THE ADJECTIVE

1. Change the adjectives below into their antonyms with the help of the following prefixes: up-, in-, (il-, im-, ir), non-, dis-, misable, academic, accurate, active, capable, changeable, competent, competitive, connected, consistent, dependent, developed, economical, efficient, employed, expensive, experienced, fair, formal, honest, interested, logical, official, pleasant, productive, profitable, qualified, resolute, satisfied, similar, skilled, understood, willing, welcome. 2. Complete the sentences using the adjective related to the noun or verb given in brackets: 1. Productivity can be defined as the ratio of (value) output to input. 2. To ensure high (organisation) productivity, creativity and innovation should permeate every job. 3. (Increase) productivity has a (benefit) impact on (economy) stability and on the (life) standard. 4. From an (individual) point of view, increased productivity is both psychologically and financially (reward). 5. (Skill) responsible management and (height) productivity are inseparable. 6. A manager, in addition to being technically (qualify), must be a (respect), people-oriented leader, (skill) in the techniques of (behaviour) science and sound business practice. 7. (Aid) by the rapid spread of (industry) robots, the (manufacture) industry has steadily become more effective and more (product). 8. Early to bed and early to rise makes you (health), (wealth) and wise. 3. Fill in the blanks distinguishing between: live lively alive living 1. We have debates during our seminars. 2. Our farm has had a record increase in stock and in wheat crops. 3. This is a broadcast, not a recording. 4. He thinks himself the greatest man 5. Increassed productivity leads to higher standards. economic economical 1. Productivity growth is the linchpin of the 1980s. 2. Electrical heating is no longer historic historical 1. Our presidents latest speech was a event for our company. 2. The group of tourists were shown the most important monuments. last latest latter 1. During our first Systems seminar of Monday, we talked about the developments in computer science. 2. Your record is excellent; we hope it wont be your 3. There were two suggestions for the weekend: seeing a film or going on a trip; of course we preferred the to the former. 4. Our teacher told us that the half of the course would be much more interesting.

credible creditable 1. Yours is a attempt and we will support it. 2. Her story is hardly human humane 1. Artificial intelligence will never replace the brain. 2. Be and people will love and respect you! 4. Use compound adjectives in the following sentences and make the necessary changes: Model: Those devices saved labour becomes: Those were labour-saving devices. 1. These new machines save brain work. 2. These tools process data. 3. Odoblejas work was neglected for a long time. 4. The rules of logic are built in the computer system. 5. COBOL is a computer language which is oriented towards business. 6. Many schools were keen to acquire software to handle information, like packages to process wards. 7. General learning programmes assisted by computers were also attracting a great deal of attention. 8. These students are brainy, but they work hard, too. 9. My sister is 20 years old, she has hazel eyes, auburn hair, a fair complexion, her small features are cleanly cut you wont fail to recognize her. 10. We need more effective methods of production in relationship to costs theres too much waste. 5. Choose the right indefinite adjective from the ones in the brackets. Sometimes both are right. 1. (Many, a large numer of) strikes are caused by bad management. 2. Is there (much, a great deal of) unemployment in Romania? 3. There are hardly (any, no) mistakes in the paper. 4. We went to only (one, other) party in (some, several) months, but we enjoyed (every, each) minute of it. 5. Is there (any, some) common thread linking statistics and accounting? 6. They expected us to come with (much, many) solutions, but we could think of (none, any). 7. Our teacher gave us (much, a lot of) advice from the beginning. 8. Ive got (few, a few) English books on management and I can lend you (some, any). Thank you, but I cant read (no, any) books in English since I know (no, any) English at all. 9. (Both, either) my room mates have won scholarships. 10. (Both, either) buses stop in front of the A.S.E., so you may take (any, either) bus. 6. Fill the blanks with the right quantitative adjective, according to the meaning. 1. There are words that I dont know and there is grammer problem that I havent studied. 2. Have you got so spare time? I thought you are snowed up in work. 3. Very ideas get farther than the inventor. 4. Have you seen good films recently? Yes, quite 5. Will you have tea? No, thank you, Ive drunk cups since morning. 6. Ther is too flour left for the cake; will you go and buy some? 7. We can do without things, but we cant do without water. 8. They think money is the source of happiness. 9. Quite of employees have gone on strike. 10. There are far weapons in the world.

7. Rewrite each sentence beginning as shown, so that the meaning stays the same. Use comparatives: 1. Dan is not as fast as Will. Will is 2. I have an older sister, Mary. Mary is 3. Silver is less valuable than gold. Gold is 4. This is the earliest train. There arent any 5. Thats the best price we can quote. We cant quote a; there is no 6. Bravo! Youve worked less chaotically than before. Bravo! Your work is 7. Do you agree that a Ford is safer, more economical and more comfortable than any other car? Do you agree that no other car is ? 8. If you run a lor, youll get fitter. The more 9. The e-mail seems to be the cheapest, the fastest and most reliable means of communication at present. There doesnt seem to be a Any other means of communication is 10. This story is by far the funniest most interesting at all. Ive never heard a All the other stories Ive heard are 8. Fill in the blanks with the right degree of comparison of the adjectives in the margin: a. The teacher asks the pupils about the effects of heat and cold. Heat makes things and cold makes things says Dan. Quite right, says the teacher. Can you give an example? long In the summer, when its hot the days are but in winter, when its short cold, the days are , answers Dan. big b. What is the word in English? small Smiles. It is a mile between its first and last letter. c. Which word becomes when you add a syllable to it? Short. 9. Use the adjectives in brackets in the right form of comparison, paying attention to the irregular forms: 1. She is (ill) than we thought; she fell ill on Wednesday and she was (ill) on Friday, when she was taken to hospital. 2. (Late) but not (little), there comes the maths exam. 3. Jim is a (little) boy; he is my (young) brother, much (young) than I am; actually I am (old) brother, 15 years (old) than Jin, so Im suppose to look after our (little) ones. 4. We worked on our project with no (little) single-mindedness than skill. 5. This is (good) book I have read for a long time. 6. They provided us with (far) information as agreed. 7. My (good) friends (late) novel was a (good) seller and it wont be his (late) one. 8. The (late) half of May was (rainy) than the first. 9. Mine is the (far) house fron the ASE and Pauls is the (near). 10. Upon (far) consideration they decided to answer the latter without delay. 11. Youd better get off at the (near) stop and ask where the (near) pharmacy is. 10. Use the double comparative of the adjectives in brackets for the Romanian din ce n ce mai: 1. Your English is getting (good). 2. Its becoming (important) to rely on our own experts. 3. We were so tired, that the top of the mountains seemed to be getting (far). 4. As buses are becoming (fast) we are growing (idle). 5. The idea of spending the summer at the seaside sounds (appealing). 6. (Great) attention is being paid to computer-assisted learning. 7. The students are growing (loud) and the noise (unbearable). 8. Computer modelling seems to be (exciting), (challenging). 9. Its becoming (plain) that we are growing (involved) in it.

11. Use the adjectives in brackets in the comparative form for the Romanian cu ct cu att: 1. The (hard) the task, the (great) the satisfaction. 2. The (funny) the stories, the (merry) we are. 3. The (little) time you spare for learning, the (little) satisfactory your studies and the (bad) result youll get. 4. The (fertile) the land, the (little) the amount of fertilizer given to it. 5. The (eager) the student, the (pertinent) the questions he asks. 6. The (high) the manufacturing costs, the (high) the selling price. 7. The (big) a business is, the (competitive) it is likely to be. 8. The (long) I have to wait for the results, the (impatient) I become. 12. Translate into Romanian paying attention to the use of adjectives: 1. Teacher: I wish you paid a little attention to my subject. Student: Well, I do. I pay as little attention to it as possible. 2. Student: I dont think I deserve a zero. Teacher: Neither do I, but its the lowest mark I am allowed to give. 3. English Poet: The poets of today put plenty of fire into their verses. Critic: The trouble with most of them is that they do not put enough of their verses into fire. 4. Father: Think of the future, my boy. Son: I cant. Its my best girls birthday and Ive got to think of the present. 5. An Epitaph: Owen More Gone away Owin more Than we could pay. 13. The excepts below, taken from authentic presentations, are good examples of machine gunning (emphasizing a point through the enumeration and repetition of comparatives of superiority). Unfortunately they have been mixed up, so you will have to match the two parts 1-7 and a-g in order to make meaningful sentences. Then translate them into Romanian. a. faster, sleeker, smoother, classier, racier, roomier and betterlooking than anything else on the market 2. The home computer industry is likely b. more competitive, more creative, more to be even responsive, non customerconscious and more marketdriven than any of our competitors. 3. The Middle Eastern market is probably c. more motivated, more productive, more profitable, more efficient, more quality conscious and generally more successful than ever. 4. The new cabriolet is d. Bigger, better, freer, fairer, more liberal and more lucrative than any other market. 5. As a company, were quite simply e. More technology driven, more cost conscious, more pricesensitive, more riskladen, more overcrowded and more volatile that it is today. 6. Our new sales manager seems to be f. better, brighter, more promising, more encouraging, more successful and more profitable then anyone would have thought possible a few years ago. 7. The future of tourism in Romania has g. younger, smarter, more efficient, more never looked experienced, better-qualified and more customerorientated than the previous one. 1. In terms of performance were

14. Match the types of adjectives in column A with the right adjective (s) in column B. The first one is done for you: 1 l, r. A. Type B. Adjective 1. taste, smell, etc a. silk b. blue 2. origin, place c. walking d. intusting 3. material e. dining room f. knitted 4. size, length g. young h. Scottish 5. colour i. round j. nice 6. purpose, use k. large l. sweet 7. opinion, attitude, quality m. stainless steel n. full-length 8. age o. Chinese p. exciting 9. emotion, personality q. narrow r. scented 10. shape, width s. expensive t. inquisitive 11. past participle 15. Study the order of the adjectives in the following examples and complete the table below with the missing types (see ex.14) in the order which appears to be most common; then fill in each column with the right adjectives from the examples. Add more adjectives in time. N.B.1. (subjective) opinion/attitude; adjectives usually come before all others 2. First, last usually come before numbers. 3. Avoid using more than three adjectives together. Some examples have been done for you. (see table).
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. a pretty blue wollen scarf a beautiful rectangular wooden table a magnificent handwoven Persian rug a large smelly half-eaten lump of cheese an excellent mature scottish whisky fabulous round mother-of-pearl beads old brown Spanish leather boots 8. the most recent custom-made Swiss wrist watch 9. the three-month money market rate 10. a brilliant second-year student 11. new hooded sweat-style jackets 12. fantastic brand-new menswear inspired office suits 13. my best long cream-coloured velvet evening-dress

ORDER OF ADJECTIVES BEFORE NOUNS

FACT / DESCRIPTION QUALITY, SUBJECTIVE OPINION ATTITUDE 1 1. pretty 2. . 3. . 4. . 5. . 6. fabulous 7. . 8. . 9. . 10. . 11. . 12. . 13. . S I Z E 2 3 QUALIFIERS SMELL TASTE Etc 4 ... 5 EMOTION, PERSONALITY .. 6 CLASSIFYING ORI USE GIN PURPOSE 8 .. 9 Woollen .. 10 NOUN

7 Blue

Scarf

round

Motherof-pearl

beads

16. Unscramble the following sentences, putting the adjectives in their right order (see ex.15, Table). Note that the first and last words are in their right place. 1. There was magnificent castle a mediaeval stone on the hill. 2. She carrying was shopping her striped bag canvas vegetables of a heavy on full arm. 3. She remarkably was a handsome young to introduced executive. 4. He wearing a jazzy smart business gray was with suit waistcoat. 5. They were a snazzy one-year old driving Ford. 6. Weve an exotic extremly oriental bought just carpet. 7. I a red received fragrant gorgeous rose. 8. Were attractive looking for an blue-and-white flower pot. 9. The latest museum of the marble acquisition little Roman brownish this is statue. 10. They the American prefer hard-sell aggressive strategy. 17. Adjective special cases I There are some adjectives that change the meaning of the sentence if they come before or after the noun. Study the pairs of sentences below and match the adjectives underlined with the corresponding synonym or explanation from the list following the exercise. The first one is done for you: 1. a. Jane is a very responsible person; you can rely on her to finish every asignment in due time. b. The person responsible for the damage of goods in transit will be indicted. 2. a. The concerned parents took their child to the doctor. b. The parents concerned have made an appointment with the headmaster. 3. a. That was a long and involved explanation. b. Luckily, non of the people involved in the accident suffered any injuries. 4. a. The present members of the Board are all in favour of a major change in the Sales Policy. b. All the members present at the meeting voted for the flexitime scheme. 5. a. In this particular instance, Im afraid you are wrong. b. Our english teacher is most particular about the way we communicate. 6. a. You always have a ready answer, b. but are you ready with the business plan? 7. a. Why are you always late? b. We are here today to honour the memory of the late C.E.O. 8. a. As Chairman of the Board, he made an outstanding contribution to the success of the cmpany. b. There are five bills outstanding. 9. a. The person youre looking for is in the shop directly opposite. b. They went off in the opposite direction. 10. a. Snowdons a proper mountain, not a hill b. After a long walk through the foothills we reached the base of the mountain proper. across from; facing = 9a real, genuine = reliable, trustworthy = liable/accountable for; in control of = complicated = connected / having to do with = current = unpaid = actually at / attending the meeting = the central / main part of smth = worried, anxious = remarkable = demanding, stringent = quick, spontaneous = this, but no other = prepared, waiting = not punctual = dead = to whom this applies = contrasting with each other, contrary =

18. Attributive adjective position - Special cases II Fill in the blanks with the adjectives listed on the right; they may fit more than once. Note that some subclasses of adjectives can be used only before the noun. e.g. intensifying (pure, mere, total etc) - restrictive (the only, the very etc) - former, present, old, little etc. and others only after the nouns e.g. past participles a. The reason for abandoning the project was a financial 1. former 2. joint one. 3. raised b. The chairman concluded an agreement to set up a 4. discussed 5. last venture with a German company. 6. elect 7. issued c. The issues at the conference were very pertinent. 8. involved d. Lets return to the point during our meeting. 9. maps 10. main e. The goods last week have been sent by air. 11. present f. A feature of the new line is its appeal to the youth market. 12. ordered g. Both the president and the secretary have had a press 13. general 14. pure conference. 15. present 16. only h. All security cards from this office must be countersigned 17. previous i. Its the solution all the people agreed on 19. Attributive and predicative position Use the following adjectives in pattern a (attributive) or pattern p (predicative), bearing in mind that some adjectives can be used only attributively (see exercise 18) and others only predicatively, such as: - asleep; - afraid, ajar; - well, ill etc. Model: 1. (a) floating A (a) leaf (p) afloat The ships still (p) Model: 2. (a) true A (a) scientist A scientist is 3. very The student The student is 4. asleep They are fast sleeping The partners do not participate in the day-to-day management. 5. utter destruction The destruction is 6. plain The truth. The truth is 7. mere He is a child. The child is 8. elder My brother is two years older than me. My brother is 9. hard He is a worker The worker is 10. alive Its a concert. living There seems to be no one live There are no beings in this area.

11. ill She fell and died. sick Doctors look after the people. 12. open They left the door ajar The door looked inviting. 13. afraid He is a man, he is frightened of everyone. 14. awake Theyre wide The people. 20. Adjective modification with adverbs A. Use the modifying adverbs from the box to intensify the meaning of the adjectives in the following conversations. High 1. A. It was a good year absolutely B. How good? completely A. good. As good as we could expect; sales were high. totally 2. A. There was a small fall in output in the first quarters of the year. fully B. How small? entirely extremely A. small only about 5 per cent. highly 3. A. The exhibition was successful very B. How successful? fairly A. successful; we met very many prospective customers. reasonably
quite moderately slightly a little

B. Rewrite the following descriptions of trends using nouns and adjectives (modified by intensifying adverbs): 1. In March the shares fell extremely dramatically becomes: In March there was a extremely dramatic fall in shares. 2. In April they recovered slightly. 3. In June they collapsed sharply. 4. In July they fell considerably. . 5. In August they recovered fairly steadily. 6. In September and October they continued to improve moderately slowly. .. 21. Position of noun modifiers and adjectives Which is correct? Choose the right phrase. 1. - the booming car European industry or - the booming European car industry 2. - the worlds biggest and most prestigious look fair - the worlds look biggest and most prestigious fair. 3. - a concrete cooperation proposal or - a cooperation concrete proposal

or

4. 5.

- the business modern scene - the modern business scene - a company interesting profile - an interesting company profile.

or or

22. Scale and limit adjectives Study the scale below, contouring hot and cold words: Limit words BOILING, SCALDING +++ hot ++ warm + Scale words tepid cool - cold - - Limit words FREEZING, GLACIAL ------a) Now, study the following lists of adjectives and build a scale similar to the one above: 1. affluent, broke, prosperous, penniless, well-to-do, rolling-in-money. Low paid, living from hand to mouth, comfortably off, in line straits, in the red, bankrupt. 2. big, broad, gigantic, extensive, immense, little, tiny, roomy, spacious, minute, vast, wide, tremendous, large, small. b) Build your own scale lists. 23. Modifying adverbs with scale and limit adjectives Correct the following sentences where necessary; remember that NOT all modifiers go with both scale and limit words. 1. John is an absolutely clever pupil. 2. You should wash pure wool in altogether tepid water. 3. You were utterly right, the play was utterly marvelous. 4. You are quite right, the task is quite impossible. 5. Although this exercise seems very impossible, Im sure it is terribly useful. Im absolutely pleased with the progress Ive made. 6. He was nearly amazed at his daughters progress. 24. Choose an emphasizing adjective from the box below to fill the gaps in the following postcards: absolute fascinating sheer blissful majestic special complete marvelous spectacular entire outright terrific excellent perfect true exceptional positive utter exuberant real pure 1. Dear Mary, Were having a holiday here at Swansea its bliss and we can finally have a rest. Weve spent the week on this beach! Love, Mihaela. 2. Dear Mary, What a holiday! And only because of Mihaela! Shes ruined what could have been a holiday! Shes an love; she talks and talks, even to strangers! And she tells lies. Wish you were here instead, Love, Ioana.

3. Dear Auntie, It was delight to read your letter and hear that you are much better after your operation. I gather it was a success, although the hospital food was ! Please come round any time you feel up to it. Itll be to see you again. Take care, Anna. 25. Adjectives or adverbs? Correct the sentences if necessary. 1. She smiled friendly and he laughed silly. 2. Martin seems happy but Tracy looks lonely. 3. They grew angrily when they saw the disaster. 4. Im taking the early flight to Paris so I can arrive early at the office. 5. He is a very bad worker, and he has been working too hardly lately. 6. So far this years energy costs have stayed fairly constant. 7. We feel very confident about our move into the U.S. market. 8. The contract we have negotiated sounds quite securely. 9. Our new policy of energy conservation has proved very economical. 10. The Directors grew anxious when the results were released. 11. I dont want to sound over-optimistic, but I am certain that we have an all-time winner with our new product. 26. Complementation of predicative adjectives I Fill in the blanks with the right preposition. 1. The Finance Manager is answerable the Finance Director. 2. Im due a rise soon. 3. We are confident success and pleased her promotion. 4. Im expert handling difficult customers. 5. Were satisfied the quarterly results. 6. We are all impatient delay. 7. Shes always been interested fiscal policy. 8. I am indebted my colleagues all their help. 9. Tom is rather eager success. 10. Students today are different students ten years ago. 27. Complementation of predicative adjectives II Match the two halves of following sentences so that they make sense: (there may be several combinations) a. to see me 1. You dont look happy b. for her to get a scholarship 2. Im pleased c. that she should get a scholarship 3. Im glad d. that you were able to came 4. Hes such a difficult person e. that she distrusted all of us 5. Were anxious f. to see you here g. for us to move fast 6. It was nice h. that we seem to agree 7. She made it clear i. to understand 8. It is important j. that we should 9. Its worth k. going to London if you have the time 10. Its surprising l. how John cant keep deadlines
m. seeing you.

28. Translate into English paying attention to the use of adjectives: 1. Mulumesc din suflet. Ai fost deosebit de amabil. 2. Cine a fost prima femeie care a cucerit Everestul? 3. Urmtorul la cuvnt este dl. Smith. 4. Proiectul a fost sortit eecului de la bun nceput, fiind costisitor, prost gndit i presupunnd un mare consum de timp i energie. 5. Cnd am promis c vom realiza un nou program pentru e-mail ne-am asumat o sarcin mult prea dificil. 6. Calculatorul urmrete orbete programul de instruciuni conceput de creierul uman, care este mult mai complex dect cel electronic. 7. Dac vrei s ajungei la cel mai apropiat magazin universal, cobori la prima staie; este chiar prima cldire de lng pia. 8. Mai avei i alte veti pentru noi? 9. Fratele meu mai mare, care este cu 5 ani mai mare dect mine, este director de ntreprindere. 10. Cel mai mic lucru pe care-l pot face pentru tine este s-i mprumut manualul meu pn data viitoare. 11. Ultimul aspect al problemei este mai puin important dect celelalte, aa c l poi omite. 12. Balana comercial nu este acelai lucru cu balana de pli. 13. La New York, chiria nu este att de mare ca la Londra. 14. Cu ct firma este mai mare, cu att este mai competitiv i mai puternic. 15. Am observat c, n ultimul timp, studenii sunt din ce n ce mai bine pregtii i mai hotri s se angajeze ct mai repede.