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الأربعاء، 25 فبراير 2015

English Grammar: Adjectives

GRAMMAR
Adjectives
Forms
Adjectives are generally invariable in English and do not agree with nouns in number and gender; nor do they take case endings:
• a blue car
• the great outdoors
• a group of young women
However, a few adjectives have a connotation which is slightly masculine or feminine. Thus, one says that a woman is beautiful while a man would be called handsome.
Adjectives indicating religion or nationality (or a region, state or province) generally begin with a capital letter, whether they refer to people or objects:
• She is an American student.
• They go to a Catholic school.
• They enjoy Breton music.
Usage:
In a noun cluster an adjective will be placed, with very few exceptions, in front of the noun it modifies. When two adjectives precede a noun, they can be connected by a comma (,) or by the conjunction" and." In a series of three or more adjectives, one usually uses "and" before the last adjective in the list.
Examples:
• I like short novels.
• That fellow will be a competent worker.
• She writes long and flowery letters.
• He works long, hard hours.
• She had a mean, old and overbearing step-mother.
An adjective may follow the noun when it is in a predicate (after the verb) or in a relative clause. (In relative clauses the relative pronoun may be implicit.)
Examples:
• He was a man (who was) always happy to help others.
• She is a woman (who is) true to herself.
• They were entirely satisfied.
Where should I put adjectives?
Where should I put my adjectives? When you use several adjectives, please use he following order to build your sentence. Please note that sentences containing 4 (or more!) adjectives are very awkward and should be split into several sentences.
1- Opinion
 an interesting movie, an exciting journey
2- Dimension
 a large house, a big car
3- Age
 an old boat, a young boy
4- Shape
an oval carpet, a round table
5- Colour
 a grey raincoat, a green door
6- Origin
 French bread, a Japanese town
7-Material 
a plastic bottle, a wooden treasure
EXAMPLES:
A wonderful old Italian clock. (opinion - age - origin)
A big square blue box. (dimension - shape - colour)
A disgusting pink plastic ornament. (opinion - colour - material)
Some slim new French trousers. (dimension - age - origin)

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