The Adjective. Meaning. Degrees of comparison. Order of adjectives

Theory:

Word Order

The use of adjectives is essential when trying to describe a noun or pronoun. Good writers and speakers are able to use adjectives to create clear, mental images for the reader or listener. In English, it is common to use more than one adjective before a noun — for example, “He's a silly young fool,” or “She's a smart, energetic woman.” When you use more than one adjective, you have to put them in the right order, according to type.

Adjectives cannot be written in any order. There are rules, so you should use the following order:

1) Determiner or article
Determiners e.g. this, that, these, those, my, mine, your, yours, him, his, her, hers, they, their, Sam's ; or
Articles - a, an, the

2) Opinion adjective
e.g. polite, fun, cute, difficult, hard-working

3) Size, including adjectives, comparatives and superlatives
height; e.g. tall, short, high, low; taller, tallest
width; e.g. wide, narrow, thin, slim; wider, widest
length; e.g. long, short; longer, longest
volume; e.g. fat, huge; fatter, fattest

4) Shape
e.g. circular, oval, triangular, square, 5-sided, hexagonal, irregular

5) Age
e.g. new, young, adolescent, teenage, middle-aged, old, ancient

6) Colour
e.g. red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, white, grey, black, black and white, light blue, dark red, pale blue, reddish brown, off-white, bright green, warm yellow

7) Nationality
e.g. Hong Kong, Chinese, English, American, Canadian, Japanese

8) Religion
e.g. Buddhist, Taoist, Christian, Moslem, pagan, atheist

9) Material
e.g. wood, plastic, metal, ceramic, paper, silk

10) Noun used as an adjective
e.g. campus (as in 'campus activities')

11) The noun that the adjectives are describing.

Sentence structure:
Together the article or determiner, adjective(s) and noun(s) make a 'noun phrase'. Noun phrases can also have adverbs describing the adjectives; e.g. nearly circular; and can also have relative clauses, although these are not discussed on this page.

Style:
Although it is possible to write a sentence that uses all the categories; e.g. 'my beautiful, long, curving, new, pink, western, Christian, silk wedding dress', it is bad style as it is too long. Try to use less than five adjectives in a single list. Therefore you could say "Have you seen my beautiful new cream silk wedding dress? It's long and curving, and is in western Christian style."

How to remember the order
You can use the 'Roman room' memorization technique. This involves remembering a place that you know well, such as your home, and imagining walking through it, looking at things. 

1) Imagine that you arrive at the door of your home. On the door is the letter 'A', and you are greeted by someone who lives there. This helps you to remember the article 'A' or the determiner(s); e.g. my Mother's.
2) Imagine that you are happy to see each other. This helps you to remember the opinion adjective.
3) Imagine the size of your home: is it big, small, or long? This helps you to remember the size adjectives.

4) Imagine that you go into your home and you see an object. Remember the shape of the object.
5) Now imagine that you walk around your home; e.g. towards your room. Think of another object further from the door. Think of the age of that object; e.g. new or old.
6) Move on to another object, this time a colourful one. Remember what colour it is.
7) Move on to another object. This object should remind you of a foreign place; e.g. a picture of somewhere in China, or a souvenir from a holiday abroad. This is to help you remember nationality.
8) Next imagine moving to another object, this time a religious one. Maybe you have a place for worshipping your ancestors, or a statue of Buddha.
9) Next move to another object. This should be special because it is made of one material; e.g. a crystal ornament or a wooden statue.
10) Finally move to a place where there is an object that is described with 2 words, and the first is a noun; 

e.g. a book shelf. Imagine that this is the end of your journey around your flat.

Degrees of Comparison

The formation of the comparative and superlative depends on the number of syllables in the adjective:

One-syllable Adjectives

To form the comparative, we add -er to the end of the adjective.
To form the superlative, we add -est to the end of the adjective.

Adjective   Comparative   Superlative
small           smaller            the smallest
cold            colder             the coldest
light            lighter              the lightest
short           shorter           the shortest

Remember that comparatives are often followed by than.
· - London is bigger than Santiago.
· - Mike is taller than John but James is the tallest.

Two-syllable Adjectives ending in -Y

To form the comparative, we remove the -y and add -ier to the end of the adjective.
To form the superlative, we remove the -y and add -iest to the end of the adjective.

Adjective   Comparative   Superlative
crazy           crazier            the craziest
happy          happier          the happiest
early            earlier              the earliest

· - It was the happiest day of my life.
· - My joke was funnier than your one.

Adjectives with Two or more Syllables

For Adjectives with 2 syllables (that don't end in -y) and higher (3, 4 syllables etc), we use more for comparatives and the most for superlatives.

Adjective      Comparative                 Superlative
handsome     more handsome          the most handsome
nervous        more nervous               the most nervous
enthusiastic   more enthusiastic         the most enthusiastic

· - My girlfriend is more beautiful than yours.
· - Alex is more intelligent than you but I am the most intelligent.

Irregular Forms

Adjective      Comparative            Superlative
good                  better                   the best
bad                     worse                 the worst
far               further / farther      the furthest / farthest


· I am a better tennis player than you but Marcelo is the best.
· Steve is a worse liar than me but Adrian is the worst.

Note:

· Further / farther, furthest / farthest are all used for distance.
· Only Further / furthest are used to mean 'additional' or 'more advanced'.
· Puerto Montt is further / farther than Valdivia is from here (in Santiago).
· If you require further information, please contact reception.

Remember that the opposites of 'more' and 'most' are 'less' and 'least', respectively.

Exercises:

Elementary

Exercise 1

Read the questions, and choose the answer you think is correct.

Exercise 2

Type the correct noun phrase, putting the adjectives in order

Exercise 3

Choose the correct adjective to fill in the blank

Exercise 4

Complete the chart

Exercise 5

Fill in the comparative and superlative forms of the adjectives

Exercise 6

Write the correct comparative form for each adjective

Exercise 7

Type the comparatives in the boxes for the words below

Exercise 8

Choose the best answer

Exercise 9

Образуйте степени сравнения приведенных прилагательных и наречий

Exercise 10
Click on words to build sentences

Intermediate

Exercise 1

Select the correct order of the adjectives in these sentences

Exercise 2

Put the adjectives in a natural sounding word order

Exercise 3

Put in the adjective in bold from the first sentence into the second sentence in its correct form 

Exercise 4

Choose the best answer

Exercise 5

Choose the correct response: If both options can be used, choose "BOTH ARE OK"

Exercise 6

Write the appropriate form of the adjective in the brackets

Exercise 7

Choose the right form

Exercise 8
Choose the response that sounds more natural

Exercise 9
Choose the response that sounds more natural

Exercise 10
Choose the response that sounds more natural

Advanced

Exercise 1

Put the adjectives in a natural sounding word order

Exercise 2

Which of the following is correct?

Exercise 3

Correct the order of the adjectives and nouns in the following sentences

Exercise 4

Choose the right form

Exercise 5

Select the correct form

Exercise 6
Choose the correct answer

Exercise 7
Put the words in the correct order

Exercise 8
Choose the best variant

Exercise 9
Which is the usual order of adjectives?

Exercise 10
Are these adjectives in the natural order?


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The Rules of the Sequence of Tenses

The Sequence of Tenses    Original Tense                Changed to....

Present         -       Past

Present Continuous         -        Past Continuous

Past        -        Past Perfect

Present Perfect        -        Past Perfect

will        -        would

can        -        could

may       -        might

The tense of a verb in the subordinate clause changes in accordance with the tense of the verb in the main clause.

The basic rules are as follows:

Rule 1

When the verb in the principal (main) clause is in the present or future tense, the verb in the subordinate clause may be in any tense that the context requires.

           Examples:

•  I maintain (main clause) that he is honest (subordinate clause).
•  I maintain that he was honest.
• I maintain that he will be honest.
• I shall maintain (main clause) that he is honest (subordinate clause).
• I shall maintain that he was honest.
• I shall maintain that he will be honest.

Exception:

Conditional and time clauses generally take a Verb in the Present Tense and not in the Future.

          Examples:

• You will catch (Future) the train, if (condition) you run (Present) fast.
• I shall be (Future) very glad, if (condition) you come. (Present)
• I will call you when (time) dinner is ready. (Present)
• I shall wait until (time) you return. (Present)

Rule 2

When the principal (main) clause is in the past tense, the verb in the subordinate clause also should be in the past tense.

            Examples:

• He said (main clause) that he was not guilty (subordinate clause).
• He asked (main clause) whether he might go home (subordinate clause).
• She was so weak (main clause) that she could not stand (subordinate clause).

Exceptions:

(a) A Past Tense in the Principal clause is followed by a Present Indefinite Tense in the subordinate clause when there is a universal truth, habitual fact, geographical truth etc.

                Examples:

• Copernicus proved (main clause) that the earth moves round the sun (subordinate clause).
• The preacher said (main clause) that there is only one God (subordinate clause).
• The teacher said (main clause) that honesty is always the best policy (subordinate clause).

(b) A past tense in the principal clause may be followed by any tense required by the sense when the subordinate clause is adverb clause of place, reason, or comparison.

            Examples:

• He didn’t get the job because his English isn’t good.
• A fishing village once existed where now lies the city of Mumbai.

(c) A past tense in the principal clause may be followed by any tense required by the sense if the subordinate clause is an adjective clause.

            Examples:

• Yesterday I met a man who sells balloons.
• Yesterday I met a man who sold me a balloon.

(d) When the Subordinate Clause begins with ‘as if or ‘as though’, ‘if only’, ‘it is time’ and ‘wish that’ the Verb in the Past Tense means the Present Tense.

            Examples:

• He talks as if he were mad.
• She scolded me as if I were her servant.
• He talks as if he knew everything.
• I wish I was a bit taller.
• It is time we started working.

Note: ‘As if’ or ‘as though’ are followed by ‘were’.

            Example:

•  She treats her young harshly, as if they were not hers.

Exercises on the Sequence of Tenses

Elementary level

Exercise 1. Choose the most appropriate answer.Exercise 2. Complete the sentences.Exercise 3. Complete with the verbs in the right tense.Exercise 5. Choose from the dropdown menu and mind the sequence of tenses of the reporting verbs.Exercise 6. Choose the right verb.Exercise 7. Complete the sentences in reported speech, minding the sequence of tenses.Exercise 8. Complete the sentences in reported speech, minding the sequence of tenses.Exercise 9. Complete the sentences in reported speech, minding the sequence of tenses.Exercise 10. Complete the sentences in reported speech, minding the sequence of tenses.

Intermediate level

Exercise 1. Take the quiz on the sequence of tenses.Exercise 2. Take the quiz on the sequence of tenses.Exercise 3. Choose the correct form of the verb.Exercise 4. Read the sentences and choose the correct answer.Exercise 5. Choose the most appropriate answer.Exercise 6. Complete the sentences, minding the sequence of tenses.Exercise 7. Choose the correct tense form of the verb.Exercise 8. Complete the sentences in reported speech, minding the sequence of tenses.Exercise 9. Take the quiz on the sequence of tenses.Exercise 10. Choose the correct tense.

Advanced level

Exercise 1. Change the verbs in the following sentences from the past tense to the present tense.Exercise 2. Choose the correct tense.Exercise 3. Take the quiz on the sequence of tenses.Exercise 4. Take the quiz on the sequence of tenses.Exercise 5. Choose the correct tense form of the verb.Exercise 6. Take the verb tense quiz.Exercise 7. Take the quiz on the sequence of tenses.Exercise 8. Complete questions below with the appropriate tenses.Exercise 9. Use the formal sequence of tenses to change the tense.Exercise 10. Transform the sentences into reported speech, minding the sequence of tenses.

Reported speech. Indirect questions, orders and statements, requests, exclamations.

If we report what another person has said, we usually do not use the speaker’s exact words (direct speech), but reported (indirect) speech. Therefore, you need to learn how to transform direct speech into reported speech. The structure is a little different depending on whether you want to transform a statement, question or request.

Statements

When transforming statements, check whether you have to change:

pronouns

present tense verbs (3rd person singular)

place and time expressions

tenses (backshift)

Type	Example
direct speech	“I speak English.”
reported speech (no backshift)	He says that he speaks English.
reported speech (backshift)	He said that he spoke English.

Indirect questions
There's more than one way to ask a question. Indirect questions are more polite and don't need a change in word order in the main question. Indirect questions are a little more formal and polite. We use them when talking to a person we don’t know very well, or in professional situations, and their form is a little different.

Questions

When transforming questions, check whether you have to change:

pronouns

present tense verbs (3rd person singular)

place and time expressions

tenses (backshift)

Also note that you have to:

transform the question into an indirect question

use the interrogative or if / whether

Type		Example
with interrogative	direct speech	“Why don’t you speak English?”
	reported speech	He asked me why I didn’t speak English.
without interrogative	direct speech	“Do you speak English?”
	reported speech	He asked me whether / if I spoke English.

Requests

When transforming questions, check whether you have to change:

pronouns

place and time expressions

Type	Example
direct speech	“Carol, speak English.“
reported speech	He told Carol to speak English.

An order or a request in indirect speech is expressed by an infini­tive:

She said to him, "Open the window (do not open the window)."	She told him to open the window (not to open the window).
She said to him, "Please, open the window (do not open the window)."	She asked him to open the window (not to open the window).

The choice of the verb is determined by the character of the order (request).

Exclamations. We use the verbs exclaim /say that to report exclamations which begin with ‘What a/an......’ or   ‘How........’in direct speech.

‘What an unusual design!’ he said. He exclaimed /said that it was an unusual design.

                                                       He exclaimed /said that the design was unusual.

But with exclamations such as ‘Splendid!, ‘Great!’, ‘Good!’, ‘Excellent!’, ‘Oh!’, ‘Oh dear!’ etc.

we use the expression give an exclamation of delight /disgust/ relief/ surprise, etc.

‘Wow!’ he said as he unwrapped his gift. He gave an exclamation of surprise as he unwrapped

  his gift.

Study the following examples:

They said, ‘Thank you’. They thanked us.

‘You fool!’ she said. She called him fool.

‘Happy Birthday!’ we said to Tom. We wished Tom a happy birthday.

‘Congratulations!’ they said to us. They congratulated us.

Additional Information and Exeptions

Apart from the above mentioned basic rules, there are further aspects that you should keep in mind, for example:

·         main clauses connected with and / but

·         tense of the introductory clause

·         reported speech for difficult tenses

·         exeptions for backshift

·         requests with must, should, ought to and let’s

E    Exercises:
Elementary:

      Exercise 1

      (Transform these sentences into Reported Speech)

      Exercise 2

      ( Transform these sentences into Reported Speech)

      Exercise 3

      ( Choose the correct ending)

      Exercise 4

      (Finish the sentences using Reported speech. Always change the tense, although it is sometimes not necessary)

      Exercise 5

      (Choose the correct answer)
Exercise 6
(Short-answer quiz on Reported (Indirect) Speech

)     Exercise 7
(Complete the sentences in reported speech)                
Exercise 8
(Put in order)

      Exercise 9
(Finish the sentences using Reported speech)

Exercise 10
(Fill in all the gaps)

Intermediate:
Exercise 1
(mix and match)
Exercise 2
(Change the following sentences from direct speech to reported speech)

Exercise 3
(Complete the sentences)
Exercise 4
(Complete the sentences)
Exercise 5(Rewrite the sentences in direct speech)

Exercise 6(Complete the sentences)
Exercise 7(Make reported statements)
Exercise 8(Add the missing parts to put the questions in reported speech)
Exercise 9
(Change these direct questions into reported speech)

Exercise 10
(Choose the best (most grammatically correct) response)

Advanced:
Exercise 1
(Choose the right sentence in reported speech)
Exercise 2(Turn the sentences into the reported speech. Write down the full sentence.Don't use 'that')
Exercise3(Find the end of the sentences in the reported speech)

Exercise 4(Turn into the reported speech.The pronoun 'that' must be omitted)

Exercise 5(Complete the sentences)

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