Kinds of Adjectives
From A New English Grammar for Schools, by Thomas Harvey:
1. Assumed or affirmed
An adjective is a word or a group of words used to describe or define a noun:
wise men, that book, three steamships, the fourth stanza
Its relation to the noun may be assumed or affirmed:
Assumed — wise men
Affirmed — The men are wise.
2. Adjectives of quality
Ripe, sweet, mellow apples
All the italicized words denote some quality of the apple, and we may call them words showing quality or adjectives of quality.
3. Adjectives of number
Now let us count the apples:
one apple, two apples, three apples, four apples
Let us also number them:
the first apples, the second apple, the third apple, the fourth apple
Write these numbers: one, two, three, four; first, second, third, fourth.We may call these words number words or adjectives of number.
4. Demonstrative (pointing-out) adjectives
When I speak of the apple nearest me, I say, “this apple,” to demonstrate that it is close to me. When I speak of one farther from me, I say, “that apple,” to demonstrate that it is farther away.
All the words we have used are adjectives, because they describe in some manner the noun “apples.” Some of the adjectives denote quality, some denote number, and some merely point the noun out to demonstrate something about its position. Still, all such words are called adjectives.The words this and that do not denote the quality of the apples, but instead point the apples out to demonstrate their position. We may call these pointing-out words or demonstrative adjectives.
5. Adjective nouns
Sometimes a noun defines another noun:
Assumed — John’s hat
Affirmed — John the mason
Such words are nouns with an adjective use.
Affirmed — Apples are ripe.
In this sentence the adjective “ripe”
is part of the predicate.
Why? Because the predicate of a sentence affirms its subject.
Assumed — Ripe apples
All words that modify the meaning of nouns in the manner above are called adjective elements.
Why? Because the adjective “ripe” here is used to modify the meaning of “apples,” as an attribute, not as a predicate affirmation; that is, it is assumed, or taken for granted, that “ripe” belongs to “apples.” Adjective elements are never found in the predicate.
Exercise:
Ripe apples are cheap.
Name each word’s function in the sentence above. Is the element “ripe” assumed or affirmed? The word “cheap”? Explain.
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[Key: noun copula (being/linking verb) verb object adjective ]
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