we are referring to them here as adjectives because their relation to the corresponding C_ATALAN forms is clearer.

For information concerning the syntax of interrogative expressions, see Sy 5.2.

1.6.1. The difference between which and what

English has three interrogative adjectives, which, what and whose. Both which and what are used in the same way as the C_ATALAN quin -a, but there is a difference: we use which when the speaker considers that there is a limited choice of options and what when the options seem unrestricted. Here are two pairs of examples that show this difference.

What time is it?

The movie shows at 7:30, 9:45 and midnight; which time do you want to go?

What books have you read lately? (in general)

Which books do you recommend? (books concerning a specific topic)

Another way of looking at this is to say that we use which when we consider that we know what all the possible responses might be, and we use what when we have no idea what the responses might be. Compare:

What is your address? (The speaker has no idea what it might be.)

Which TV channel do you watch most often? (The speaker believes he knows what the possibilities are.)

1.6.2. The interrogative adjective whose

C_ATALAN has no equivalent to the English interrogative adjective whose and its syntax can present difficulties. The main thing to remember is that whose is an adjective and goes before the noun it modifies. The speaker is asking a question concerning the possessor of the object modified by whose. Here are some simple examples.

Whose glass is this? Whose car was it?

Whose paintings are those? Whose cats were they?

It is perhaps helpful to remember that the syntax of whose is exactly the same as that of

which (quin -a). Examples:

Which papers are these? Whose papers are these? Which dog weighs the most? Whose dog weighs the most?

When the complements are understood, which, what and whose can be used as pronouns. Examples:

(Holding two jackets) Which is yours? What is the issue?

Whose are they?

1.6.3. Use of which, what and whose in indirect questions

The three interrogative adjectives which, what and whose can also be used to head indirect questions. In this case there is no inversion of subject and verb. Examples:

Grammar