ADJECTIVES

  • Adjectives name attributes of nouns.
  • Adjectives describe or express the properties or qualities or states of nouns.
  • Adjectives modify (adjectives are modifiers) nouns when used in the attributive position.  For example, “a big man”
  • Adjectives can be pre-modified (usually by intensifying adverbs, post-modified (usually by prepositional phrases or clauses), coordinated, and listed.

eager | eagerness + infinitive

ADJECTIVES, B2, infinitive, NOUNS

In the English Vocabulary Profile, the adjective ‘eager’ and the uncountable noun ‘eagerness’ are listed at B2 with the meanings: wanting to do or have something very much when you are eager to do something They are often followed by TO-infinitive. For example, And his eagerness to leave his mother‘s womb was the very reason he was the one who was selected. listen   Do not be too eager to deal out death and judgment. listen A search for eagerness […]

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their native + language | tongue

ADJECTIVES, attributive, B2, DETERMINERS, phrases

‘your native language or tongue’ is B2 in the English Vocabulary Profile with the meaning: ‘the first language you learn.’  For example: Now, they speak English but it‘s not their native language,  they‘d rather not speak English. TED A collocate search for _APPGE native language|tongue in COCA: 1 LANGUAGE 566 2 THEIR 412 3 TONGUE 3004 ENGLISH 80 5 SPEAK 53 6 SPEAKING 28 7 SPANISH

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fast asleep

ADJECTIVES, ADVERBS, C2

‘fast’ means ‘completely’ when used with the adjective ‘asleep’ This phrase is C2 in the English Vocabulary Profile. For example: Look, Charlie, she‘s fast asleep. listen A NOW corpus collocates search for ‘fast asleep’ 1 WAS 1032 2 WERE 498 3 WHEN 376 4 WHILE 181 5 BED 114 6 FELL 59 7 BABY 41 8 ROOM

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little to

ADJECTIVES, ADVERBS, DETERMINERS, infinitive, PREPOSITIONS

How is ‘little to‘ tagged in iWeb corpus? 1 LITTLE (DA1) TO (TO) 35055 determiner + infinitive Julie, if you just simmer down, you will see what has happened here has little to do with our relationship. NSFW example 6 LITTLE (JJ) TO (II) 6944 7 LITTLE (RR22) TO (II) 6395 adverbial phrase modifying prepositional phrase A little to the left, a little to the right, somebody could have gotten hurt. listen 19 LITTLE (JJ) TO (TO) 1272 23 LITTLE (RR)

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far superlative

A2, ADJECTIVES, ADVERBS, attributive, B2, irregular, superlative, time

The irregular superlative adverb or adjective of ‘far‘ is ‘farthest‘ or ‘furthest.’  For example: If I take one more step, it’ll be the farthest away from home I’ve ever been.   From the furthest corners of the world where the dark arts still hold sway,  he returns to us to demonstrate how nature‘s laws may be bent. listen In the English Vocabulary Profile, at A2, ‘far‘ as an adverb means: at, to or from a great distance in space or time It is also listed at B2 as an adjective

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must see

ADJECTIVES, MODALITY, NOUNS

Usually, ‘must’ is a modal verb. You must see this movie. You must see the difference. (see can mean understand/notice) However, ‘must’ can be a noun. It’s a must. = This is a thing that you must do. There are new combinations: As an adjective: It’s a must-see movie. =  It’s a movie that you must see. As

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ANY + comparative

ADJECTIVES, ADVERBS, B1, comparatives, emphasis, NEGATIVE, QUESTIONS, vocabulary

‘Any’ can be used as an adverb to mean ‘at all’ or ‘in some degree’. Here are expert examples: We‘re not gonna discuss it here any further. Keep The Change You‘re not at university any longer. listen How would that end any differently than last time? Captain America In the English Vocabulary Profile, ‘any’ is listed as ADVERB B1 used in questions and negatives to emphasize a comparative adjective or adverb Do you feel any better?

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TO BE + adjective

ADJECTIVES, ADVERBS, infinitive

Here are the top 100 examples of how ‘TO BE adjective” are used in English. These come from a search in iWeb corpus for * TO BE _JJ 1 NEED TO BE AWARE OF 16993 We need to be aware of the data and information that we’re giving. Listen to this sentence. 2 . TO BE HONEST, 14943 To be honest, I don’t know if race relations will improve in America. listen

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reduced adjective clause

ADJECTIVES, CLAUSES, defining, participle, PRESENT, reduced, relative

B1+ Reduced Adjective Clauses
We reduce sentences when you have the same subject in the main clause and the adjective clause.
Adjective clauses contain relative pronouns like who, which, or that. The reduced adjective clause
becomes an adjective phrase, which does not have a subject. An adjective phrase does not have a
subject and a verb. Instead, it has a present participle (base verb + ing) for the active voice or a past
participle for the passive voice.
(Mt. SAC Writing Center)

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abstract concepts

abstract, ACL, ADJECTIVES, attributive, B2, NOUNS

STUDENT EXAMPLE: The professor tries to explain the abstract concept of freedom. PELIC Arabic male level 5 writing class The plural form is more common in iWeb corpus: 1 ABSTRACT CONCEPTS 2856 2 ABSTRACT CONCEPT 1883 further collocates in iWeb: 1 CONCEPTS 2978 2 AN 1170 3 SUCH 302 4 UNDERSTAND 183 5 CONCRETE 149 6 RATHER 102 7 UNDERSTANDING 101 8 ABILITY 74

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quantifying determiner + OF + possessive determiner + noun phrase

A2, ADJECTIVES, DETERMINERS, NOUNS, phrases, possessive, quantity

When a quantifying determiner and a possessive determiner are used together before a noun, they indicate the quantity of something that belongs to someone or something else. For instance, in the sentence “For most of my life, I was terrified of ghosts,” the phrase “most of my” signifies a large portion of the speaker’s life. Similarly, in “All of our fathers enter our doors feeling hopeless,” the phrase “all of our” refers to every father associated with a certain group. In “Many of his senior team thought he was crazy,” the phrase “many of his” denotes a large number of a specific group associated with a person.

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