Collins Cobuild English Grammar (41 page)

BE CREATIVE

2.90
    Some
-ed
adjectives are formed from nouns. For example, if a living thing has wings, you can describe it as
winged
. If someone has skills, you can describe them as
skilled
.

…
winged
angels.
…a
skilled
engineer.
She was dressed in black and carried a black
beaded
purse.
…
armoured
cars.
…the education of
gifted
children.

-ed
adjectives formed from nouns

2.91
    Here is a list of
-ed
adjectives formed from nouns:

armoured

barbed

beaded

bearded

detailed

flowered

freckled

gifted

gloved

hooded

mannered

pointed

principled

salaried

skilled

spotted

striped

turbaned

walled

winged

-ed
adjectives formed from nouns are commonly used as the second part of
compound adjectives
(see paragraph
2.94
to
2.102
) such as
grey-haired
and
open-minded
.

-ed
adjectives unrelated to verbs or nouns

2.92
    There are also some
-ed
adjectives in regular use that are not related to verbs or nouns in the ways described above. For example, there are no words
parch
or
belove
. There is a noun
concert
, but the adjective
concerted
does not mean
having a concert
.

He climbed up the dry
parched
grass to the terrace steps.
…a complex and
antiquated
system of taxation.
…attempts to mount a
concerted
campaign.
…the purchase of expensive
sophisticated
equipment.

2.93
    Here is a list of
-ed
adjectives that are not related to verbs or nouns:

antiquated

ashamed

assorted

beloved

bloated

concerted

crazed

deceased

doomed

indebted

parched

rugged

sophisticated

tinned

Compound adjectives

2.94
    
Compound adjectives
are made up of two or more words, usually written with hyphens between them. They may be qualitative, classifying, or colour adjectives.

I was in a
light-hearted
mood.
She was dressed in a
bottle-green
party dress.
…the
built-up
urban mass of the city.
…an
air-conditioned
restaurant.
…a
good-looking
girl.
…
one-way
traffic.
…a
part-time
job.

formation patterns

2.95
    These are the most common and least restricted patterns for forming compound adjectives:

adjective or number plus noun plus
-ed
, e.g.
grey-haired
and
one-sided

adjective or adverb plus
-ed
participle, e.g.
low-paid
and
well-behaved

adjective, adverb, or noun plus
-ing
participle, e.g.
good-looking
,
long-lasting
and
man-eating
.

Note that compound adjectives describe simple concepts: a
good-looking
person looks good, and a
man-eating
beast eats humans. More complex descriptions in English need to be given using a following phrase or clause.

2.96
    These are less common and more restricted patterns for forming compound adjectives:

noun plus
-ed
participle, e.g.
tongue-tied
and
wind-swept

noun plus adjective, e.g.
accident-prone
,
trouble-free

adjective plus noun, e.g.
deep-sea
,
present-day

-ed
participle plus adverb, e.g.
run-down
,
cast-off