The name is an adjective in English. Adjectives or all about adjectives in English. Use of adjectives in English

In the language, no part of speech exists in isolation, and the adjective is no exception. This part of speech actively interacts with others and is gradually replenished with nouns, verbs and simple adjectives. Today we are talking about the basic rules for the formation of adjectives in English.

How adjectives are formed in English

Adjective - this is a part of speech denoting a sign, properties of objects and answering the question What? (Which?). According to their structure, English adjectives are divided into:

• simple (their composition does not imply the presence of suffixes and prefixes): blue (blue), tall (high), flat (flat);
• derivatives (they contain suffixes and prefixes): different (different), dangerous (dangerous), friendly (friendly);
• composite (consist of two words or stems): world-famous (world famous), dark-blue (dark blue), five-star (five-star).

Today, the adjectives of the last two groups are in the focus of attention - derivatives and complex ones. They were formed from nouns, verbs and simple adjectives with the help of suffixes, prefixes (prefixes) and word formation.

Suffixes

The suffixal way of forming new words is the most productive in the English language. There are suffixes that form qualitative and relative adjectives from nouns, and suffixes that form adjectives from verbs. Let's consider each of them in more detail.

Qualitative adjectives (denoting the quality of an object, which may be to a greater or lesser extent) are formed from nouns using the following suffixes:

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• -ful, -ous (indicate the presence of a certain property):

  beauty - beautiful (beauty - beautiful), respect - respectful (respect - respectful), courage - courageous (courage - brave), adventure - adventurous (adventure - enterprising);

• – less (indicates a lack of a certain quality):

  use - useless (use - useless), shame - shameless (shame - shameless, shameless), ruth - ruthless (pity - merciless);

• -ly (denotes a property characteristic of objects and persons):

  coward - cowardly (coward - cowardly), friend - friendly (friend - friendly), life - lively (life - lively).

Notice the -ly suffix. It comes first among the adverbial suffixes (bad - badly (bad - bad).

Relative adjectives (they call the property of an object through its relation to this object) are formed from nouns using the following suffixes:

• -en (indicates the material from which the item is made):

  wool - woolen (wool - wool), earth - earthen (earth - earth), wheat - wheaten (wheat - wheat);

• -y, -ic, -al (indicate signs characteristic of or other phenomena):

  fun - funny (fun - funny), rain - rainy (rain - rainy), materialist - materialistic (materialist - materialistic), essence - essential (essence - essential), nature - natural (nature - natural, natural);

• -ish (denotes a small, insignificant degree of property of an object or nationality):

  snob - snobbish (snob - snobbish), gold - goldish (gold - golden), Scotland - Scottish (Scotland - Scottish), Britain - British (Britain - British).

Adjectives derived from verbs

The following suffixes help in the formation of adjectives from verbs:

• -able, -ible (denoting the presence of a certain property):

  to respond - responsible (answer - responsible), to excite - excitable (excite - excitable), to accept - acceptable (accept - acceptable);

• -ent, -ant (denoting the quality obtained as a result of the action indicated by the verb):

  to dominate - dominant (dominate - domineering) to arrogate - arrogant (impudently demand - arrogant); to to persist - persistent (insist - persistent).

Prefixes

The main group of prefixes (prefixes) involved in the formation of adjectives have the meaning of negation, the absence of a certain feature of the subject:

• Un-, dis- :

  honest - dishonest (honest - dishonest), grateful - ungrateful (grateful - ungrateful);

• In-, im-, il-, ir: famous -infamous (famous - notorious), personal - impersonal (personal - impersonal), legible - illegible (legible - illegible), regular - irregular (regular - irregular);
• non- :

  functional - nonfunctional (functional - non-functional), trivial - nontrivial (trivial - non-trivial)

The negative prefix im- is attached to adjectives that begin with the consonants “m” and “p” (mortal - immortal (mortal - immortal), the prefix ir- is placed before the consonant r (rational - irrational (rational - irrational), the prefix il- before consonant l (legal - illegal (legal - illegal).

word formation

Compound adjectives in English are formed using a process such as compounding - the merging of two lexemes into one compound word with a single lexical meaning. The lexemes involved in such a merger can refer both to one part of speech and to different ones, and can be written together or with a hyphen. Consider the most common cases:

• noun + noun : part-time - freelance, not full time;
• adjective + adjective : dark-green - dark green;
• Noun + adjective : worldwide - worldwide;
• Adjective + present participle : hard-working - industrious;
• Adjective + past participle : light-hearted - careless, weak-willed - weak-willed;
• Adverb + past participle and: well-done - well-made, well-balanced - reasonable;
• Numeral + noun : two-way - two-way;
• Numeral + past participle : two-faced - two-faced, deceitful.

What have we learned?

Today we considered different cases of how to make an adjective from a noun. In this process, the first helpers are suffixes. The suffix method is also useful in the formation of adjectives from verbs. In addition, the common ways of word-formation of adjectives in English are prefix - attaching a prefix to the stem, and compounding - combining two or more words into one lexical unit with a single meaning.

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An adjective is a part of speech that denotes a sign of an object and answers the question what? which one? For example: red red, good good, interesting interesting, Russian Russian.

Adjectives in English do not change either by gender, or by numbers, or by cases: a young man is a young man, a young woman is young, a woman, young people are young people, with a young man with a young man. They can only change in degrees of comparison: long, longer , longest longest, longest, longest.

Adjectives are either simple or derivative. Simple adjectives have neither prefixes nor suffixes in their composition: big is big, short is short, black is black, red is red. Derived adjectives include suffixes or prefixes, or both at the same time: natural is natural, in correct is not correct, un natural is unnatural.

The most characteristic adjective suffixes are:

Ful: useful

Less: helpless helpless, useless useless;

Ous: famous, dangerous;

Al: formal, central central;

Able, -ible: eatable

The most common adjective prefixes are:

un-: un happy unhappy, un equal unequal;

in-: in complete incomplete, in different indifferent.

Some adjectives are compound and are formed from two words denoting one concept: dark-blue is dark blue, snow-white is snow-white.

In a sentence, adjectives are used in the definition function and in the function nominal part composition nogo predicate:

The large box is on the table. Big box on the table.

(definition)

The box is large. The box is big.

(predicative)

Some adjectives in English, as well as in Russian, can act as nouns. With a plural meaning, denoting all persons or a group of persons possessing this feature, they do not take the ending -s and are used with the definite article:

Adjectives denoting a nationality can turn into nouns denoting persons of that nationality. Adjectives ending in -an, -ian (Russian Russian, German German nye, are used both in the singular and in the plural. In the plural they take the ending-s :

In the plural, such nouns can denote a given nation as a whole. In this case, they are preceded by the definite article:

Adjectives ending in -se and -ss (Chine se Chinese, Swi ss Swiss etc.), becoming a noun­ nye, are used with the meaning of both the singular and the plural. In the plural they do not take endings-s. They can also refer to the given nation as a whole. In this case, they are faced with a definition­ divided article:

Adjectives ending in -sh and -ch (Engli sh English, Fren ch French etc.), turning into creatures­ nouns are used with a plural meaning to refer to a given nation as a whole. In this case, they are preceded by the definite article: the French are French, the English are English, the Scotch are Scots, the Dutch are Dutch, the Spanish are Spanish.

The adjective in the definition function comes before the noun to which it refers, and in the function of the nominal part of the compound predicate - after the linking verb:

I have bought a red pencil. I bought a red pencil.

The pencil is red. The pencil is red.

When a noun is defined by two or more adjectives, those that are more closely related in meaning to the noun are placed closer to it:

Some adjectives ending in -able, -ible , can either precede or follow the noun:

The adjective enough can come before or after a noun:

Some researchers, including British ones, believe that there are no nouns in the role of a definition, but there are adjectives formed from nouns: they believe that, for example, the word "kitchen" - " kitchen" can be an adjective meaning " kitchen". Other grammarians still call such cases the use of nouns in the function of definition.

In English, there is a tradition according to which is defined. Between the noun determiner (article or pronoun) and the noun itself, the defining words line up in the following sequence:

1. opinion (opinion),

2. size (size),

3. quality / characterization of the state (quality / character),

4. age (age),

5. shape (shape),

6. color (colour),

7. origin (country) (origin),

8. material (material),

9. purpose (for what) (purpose),

Of course, it should be understood that more than three definitions of a noun in speech are used extremely rarely, and if it is necessary to use them, several subordinate clauses are used - this way the information is perceived much easier.

In the event that several definitions indicate the same sign, a union is put between them " and": political and economic ties- political and economic ties.

Also ' and' is always placed between color names: black and white – black and white.

If two definitions (adjectives) describe opposite features of the same object, then conjunctions are used ‘ but’, ‘yet' or ' though': a simple yet effective means - simple but effective remedy, nice but expensive products - good but expensive items, a tasty though expensive menu- tasty, albeit pricey menu.

Qualitative adjectives and adverbs of mode of action in English, as well as in Russian, have three degrees of comparison: positive, comparative and excellent. Monosyllabic adjectives and adverbs, as well as disyllabic ones ending in -y, -e, -er, -ow, form a comparative degree by adding the suffix -er to the positive degree, and a superlative degree - using the suffix -est.

Polysyllabic adjectives and adverbs, as well as most disyllabic ones (except those ending in -y, -e, -er, -ow) form a comparative degree with the word more more, and a superlative degree with the word most most, most, which are placed before the adjective or an adverb in the form of a positive degree.

In addition, there are a number of adjectives and adverbs that form degrees of comparison from other roots.

* The remaining adverbs ending in -ly form degrees of comparison using the words more and most, for example: correctly correctly - more correct ly more correctly - most correct ly most correct.

To paraphrase a famous saying: The further into English, the more rules. If you are seriously busy studying and plan to communicate at a high level, then you can’t get away from the nuances and subtleties. To understand how any foreign language works, you need to know the properties of parts of speech and the features of their use. In this material, we will focus on adjectives and their categories, because the use directly depends on which category they belong to.

There are several classifications of adjectives, the authors of textbooks distinguish various features and categories. We will not delve into a complex and unnecessary theory for you, but consider two categories of adjectives in which most authors agree: these are quality and relative adjectives. They differ in their properties and in order to use them correctly, you should remember the features of each of the two categories.

quality or descriptive adjectives ( quality or descriptive adjectives) describe a certain attribute or quality of an object. Qualitative adjectives can also be divided into semantic subcategories:

adjectives denoting the size(Size): small, large, big, tiny, etc.
Colour(Color): red, white, blue, green etc.
adjectives denoting age(age): young, old, recent, ancient, etc.
adjectives denoting form(shape): round, square, long, heart-shaped etc.
adjectives denoting emotions(Emotions): sad, glad, happy, upset, etc.
adjectives denoting Feel(Senses): tasty, cold, hot, smooth etc.
adjectives expressing quality assessment(Quality): good, bad, excellent, terrible, etc.
adjectives expressing personal opinion(Personal opinion): beautiful, nice, pleasant, cheap, etc.

Note that some adjectives are difficult to classify into any of the above subcategories, and some may fall into more than one category at the same time. For example, the adjective good can express both a qualitative assessment and a personal opinion.

Another category of adjectives in English is relative adjectives (classifying adjectives). As the name implies, they refer a noun to a particular class and indicate the characteristics of an object that depend on its relationship with other objects.

Relative adjectives include:
Adjectives that denote belonging to a specific area or industry: political, economic, electrical etc.
time-related features: daily, weekly, yearly, monthly, etc.
adjectives denoting materials(materials): gold, iron, wood, glass, etc.
Adjectives referring to origin(Origin): American, Russian, Latin, etc.
Adjectives referring to location:inside, south, top etc.

Adjectives can move from the category of qualitative to the category of relative and vice versa, depending on the context. The key difference between these two categories is that qualitative adjectives can have degrees of comparison, while relative adjectives usually do not have degrees of comparison.

To determine exactly which adjective is in front of you: quality or relative, remember the rule: since relative adjectives (classifying adjectives) do not have a degree of expression of a feature, they do not have degrees of comparison and cannot be used with adjective-defining words: very (very), too (too), enough (enough), quite ( enough), pretty (pretty), rather (pretty) and others that indicate a more or less pronounced feature. For example, phrases very daily newspaper, too electrical stove, enough milk bottle sound very strange.

The adjective English is an example of how an adjective can change category if the context allows:
I have many English books. — I have many English books (books in English).- In this sentence, the adjective English is classifying, since you cannot say "very English books" or "too English books".

The setting of the dining room was very English. The decor of the dining room was very English. — Here we see the word very, which is normally combined with the adjective English, which means the adjective is describing.

When a noun needs to be described by two adjectives, one of which is qualitative and the other is relative, then the qualitative adjective should come first:

Old political party - old political party (not political old party)
modern electrical stove - modern electric stove (not electrical modern stove)
beautiful glass sculpture - beautiful glass sculpture (not glass beautiful sculpture)

Good luck in learning English! And do not forget that if you need professional help in learning English, our online school is always happy to offer you individual lessons via Skype. It's worth a try! Leave right now.

Our speech would be extremely meager if we did not use bright colors and expressive means in it. And perhaps the most popular way is the use of adjectives. Adjectives in English allow you to express the signs of inanimate nouns and the qualities of animate ones, describe the appearance of a person and the properties of his character, embellish any actions and events, compare two objects or persons, and much more. Today we will find out what properties these parts of speech have, consider their grammatical norms, get acquainted with the types, and learn the list of definitions often used in speech.

Let's start with what even a child knows: this part of speech indicates either the belonging of an object or its properties, that is, it is the answer to the question which, which, whose. Unlike their Russian counterparts, adjectives in English behave much more modestly and almost never change; do not receive additional endings when changing number, case, gender; do not have short forms.

• Ihavea red jacket– I have a red jacket.
• Weliveinthis red houseWe live in this red house.

They can play one of two syntactic roles in a sentence. Words that act as evaluative definitions stand directly in front of the object they define, and expressions that fall into the compound predicate complete the phrase.

• My father bought a blue car-Myfatherboughtbluecar.(definition)
• Thecar is beautiful - This car is beautiful.(compound nominal predicate)

According to its composition, this part of speech is divided into simple (monosyllabic) and long words (polysyllabic), containing two or more syllables. The latter are called derivatives, according to the way they are formed: by adding suffixes or prefixes. Often in this way negative forms of positive definitions are obtained. Separately, it is worth highlighting complex adjectives in English, formed by merging two simple stems. As a rule, such compound definitions are written with a hyphen.

• ShecookedabigcakeShe made a big pie.(simple)
• MyparentsgavemeusefuladviceMy parents gave me useful advice.(derivative)
• There was a well-preserved cupboard in that flatATtoyapartmentwaswellpreservedcloset.(complex)

The method of formation of comparative and superlative degrees depends on this classification. This is the only transformation possible for the adjective, in which the ending of the word changes. For simple definitions in English, the endings -er, -est are added. In more complex forms, you must use the words more and most.

• brave boy⟶ brave boy ⟶ the bravest boybrave boy⟶ the boy is braver⟶ the bravest boy
• practical thing ⟶ more practical thing ⟶ most practical thingpractical thing ⟶ thing is more practical ⟶ the most practical thing

There are also so-called incorrect words, which do not raise degrees according to general rules. They are listed separately.

These basic points will suffice when using adjectives in the simplest phrases and expressions. Next, we will study the most popular English words of this category and examples of their translation.

Popular adjectives in English

It is impossible to learn in one sitting all the possible ways of expressing characteristics and qualities. Therefore, we propose to start with the basics and consider a small list of English adjectives that are used in almost every conversation. These expressions will also come in handy when conducting a foreign language lesson for children, since they are the basis of knowledge and do not present any difficulty in learning. The table contains a hundred descriptive definitions, divided into generalized categories and recorded with transcription * and translation into Russian.

* If you are not sure about the correct reading of the transcription, then you can use the built-in voice button to work on pronunciation.

Of course, these are not all common adjectives in English. , but this is already a pretty solid foundation for a basic vocabulary. You should not strive to memorize long lists of words: this will only confuse yourself or learn rare forms of expressions.

If the information provided is not new to you, or you have already mastered this part of the material well, we invite you to study adjectives that stand out in English with a special specificity of use.

Difficult grammar points

To simplify perception and the possibility of studying the topic with a child, in the first section we omitted many important points that beginners do not need to know yet. But, for holders of the Intermediate level, this information will be extremely important and useful. Now we will get acquainted with a new kind of definitions, find out what a graded adjective is and how it behaves, and also consider the nuances of the transition of words from one part of speech to another.

possessive aspect

When we studied popular definitions and antonyms in English used to describe people and things, it was mostly a kind of quality adjectives. There are also relative ones, but we will talk about them a little later. Now we are occupied with a more interesting form - possessive adjectives in English.

There are a lot of similar words in Russian speech: fox, wolf, Lysin, mother's, shepherd's etc. But the British can use only seven such definitions: my, your, his, her, its, our, their. Often they are confused with pronouns, violating the norms of lexical combination. Let's try to figure out why these words refer specifically to this section of grammar.

As already noted, the work of adjectives is to determine the properties, attributes and belonging of the indicated objects. Possessiveness is the main category that expresses the relationship between the object and the subject. The relation to the class of adjectives is also indicated by the syntactic function of such expressions - definition, i.e. they always stand in a sentence immediately before a noun (or groups of adj + nouns). But the role played by possessive pronouns in English is completely different. They are intended to replace the expressed noun. As a rule, such pronouns are always used at the end of a phrase or at the very beginning. Consider examples.

• Usually, Ibring my guitarandwesing our favoritesongsUsually, I bring my guitar and we sing our favorite songs.(whose guitar? - mine, whose songs? - ours; possessive adj.)
• My smartphone is better than yours – Mysmartphoneit is better,howyour.(whose smartphone? - mine (adj.); what's yours? implied smartphone (possessive seat)
• It is not him watch. His he left at homeThis isnothisclock.He left his watch at home.(whose watch? - his (adj.); his what? watch (loc.)

Pronouns, with the exception of his, have a different form than adjectives, so they are easy to distinguish in the text. And for independent use, it is necessary to remember the above differences and work them out in practice.

Degrees of comparison and amplification (intermediate level)

When we analyzed the types of adjectives in English, we noted that the formation of comparative degrees depends on them. But an important point was not mentioned: not all representatives of this class of speech are able to form degrees. This justifies the division of species into qualitative and relative adjectives.

Qualities are expressed in varying degrees, and relativity has only a dictionary form. This category includes signs of origin, material, designation of time, field of activity and geographical location. Such meanings in themselves have a strong position, and do not need to be exaggerated.

• I bought a wooden chair-Iboughtwoodenchair.(cannot be more/less or most wooden)
• It was an American train-This iswasAmericana train.
• Shewritesa weekly report– She writes a weekly report

English allows you to enhance the characteristic in another way - by adding an adverb. And here we again encounter a special factor: not all adverbs can coexist with definitions. So, for example, the popular very, rather, hugely, a bit can only take graded adjectives in the neighborhood, i.e. weak definitions ( most often qualitative adjectives). Often these combinations are synonymous with more expressive words. In this case, the gain is used with both negative and positive characteristics.

• verytasty= delicious; very tasty - delicious;
• abitdirty – filthy; a little dirty - filthy;
• veryunusual – extraordinary; very unusual - incredible;

Such an adjective denoting an extreme degree of properties, in turn, can only be used with weak adverbs. Thus, the combination of adverbs with definitions always occurs according to the principle of merging of opposites.

This rule must be remembered in order not to make gross speech errors.

Substantiation

English adjectives are characterized by such a phenomenon as substantiation. In the course of this process, definitions acquire the functions and meanings characteristic of a noun. The most striking examples of such transformations are the names of languages ​​and nationalities.

• Her German is perfect -Her German is perfect.
• Yesterday I made friends with two Russians – YesterdayImade friendswithtwoRussians.

As examples show, substantiated adjectives play the role of a subject or object in a sentence, and designate persons and objects. Moreover, they can be presented both in the singular and in the plural.

• abstractness: good - good; mysterious - mysterious; useful - useful; unreal - unreal;
• generalization: greens - greenery; valuables - values; chemicals – chemicals;
• social groups: young - the youth; rich - the rich; elderly - the elderly; poor - the poor;
• public characteristics: liberals - liberals; mariners - sailors; theunemployed - unemployed;

A more detailed list of such words can be found in a separate section.

English adjectives for intermediate level

Consider more complex English adjectives with Russian translation.

Good luck in improving the language!

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