Engl 103 Lesson 5
Engl 103 Lesson 5
Engl 103 Lesson 5
COURSEPACK
in:
ENGL 103
INTENSIVE GRAMMAR AND
COMMUNICATION SKILLS
Kicking it Off
Both the underlined and italicized words are called modifiers. Can you point
the difference between the two?
2|Engl 103
JMJ Marist Brothers
Notre Dame of Marbel University
COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES
City of Koronadal, South Cotabato
Find out the answer as we discuss our lesson on this part of the module.
Feel free to ask your teacher if you want something clarified.
ADJECTIVE
Adjective often answers the following questions: What kind? Which one?
How much? or How many?
Though a large number of adjectives are different (hot, dark, smart, cool,
complete, etc.)
3|Engl 103
JMJ Marist Brothers
Notre Dame of Marbel University
COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES
City of Koronadal, South Cotabato
Adjectives modify nouns and pronouns. In general, there are two main types of
adjectives: Descriptive adjectives and Limiting Adjectives
Generally, a descriptive adjective is probably what you think of when you hear
the word “adjective”. Descriptive adjective can be attributive adjectives or predicate
adjectives.
Attributive Adjectives: appear directly beside the noun, most commonly before,
because they attribute a quality of the noun they modify. The car has a nice smell.
(“nice’” is an attributive adjective as it is placed before the noun smell)
The children’s chatter made the playground noisy. (This is an instance in which
the attributive adjective after the noun, “noisy” is describing the “playground”)
Predicate Adjectives: appear after a linking verb, because they form part of the
predicate. Hence, they modify the subject.
The pickles are salty. (noun: pickle, verb: are, adjective: salty)
Meanwhile, limiting adjectives restrict or limit the nouns rather than describe
them. They tell “which one,” “how much,” “how many,” or “whose.”
The is called a definite article because it points out nouns more specifically.
A and an are called indefinite articles because they refer to non- specific nouns.
We use them when we talk about any one person, place, thing, or idea.
4|Engl 103
JMJ Marist Brothers
Notre Dame of Marbel University
COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES
City of Koronadal, South Cotabato
Possessive adjectives
Demonstrative adjectives
In this example, “this” modifies noun “dress.” So, we know which dress the speaker
is referring to.
There are four demonstrative adjectives in English: this, these, that, those.
5|Engl 103
JMJ Marist Brothers
Notre Dame of Marbel University
COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES
City of Koronadal, South Cotabato
Indefinite Adjectives
Indefinite adjectives offer general information about the amount of the noun they
modify. Examples are some, one, none, all, any, whole, such, other, several, and
another. They answer the question “how many” or “how much?” but they don’t
show exactly the amount of something.
All girls will be required to dance. (How many girls? All of them.)
Note: Don’t confuse indefinite adjectives and indefinite pronouns. They look similar
but function differently. Indefinite pronouns take the place of nouns while indefinite
adjectives modify nouns, they do not replace them.
Interrogative Adjectives
The important point to keep in mind is that interrogative adjectives stand for
the thing we do not know.
6|Engl 103
JMJ Marist Brothers
Notre Dame of Marbel University
COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES
City of Koronadal, South Cotabato
Proper Adjectives
Proper adjectives, like all adjectives, modify nouns, but they are different
from other adjectives because they are formed from proper nouns. They are easily
recognizable as they are always capitalized, e.g. Asian food, Filipino opera. They
are often made from the names of cities, countries, or regions to describe the origin
of something, but they can also be formed from the names of brands or individuals.
Here, the proper adjective ‘Chinese’ is formed from the proper noun ‘China’
and modifies the noun ‘food.’ In other words, ‘I like the food that comes from China.’
In this example, the word ‘Canon’ is the name of the brand but, when put
before a noun, it becomes a proper adjective: ‘Canon camera’ = ‘camera from the
Canon brand.’
7|Engl 103
JMJ Marist Brothers
Notre Dame of Marbel University
COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES
City of Koronadal, South Cotabato
Note: A proper adjective is usually formed by adding an ending to the noun. The
most common endings are -ian, -an, -esque, -like, and -istic:
— Portugal – Portuguese, Iceland – Icelandic, America – American, etc.
However, sometimes we don’t add any endings to a proper noun to make it
an adjective: — Berlin festival, Fuji camera, etc.
For example, in each of these phrases, the first word is a noun but here
functions as an adjective modifying the second word: tuna pie, transition
government, book writer, Sunday picnic, bicycle rider.
Here, the phrase ‘coffee machine guy’ means ‘the guy in charge of the
coffee machine’.
In this example, the word ‘English’ acts as an adjective modifying the noun
‘teacher.’ The phrase means “a teacher of English”, telling us what the teacher
teaches.
ORDER OF ADJECTIVES
8|Engl 103
JMJ Marist Brothers
Notre Dame of Marbel University
COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES
City of Koronadal, South Cotabato
Examples:
1. I love that big old green antique car that always parked at the end of the street.
[dimension- age- color – qualifier]
2. My sister adopted a beautiful big white bulldog. [ opinion- size- color]
3. A wonderful old Italian clock. [opinion – age – origin]
4. A big square blue box. [dimension – shape – color]
5. A disgusting pink plastic ornament. [opinion – color – material]
6. Some slim new French trousers. [dimension – age – origin]
7. An amazing new American movie. [opinion – age – origin]
8. I bought a pair of black leather shoes. [color – material]
9|Engl 103
JMJ Marist Brothers
Notre Dame of Marbel University
COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES
City of Koronadal, South Cotabato
Notes:
When there are two or more adjectives that are from the same group, the
word and is placed between the two adjectives:
When there are three or more adjectives from the same adjective group, place a
comma between each of the coordinate adjectives:
1. We live in the big green, white and red house at the end of the street.
2. My friend lost a red, black and white watch.
Degrees of Comparison
There are different ways to form the comparative and superlative degrees of
adjectives. Add –er or more or less to form the comparative of most one- and two-
syllable adjectives. Most or least are added to adjectives of three or more syllables
to form the superlative.
10 | E n g l 1 0 3
JMJ Marist Brothers
Notre Dame of Marbel University
COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES
City of Koronadal, South Cotabato
Exceptions
There are exceptions to these guidelines. Below are a few examples of two-
syllable adjectives whose comparative and superlative adjective forms are created
by adding er or est.
Spelling Reminders
When adding -er or -est to create comparative and superlative adjectives,
you often must alter the word's original spelling. You apply the same rules you use
when adding ed to form a past-tense verb.
11 | E n g l 1 0 3
JMJ Marist Brothers
Notre Dame of Marbel University
COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES
City of Koronadal, South Cotabato
Irregular Adjectives
Little or Few?
We use the irregular adjectives little, less, and least with things that cannot be
counted. We use few, fewer, and fewest with things that can be counted.
• CANNOT BE COUNTED:
My parrot shows less desire for vegetables than for fruits.
The pet store owner has less affection for his finches than for his puppies.
I have less time today than I had yesterday.
• CAN BE COUNTED:
Does the parrot eat fewer vegetables than fruits?
Will fewer spectators come to the parade this year?
We will have fewer tests this semester.
Much or Many?
We use the irregular adjective much with things that cannot be counted, and we
use many for things that can be counted.
• CANNOT BE COUNTED:
There is not much time to complete this assignment.
I don't need much help.
There wasn't much debate.
12 | E n g l 1 0 3
JMJ Marist Brothers
Notre Dame of Marbel University
COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES
City of Koronadal, South Cotabato
• CAN BE COUNTED:
We still have many assignments to complete.
Many investors still purchase stock.
• NO: The speed skater was more faster than the ice skater.
• YES: The speed skater was faster than the ice skater.
Absolute Adjectives
Some irregular adjectives do not normally permit comparison. Adjectives that
represent an ultimate condition (square, round, maximum, equal, fatal, unique,
dead, etc.) cannot be increased by degree. (For example, a square can't be
"squarer" than another square; it's either square or it's not!) When necessary,
careful writers can modify these adjectives by using words like almost,
near, and nearly instead of more/less and most/least.
13 | E n g l 1 0 3
JMJ Marist Brothers
Notre Dame of Marbel University
COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES
City of Koronadal, South Cotabato
ADVERB
The modifier usually appears near the verb that it modifies, but it can appear almost
anywhere in a sentence.
Suffix -ly
Descriptive adjectives often end with suffixes such as -able, -ful, -ive, or -
ous. Below are the modifying forms of some nouns. Notice that the adverb is
formed by adding -ly to the adjective.
Of course, not every word that ends in -ly is an adverb. Ghastly, hilly, lively,
chilly, lovely, friendly, orderly, and lonely are all adjectives.
Adjective or Adverb?
Some words, such as hard and fast have the same form whether they are
used as adjectives or adverbs. However, you can tell how the word is being used
by the part of speech that it modifies.
14 | E n g l 1 0 3
JMJ Marist Brothers
Notre Dame of Marbel University
COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES
City of Koronadal, South Cotabato
Like adjectives, some adverbs can express the three degrees of comparison:
positive, comparative, and superlative.
Adverbs of Manner
Adverbs of manner tell "how." They usually modify a verb or verb phrase
and often end in the suffix -ly. For example, let's think about how Suzy skates, how
Wren skis, how Winnie surfs, and how Carlos governed:
15 | E n g l 1 0 3
JMJ Marist Brothers
Notre Dame of Marbel University
COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES
City of Koronadal, South Cotabato
Adjective or Adverb?
Again, some words, such as right, early, and late, have the same form
whether they are used as adjectives or adverbs. However, you can always tell how
the word is being used because an adjective modifies a noun or pronoun, and an
adverb modifies a verb, adjective, or other adverb.
You must learn to see the difference between an adverb and a predicate
adjective. Look at the following sentence:
It might seem that friendly tells "how" the dog looks. But remember that you
can identify a predicate adjective by replacing a possible linking verb (looks) with
a "to be" verb:
The word friendly describes the dog, not the act of looking. It is an adjective.
Compare this to a sentence containing an action verb:
If you replace an action verb with a "to be" verb, the sentence no longer
makes sense:
Silently does not describe the tiger. It describes the act of moving. It is an
adverb of manner.
16 | E n g l 1 0 3
JMJ Marist Brothers
Notre Dame of Marbel University
COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES
City of Koronadal, South Cotabato
Adverbs of place
Words like in, out, and down can also be prepositions. But in order to
function as a preposition, a word must have an object. When a word like in,
out, or down does not have an object, it is an adverb.
17 | E n g l 1 0 3
JMJ Marist Brothers
Notre Dame of Marbel University
COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES
City of Koronadal, South Cotabato
Adverbs of time modify a verb to tell "when." Let's think about when Suzy
skates, when the President dresses, and when Carlos served:
Adverb Position
An adverb usually appears near the verb it modifies.
18 | E n g l 1 0 3
JMJ Marist Brothers
Notre Dame of Marbel University
COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES
City of Koronadal, South Cotabato
Even though the adverb soon modifies the verb leave in each of the
sentences above, it is not necessarily placed near the verb. Since the placement
of the adverb can vary, we must learn to identify adverbs even when they are
separated from the verbs they modify.
ADVERBS OF DEGREE
Adverbs of degree tell "how much" or "to what extent." These adverbs are
sometimes called intensifiers because they add intensity (either positive or
negative) to the words they modify.
Notice how the adverbs of degree in the sentences below add intensity to the
words they modify:
Some adverbs of degree that tell "how much" or "to what extent" are easy to
identify because they end in -ly. However, many others do not. Here are some
common intensifiers:
19 | E n g l 1 0 3
JMJ Marist Brothers
Notre Dame of Marbel University
COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES
City of Koronadal, South Cotabato
Adverbs of degree that tell "how much" or "to what extent" usually modify
an adjective or another adverb. However, they occasionally modify a verb.
MODIFYING AN ADJECTIVE
• We were so elated!
The adverb so modifies the adjective elated and tells "how elated" we
were.
The adverb rather modifies the adverb carelessly and tells "how
carelessly" Suzy skated.
The adverb quite modifies the adverb frequently and tells "how
frequently" William spoke.
20 | E n g l 1 0 3
JMJ Marist Brothers
Notre Dame of Marbel University
COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES
City of Koronadal, South Cotabato
MODIFYING A VERB
The adverb completely modifies the verb agree and tells "to what
extent" Ivan agrees.
The adverb highly modifies the verb recommended and tells "to
what extent" the book has been recommended.
The adverb mildly modifies the verb supported and tells "to what
extent" William supported the crowd.
REFERENCES
Forlini, G., Bauer, M.B., Biener, L., Capo, L. Kenyon, K.M., Shaw, D. & Verner, Z.
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