Adjectives modify nouns in a sentence and can be used in two roles: predicate and attributive. English has a set of adjectives, but not all languages use them. Adjectives have a correct order and can be modified by adverbs. Some languages use verbs or nouns as adjectives.
An adjective is a word that acts to modify a noun in a sentence. While adjectives play an important role in many languages, such as English, many other languages have no adjectives. In English the set of adjectives is fairly well understood, although some people include other parts of speech – such as articles such as – in the adjective class.
There are two main roles that an adjective can take on in a sentence, and with a few exceptions, every adjective is able to take on both roles with equal ease. The first role is to act as a predicate adjective, where the adjective modifies a previous noun as a predicate, linked by a verb. An example of a predicative adjective can be found in the sentence:
A zebra is striped.
in which the striped adjective is linked to the subject of the sentence, zebra, through the use of the copula verb to be in the form is.
The second role an adjective can take is that of an attributive adjective, in which it modifies a noun by being directly attached to the noun as part of the noun phrase. An example of an attributive adjective can be seen in the sentence:
The striped zebra hopped.
where the striped adjective is directly connected to the subject of the sentence, zebra. In English, most attributive adjectives precede the noun they are going to modify, while in many Romance languages the adjective comes after the noun. So while in English we could say The beautiful woman. in French we would say Le femme jolie. which can be literally translated as The beautiful woman.
While most adjectives in English can just as easily be used in an attributive or predicative sense, there are a few that are limited to one role or another. For example, the adjective sun can only be used grammatically as an attributive adjective, as can be seen in the sentence:
This is the only survivor.
On the other hand, trying to use the adjective sun in the predicative role would result in the sentence being ungrammatical:
This survivor is the only one.
Other English adjectives, such as alone, can only be used as a predicative adjective, while attempts to use them attributively result in ungrammatical sentences.
Adjectives can be modified by adverbs or adverbial clauses, but not by other adjectives. Many adjectives, however, can be easily translated into corresponding adverbs by simply adding the ending -ly. This can be seen in pairs like fast/fast and happy/happy.
In English and many other languages, adjectives also have a correct and incorrect order, depending on the type of adjectives used. Most native speakers learn this order instinctively, and related mistakes are one of the most obvious signs of a non-native speaker. For example, by using the adjectives red, little, and two with noun books, most native English speakers would intuitively order the adjectives to form the sentence The two little red books. To non-native speakers, however, it might seem just as intuitive to say The Two Little Red Books. or even The two little red books. both of which are immediately obvious as incorrect to a native English speaker.
As mentioned above, not all languages use adjectives; some use other parts of speech to fill this role instead. Many Native American languages, for example, use verbs to fill the role adjectives play in English, so that rather than The Woman is short. we are faced with something like The woman is short-circuited. Languages that use nouns as adjectives are often more understandable to English speakers, as our sentence formations can easily allow for metaphorical description using nouns alone, with a verb perhaps to spice it up, such as The Sun Was a Burning Hell. instead of The sun was hot. English also uses abstract nouns, for example to transform an important statement. in An import declaration.
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