THE ENGLISH ADJECTIVE 1.

The Comparison of Adjectives Adjectives have the following degrees of comparison: a) positive: tall, good, comfortable, interesting; b) comparative * of superiority: taller, better, more comfortable, more interesting (than); * of inferiority: not so tall as, not so good as, not so / as interesting than, less interesting than; * of equality: as tall as, as good as, as comfortable as, as interesting as; c) superlative: * absolute: very tall, extremely good, very interesting, absolutely marvellous; * relative: the tallest, the best, the most comfortable, the most interesting . There are two main patterns of comparison: I. The Synthetic Comparison: (adjective) + -er for the c o m p a r a t i v e of superiority; the (adjective) + -est for the relative s u p e r l a t i v e used for: a) monosyllabic / one-syllable adjectives: sweet - sweeter - the sweetest, fine - finer - the finest, dry - drier - the driest, big - bigger - the biggest ; b) disyllabic / two-syllable adjectives ending in -y, -ow, -er, -le (or syllabic [l]): pretty prettier - the prettiest, narrow - narrower - the narrowest, clever - cleverer - the cleverest ; c) other disyllabic / two-syllable adjectives: quiet, common. pleasant, handsome, concise, e.g. quiet - quieter - the quietest. II. The Analytic(al) Comparison: more + (adjective) for the c o m p a r a t i v e of superiority; the most + (adjective) for the relative s u p e r l a t i v e. It is used for plurisyllabic adjectives: rapid - more rapid - the most rapid, comfortable - more comfortable - the most comfortable. III. Irregular Adjectives (The Irregular Comparison): good - better - the best; bad / ill - worse - the worst old - older / elder - the oldest / the eldest NOTE: elder and the eldest are used only attributively, for group relationships: his elder brother, the eldest member of the club. far - farther / further - the farthest / the furthest NOTE: further has the meaning of additional, more: further news little - less / lesser - the least NOTE: lesser means smaller, not so important, minor much / many - more - the most fore - former - the foremost / the first NOTE: former means of an earlier period or the first of the two; the foremost means chief, principal, main: He is the foremost author of that period; first means initial: He was the first settler there. late - later / latter - the latest / the lost NOTE: latter means the second of (the) two: Ive met Bill and Tom; the former is a student, and the latter is an engineer; the latest means the most recent: This is his latest novel: the last means final: Eminescus last poem. near - nearer - the nearest / the next NOTE: the nearest is used for distance: Can you show me the nearest bank? The next refers to order: The next bus is at eight. in - inner - inmost / innermost out - outer / utter - outermost / utmost / uttermost up - upper - upmost / uppermost NOTE: In, out, up are adverbs in the positive degree, but they are adjectives in their comparative and superlative forms. Inmost and innermost mean most private / deepest: my inmost feelings. Utter means complete, total: utter contempt, an utter stranger . Utmost and

uttermost mean greatest / highest, e.g. the utmost importance. Upmost and uppermost mean predominant, at the very top: These concerns were uppermost in her mind. IV. Special Constructions a) In order to show intensification by gradation, the comparative + and + comparative or more + adjective and more + adjective patterns are used (Rom. din ce in ce mai, tot mai + adjective), e.g. She is getting better and better. The task is easier and easier. Her questions are more and more interesting. (Other possibilities of saying the same thing: She is getting ever better / increasingly better / far better (every day). b) In order to show intensification by parallel gradation, the the + comparative, the + comparative (with -er), or the more + adjective, the more + adjective patterns are used (Rom. cu ct mai ... att mai), e.g. The more we are together, the merrier we are. c) A the + comparative pattern is used when two things or persons are compared, e.g. John is the taller of the two brothers. 2. Classification of Adjectives - From a syntactic standpoint (i.e. according to their syntactic function / position in the sentence), English adjectives can be: a) both predicative and attributive, e.g. black, big, red, etc.: Hes reading a good book. That book is good. b) attributive only: woollen / woolen, sheer, main, total, mere , etc.: She likes that wooden stool. He is a mere liar. c) predicative only: alive, afloat, awake, asleep, worth, etc.: When I entered the room, she was asleep. NOTE: Adjectives can be: subject complements, e.g. The coffee tastes good. The cake smells good, or: object complements, e.g. She flung the door open. I like my coffee strong. (Both these constructions can be compared to Rom. element predicativ suplimentar, e.g. Fumul se ridica gros.) - From the standpoint of word-formation, English adjectives can be: a) simple: old, cold, warm, empty; b) derived: tasteful, untrue, blonde-haired, pointless ; c) compound: homesick, self-made, well-meaning. 3. Position of Adjectives When adjectives are attributes, they are placed: a) before the noun: long hair, heavy box, large box; NOTE: If there are several adjectives modifying a noun, their order from the noun to the left (i.e. in the order of their objectivity) should generally be: (noun) + material, origin / style, colour, age, shape, size, quality / opinion, e.g. a pretty young Italian lady, a long green woollen dress, an extraordinary French jet plane. b) after the noun: court martial, knight errant, somebody / something important, a carpet four metres long, a man difficult to please, the bird singing in the breezy air.