Adjectives

we use a noun in front of another noun, we never put adjectives between them. We put any adjectives in front of the first noun.

e.g. He works in the French film industry.

He receives a large weekly cash payment.


6. When we use two adjectives as the complement of a link verb, we use a conjunction such as ‘and’ to link them. With three or more adjectives, we link the last two with a conjunction, and put commas after the others.

e.g. The day was hot and dusty.

The room was large but square.

The house was old, damp and smelly.

We felt hot, tired and thirsty.


Adjectives with prepositions.


1. When we use an adjective after a link verb, we can often use the adjective on its own or followed by a prepositional phrase.

e.g. He was afraid.

He was afraid of his enemies.


2. Some adjectives cannot be used alone after a link verb. If they are followed by a prepositional phrase, it must have a particular preposition:


aware of
accustomed to

unaware of
unaccustomed to

fond of
used to


e.g. I've always been terribly fond of you.

He is unaccustomed to the heat.


3. Some adjectives can be used alone, or followed by a particular preposition.

  • used alone, or with ‘of ’ to specify the cause of a feeling


afraid
ashamed
convinced

critical
envious
frightened

jealous
proud
scared

suspicious
terrified
tired


They may feel jealous of your success.

I was terrified of her.


  • used alone, or with ‘of ’ to specify the person who has a quality


brave
careless
clever
generous

good
intelligent
kind
nice

polite
sensible
silly
stupid

thoughtful
unkind
unreasonable
wrong


That was clever of you!

I turned the job down, which was stupid of me.


  • used alone or with ‘to’, usually referring to:


similarity: close equal identical related similar
marriage: married engaged
loyalty: dedicated devoted loyal
rank: junior senior


e.g.My problems are very similar to yours.

He was dedicated to his job.


  • used alone, or followed by 'with' to specify the cause of a feeling


bored
content

displeased
dissatisfied

impatient
impressed

pleased
satisfied


e.g. I could never be bored with football.

He was pleased with her.


  • used alone or with ‘at’, usually referring to:


strong reactions: amazed astonished shocked surprised
ability: bad excellent good hopeless useless


e.g. He was shocked at the hatred they had shown.

She had always been good at languages.


  • used alone, or with ‘for’ to specify the person or thing that quality relates to


common
difficult
easy

essential
important
necessary

possible
unnecessary

unusual
usual


e.g. It's difficult for young people on their own.

It was unusual for them to go away at the weekend.


4. Some adjectives can be used alone, or used with different prepositions.

  • used alone, with an impersonal subject and ‘of ’ and the subject of the action, or with a personal subject and ‘to’ and the object of the action


cruel
friendly
generous

good
kind
mean

nasty
nice
polite

rude
unfriendly
unkind


e.g. It was rude of him to leave so suddenly.

She was rude to him for no reason.


  • used alone, with ‘about’ to specify a thing or ‘with’ to specify a person


angry
annoyed

delighted
disappointed

fed up
furious

happy
upset

e.g. She was still angry about the result.

They're getting pretty fed up with him.


Adjectives with ‘to’-infinitive or ‘that’-clauses

  1. After link verbs, we often use adjectives that describe how someone feels about an action or situation. With some adjectives, we can add a ‘to’-infinitive clause or a ‘that’-clause to say what the action or situation is.


afraid
anxious
ashamed

disappointed
frightened
glad

happy
pleased
proud

sad
surprised
unhappy


If the subject is the same in both clauses, we usually use a ‘to’-infinitive clause. If the subject is different, we must use a ‘that’-clause.

e.g. I was happy to see them again.

He was happy that they were coming to the party.


We often use a ‘to’-infinitive clause when talking about future time in relation to the main clause.

e.g. I am afraid to go home.

He was anxious to leave before it got dark.


We often use a ‘that’-clause when talking about present or past time in relation to the main clause.

e.g. He was anxious that the passport was missing.

They were afraid that I might have talked to the police.


2. We often use ‘sorry’ with a ‘that’-clause. Note that ‘that’ is often omitted.

e.g. I'm very sorry that I can't join you.

I'm sorry I'm so late.


3. Some adjectives are not usually used alone, but have a ‘to’-infinitive clause after them to say what action or situation the adjective relates to.


able
apt
bound

due
inclined
liable

likely
prepared
ready

unlikely
unwilling
willing


e.g. They were unable to help her.

They were not likely to forget it.

I am willing to try.

I'm prepared to say I was wrong.


4. When we want to express an opinion about someone or something, we often use an adjective followed by a ‘to’-infinitive clause.


difficult easy impossible possible right wrong

e.g. She had been easy to deceive.

The windows will be almost impossible to open.

Am I wrong to stay here?


5. With some adjectives, we use a ‘that’-clause to express an opinion about someone or something.


awful
bad
essential

extraordinary
funny
good

important
interesting
obvious

sad
true


e.g. I was sad that people had reacted in this way.

. It is extraordinary that we should ever have met!


6. We can also use adjectives with ‘to’-infinitive clauses after ‘it’ as the impersonal subject. We use the preposition ‘of ’ or ‘for’ to indicate the person or thing that the adjective relates to.

e.g. It was easy to find the path.

It was good of John to help me.

It was difficult for her to find a job.


Adjectives ending in ‘-ing’ or ‘-ed’

  1. We use many ‘-ing’ adjectives to describe the effect that something has on our feelings, or on the feelings of people in general. For example, if we talk about 'a surprising number', we mean that the number surprises us.


alarming
amazing
annoying
astonishing
boring

charming
confusing
convincing
depressing
disappointing

embarrassing
exciting
frightening
interesting
shocking

surprising
terrifying
tiring
welcoming
worrying


e.g. He lives in a charming house just outside the town.

She always has a warm welcoming smile.


  1. We use some ‘-ing’ adjectives to describe something that continues over a period of time.


ageing
booming

decreasing
dying

existing
increasing

living
remaining


e.g. Britain is an ageing society.

Increasing prices are making food very expensive.


  1. Many ‘-ed’ adjectives describe people's feelings. They have the same form as the past participle of a transitive verb and have a passive meaning. For example, ‘a frightened person’ is a person who has been frightened by something.


alarmed
amused
astonished
bored

delighted
depressed
disappointed
excited

frightened
interested
satisfied
shocked

surprised
tired
troubled
worried


e.g. She looks alarmed about something.

A bored student complained to his teacher.

She had big blue frightened eyes.

Note that the past participles of irregular verbs do not end in ‘-ed’, but can be used as adjectives.

e.g. The bird had a broken wing.

His coat was dirty and torn.


4. Like other adjectives, ‘-ing’ and ‘-ed’ adjectives can be:

  • used in front of a noun

They still show amazing loyalty to their parents.

This is the most terrifying tale ever written.

I was thanked by the satisfied customer.

The worried authorities cancelled the match.

  • used after link verbs

It's amazing what they can do.

The present situation is terrifying.

He felt satisfied with all the work he had done.

My husband was worried.

  • modified by adverbials such as ‘quite‘, ‘really‘, and ‘very’

The film was quite boring.

There is nothing very surprising in this.

She was quite astonished at his behaviour.

He was a very disappointed young man.

  • used in the comparative and superlative

His argument was more convincing than mine.

He became even more depressed after she died.

This is one of the most boring books I've ever read.

She was the most interested in going to the cinema.


5. A small number of ‘-ed‘ adjectives are normally only used after link verbs such as ‘be‘, ‘become‘, or ‘feel‘. They are related to transitive verbs, and are often followed by a prepositional phrase, a ‘to‘-infinitive clause, or a ‘that‘-clause.


convinced
delighted
finished

interested
involved
pleased

prepared
scared
thrilled

tired
touched
worried


e.g. The Brazilians are pleased with the results.

He was always prepared to account for his actions.

She was scared that they would find her.

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