Some adjectives are normally used only in front of a noun

4. Some adjectives are normally used only in front of a noun.

eastern northern southern western

atomic countless digital

existing indoor introductory maximum

neighbouring occasional outdoor

For example, we talk about ‘an atomic bomb’, but we do not say ‘The bomb was atomic’.

He sent countless letters to the newspapers.

This book includes a good introductory chapter on forests.

5. When we use an adjective to emphasize a strong feeling or opinion, it always comes in front of a noun.

absolute complete entire

outright perfect positive

pure real total

true utter

Some of it was absolute rubbish.

He made me feel like a complete idiot.

6. Some adjectives that describe size or age can come after a noun group consisting of a number or determiner and a noun that indicates the unit of measurement.

deep high

long old

tall thick

wide

He was about six feet tall.

The water was several metres deep.

The baby is nine months old.

Note that you do not say ‘two pounds heavy’, you say ‘two pounds in weight’.

7. A few adjectives are used alone after a noun.

designate

elect

galore

incarnate

She was now the president elect.

There are empty houses galore.

8. A few adjectives have a different meaning depending on whether they come in front of or after a noun.

concerned

involved

present

proper

responsible

For example, ‘the concerned mother’ means a mother who is worried, but ‘the mother concerned’ means the mother who has been mentioned.

It's one of those incredibly involved stories.

The people involved are all doctors.

I'm worried about the present situation.

Of the 18 people present, I knew only one.

Her parents were trying to act in a responsible manner.

We do not know the person responsible for his death.

 

Order of Adjectives.

 

1. We often want to add more information to a noun than you can with one adjective, so we need to use two or more adjectives. In theory, we can use the adjectives in any order, depending on the quality you want to emphasize. In practice, however, there is a normal order.

When we use two or more adjectives in front of a noun, we usually put an adjective that expresses our opinion in front of an adjective that just describes something.

e.g. You live in a nice big house.

 He is a naughty little boy.

She was wearing a beautiful pink suit.

2. When we use more than one adjective to express our opinion, an adjective with a more general meaning such as ‘good’, ‘bad’, ‘nice’, or ‘lovely’ usually comes before an adjective with a more specific meaning such as ‘comfortable’, ‘clean’, or ‘dirty’.

e.g. I sat in a lovely comfortable armchair in the corner.

He put on a nice clean shirt.

It was a horrible dirty room.

3. We can use adjectives to describe various qualities of people or things. For example, we might want to indicate their size, their shape, or the country they come from.

Descriptive adjectives belong to six main types, but we are unlikely ever to use all six types in the same noun group. If we did, we would normally put them in the following order:

size

shape

age

colour

nationality

material

This means that if we want to use an ‘age’ adjective and a ‘nationality’ adjective, we put the ‘age’ adjective first.

We met some young Chinese girls.

Similarly, a ‘shape’ adjective normally comes before a ‘colour’ adjective.

e.g. He had round black eyes.

Other combinations of adjectives follow the same order. Note that ‘material’ means any substance, not only cloth.

e.g. There was a large round wooden table in the room.

The man was carrying a small black plastic bag.

4. We usually put comparative and superlative adjectives in front of other adjectives.

e.g. Some of the better English actors have gone to live in Hollywood.

These are the highest monthly figures on record.

5. When we use a noun in front of another noun, we never put adjectives between them. We put any adjectives in front of the first noun.

e.g. He works in the French film industry.

He receives a large weekly cash payment.

6. When we use two adjectives as the complement of a link verb, we use a conjunction such as ‘and’ to link them. With three or more adjectives, we link the last two with a conjunction, and put commas after the others.

e.g. The day was hot and dusty.

The room was large but square.

The house was old, damp and smelly.

We felt hot, tired and thirsty.

Adjectives with prepositions.

 

1. When we use an adjective after a link verb, we can often use the adjective on its own or followed by a prepositional phrase.

e.g. He was afraid.

He was afraid of his enemies.

2. Some adjectives cannot be used alone after a link verb. If they are followed by a prepositional phrase, it must have a particular preposition:

aware of accustomed to

unaware of unaccustomed to

fond of used to

e.g. I've always been terribly fond of you.

He is unaccustomed to the heat.