Grammar Practice in Context - David Bolton, Noel Goodey 1997
74 The use and position of adjectives
Quick reference
• These adjectives aren’t usually used with a noun: afraid, alive, alone, apart, ashamed, asleep, awake, aware, glad, ill, pleased, ready, sure, unable, upset, well.
She’s upset. (not an upset person) He’s alone. (not an alone man)
• Some adjectives aren’t normally used alone after a verb. Some common ones are: countless, eventual, existing, indoor, main, maximum, neighbouring, occasional, only, outdoor, principal.
He lives in a neighbouring town. (not The town is neighbouring.)
• Some adjectives can be used as nouns. Here are some common ones: the disabled, the elderly, the English, etc. the handicapped, the homeless, the injured, the unemployed.
The unemployed find life difficult. (= unemployed people in general)
• ’Opinion’ adjectives (Lovely, interesting, pleasant, etc.) come before ’fact’ adjectives.
Jenny’s a nice young woman. (Jenny’s nice = an opinion; Jenny’s young = a fact)
• ’Fact’ adjectives usually go in this order.
• Two colour adjectives, and two adjectives used alone after a verb, are usually joined by and. She’s wearing a blue and green sweater. Claire’s always happy and friendly.
• With three adjectives used alone after a verb we usually put a comma after the first adjective, and and between the last two. Her parents are kind, warm and generous.
• We put the adjectives deep, high, long, old, tall, thick, wide after measurement nouns.
I’m nearly two metres tall. The river’s three metres deep. The tunnel’s two kilometres long.
1 Gerry Walsh is a nervous man and there are many things that worry him. Read the text and decide which sentence (A or B) is the correct one.
1 (A) The things he dislikes are countless. (B) There are countless things he dislikes ...
2 As a child he was very afraid of people. (A) Children who are afraid become unhappy adults. ...
(B) Afraid children become unhappy adults. ...
3 Gerry often feels upset himself, and (A) he feels uncomfortable with people who are upset.
(B) he feels uncomfortable with upset people. ...
4 (A) He doesn’t like visiting ill people in hospital. (B) He doesn’t like visiting people who are ill in hospital. ...
5 (A) He doesn’t like the idea of being alone when he’s an old man. (B) He doesn’t like the idea of being an alone old man. ...
6 (A) His fear of death is main. (B) His main fear is the fear of death. ...
2 Look at the sentences and, if the adjectives are in the right order, put a tick (/). If not, rewrite the adjectives in the correct order. Sometimes you will need to add and.
1 The children’s author Joel Pitts is a young good-looking man. ...
2 He’s got dark curly long hair. ...
3 He lives in an old 17th century farmhouse.
4 It’s three miles outside an old beautiful Devon village.
5 Joel’s got a well-paid interesting job.
6 He’s hardworking, successful.
7 His stories are short, amusing and memorable.
8 He works in a big square stone barn next to the farmhouse.
9 He drives an American old enormous car.
3 Look at the information in this holiday brochure and complete the sentences about the hotel. Put the adjectives in the correct order. Sometimes you will need to add and.
La Rocca Hotel: Sicilian * charming * family
Beach: sheltered * lovely * sandy
Cuisine: Sicilian * traditional * first-class
Swimming pool: palm-fringed * big * fresh-water
Walk from the town: 10-minute * short
Atmosphere: warm * friendly
Tennis court: floodlit * free of charge
Bedrooms: air-conditioned * spacious
1 La Rocca is ... hotel.
2 It’s a ... walk from the town.
3 The hotel stands above its own ... beach.
4 The atmosphere is ...
5 The restaurant offers ... cuisine.
6 The tennis court is ...
7 There’s a ... swimming pool.
8 There are 14 ... bedrooms.
4 Look at this plan for a new swimming pool, and write the five measurements.
1 The pool will be 25 metres long.
2 And it’ll be ...
3 The water at the deep end ...
4 The water at the shallow end ...
5 The diving board ...
5 Describe your house or flat. Use more than one adjective for each sentence. Put the adjectives in the correct order.
Examples: I’ve got a small modem well-equipped kitchen. The bathroom is painted green and white. There are two big comfortable chairs in the living-room.
Check your answers with a teacher.