What is the place of an adjective in English?

a. An adjective can come in two places in a sentence:

– before a noun

A political system is a cultural universal and a social institution formed in every society.

– after the verbs be, become, look, appear, seem, feel, taste, smell, sound,... etc. when we describe the subject of a sentence.

The legislative process is long and complicated. Our wants are very complex.

The idea sounds good, but seems very complicated.

b. A few adjectives can come after a verb, but not before a noun: asleep, alone, alive, awake, afraid, ill, well.

He is asleep. (not: an asleep man)

Before nouns we use:

sleeping	instead of	asleep	(a sleeping man)
living	instead of	alive	(a living habit)
frightened	instead of	afraid	(a frightened animal)
sick	instead of	ill	(a sick child)
healthy	instead of	well	(healthy people)

c. In expressions of measurement, the adjective normally comes after the measurement noun.

Prime Minister is 42 years old.

I’m 1.80 metres tall.

What is the order of adjectives when we use two or more adjectives together?

a. When we use two or more adjectives together, “opinion” adjectives (nice, beautiful) normally go before “fact” adjectives (sunny, blue).

a nice sunny day a beautiful blue dress

b. When two or more fact adjectives come before a noun, they normally go in the following order:

size + age + shape + colour + origin + material + purpose + NOUN

a large plastic box (size + material)

a young Russian girl (age + origin)

a tall thin man (size + shape)

a black plastic shopping bag (colour + material + purpose)

Exercise 1

Put the words in the right order:

e.g. is / a / generous / Kate / woman / very. – Kate is a very generous woman.

1. There was an excess of (spiral / thin / writing / imported) blocks, but we needed the thick ones.

2. We tried to place the members of the committee at two (round / expensive / wooden / large) tables.

3. For him the purchase of a pair of (leather / costly / black) shoes is a financial sacrifice.

4. blue / seen / have / my / you / shirt?

5. I’m afraid customers will soon stop buying (red / those / plastic / cheap) raincoats.

6. People with lower incomes rate the utility of (Japanese / tiny) TV sets very highly.

7. I cannot approve of buying too much (French / fancy / white) rolls.

8. My son is inclined to think that (black / high / English / leather / new) boots are a must for a teenage boy.

Exercise 2

Open the brackets and complete each sentence using the most suitable adjectives.

1. Mr. Jackson was worrying about the future of the government because elderly Prime Minister was seriously ____. He was a very ____ person. (sick / ill).

2. The deep and ____ influence which he exerted upon society is highly appreciated. (healthy / well).

3. You look ____. You are so pale and tired. (sick / ill).

4. He was ____ (afraid / frightened). Suddenly he saw ____ (a sleeping / asleep) man in the dark room.

5. The little boy was ____ (asleep / alone / alive) in the whole world. He resembled ____ (a frightened / afraid) bird.

6. In some of Canadian provinces it is ____ (a living / alive) tradition to give Christmas “boxes” of gifts on December 26th to those, who have served the family

throughout the year and also among the family and children.

7. Nurses look after ____ (sick / ill) people.

8. I am (afraid / frightened) the situation in urban areas is much more complex.

Exercise 3

Look at the underlined parts in each sentence. Choose the one that is incorrect.

1. I’m afraid we should have atwo-weeks survey to find out therelative

A B

demand forthese nine-pound T-shirts outside the UK.

C D

 

2. If a period of employment is interrupted for morethan six months,

A

the employee has to work a further period to be entitled to a full

B C

pension. The period is five year long.

D

 

3. It’ll be halfan hour walk. The distance is only atwomiles long.

A B C D

 

4. Our voters are usually offereda ten pages catalogue containing

A B

information about our committees’s concepts.

C D

 

5. The new members of Congress are young and risky. Mr. Drain is only

A

ten year older, but he is inclined to be cautious and firmlybelieves

B C

that he knows the best way to clear up some concepts and terms.

D

 

6. When Henryk was fourteen years old he was interesting in the

A B

control of the undergroundschool market.

C D

 

7. At last Tom saw the newcoloured book he was looking for, the

A B

price was $15. And he had only five-dollar notefor his needs.

C D

Practice withComparatives and Superlatives

Ask yourself these questions about comparatives and superlatives.