This book, Syntax Error, will give you a glimpse into parts of grammar, emphasize different language skills that will not only meet the needs in listening, writing, and speaking but will also provide a foundation for more advanced language which lie...
Adjectives – modifies the meaning of a noun or a pronoun. It may be a descriptive adjective (the beautiful child) or a limiting adjective (both students). The indefinite articles a and an, and the definite article the, are classified as limiting adjectives.
Other parts of speech are sometimes used as adjectives.
1. The noun is used as an adjective.
a. When a noun is in the possessive case, it is used as an adjective: the student's books.
If the noun is a proper noun, it becomes a proper adjective: Renaldo's books.
b. Some nouns are used before other nouns without changing their form.
We say radio station, television set, school books, baseball game.
Sometimes these expressions are called compound nouns. The modifying word can also be called an adjective.
2. The pronoun is used as an adjective. This includes possessive personal pronouns (his desk), demonstrative (that boy), relative (the boy whose book), interrogative (what boy), and indefinite (one boy).
3. The verb participles may be used as adjectives. These are rising prices, persevering students, and melted ice cream. These adjectives cannot be compared.
Adjectives have three degrees of comparison:
1. Positive – expressing a quality: as sweet or sour.
2. Comparative – expressing a higher degree: as sweeter or more sour.
3. Superlative – expressing the highest degree: as sweetest or most sour.
The regular method of comparison of short adjectives is to add -er to the positive form to get the comparative, and -est to the positive form to get the superlative.
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Helpful Hints on Comparatives:
1. Always use the comparative degree when you speak of two persons or things.
2. Do not use double comparisons.
Incorrect: My school marks are more higher than yours.
Correct: My school marks are higher than yours.
3. Do not make statements like this: "Benny gets higher marks than any boy in the class."
This should be avoided because, if Benny, who is in the class himself, gets higher marks than any boy in the class, he can get higher marks than himself. It can't be done.
Better say it this way: "Benny gets higher marks than any other boy in the class."
Compound Adjectives
A compound adjective is formed when two or more words are used together to modify the same noun. A hyphen (-) should be used to indicate that the two words form a single modifier if the modifier comes before the noun it modifies. This is a user-friendly computer. If the compound adjective does not occur directly before the noun it modifies, a hyphen is unnecessary. This computer is user-friendly.
