Collins Cobuild English Grammar (33 page)

There are also a large number of English adjectives ending in
-ed
, many of which are related to the
-ed
participle
of a verb. In this grammar they are called
-ed
adjectives
.

-ing
adjectives are explained in paragraphs
2.63
to
2.76
.
-ed
adjectives are explained in paragraphs
2.77
to
2.93
.

compound adjectives

2.16
    
Compound adjectives
are made up of two or more words, usually written with hyphens between them.

Compound adjectives are explained in paragraphs
2.94
to
2.102
.

comparing things

2.17
    When you want to compare the amount of a quality that two or more people or things have, you can use
comparative
and
superlative
adjectives. There are also some other ways of comparing things.

Comparatives are explained in paragraphs
2.103
to
2.111
, and superlatives are explained in paragraphs
2.112
to
2.122
. Other ways of comparing things are explained in paragraphs
2.123
to
2.139
.

talking about the amount of a quality

2.18
    You can also talk about the amount of a quality that something or someone has by using an adverb like
totally
or
mildly
with an adjective.

This is explained in paragraphs
2.141
to
2.168
.

Adjective structures

2.19
    Adjectives are used in two main structures. One of them involves adjectives coming before the noun phrase. If you say
Julia was carrying an old suitcase
, your main purpose is to say that Julia was carrying a suitcase. The adjective
old
gives more information about what kind of suitcase it was.

He was wearing a
white
t-shirt.
…a
technical
term.
…a
pretty little star-shaped
flower bed.

Most adjectives can be used in this way.

2.20
    The other main structure involves adjectives being used after
linking verbs
such as
be
and
become
. Putting an adjective after a linking verb has the effect of focusing attention on the adjective. If you say
The suitcase she was carrying was old
, your main purpose is to describe the suitcase, so the focus is on the adjective
old
.

The roads are
busy
.
The house was
quiet
.
He became
angry
.
I feel
cold
.
Nobody seemed
amused
.

The use of adjectives after linking verbs is explained in paragraphs
3.132
to
3.137
.

Most adjectives can be used in this way.

2.21
    In the following examples, the first example in each pair shows an adjective being used before the noun, while the second example shows it being used with a linking verb.

There was no
clear
evidence.
‘That’s very
clear
,’ I said.
It had been a
pleasant
evening.
It’s not a big stream, but it’s very
pleasant
.
She bought a loaf of
white
bread.
The walls were
white
.

Identifying qualities:
a sad story
,
a pretty girl

2.22
    There are two main types of adjective,
qualitative
and
classifying
. Adjectives that describe a quality that someone or something has, such as
sad
,
pretty
,
small
,
happy
,
healthy
,
wealthy
, and
wise
, are called
qualitative adjectives
.

…a
sad
story.
…a
pretty
girl.
…a
small
child.
…a
happy
mother with a
healthy
baby.
…
wealthy
bankers.
I think it would be
wise
to give up.

gradability:
very sad
,
rather funny

2.23
    Adjectives that describe qualities are
gradable
, which means that the person or thing referred to can have more or less of the quality mentioned.

2.24
    The usual way in which you show the amount of a quality that something or someone has is by using adverbs like
very
and
rather
in front of qualitative adjectives. This is explained in paragraphs
2.140
to
2.156
.

2.25
    The other way in which you can talk about the amount of a quality that something or someone has is by using a
comparative
, such as
bigger
and
more interesting
, or a
superlative
, such as
the biggest
and
the most interesting
. Comparatives and superlatives are explained in paragraphs
2.103
to
2.122
.

Here is a list of qualitative adjectives:

active

angry

anxious

appropriate

attractive

bad

beautiful

big

brief

bright

broad

busy

calm

careful

cheap

clean

clear

close

cold

comfortable

common

complex

cool

curious

dangerous

dark

dear

deep

determined

different

difficult

dirty

dry

easy

effective

efficient

expensive

fair

familiar

famous

fast

fat

fine

firm

flat

frank

free

fresh

friendly

frightened

funny

good

great

happy

hard

heavy

high

hot

important

interesting

kind

large

late

light

likely

long

loose

loud

lovely

low

lucky

narrow

nervous

new

nice

obvious

odd

old

pale

patient

plain

pleasant

poor

popular

powerful

pretty

proud

quick

quiet

rare

reasonable

rich

rough

sad

safe

sensible

serious

sharp

shocked

short

sick

significant

silly

simple

slow

small

soft

special

steady

strange

strong

stupid

successful

suitable

sure

surprised

sweet

tall

terrible

thick

thin

tight

tiny

tired