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.

NOUN ‘S + ADJECTIVE

ADJECTIVES, NOUNS, possessive

What does ‘s mean between a noun and an adjective? It is always a genetive marker. It shows possession.   WORLD (NN1) ‘S (GE) LARGEST (JJT)   WORLD (NN1) ‘S (GE) LEADING (JJ_VVG)   WORLD (NN1) ‘S (GE) BEST (JJT)   WORLD (NN1) ‘S (GE) BIGGEST (JJT)   NATION (NN1) ‘S (GE) LARGEST (JJT)   WORLD (NN1) ‘S (GE) GREATEST (JJT)

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BE + *WN word ending

ADJECTIVES, be, PASSIVES, perfect, predicate

After ‘BE’, a word ending with ‘wn’ is usually past participle. Some exceptions are ‘known’ (where it might be an adjective) ‘down’, ‘brown’, ‘well-known’ and ‘unknown’. 1 IS KNOWN  377649 Unfortunately, that is what is known as a conflict of interest. listen 2 ARE KNOWN  143646 3 IS (VBZ) SHOWN (VVN) 130843 4 BEEN SHOWN 110513 It has not been shown to the court‘s satisfaction  that these particular Africans fit that description.

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-ERN adjective suffix

ADJECTIVES

Almost every time a preposition, article or determiner is before a word ending with -ern and followed by a noun the word is an adjective or the name of a place. 1 IN (II) NORTHERN (NP1) IRELAND (NP1) 29239 2 IN (II) SOUTHERN (JJ) CALIFORNIA (NP1) 26031 3 OF (IO) SOUTHERN (JJ) CALIFORNIA (NP1) 20522

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ADJECTIVE or NOUN

ADJECTIVES, NOUNS

  PUBLIC   RIGHT   HUMAN   TOP   GENERAL   FINAL   OTHER   MULTIPLE   FUTURE   FAVORITE   STANDARD   KEY   MOBILE   TOTAL   AVERAGE   POTENTIAL   FUN   LIGHT   INDIVIDUAL   FRONT   PAST   PRIMARY   OVERALL   RED   INITIAL   DARK   ENGLISH   OFFICIAL   MAXIMUM   GREEN   CANADIAN   CLASSIC   PRESENT   CANT   CONTENT   CHIEF   FRENCH   MINIMUM   AUDIO   CRIMINAL   FEMALE   BOTTOM   MIDDLE   BLACK   GERMAN   LEFT   WHOLE   REAR   NET   BLUE   LEVEL   ALTERNATIVE   WHITE   SAFE   COLD

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OUT

ADJECTIVES, ADVERBS, phrases, PREPOSITIONS

1 OUT (RP) Out is most common as a particle: A search in Now corpus for: * * out_RP * * 1 CAN FIND OUT MORE ABOUT 100063 Gentlemen, we can find out more about a man by his dreams. listen 2  BY FILLING OUT THIS FORM 50797 3  TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT 32803 4  TO FIGURE OUT HOW TO 29116 5  TO GO

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ONLY

ADJECTIVES, ADVERBS, CONJUNCTIONS

1 ONLY (JJ) 15190271 2 ONLY (RR) 2915525 5 ONLY (CS) 5100 A search in iWeb corpus for: * only so many|much * 1 ‘S ONLY SO MUCH YOU 831 There’s only so much you can do with a BA in theater. Long Lost 2 IS ONLY SO MUCH YOU 712 3 ARE ONLY SO MANY HOURS 633 There are only so many hours in the day. Real Genius

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MINUTE

ADJECTIVES, C2, NOUNS, phrases, time

See, this is really weird,  but I had this feeling the minute that the phone rang,  I said, Jackie, pick it up, you‘ve got a grandchild. listen Minute is usually a noun, but in the above usage ‘the minute + that CLAUSE‘ it means as soon as. Similary, in the next example, ‘any minute‘ means ‘very soon‘: Colin could you possibly find somewhere else to pray,  your brother and sister will be here any minute now. listen 1 MINUTE (NNT1) 645067 (A1 noun) = 60 seconds.

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UP

ADJECTIVES, ADVERBS, PREPOSITIONS

Here are over a dozen ways that the word ‘up’ is used in English.  Firstly, ‘up’ is most commonly used as a part of phrasal verbs. 1 UP (RP) adverb particle: 1 SET UP 1105960 Well, I suppose  I‘d set up a meeting  with the State Committee for Scientific Research in Moscow. listen 2 IT UP 713509 1 PICK IT UP 40589 We just need him to pick it up,  and then I can lift the print  using this 3D laser scanner. listen

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TO

ADJECTIVES, ADVERBS, infinitive, PREPOSITIONS

The word ‘to’ is most often before an infinitive or it is a simple preposition.  A search in iWeb corpus for frequency data related to part of speech: 1 TO (TO) 240771826 infinitive marker _TO * * * * 1 TO BE ONE OF THE 87871 Everyone, this is our dear friend, Brian Bloom  who also happens to be one of the most talented young writers. listen to this C1 example

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SAME (phrases)

ADJECTIVES, DETERMINERS, phrases, PRONOUNS

In this post, we are looking for advanced phrases with the word ‘same‘.  For example: It‘s the same old story. The rich get richer,  and the most vulnerable in our country suffer. listen 1 SAME (DA) 9442876 A search in iWeb corpus for: * * same_DA * * 1 AT THE SAME TIME, 242223 B1 phrase in the English Vocabulary Profile. At the same time, we are doing business with the very same government that is flooding our streets with cocaine. listen 2

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-AL adjective suffix

ADJECTIVES

Compared to looking at the -able suffix endings which were very advanced vocabulary.  We mean beyond what most general English classes would need to learn.  The ‘-al’ suffixes are all around the B levels or intermediate.  Therefore this list is a good list of adjectives for students to learn that are around intermediate. We found

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ABLE (adjective suffix)

ADJECTIVES, research, vocabulary

AVAILABLE, COMFORTABLE, VALUABLE, CAPABLE, REASONABLE, AFFORDABLE, SUITABLE, RELIABLE, APPLICABLE, SUSTAINABLE, STABLE, DURABLE, ACCEPTABLE, VULNERABLE, REMARKABLE, CONSIDERABLE, PORTABLE, ADJUSTABLE, ENJOYABLE, MEMORABLE, UNCOMFORTABLE, NOTABLE, COMPARABLE, KNOWLEDGEABLE, VIABLE, LIABLE, PROFITABLE, DESIRABLE, INEVITABLE, RENEWABLE, NOTICEABLE, PAYABLE, CHARITABLE, ADORABLE, ACCOUNTABLE, INVALUABLE, ABLE, REMOVABLE, FAVORABLE, PREDICTABLE, USABLE, UNBELIEVABLE, PRINTABLE, TAXABLE, MISERABLE, IDENTIFIABLE, UNDERSTANDABLE, QUESTIONABLE, UNAVAILABLE, PROBABLE, UNACCEPTABLE, UNPREDICTABLE, UNFORGETTABLE, REPUTABLE, UNSTABLE, CUSTOMIZABLE, DISPOSABLE, FASHIONABLE, MANAGEABLE, UNREASONABLE, ADVISABLE, RECOGNIZABLE, SCALABLE, WEARABLE, MEASURABLE, RESPECTABLE, PREFERABLE, BREATHABLE, FORMIDABLE, DOWNLOADABLE, INCAPABLE, READABLE, EQUITABLE, ACTIONABLE, INTERCHANGEABLE, DEPENDABLE, REUSABLE, HONORABLE, PLAYABLE, UNRELIABLE, ADAPTABLE, EXECUTABLE, INDISPENSABLE, NON-REFUNDABLE, RECHARGEABLE

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adjective + BUT + adjective + noun (complex noun phrase)

ADJECTIVES, B2, but, CONJUNCTIONS, NOUNS, phrases

Here are some examples of this form:
Being nice to someone is a SIMPLE BUT EFFECTIVE WAY of making friends.
Some herbs like MOIST BUT WELL-DRAINED SOIL.
I am making SLOW BUT STEADY PROGRESS with my language learning.
Although she is usually easy to get along with, she does have a RARE BUT SERIOUS SIDE to her personality too.
A SMALL BUT SIGNIFICANT NUMBER of students didn’t pass the test.

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(slightly | a bit | much) + COMPARATIVE

ADJECTIVES, ADVERBS, B1, B2, C1, comparatives, degree, intensity, modify

At A2 in the Oxford Learner’s Dictionary: a bit [singular] (used as an adverb) (especially British English) = rather; to some extent Here are comparative examples: You might need a bit more than that. Is that everything? I mean, it seemed like he said quite a bit more than that. Listen   Now, let’s explain an expert example of the C1 grammar structure: ‘a bit’ + comparative adjective phrase.   Remember that

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