When do we use adjective phrase

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The valedictorian was far too serious about her GPA. Weathered, muscular cowboys are featured in most western movies.

The exhausted and overworked man took a well-deserved break. My remarkable and talented brother won a scholarship. I am very much enamored with him. Jorge was merely anxious to get on his way. Beaming with joy , her face lit up the room. She is the chief pediatric surgeon at the institute. Frustrated, overworked and underpaid employees picketed for hours.

Young, otherwise healthy people are most likely to recover quickly. Adjective Phrases Describing Other Nouns Examples of adjective phrases used to describe nouns other than people include: The movie was not too terrible.

The final exams were unbelievably difficult. This pie is very delicious and extremely expensive. The new outfit was very pricey but really beautiful. Students upset about the rising cost of tuition staged a rally. That complex has quite small but cheap apartments. That apple pie smells very tempting. Dining out is usually not very healthy. The extremely tired kitten fell asleep by her food dish. A dog covered in sticky and disgusting mud makes a mess in a car.

A tapestry beautifully stitched by hand is worth the cost. That movie is absolutely unbelievably bad. I really wanted to paint the living room a deep eggplant shade of purple. Adjectives can go before the noun attributive or after linking verbs such as be, become, seem predicative :. Special offer on the last three remaining sofas. There used to be two big fields here when I was young. When we use words like absolute, complete, perfect to talk about degree, they can only be used before nouns.

This group of adjectives includes proper, pure, real, sheer, true, utter :. I did not use your car when you were away. Some time and order adjectives, such as former, present, future , are used before the noun only. Her former husband had bought the house but she never liked it. This is a church from the early Romanesque period. Not: This is a church from the Romanesque period. The Romanesque period was early. When we use early after a verb predicatively it means something different.

The train was early means that it came before we expected it. Adjectives like certain , main , major , only , particular limit the noun that they go before the only people who know, the particular road that we travelled on. The main reason why the cinema closed is because the building was too old and dangerous.

Most of the issues mentioned in the documentary are not very important. The difference in percentages is clear from the illustrations shown. We use them after linking verbs such as be, seem, become, feel, smell, taste. Common examples of adjectives with the prefix a- include awake, alive, asleep, aboard on a plane, boat, bus or train , afloat, ablaze on fire :.

The passengers were all aboard when they heard the loud bang. If we want to express a similar meaning with an adjective in front of the noun, we can use a related adjective.

Even fourteen days after the earthquake, rescue workers were still finding live babies in the rubble. Even fourteen days after the earthquake, rescue workers were still finding babies who were alive in the rubble. It is very strange to see a lone wolf. It is very strange to see a wolf who is alone.

There was a blazing fire in the cinema. It took many firemen to put it out. The cinema was ablaze for many hours and it took many firemen to put out the fire. Most commonly, the adjectives ill and well are used after a verb and not before a noun:. The most typical words and phrases that go before adjectives premodifiers are adverb phrases expressing degree:. The major exception is the degree adverb enough , which goes after the adjective a postmodifier :.

I am strong enough to face the difficulties. He had lost his usually calm attitude and become very nervous. He made an insensitively timed remark that upset her. Most common adjectives can express different degrees of qualities, properties, states, conditions, relations, etc.

These are called gradable adjectives :. Before gradable adjectives, we can use words which show different degrees of the feature in question. These are usually adverb phrases. The waves are this high in the winter. This high would usually be spoken with a gesture showing a specific height.

That high refers to a statement made by someone about the height of the waves or to the moment of seeing the high waves. The waves are over six metres high in the winter. Six metres is a noun phrase. Certain adjectives expressing measurable features e. Some degree adverbs so, too, as need a word or phrase to complete their meaning a complement. The complement may be a clause or a phrase. The complement comes after the adjective head. The waves were so high that they went onto the street!

So is the degree adverb before the adjective high. It needs the complement that they went onto the street in order to complete its meaning. The waves are too high to go sailing. Too is the degree adverb before the adjective high.

It needs the complement to go sailing in order to complete its meaning. The waves are as high as the wall in the winter. The waves are higher than the wall in the winter. To compare two things which are different, we add the suffix -er to the adjective before the complement. How is used to ask questions and to make exclamations about degree.

There is an important difference in word order. Some adjectives cannot be made bigger, smaller, higher, lower, stronger, weaker, etc. These are called ungradable adjectives :. The most common gradable adjectives can be grouped into pairs of opposites antonyms which refer to features like height: short — tall ; heat: hot — cold , size; big — small , etc. These adjectives are at the upper and lower parts of an open-ended scale a scale with no maximum or minimum :. My working day is very long.

We can use degree adverbs such as absolutely, completely, entirely, totally and other similar words before these adjectives:. The garden is completely dry. The city centre is absolutely full of tourists at this time of year. Other degree adverbs which we can use before this type of gradable adjective include almost, barely, half, scarcely :.

Brain cell regeneration is almost possible , say scientists. The situation in my old job was quite different. It was a very small new company.

Gradable and ungradable. We can use some adjectives before the noun or after the verb but the meaning differs. We can finish that job on Monday but this particular job needs to be done by today. My boss is very particular. He checks all our work very carefully.

His late wife came from a very rich family. The police are certain that the killer was known to the victim. A noun n is sometimes used before another noun to give more information about it. This is called a noun modifier.

Adjectives adj come before noun modifiers:. When adjectives are used before the noun attributive function , there are also sometimes degree adverbs. Different degree adverbs require different positions for the adjective phrase. Quite : quite a cold day The normal order with quite is quite a cold day.

The normal order with rather is a rather cold day. Outsets and onsets! Adjective phrases: position. See also: Adjective phrases. Adjectives normally only used before a noun. Numbers and first, last. Some adjectives of degree. Some adjectives of time and order.

Some adjectives that limit the following noun. Adjectives normally only used after a noun. Adjectives normally only used after a verb. Adjectives with the prefix a -. S ome adjectives referring to states of health. Words and phrases that go before and after adjectives. See also: Enough. Gradable adjectives and words and phrases that go before them.

The waves are fairly high in the winter. The waves are quite high in the winter. The clock is over years old.