Transcript as eg I`d

Unit 5 – Presentation 1
• What are Adjectives & Adverbs?
The decorative elements of language.
• What does an Adjective qualify?
Technically speaking, a noun.
• And an Adverb?
Mainly, a verb but there are other possibilities, too.
Are these two parts of speech important?
We could write and speak without them but the effect - and
impact - would be poor.
They are
decorations, as
we said,
but they embellish speech and allow
us to draw comparisons.
Adjective + Noun
e.g. exquisite taste
But if the adjective describes the
influence it has over the noun,
then it tends to come after it.
State Verb + Adjective
e.g. It looks awkward
Adjectives can come even after action
verbs if they refer to the subject and not
the action.
Adjective Order in Descriptions
In descriptions and newspaper language in particular,
we often use more than one adjective with a noun for
reasons of space, syntactic range or sound effect. When
this happens, adjectives tend to follow this order:
NOC-OF &
SAT ShCO MUK
i) Verb + -ing = present participle
a description
ii) Verb + -ed= past participle
a feeling
When sb/ sth is -ing, you are -ed
Like Nouns, Adjectives can also be
Compound
Look at the possible combinations:
• a) adjective + -ed/-ing participle e.g. emptyheaded/good-looking
• b) adverb + -ed participle e.g. well-educated
• c) noun + -ed/-ing participle e.g. heart-felt
(thanks)/(an) eye-catching (advert)
• d) all of the above + noun + -ed e.g. blue-eyed/fairsized/diamond-shaped
• e) practically any words linked with a hyphen (-)
e.g. run-of-the-mill procedures, a three-hour walk
Predicates
Some adjectives cannot come before nouns but only after
state verbs (like look, seem, be). Compare the following
with their attributive equivalents :
PREDICATE
ATTRIBUTE
asleep
sleeping
alive
living
ashamed
shameful (shameless)
ill (unwell)
sick
Predicates cont’d
PREDICATE
ATTRIBUTE
glad (pleased, content, delighted) joyful (merry, sunny)
awake
waking
alone
lonely, lonesome
well
healthy
Extreme Adjectives
We can stress the intensity of an adjective using adverbs like
very, quite, fairly, etc. Some adjectives, though, are already
emphatic enough not to need such extra 'embellishment'. For
reasons of euphony, it is still possible to stress these too but
then we tend to use equally “extreme” adverbs like really,
virtually, totally, quite, utterly, absolutely, etc.
e.g. very bad BUT absolutely appalling
Group Adjectives
In English, we can’t use articles (a/ an/ the) with
adjectives alone; there has to be a noun to which the
article refers. It can happen, though, when we are
referring to a group of people with the same attribute
or of the same nationality and only ‘the’ is used in this
way.
e.g. the brave, the destitute, the British BUT
the/ a brave man, the destitute people in this city, a
British woman
Double-form Adjectives
Some adjectives have two forms: one that states the
real attribute and one that states a likeness. These are
adjectives like gold - golden, stone - stony, silk - silky,
wooded - wooden, lead - leaden.
e.g. a stone wall (made of stone)
a stony mask (like ‘stone’)
Verb + Adverb
e.g. to ban officially
Adverb + Adjective
e.g. totally useless
Adverb + Adverb
e.g. entirely truthfully claiming
Adverb + Prepositional Phrase
e.g. it’s completely out of my hands
Making adverbs out of adjectives
As a rule, we make adverbs by adding -ly to their
corresponding adjectives. So, common  commonly,
quick  quickly
Spelling Rules:
1) adj. in -le → e goes and y is added e.g. horrible →
horribly
2) adj. in -l → -lly e.g. exceptional → exceptionally
3) adj. in -y → y turns into i and ly follows (exceptions:
shyly, slyly & dryly OR drily) e.g. extraordinary →
extraordinarily
4) adj.’s in -ic & -ical → both -cally (exception publicly)
e.g. local → locally, magical → magically
Not all words in -ly are adverbs!
Sometimes they are:
i) adjectives: friendly, lovely, lonely, cowardly, OR
ii) both adjectives and adverbs in the same form: hourly, daily,
weekly, fortnightly, monthly, yearly, likely, early.
e.g. He gave me a friendly nod (adj.), a weekly magazine (adj.)
- a magazine that comes out weekly (adv.)
When they are adjectives (pronounced /lɪ/), they form adverbs
in the phrase:
• in a … way/ manner. Those in case (ii) (except likely & early)
can be used either as are or in the phrases:
• on a(n)…basis, every hour/ day/ etc.
e.g. He nodded in a friendly way (adv. phrase)
a magazine that comes out on a weekly basis/ every week
(adv. phrases)
To reverse this latter rule a bit, we should also say that:
i) not all adverbs end in -ly e.g. just, enough, very, well
and
ii) some words that we know as adjectives may also be
used as adverbs, in the same form but with a different
meaning e.g. pretty
Note also a use of ‘very’ as an adjective.
e.g. He picked the very day to call back!
Adverbs with meaning issues
Most adverbs may be formed from their respective
adjectives but that does not mean that they always
have the same meaning, too. Look at the following:
• short = κοντός, βραχύς - shortly = σύντομα
• present = τωρινός, παροντικός - presently = σύντομα
• awful/ terrible = απαίσιος/ τρομερός - awfully/
terribly = πάρα πολύ/ τρομερά (επαινετικά)
• extreme = ακραίος, υπερβολικός - extremely = πάρα
πολύ
Depending on the information we get
from adverbs, they are categorised as:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Manner: how, in what way?
Place/ Direction: where?/ which way?
Time: when?
Frequency: how often?
Degree: how much, to what extent?
Quantity: how much/ how many?
Comment: who thinks so?
Restrictive: (only/ even/ enough)
Connecting: (however/ thus/ so…)
Compare:
(Clearly,) she (clearly) can’t see the error of her ways,
(clearly). [COMMENT - note positions & commas!]
She can’t (clearly) see (clearly) the error of her ways
(clearly). [MANNER - no commas, different positions]
NB. Care should be taken not to mix one-word adverbs
with multi-word adverbials.
e.g. They never fail to be on time vs. They are on time
every day.
Double Form Adverbs
Some words have the same form both as adjectives and
as adverbs.
e.g. a late arrival is sb who arrives late
Most of these have an -ly form too but it has a different
meaning.
e.g. We haven’t heard from them lately.
These are the most common:
fast
clean
fair
early
clear
fine
straight
dead
right
hard
slow
wrong
late
flat
most
sharp
free
sure
direct
just
loud
close
high
near
One- & Two- Syllable Adjectives & Adverbs
As you know, adjectives and adverbs have 3 degrees of
comparison: positive (normal form), comparative
(when comparison is between 2) & superlative (when
more than 2 are compared). The forms are:
positive
comparative
superlative
small
smaller than
the smallest
of/ in
Spelling Rules
1) adj./adv. in -e → only -r & -st are added
e.g. gentle → gentler → the gentlest
2) adj./ adv. in -y → y turns into i + -er/ -est
e.g. naughty → naughtier → the naughtiest
3) adj./ adv. in one consonant with one preceding
stressed vowel → doubles the final consonant + -er/
-est
e.g. thin → thinner → the thinnest
Some Two- Syllable & All Multi-Syllable
Adjectives & Adverbs
positive
comparative
superlative
interesting
more interesting than
politely
more politely than
the most interesting
of/ in
the most politely of/
in
NB. 1) Some two-syllable adj.’s have both forms: e.g. common,
clever, polite, cruel, etc.
2) The two-syllable adj.’s ending in -y, though, have the -er/ -est
form only e.g. merrier/ the merriest
3) It’s possible to say ‘the (better) of the two’ although this is usu.
the form of the Superlative.
Irregular Comparison Forms
positive
comparative
superlative
much/many/a lot (of)
more
the most
little
less
the least
bad/ badly
worse
the worst
good/ well
better
the best
far
farther/ further
the farthest/ furthest
old
older/ elder
the oldest/ eldest
late
later/ latter
the latest/ last
The forms -er/ more & -est/ the most are known as
1) Comparison of Superiority, where we compare by
higher standards. However, there are other forms:
2) Comparison of Inferiority: always formed by less/
the least + positive.
e.g. less big/ interesting than, the least kind/ ordinary
of/ in
3) Equality/ inequality: as + positive adj./adv. + as
not so/as + positive adj./adv. + as
e.g. as pretty/ slowly as, not so pretty/ slowly as
4) Comparison of proportion: the + comparative …
the + comparative
e.g. The harder you try, the more likely you are to
succeed.
5) Conjoined comparison: comparative and
comparative
e.g. It’s flying higher and higher/ it’s getting more and
more difficult
6) Comparison of sizes: half/ twice/ three times as …
as
e.g. a flat half as spacious as the one next door/ twice
as big as you
7) Comparison by contrast:
•
other than (inseparable)
e.g. We can do nothing other than obey orders BUT:
there’s no other option but/ except obey orders
•
besides/except/ but
e.g. Besides obeying orders, there’s not much we can do
OR there’s not much we can do except/ but obey orders
•
rather than (In front position followed by an -ing
verb. In others, it depends on the construction that
precedes it.)
e.g. Rather than going there alone, I stayed in.
I’d prefer to stay in rather than go there alone.
•
while/ whereas/ but (‘whereas’ usu. starts the
sentence)
e.g. She’s tall while/ whereas/ but her brother is shortish
ALSO Whereas she’s tall, her brother is shortish
8) With verbs:
•
would rather/ would sooner … than,
e.g. I’d rather/ sooner do sth than do sth else
•
would just as soon … as
e.g. I’d (just) as soon do sth as do sth else
•
prefer sb/ sth to sb/ sth else
e.g. I prefer roses to tulips
•
prefer doing sth to doing sth else
e.g. I prefer looking at flowers to picking them
•
would prefer to do sth (rather than do sth
else)
e.g. I would prefer to have an early night (rather than watch
TV) - the comparison is usu. obvious with this one because
of the context
9) Individual cases:
a) such + [(a/an) + (adj.)] + noun + as
e.g. I’ve never met such a pessimist as Ian
(I’ve never met anyone so pessimistic as Ian)
b) more/ less of a(n) + person noun + than
e.g. Ian is more of a pessimist than anyone I’ve ever met
c) the same … as/ similar (…) to/ different (in sth) from
…
e.g. Your car is the same colour as mine.
Would you say his problems are similar to ours?
Stella is different (in literary tastes) from us.
d) like/unlike/alike
e.g. ‘So, your boss has liberal views, like mine?’ - ‘True,
but unlike your boss, mine doesn’t thrust them down
your throat!’ - ‘Oh, come off it! Bosses are all alike!’
Emphasis in Comparison
A) Emphatic Comparative:
much/ far/ a lot/ even - a little/ a bit/ slightly rather/ any/ no + comparative (NOT ‘very’, which is
only + pos.)
e.g. much higher/ a bit better/ (not) any easier
NB. When ‘more’ is emphasised and it is a comparative
adj. qualifying a plural countable noun, then many/
far/ a lot/ even - a few - rather/ any/ no are used.
e.g. many/ far/ a lot/ even/ a few/ rather/ no more
advantages than would be expected.
Emphasis in Comparison cont’d
B) Emphatic Superlative:
by far / adverbs (simply/ easily …) + superlative
e.g. by far the most interesting/ He’s easily the best
player of the team.
C) Emphatic Inequality: nearly/ quite
e.g. not nearly so high as …/ not quite as well as …
NB. A fitting final note on Adj.’s & Adv.’s is that some
adj.’s DO NOT have an adverb at all,
e.g. single, isolated,
while some adverbs have no known adj. they come from,
e.g. very, quite.