Thursday, 22 May 2014

NOTE 4: ADJECTIVES


Adjectives are words that describe or modify another person or thing in the sentence. The Articles  a, an, and the — are adjectives.


Before getting into other usage considerations, one general note about the use — or over-use — of adjectives: Adjectives are frail; don't ask them to do more work than they should. Let your broad-shouldered verbs and nouns do the hard work of description. Be particularly cautious in your use of adjectives that don't have much to say in the first place: interesting, beautiful, lovely, exciting. It is your job as a writer to create beauty and excitement and interest, and when you simply insist on its presence without showing it to your reader — well, you're convincing no one.


Position of Adjectives :

  •      Adjectives nearly always appear immediately before the noun or noun phrase that they modify. Sometimes they appear in a string of adjectives, and when they do, they appear in a set order according to category
  •     And there are certain adjectives that, in combination with certain words, are always "postpositive" (coming after the thing they modify)


Positive
Comparative
Superlative
rich
richer
richest
lovely
lovelier
loveliest
beautiful
more beautiful
most beautiful


  •    Certain adjectives have irregular forms in the comparative and superlative degrees:


Irregular Comparative and Superlative Forms
good
better
best
bad
worse
worst
little
less
least
much
many
some
more
most
far
further
furthest



p/s : Be careful, also, not to use  more along with a comparative adjective formed with -er nor to use most along with a superlative adjective formed with -est (e.g., do not write that something is more heavier or most heaviest.


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