A Commonplace Book

Category: adjectives and adverbs...

  • adjectives have no inflections aside from the determiners
  • qualities can be broadly classified as abstract, comparative, or physical
  • when you want to give more information about something than you can give by using a noun alone, you can use an adjective to identify it or describe it in more detail
  • an adjective is used either before a noun or after a link verb and it is either qualitative (happy, intelligent) or classifying (financial intellectual)
  • adverbs describe the manner in which things are done: time, frequency, duration; place; manner/how/circumstances; degree; focusing; linking; negative
  • the top 20 most frequent adjectives, adverbs
  • the endings -er and -est denote degrees of comparison and are regarded as noninflectional suffixes (English is the only European language to employ uninflected adjectives)
  • adjectives and adverbs can function as nouns or verbs and adverbs can function as adjectives
  • The order in multiple attribution tends to be as follows: determiner, quantifier, adjective of quality; adjective of size, shape, or texture; adjective of color or material; noun adjunct (if any, head noun <that one solid, round, oak dining table>)
  • Adverbs are more mobile than adjectives.

« Back to the list of categories