The Communicative Grammar of English Workbook - Edward Woods, Rudy Coppieters 2002
6.1. Adjectives
Unit six. Adjectives
Sections 440-444
Here are four features of adjectives:
(i) Most adjectives can be used attributively (before nouns) and predicatively (as complements of linking verbs)
(ii) Most adjectives can be modified by degree adverbs
(iii) Most adjectives have comparative and superlative forms
(iv) Many adjectives are derived from nouns and can be recognized by their endings.
Task one **
Some of the adjectives in the following texts are used attributively, some are used predicatively. Arrange them in three groups according to whether they are normally used
(a) attributively only
(b) predicatively only
(c) both attributively and predicatively.
1. It is quite obvious, according to the medical profession, that vegetable oil should be one of the chief ingredients of a healthy diet.
2. Most people would consider Brian extremely lazy, but I think that’s sheer nonsense. The main thing about him is that he is a little clumsy at times and he is afraid to make an utter fool of himself.
3. Tomorrow will be a mainly bright day, with skies over Scotland becoming cloudier in the afternoon and perhaps the odd shower mixed in towards late evening.
4. Sandra had been feeling really ill for a week or so. Being a mere child, the girl feared she might be suffering from a deadly disease, but in the end she made a complete recovery and now she is alive and kicking again.
5. I thought Linda had already fallen asleep but in fact she was still wide awake, trying to come to terms with the shocking events of the day. The live pictures on TV had made it abundantly clear to her that the heinous crimes perpetrated by evil minds should not go unpunished.
Task two *
Underline in the above texts any degree adverbs premodifying an attributive or a predicative adjective.
Task three ***
State the difference in meaning between the two versions of the following sentences, using synonymous expressions or paraphrases.
1. Social workers had to counsel
(a) the concerned parents
(b) the parents concerned.
2. I want you to meet
(a) the present members of the board
(b) the members of the board present.
3. The bathroom is
(a) five square metres
(b) five metres square.
4. Several mathematicians offered to deal with
(a) the involved calculations
(b) the calculations involved.
5. (a) Everything is still in its proper place.
(b) Some Londoners do not live in London proper.
Task four ***
Determine whether the -ing and -ed forms in the following sentences are (a) adjectives or (b) participles, justifying your decision.
Examples: We were very pleased to be invited by the Lord Mayor.
→ (participial) adjective, cf premodifying degree adverb Although admired by many, the author does not give interviews.
→ (past) participle, cf the by-agent (= signals the passive).
1. I don’t want you worrying about me all the time.
2. We were rather amused to hear that Ms Upstart had been demoted.
3. I shall always be grateful to my truly devoted parents.
4. The story of the Holy Grail is still fascinating people all over the world.
5. I was terrified to go there and also very ashamed of myself.
6. The Little Mermaid turned out to be quite a moving film.
7. The signals coming from Brussels are encouraging.
8. If you’re that worried about your health, go and see a doctor.
9. You will be astonished by the detail and depth of our reports describing access to the site.
10. The purchase of new computer hardware is always a daunting task, with so many guides and experts bewildering us with technical jargon.
I was informed of Ms Dando’s murder by my mother, and was absolutely flabbergasted as to why 11. such a thing could happen.
12. The Education Secretary became incensed when he read the scathing criticism voiced by a number of headmasters in The Times.
Task five **
Restore the following extract to its original form by filling the blanks with one of the adjectives listed below. Each adjective should be used only once.
Alaska: Oil’s Ground Zero
If you want somebody to fly you over the ... peaks of the Brooks Range and drop you onto the ... tundra of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, Dirk Nickisch is your man. Dirk is a ... rodeo rider and crop-duster, a ... fellow with ... eyes and ... whiskers whom some in his home state of North Dakota have likened to a coyote. He meets clients at a gravel airstrip in a Gwich’in Indian village just south of the range. ... in ... pants and a baseball cap, he kicks the tires on his 1952 single-prop de Havilland Beaver, shoulders the ... rudder back and forth to be ... it’s still in ... order and tells you, if you ask him, that he reckons his Pratt & Whitney engine has been overhauled “a few times”. He doesn’t have much time for people who stand around asking questions without making themselves ..., however. So he rolls four ... barrels of fuel under the plane and puts you to work with a hose and a ... hand pump.
(from Newsweek, 13 August 2001, p. 38)