§ 5. Note the following set phrases which contain the cora- parative or the superlative degree of an adjective:

a) a change for the better (for the worse) — перемена к луч- шему (к худшему), e.g. There seems to be a change for the better in your uncle. He had a very hearty dinner yesterday.

b) so much the better (the worse) — тем лучше (хуже),

e.g. If he will help us, so much the better.

If he doesn't work, so much the worse for him.

3. to be the worse for — делать что-то еще хуже, еще больше, e.g. He is rather the worse for drink.

3. none the worse for — хуже не станет (не стало) от ...,

e.g. You'll be non the worse for having her to help you. You are none the worse for the experience.

e) if the worst comes to the worst — в худшем случае,

e.g. If the worst comes to the worst, I can always go back home

to my parents.

f) to go from bad to worse — становиться все хуже и хуже, e.g. Things went from bad to worse in the family, g) as best — в полную меру старания, как только можно, e.g. He made a living as best he could.

h) at (the) best — в лучшем случае,

e.g. She cannot get away from her home for long. At (the) best she can stay with us for two days.

Substantivization in Adjectives

§ 6. Sometimes adjectives become substantivized. In this case they function as nouns in the sentence and are always preceded by

the definite article.

Substantivized adjectives may be of two kinds: 1) They may refer to a class of persons considered in a general sense. Such adjectives are plural in meaning and take a plural verb. e.g. The old (= old people) receive pensions.

To this group belong the following adjectives; a) some adjectives describing human condition or character, e.g. the blind, the brave, the dead, the deaf, the disabled, the eld- erly, the homeless, the injured, the living, the old, the poor, the rich, the sick, the unemployed, the wealthy, the wounded, the young, etc.

e.g. The young are always romantic, aren't they? The blind are taught trades in special schools, b) some adjectives denoting nationalities and ending in -{i)sh (e.g. British, Danish, English, Irish, Swedish, Turkish, Welsh), in -ch (e.g. Dutch, French) and in -ese (e.g. Chinese, Japanese, Por- tuguese) and the adjective Swiss. e.g. The English (== English people) are great lovers of tea.

The Japanese (=Japanese people) have achieved wonderful re- sults in electronics.

If we wish to indicate a single person or a number of persons, we must add a noun.

e.g. The old man receives a pension. The young men are fishing.

The Englishman could not understand a word of French. There were a few English people among the passengers.

2) They may refer to abstract notions. Then they are singular and take a singular verb.

e.g. The good in him overweighs the bad. He ventured into the unknown. Do you believe in the supernatural?

Syntactic Functions of Adjectives

§ 7. Adjectives may serve in the sentence as: 1) an attribute,

e.g. She had pleasant blue eyes and very long fair hair which she wore in neat plaits round her head.

Adjectives used attributively usually precede the noun imme- diately. Generally there is no pause between the adjective and the noun. Such attributes are called close attributes (see the examples above).

However, if an adjective does not so much give a permanent characteristic to its noun but rather refers to the temporary state, circumstance or condition under which what is said takes place, it becomes a loose attribute and may be placed in different positions in the sentence.

e.g. Nervous, the man opened the letter. The man, nervous, opened the letter. The man opened the letter, nervous.

The meaning of the above sentence can be interpreted as 'The man who was nervous, opened the letter*. Loose attributes tend to approach to the predicative function.

Here are more examples illustrating loose attributes:

e.g. Clever and tactful, George listened to my story with deep

concern. My father, happy and tired, kissed me good-night. 2) a predicative,

e.g. Her smile was almost professional. The sky was becoming violet. He was aware of what was going on in the office.

Adjectives used predicatively tend to refer to a temporary condition rather than to a permanent characteristic.

e.g. She is ill.

The child is asleep.

Note. Note the following sentence pattern which is commonly used to express all sorts of measurements.

e.g. The water was five feet deep.

The train was twenty minutes late. My watch is three minutes slow. He is thirty years old.

3) part of a compound verbal predicate,

e.g. He stood silent, with his back turned to the window. She lay motionless, as if she were asleep.

He rolled onto his back and stared up into the tree where lit- tle black cherries hung thick.

4) an objective predicative,

e.g. I thought him very intelligent.

She wore her hair short.

In this function adjectives sometimes express the result of the process denoted by the verb, e.g. The cat licked the saucer dry.

The powder washes the linen white.

He pushed the window open.

She made him happy.

The news turned his hair white.

5) a subjective predicative,

e.g. Her hair was dyed blonde. The door was closed tight. The vegetables were served raw, the way he liked.

6) an adverbial modifier,

e.g. When ripe, the apples are sweet.

Whether right or wrong, the man ought to be treated fairly- If possible, the child should be given the medicine three times a day.

As is seen from the above examples, adjectives used ad- verbially are all introduced by conjunctions. The phrases which the adjectives are parts of can be treated as elliptical adverbial

clauses.

e.g. When (it is) necessary, he can be taken to the doctor.

§ 8. Adjectives in the predicative function often require an ob- ject to complete their meaning. Objects to predicative adjectives can be expressed by nouns with prepositions (a), by infinitives (b), by ing-forms with or without a preposition (c) or by object clauses

e.g. a) I was not aware of his presence.

We were all very interested in the result of the experiment.

2. He was quick to understand what I meant. They were happy to hear the news.

3. She is busy packing- Basil was little used to being heard with respect and was

resentful at being reproached with his own words.

d) I was anxious that they should not miss the train. He was glad that I was going on a holiday.

2) Adjectives are often used to build up exclamatory sentences in which an adjective preceded by how is placed at the head of the sentence.

e.g. How charming your daughter is! How warm it is today!

Place of Adjectives in Attributive Phrases