Descriptive Grammar handout 5
ADJECTIVES
1. Syntactic functions of adjectives
both attributive and predicative, e.g.: a hungry man ~ the man is hungry.
a] attributive  premodifies the noun, i.e. appears between the determiner and the head of the
noun phrase, e.g.: the beautiful painting
attributive only, e.g. an utter fool ~ *the fool is utter.
intensifying adjectives: emphasizers (e.g. a real hero) and amplifiers (e.g. a complete
fool).
limiter adjectives, e.g. the main reason, the only occasion.
related do adverbials, e.g. my former friend (= formerly my friend)
denominal adjectives, e.g. criminal law
Ordering of adjectives in the attributive position
________ ________ ________ ________ NOUN
I II III IV
precentral central postcentral prehead
a fantstic big pink plastic box
b] predicative  can be subject or object complement, e.g.: Your daughter is happy.
He made his wife happy.
predicative only, e.g. *an afraid boy ~ the boy is afraid
most common are those referring to health or lack of health, e.g. faint, ill, well, unwell.
afraid, conscious, fond, etc.
ex 72, pp. 42-43
c] postpositive  follow the item they modify, e.g.: I want to try on something larger.
d] head of a noun phrase, e.g.: The wise look to the wiser for help.
The Dutch are admired by their neighbours.
The (very) best is yet to come.
ex 69, p. 41
e] verbless clause, e.g. Nervous, the man opened the letter.
Enthusiastic, they make good students.
ex 70, pp. 41-42
f] exclamatory adjective sentence, e.g. How wonderful!
2. Semantic sub-classification of adjectives
a] stative / dynamic
*He s being tall. He s being careful.
*Be tall. Be careful.
b] gradable / non-gradable
tall  taller  tallest
very tall extremely tall quite tall
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 c] inherent / non-inherent - inherent adjectives characterise the referent of the noun directly,
non-inherent adjectives do not characterise the referent of the noun directly, e.g.
a firm handshake ~ a firm friend
a perfect alibi ~ a perfect stranger
ex 71, p. 42
3. Adjective and participle
many adjectives have the same form as participles, e.g.
His views were very surprising. his surprising views
The man seemed very offended. the offended man
His views were very alarming. vs. His views were alarming his audience.
adjective participle
ex. 75, p. 44
ADVERBS
the majority of adverbs have the derivational suffix  ly.
Ex. 77, p. 44-45
1. Syntactic functions of adverbs
a] adverbial
adjuncts
They re waiting outside.
I can now understand it.
disjuncts  express an evaluation of what is being said, e.g.
Frankly, I m tired.
They are probably at home.
conjuncts  have a connective function, e.g. If they open all the windows, then I m leaving.
b] modifier of adjective
That was a very funny film. He was tall enough to reach the
It is extremely good of you. shelf.
c] modifier of adverb
They are smoking very heavily. I could see him clearly enough.
d] modifier of prepositional phrase
The nail went right through the wall.
e] modifier of determiner, postdeterminer, predeterminer
Nearly everybody came to the party. They will stay about a week.
f] modifier of noun phrase
He told such a funny story. We met the day before.
It was rather a mess.
g] complement of preposition
No one visited us since yesterday. There is no one over there.
Ex 78, p. 45
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