ajectives & adverbs by yassine ait hammou & soumia bouddage

TEFL & ICT Master Program 2012-2013

General Grammar:

Chapter 12: Adjectives & Adverbs

Prepared by:Soumia BOUDDAGE

Yassine AIT HAMMOUSupervised by:

Mrs. Jennifer EvansMr. Youssef Tamer

Part I: ADJECTIVES

Introduction / DefinitionI. Characteristics of AdjectivesII. Positions of adjectivesIII. Adjective Phrases

Part II: ADVERBS

Introduction / Definition I. Characteristics of Adverbs II. Positions of Adverbs II. Additional information about adverbs

Part III: PROBLEMS ESL/EFL STUDENTS HAVE WITH ADJECTIVES AND ADVERBS

Outline

ADJECTIVES

Part I:

Adjectives typically denote some quality or property attributed to nouns; most commonly they are used to narrow down , or specify , the reference of nouns.

What is an adjective ?

Adjectives describe the properties of an entity that a noun represent:

1. Physical qualities of: color, weight , size , age 2. Evaluative qualities : beautiful , good3. Psychological qualities: funny , amazing ..

I. Charachteristics of adjectives

Adjectives can occure in a string, usually of no more than three and in a prefered order.

e.g. An old ugly yellow tin bucket stood besides the stove .

I.1 Stacking of adjectives

Most adjectives are gradable , that is , they can indicate degrees of a property.

Gradable adjectives can have comparative (er) and

Superlative (est) forms. Some adjectives can be modified by a separate

comparative or superlative adverb (more , most)

I.2 Gradability of adjectives

adjective

inflections Most / more

comparative

superlative

comparative superlative

Funny funnier funniest ------------- ------------

beautiful -------- ------- More beautiful Most beautiful

good better best

Absolute adjectves express a quality that cannot be increased or decreased

e.g. The adjective dead is non-gradable

One person cannot be "deader" than another!

I.2.A Gradability of absolute adjectives

Participal adjectives are formed from present and past participles.

e.g. -Shakspear’s the tempest is really inspiring. -I got bored with her complains.

I.2.B Gradability of participal adjectives

Participal adjectives have comparative and superlative forms only with ( more /most , less/least).

e.g. -That was the most amazing performance I’ve ever witnessed .

-I couldn’t be less concerned. They cannot be formed with the use of ( er /est)e.g. *That was the amazingest performance I’ve

ever witnessed. (ungrammatical)

Adjectives can be modified by adverbs.

e.g. _ These shrimps are unusually large.

_ They appear to be remarkably happy.

I.3 Modification of adjectives

Adjectives can be classified according to where they occur in sentences:

A. Attributive Adjectives: They modify the head noun in an NP and occur before that head noun.

e.g. -What a beautiful car! (attributive) -That’s a nice book. (attributive)

B. Predicative Adjectives: They appear after the verb and not in an NP. They may describe the subject or an object.

e.g. - He is brave. (describes the subject « He ») - You have got your priorities wrong. (describes the object

« priorities ») - She found him dreadfully dull. (describes the object « him »)

II. Positions of Adjectives

NB: The vast majority of adjectives, including participal adjectives, can appear in both attributive and predicative positions, as shown in the examples below:

That woman has got a long hair. That woman’s hair is really long. He gave an interesting speech. His speech was interesting.


II.1. Attributive-Only Adjectives: A number of adjectives such as drunken, eventual,

future, mere, principal and utter can appear ONLY as modifiers of head nouns; that is, they can appear only in the attributive positions.

e.g. – At last night’s party, he saw one of his former teachers.

* At last night’s party, he saw one of his teachers who was former. (ungrammatical)

Attributive-Only adjectives can be classified on the basis of

their meaning.


1. Adjectives of Degree:They describe the degree of the property expressed by the

head noun. e.g. The show was an utter disaster. (the adj. Utter

describes the degree of the disaster.)- An absolute hero- A complete player- A total success- A sheer nonsense


2. Quantifying Adjectives: They indicate the amount, quantity or frequency of the head

noun.e.g. - The only way (amount) - The entire crew (amount / quantity)

- an occasional cloud (frequency)- The usual suspects ( frequency)


3. Ajectives of Time & Location:They place a head noun within a particular time frame or

location.e.g. - a future appointment . (time) - an old friend. (time)

- his former wife. (time)- a previous version. (time)- her left arm. (location)- the northern cities of Morocco. (location)


4. Associate Adjectives:They do not express literal properties of a

head noun but instead they describe it in terms of some entity that is associated with it.

e.g. - nuclear physicist (does not imply that the physicist is somehow nuclear!)

- Votes are calling for a major economic reform.


5. Adjective Compounds: They function as adjectives. They combine an adjective and a

word form from any various parts of speech.e.g. - Steve is expecting some big-name producers to show up

at his party. (adj + noun)- She wrote a best-selling novel. (adj+present participle)- Tom show up this morning with a clean-shaven face. (adj

+ past participle)


II.2. Predicative-Only Adjectives:They can occur only in the predicative position. They are divided

into three groups.(cannot occur attributively)

1. Adjectives beginning with the Prefix « A »: This group of adjectives is formed with the prefix « a ».(afloat, afriad, aghast, alive, asleep and awake)e.g. - The little boy was asleep, so he did not hear the noise.- *the asleep boy did not hear the noise. (ungrammatical)- The rescue squad finally discovered a man who was still alive.- *the rescue squad was happy to discover an alive man.

(ungrammatical)


2. Adjectives that take complements:This group is made up of adjectives that take complements

that are either infinitives or prepositional phrases.e.g. - She is liable to make a scene. (infinitive)- *the liable person has to pay. (ungrammatical)- He is devoid of any humour. (prepositional phrase)- *he was a devoid comic. (ungrammatical)


3. Adjectives describing medical conditions: This group refer to medical conditions or health (faint, ill,

unwell, well, etc.) which can appear only in the predicative position.

NB: the adjective ill can appear attributively if it is modified (e.g. a mentally ill patient)

e.g.- He is feeling faint.- *they revived the faint patient.- My cousin is ill.- *they took the ill woman to the hospital.


Indicate whether each sentence below is grammatical or ungrammatical. If a sentence is ungrammatical, explain why.

e.g. The alive man was taken to the hospital.Answer: ungrammatical (Alive is an adjective with the prefix

« a » and occurs only predicatively) 1. Susan turned out to be the eventual winner. 2. The fireman picked up the afraid child and carried him out

of the blazing building.3. The audience was aghast when the president admitted that

he was wrong.4. The nurse helped the ill woman to a chair and called the

doctor on duty.5. He has a full-time job now.

Exercise:

1. Grammatical 2. Ungrammatical (afraid is an adjective with the prefix

« a » and occurs only predicatively) 3. Grammatical 4. Ungrammatical (ill is an adjective describing medical

conditions or health can appear attributively ONLY if it is modified (e.g. a mentally ill patient)

5. Grammatical

Exercise: (Answers)

Adjective phrases can consist of: adjective : The Customers were angry

adjective+ preceding adverb: He was extremely upset

Adjective+ prepositional phrase:He was upset about the poor service

Adverb+ adjective+ prepsitional phrase:He was extremely upset about the poor service

III. Adjective phrases

Some Adjectives often appear with a particular preposition :

1. Adjective+ about (angry , annoyed,concerned…) e.g. I’m glad about your presence today. 2. Adjective + at (amazed,terrible,mad…)e.g. I’m angry at you

III. Adjective phrases

3. Adjective + for ( bad ,grateful,sorry…)

e.g. Its easy for you to say sorry

4. Adjective + with (satisfied,obsessed,strict….)

e.g. I got fed up with your endless questions.

III. Adjective Phrases

ADVERBS

Part II:

Adverbs are words which describe the characteristics or prperties of verbs, adjectives, other adverbs and clauses.

What is an Adverb?

Adverbs are words that supply information about how, where, when, why and to what extent some actions (verbs) occur – make intuitive sense. They can also modify adjectives, other adverbs and clauses.

e.g. - she had a surprisingly a high score. (modifying an

adjective) - he comes relatively often. (modifying an adverb) - he behaved politely. (modifying a verb) - surprisingly, she had a high score. (modifying a clausee) - she had a high score, surprisingly. (modifying a clause)

I. CHARACTERISTICS OF ADVERBS

1. –ly and other Adverbs:The majority of adverbs are formed by adding –ly to an

adjective.e.g. Adjective AdverbQuick quicklyFine finelyAccurate accuratelyDangerous dangerouslyNB: other adverbs have the same form as adjectivese.g.-He is a fast worker. (adjective)-He works fast. (adverb)


2. Types of Adverbs:

Adverbs fall into several groups based on the meaning they express.

1. Manner Adverbs: they describe how the action expressed by the verb is carried out. (loudly, hesitatingly, slowly….)

e.g. he walked quickly across the plaza.2. Degree Adverbs: they describe how much or the

degree to which the verbal action is carried out. (awfully, barely, completely,…)

e.g. -the price of petrol has increased enormously. - I agree completely with evrything you said.


3. Duration Adverbs: they answer the question How long does the action go on? (briefly, permanently,…)

e.g. he is temporarily staying with his cousin until he finds a new a place.

4. Frequency Adverbs: They answer the question How often does the action occur? (usually, sometimes, never…)

e.g. she often comes in over an hour late.

5. Time Adverbs: they answer the question When did the action occur? (later, earlier, already…)

e.g. he has already spoken to her about it.


6. Instrumental Adverbs: they answer the question By what means was this done? (mechanically, hydraulically,…)

e.g. It has been mathematically proven to be correct.

7. Place Adverbs: they answer the question Where did the action occur? (here, outside, abroad, locally…)

e.g. the grapes are grown locally.


8. Additive and Restrictive Adverbs: they show something additional was done or something was added to something else. (too, also, as well). They also restrict the meaning of an action. (only, just, exclusively,solely…)

e.g. -the thief also took the VCR. -the thief took the VCR too. -you can only take one piece of paper.

9. Act-Related Adverbs: they provide background or motive for the action expressed by the verb. (delibrately, expressly, voluntarily,… )

e.g. -she delibrately left the gas on.


10. Stance Adverbs: they constitute a special category of act-related adverbs. They express the speaker or writer’s attitude or judgment about the content of a clause. (foolishly, regrettably… )

e.g. -Alice foolishly tried to have John fired. -He regrettably chose to ignore my advice.

11. Connective Adverbs: They link sentences to other sentences. (additionally,

moreover, therefore…). They express a wide range of meanings (addition, contrast, concession, result…)

e.g. the use of hydrogen would reduce the price of fuel for vehicles. Additionally, it would be good for the envoronment.


In each sentence that follows, identify the adverb by its type (manner, degree, time, instrumental, place, additive, act-related, stance, connective, frequency, restrictive )

e.g. She often spends hours in front of her computer. Answer: often = frequency adverbs 1. Investments in technology stocks have decreased sharply. 2.He rarely comes in on Friday. 3. She now lives in a small appartment. 4. She wisely decided to talk to her husband before accepting

their offer. 5.Smoking hurts the body. Moreover, it is a waste of money. 6. He deliberately humiliated him in front of his friends. 7. She backed slowly from the snacke. 8. He only goes there on Friday.

Exercise 1

1. Degree adverb 2. Frequency adverb 3. Time adverb 4. Stance adverb 5.Connective adverb 6. Act-related adverb 7. Manner adverb 8. Restrictive adverb

Exercise 1 (Answers)

Adverbs can ocupy different positions in a sentence depending on what constituent they are modifying .

II. Positions of adverbs

1. adverbs modifying adjectives and adverbs. 1) Modifying adjectives :Ex: she is really beautiful2) Modifying adverbs : cheetahs can run extremely fast


2. Adverbs Modifying verbs they occur in different positions : After a modal : Ex: He can easily answer the question Before a main verb: Ex: he quickly slipped the key into his pocket


after a verb and before another consituent that is not an object:

Ex : he’s standing outside in the rain . Sentence final position : Ex: she’s done that already. Sentence initial position: Ex: earlier he told us a different story.


3. Adverbs modifying clauses: Ther are three positions for adverbs which modify clauses . In Sentence initial position: the adverb is followed by a

comma. Ex: frankly, i don’t think he should have told her.


Whithin a sentence : between commasEx: There is , in fact , no basis to his claim

At the end of a sentence : commas before the adverb Ex : He neglected to tell her, unfortunately .


4. Adverbs In embedded clauses :If we split an infinitive while putting an adverb in a position

( between to and the verb)The meaning of the sentence is not affected.

ex : John hopes to eventually have his own business. John hopes eventually to have his own business.


1. Adverbs modifying Adjectives and Other Adverbs:*Some words that are manner adverbs when they are used to

modify verbs become degree adverbs when they modify adjectives. (a change in meaning)

e.g. - After the engine had been repaired, the car performed perfectly. (manner)

- I wouldn’t worry, John is perfectly capable. (degree)*Some adverbs degree adverbs that do not end in –ly are

used primarily with adjectives. (…..)e.g. -He was real geneous to us. -That’s a pretty good cup of coffe.

III. Aditional Information about Adverbs

*Some adverbs can also be used to modify other adverbs. (….)

e.g. – That’s far more interesting. - He behaved quite generously.2. In Adverb Phrases:Like adjectives, adverbs can take complements consisting of

prepositional phrases.e.g. -This branch operates seperately from the rest of the

company. -He made his decision independently of the other

members of the board.

III. Aditional Information about Adverbs

PROBLEMS ESL/EFL STUDENTS HAVE WITH ADJECTIVES AND ADVERBS

Part III:

1. Ungrammatical Adjective + to Constructions (Spanish):

Spanish adjectives are followed by de and a verb in the infinitive form: ( L1 pattern pf NP de + infinitive)

e.g. -*The student, who failed a test in the past and now he is capable to pass the test after some preparation, knows he is not a fool.

- The student, who failed a test in the past and now he is capable of passing the test after some preparation, knows he is not a fool.

2. Positions of Adjectives (Arabic): In Arabic the adjective always comes after the NP which is

not always the case in English.e.g. Arabic: *- House big. English: - Big house.


3. Positions of Adverbs (Spanish, French):The position of adverbs in other language differs from

English, and this results in speakers of these languages.e.g. Spanish: *- Always the teachers talk in English. - The teacher always talk in English.

French: *- John watches often the television. (John regarde souvant la télévision)

- John often watches the television.


Write few sentences describing either one of your classmates or professors or a famous person using adjectives and adverbs correctly.

e.g. She is a beautiful ,kindhearted and hard-working teacher. She is a remarkably helpful person. She is completely motivated to work with her students.

Activity

ajectives & adverbs by yassine ait hammou & soumia bouddage

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