The Order of Adjectives
opinion (how good?) |
size (how big?) |
shape |
age (how old?) |
colour |
origin (where from) |
material (made of?) |
purpose or type (what kind?) |
noun |
nice |
big |
round |
old |
blue |
French |
glass |
fruit |
bowl |
When there are 2 colour adjectives, we use “AND”: a black and white dress but a long black dress
We say: the first two days, the next few weeks
We use adjectives after BE/GET/BECOME/SEEM:
Be careful! I’m tired and getting hungry. It’s getting dark. Your friend seems tired.
Adjectives after: SEEM, LOOK, FEEL, SOUND, TASTE, SMELL
You look tired. She sounds tired. This tea tastes a bit strange. I feel nice.
After other verbs ADVERBS are used (how?): Drive carefully! Susan plays the piano very well.
Put the adjectives in brackets in the correct order.
a beautiful table (wooden, round) __________________________________________
an unusual ring (gold) ___________________________________________________
a new pullover (nice) ___________________________________________________
a new pullover (green) __________________________________________________
an old house (beautiful) _________________________________________________
black gloves ( leather) __________________________________________________
an American film (old) __________________________________________________
a long face (thin) ______________________________________________________
big clouds (black) _____________________________________________________
a sunny day (lovely) ___________________________________________________
a wide avenue (long) ___________________________________________________
a metal box (black/small) _______________________________________________
a big cat (fat/black) ____________________________________________________
a little village (old/lovely) _______________________________________________
long hair (black/beautiful) _______________________________________________
an old painting (interesting/French) _______________________________________
an enormous umbrella (red/yellow) _______________________________________
Put the adjectives into the correct place. Note: When there are 2 or more adjectives of the same type, the more general adjective goes before the more specific one.
I love ice-cream ( strawberry, Italian, tasty) – I love tasty Italian strawberry ice cream (opinion, origin, material)
They have a sofa ( leather, navy-blue, modern)
He loves his bike (new, red, expensive, mountain)
She has a voice ( lovely, singing, pure)
He’s just sold that suit to a woman ( beautiful, slim, tall, French, young)
She bought curtains ( brown and orange, dining-room)
She bakes cakes (chocolate, delicious, birthday, round)
June has a puppy ( tiny, brown, fluffy)
She was given a dress ( black, spectacular, Italian, evening)
He bought a racquet (tennis, graphite, new)
He has a grandfather (French, ninety-year-old, wonderful)
We watched a film ( boring, German, black and white)
She wears lipstick (pink, horrible, glossy)
We used to have a teacher (strict, old, biology, American)
It was a dress ( wedding, antique, cream, stunning, lace)
Yesterday we went to the club ( huge, sports, modern)
Mary has a job (sales, demanding, new)
The house has a kitchen (large, well-equipped, white, modern)
It was a pool ( marble, huge, white, shining)
He has a bag ( black, big, school)
I have rarely seen such a film ( American, well-made, detective)
Write the following in another way using the first…/the next… the last …
the first day and the second day of the course the first two days of the course
next week and the week later ________________________________________
yesterday and the day before yesterday ________________________________
the first week and the second week ___________________________________
tomorrow and a few days after that ___________________________________
questions 1,2, and 3 of the examination _______________________________
next year and the year after ________________________________________
the last day of our holiday and the two days before that___________________
Complete each sentence with a verb (in the correct form) and an adjective from the boxes.
Feel look seem smell taste
sound
Awful fine interesting nice
upset wet
Ann seemed upset this morning. Do you know what was wrong?
I can’t eat this. I’ve just tried it and it ____________________________________.
I wasn’t very well yesterday but I __________________________________today.
What beautiful flowers! They ______________________________________too.
You __________________________. Have you been out in the rain?
Jim was telling me about his new job. It _______________________quite___________________, much better
than his old job.
Choose the correct word.
This tea tastes a bit strange/strangely.
I always feel _____________________________________when the sun is shining (happy/happily).
The children were playing ____________________________________ in the garden (happy/happily).
The man became ___________________________________ when the manager of the restaurant asked him to leave ( violent/violently).
You look ________________________________________! Are you all right? (terrible/terribly)
There’s no point in a doing a job if you don’t do it proper/properly.
Adjectives ending in –ing and – ed:
-ING |
- ED |
||
people |
things |
people |
things |
an interesting man |
an interesting film |
He is interested in music |
- |
a boring person |
a boring film |
He is bored. |
- |
Note: Adjectives ending –ed have the same form as past participles. The –ed adjective tells us how a person feels: the worried patient, a classroom of bored students
Adjectives ending –ing have the same form as the present participle. The –ing tells us about the effect that smth. or someone has on our feelings: a boring teacher, a disappointing film
Complete the sentences for each situation. Choose the correct ending: -ED or –ING.
The film wasn’t as good as we had expected.
The film was disapoint___.
We were disapoint___ with the film.
Diana teaches young children. It’s a very hard job but she enjoys it.
She enjoys her job but it’s often exhaust____.
At the end of a day’s work she is often exhaust___.
It’s been raining all day. I hate this weather.
This weather is depress____.
This weather makes me depress____.
Clare is going to the United States next month. She has never been there before.
It will be an excit___ experience for her.
Going to new places is always excit____.
She is really excit____ about going to the United States.
Choose the correct word.
I was disappointing/disappointed with the film. I had expected it to be better.
Are you interesting/interested in football?
The football match was quite exciting/excited. I enjoyed it.
It’s sometimes embarrassing/embarrassed when you have to ask people for money.
Do you easily get embarrassing/embarrassed?
I had never expected her to get the job. I was really amazing/amazed when I was offered it.
She has really learnt very fast. She has made astonishing/astonished progress.
I didn’t find the situation funny. I was not amusing/amused.
It was a really terrifying/terrified experience. Afterwards everybody was very shocking/shocked.
Why do you always look so boring/bored? Is your life really so boring/bored?
He’s one of the most boring/bored people I’ve ever met. He never stops talking and he never says anything interesting/interested.
Attorney general генеральный прокурор
Notary public государственный нотариус
Court marshal военный трибунал
Secretary general генеральный секретарь
President elect вновь избранный президент
SO and SUCH
-
SO is used
SUCH is used
Before an adjective
She is so babyish.
I’m so hungry that I could eat a horse.
Before an adverb
He spoke so quickly that I couldn’t understand him.
Before a noun
She is such a baby.
Before an adjective + noun
It was such a comfortable bed that I went straight to sleep.
Put in SUCH or SO.
The weather was ____________ cold that all the football matches were cancelled.
It was ___________ hot weather that nobody could do any work.
It was ___________good film that I went to see it three times.
The book was ___________ boring that I stopped reading it.
They’ve got______________ a nice house that I always love staying there.
And their garden is ___________ beautiful.
His voice is ____________ pleasant that I could listen to him all day.
I don’t know why she talks in _________a loud voice.
Complete the sentences , using expressions with SUCH and SO.
It was __________ that I couldn’t see my hand in front of my face.
The canteen served _________ food that nobody could eat it.
It was _________ car that the police couldn’t catch it.
The case was __________ that nobody could lift it.
It was __________ lecture that I couldn’t keep my eyes open.
This language is __________ that foreigners can’t learn it.
He was ___________ person that everybody liked him.
It was _____________ that I went to sleep standing up.
I wish my _____________ wasn’t/weren’t _________________.
I wish I hadn’t got _________________.
Certain adjectives can be used metaphorically: silky skin (soft and smooth like a silk), but a silk dress (a dress made of silk), stony look (disapproving look) but a stone wall (a wall made of stone). Golden eagle ( a bird with gold-brown feathers), but a gold ring ( a ring made of gold), feathery snowflakes ( soft and delicate like feathers), but a feather pillow ( a pillow containing feathers), metallic paint ( paint which looks like metal) but metal-rimmed spectacles ( glasses with a rim made of metal), leathery meat ( too firm and difficult to cut) but a leather coat ( a coat made of leather), a leaden sky (dark sky, the colour of lead) but lead pipes (pipes made of lead), a steely character (a hard, strong unkind character) but a steel-plated tank ( a vehicle with a steel covering).
Choose the correct adjective.
A gold/golden eagle glided gracefully across the sky.
She ruined her silk/silky suit
We had to climb over a low stone/stony wall.
He approached the task with steel/steely determination.
Leathery/leather coats never seem to go out of fashion.
This plant has soft feathery/feather leaves.
The manager’s stone/stony expression showed that all was not well.
She was given an expensive gold/golden watch for her twenty-first birthday.
Some adjectives can be used with the as nouns to talk about groups of people in general:
The blind, the deaf, the disabled, the elderly, the homeless, the hungry, the living, the middle-aged, the old, the poor, the rich, the sick, the strong, the unemployed, the weak, etc.
Cf: Disabled people need help and understanding. The disabled need help and understanding.
Fill in ‘ the’ where necessary.
He takes ___ disabled children in his area riding on Friday morning.
When the government decided to raise taxes ___ rich people were unhappy and ___ poor were devastated.
Christmas can be a very sad time for ___ lonely people and ___ homeless.
We were relieved to hear that all ___ injured were recovered from the wreckage before the plane exploded.
___ survivors carried ___ injured people to the ambulances.
___ deaf communicate by using sign language.