THE ADJECTIVE

1. POSITION OF ADJECTIVES
Before a noun: a young man
After the verb BE; BECOME; SEEM ; STAY It is expensive. She seems happy.
With transitive verbs, after the object: She keeps her room tidy.
THE + Adjective = Romanian plural noun: the young; the rich; the English

2. ORDER OF ADJECTIVES PLACED BEFORE A NOUN

describing /
determiner expressing feeling size age colour origin / material NOUN
a/ the splendid young white Arab horse
two fantastic tall middle-aged Canadian actors

3. DEGREES OF COMPARISON
POSITIVE COMPARATIVE SUPERLATIVE
(superiority / inferiority)
- er, - est Peter is taller than Jack. Peter is (not) the tallest in the
- one syllable adj Peter is tall. Pam is luckier than Jane. group.
- two syllable adj Pam is Pam is (not) the luckiest girl I
ending in -y lucky. know.

more, the most This is This is more difficult This is the most difficult problem.
less, the least difficult. than I thought.
- long adj. This is less difficult than This is the least difficult problem.
(adj. ending in -ed; I thought.
-ing; ous; -ful; -less)
! Some long adjectives can take either - er, - est or more, the most / less, the least:
able; clever; gentle; common; narrow; handsome; noble; simple; unkind; polite; pleasant;

4. COMPARATIVE OF EQUALITY
use as + adjective + as to show that something is the same or equal:
Jim is as tall as Peter. I am as worried as you are.
use not as/so + adjective + as to show that something is the same or equal:
Jim is not as tall as Peter. I am not as worried as you are.

5. INTENSIFICATION OF ADJECTIVES
For short adjectives: repeat the adjective in the positive degree:
He gets richer and richer every year.
For long adjectives : more and more + adj. or less and less + adj.
She is more and more beautiful every time I see her.
English is less and less difficult.

6. IRREGULAR ADJECTIVES
good better the best; old older the oldest;
far farther the farthest; elder the eldest;
further the furthest; little less the least;
bad worse the worst; much more the most;
ill worse the worst; many more the most;

7. ADJECTIVES OF LATIN ORIGIN form the comparative with to (not with than)!
superior to ; inferior to; senior to; junior to; exterior to; interior to
 THE ADJECTIVE HW / TEST

A. Fill in the blanks with the appropriate form of the adjectives in brackets.
1. It is __________ for John to play tennis than for his _________brother. (difficult, old)
2. Sibiu has __________ streets than Cluj-Napoca. (narrow)
3. Your attitude turned into the __________ outburst. (inexcusable)
4. The music is _________ than I thought and the wine is also a bit ______ (loud, strong)
5. Are the winds in Siberia __________ than in Alaska ? (icy)
6. Who is the __________ pupil at school? (hard-working)
7. I dont think these cakes are __________ than yours. (good)
8. This silk is __________ than that I bought a month ago. (soft)
9. Try to be a little __________ please. (calm)
10. The __________ the weather, the __________ the grass. (warm, yellow)
11. Amelia is the __________ of these nice girls. (slim)
12. Then the storm became even __________ (violent)
13. Bobby is the __________ boy in his class. (clever)
14. Hyde Park is __________ in winter than in autumn. (quiet)
15. Ann is __________ than Mary. (not enthusiastic)
16. This is the __________ view of all. (enchanting)
17. Please be __________ otherwise youll make the baby cry. (gentle)
18. This copy of the picture is __________ than the other ones. (exact)
19. You own the __________ stamp collection Ive ever seen. (complete)
20. Your country house is the __________ in the region. (attractive)
21. Her story was __________ than Rogers. (breathtaking)
22. Ive never met a __________ man than Benedict. (eccentric)
23. They are as __________ of him as he is of them. (afraid)
24. Peters story was the __________ of all. (not exciting)
25. She gave a __________ description of the events than I expected. (interesting)

B. Fill in the blanks with the right form of the adjective:

1. George is _________________________ than Tom. (+ sincere)
2. My sister is _________________________ as my mother. (= generous)
3. Their grandfather is the _________________________ person I know. (+ calm)
4. Sometimes people are _______________________than we expect. (- tolerant)
5. Jane is the _________________________in our group. (- honest)
6. This is not _________________________ it seems. (= stupid)
7. Jack wants to seem _________________________ than he really is. (+ brave)
8. When she is tired she is not ___________________ as when she is fresh. (- talkative)
9. My neighbours dog is not the ___________________ creature on Earth. (+ friendly)
10. This toy is not at all ______________________ than the toy I got last year. (- funny)
11. He is _________________________ than his desk mate. (+ smart)
12. Today she feels _________________________than yesterday. (+ ill)
13. I am the ____________person in the world when somebody wakes me up. (+ angry)
14. I am _________________________ one can be in my situation. (= forgiving)
15. Of course he is _________________________ than me. It is his car, not mine. (+ nervous)
16. This is the _________________________winter we ever had. (+ cold)
17. The _________________________ criminals are put separately in prison. (+ impulsive)
18. He is _________________________ than I could have ever imagined. (+ rude)
19. The cat was _________________________ to me than I expected. (- hostile)
20. My mother-in-law is the _________________________person in the family. (+ bossy)