Adjective

Rules

	Example
1. Adjectives are invariable: They do not change their form depending on the gender or number of the noun.	A hot potato Some hot potatoes
2. To emphasise or strengthen the meaning of an adjective use 'very' or 'really':	A very hot potato Some really hot potatoes.

Position of adjectives

a) Usually in front of a noun:	A beautiful girl.
b) After verbs like "to be", "to seem" , "to look", "to taste":	The girl is beautiful You look tired This meat tastes funny.
c) After the noun: in some fixed expressions:	The Princess Royal The President elect a court martial
d) After the noun with the adjectives involved, present, concerned:	I want to see the people involved/concerned (= the people who have something to do with the matter) Here is a list of the people present (= the people who were in the building or at the meeting)

Be careful! When these adjectives are used before the noun they have a different meaning:

• An involved discussion = detailed, complex
• A concerned father = worried, anxious
• The present situation = current, happening now

Function of Adjectives

Function	Examples
Describe feelings or qualities:	He is a lonely man They are honest people
Give nationality or origin:	Pierre is French This clock is German Our house is Victorian
Tell more about a thing's characteristics:	A wooden table. The knife is sharp.
Tell us about age:	He's young man My coat is very old
Tell us about size and measurement:	John tall man. This is a very long film.
Tell us about colour:	Paul wore a red shirt. The sunset was crimson and gold.
Tell us about material/what something is made of:	It was a wooden table She wore a cotton dress
Tell us about shape:	A rectangular box A square envelope
Express a judgement or a value:	A fantastic film Grammar is boring.

Order of Adjectives

Rules

Where a number of adjectives are used together, the order depends on the function of the adjective. The usual order is:
Value/opinion, Size, Age/Temperature, Shape, Colour, Origin, Material

Value/opinion	delicious, lovely, charming
Size	small, huge, tiny
Age/Temperature	old, hot, young
Shape	round, square, rectangular
Colour	red, blonde, black
Origin	Swedish, Victorian, Chinese
Material	plastic, wooden, silver

Examples:

• a lovely old red post-box
• some small round plastic tables
• some charming small silver ornaments

COMPARISON OF ADJECTIVES

COMPARISONS OF QUANTITY

To show difference: more, less, fewer + than

Examples:

With countable nouns: more / fewer

• Eloise has more children than Chantal.
• Chantal has fewer children than Eloise.
• There are fewer dogs in Cardiff than in Bristol
• I have visited fewer countries than my friend has.
• He has read fewer books than she has.

With uncountable nouns: more / less

• Eloise has more money than Chantal.
• Chantal has less money than Eloise.
• I spend less time on homework than you do.
• Cats drink less water than dogs.
• This new dictionary gives more information than the old one.

So, the rule is:

MORE + nouns that are countable or uncountable
FEWER + countable nouns
LESS + uncountable nouns

To show no difference: as much as , as many as, as few as, as little as

• as many as / as few as + countable nouns
• as much as / as little as + uncountable nouns

Examples:

With countable nouns:

• They have as many children as us.
• We have as many customers as them.
• Tom has as few books as Jane.
• There are as few houses in his village as in mine.
• You know as many people as I do.
• I have visited the States as many times as he has.

With uncountable nouns:

• John eats as much food as Peter.
• Jim has as little food as Sam.
• You've heard as much news as I have.
• He's had as much success as his brother has.
• They've got as little water as we have.

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