Questions tagged [adjectives]
Adjectives are just one of several different types of noun modifiers, typically used to premodify or describe a noun. Do not confuse adjectives with nouns used attributively to modify other nouns. Adjectives have comparative and superlative degrees, can be used as predicate adjectives in copulae, and can themselves be modified by intensifiers and adverbs but not by other adjectives. Nouns in attribution fail all those tests.
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“Out of” or “Outside” the box
For composition reasons and how it sound I would like to create a design called “creativity out of the box” but Im not sure if is correct or should be “outside”. Which one is correct?
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Is it sometimes grammatically correct to put a word like "visually" before an adjective-adverb combination like "more distinct"?
Could the following sentence be considered correct when comparing two or more subjects?
It's visually more distinct.
I'm aware that you can rewrite the sentence like this:
It's, visually, more ...
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Adjective referring to a Representative
We have gubernatorial for governors, senatorial for senators, mayoral for mayors; what is the adjective for “of or pertaining to a representative”? The word representational means something totally ...
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Is there any possible link between "soote" from Canterbury Tales to "sotto voce"? [closed]
See title above — possible entymological link between soote and sotto?
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3 free months or 3 months free [migrated]
Recently my dad and I got into a debate over a Spotify advert which said "Get 3 free months of Spotify Premium". My father said that it was incorrect and should be "3 months on Spotify ...
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Does "I saw a blue car and bus" mean "blue bus" or any coloured bus? [migrated]
Does this sentence "I saw a blue car and bus" mean "blue bus" or any coloured bus?
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Word to describe someone who is skilled at inspecting the inner qualities or state of another [duplicate]
Description
Hi, I'm looking for an adjective that can be used to describe someone who is skilled at easily identifying the thoughts, abilities, and perspectives of another.
The first sample sentence ...
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"In the flesh" for things
When we meet someone we have only heard about before, our impressions of them may be confirmed or be revised. We can say, after meeting them, that they are different in the flesh (i.e. compared to ...
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What is a word for someone who does things to forget about painful things?
For example, if someone lost a family member and decides that instead of crying they're gonna rub off their pain by playing basketball for 8 hours of their day.
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Every cubic inch of air seems 'accounted' for: verb or adjective?
The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language (Page 1440) has this subsection
Adjectival passives with the negative prefix un
We have noted that such examples as the following are unambiguously ...
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The correct negative form (past participle)
I've been searching the answer to my question wherever it is possible, but I haven't managed to get the strict rule (or guideline) for it.
As we know the negative form of the past participle is ...
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Why do people say a dog is 'harmless' but not 'harmful'?
I'm not asking if people consider dogs dangerous or not, I'm asking about how the words 'harmless' or 'harmful' are used.
Did the distinction on how the words are used arise at some point? One could ...
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Is it correct to write "feast luxurious" instead of "feast luxuriously"? [duplicate]
And much there is on which my ear and eye
Can feast luxurious.
The preceding sentence is a line from a sonnet by Michael Madhusudan Dutt (1824–1873).
Is it correct to write "feast luxurious"...
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Is it correct to use "now" as an alternative to (present) or (current), such as; my now wife, my now job? [closed]
Is it correct to use "now" as an alternative to (present) or (current), such as; my now wife, my now job?
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"Unrelentless" to mean "relentless"?
A native speaker commended someone for investigating something thoroughly, so they said "for your relentless investigating efforts", then they corrected themselves and said "...
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Which premodifier is correct: 'ethical' or 'ethics'?
The premodifiers 'ethics' and 'ethical' seem to be used interchangeably in the context of
'ethics review' / 'ethical review'
'ethics committee' / 'ethical committee'
'ethics approval' / 'ethical ...
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Disyllabic nouns that differ from their verbs only in which syllable is emphasised [closed]
Some English nouns are identical to their verbs (and their adjectives) both in spelling and pronunciation, for example:
"This is fake"; "to fake"; "this is a fake"
"...
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Can "and" be used between cumulative adjectives? Can the order be reversed? [closed]
I’m a little confused on cumulative adjectives. Everywhere I look, it says that you cannot put “and” between cumulative adjectives and the order cannot be reversed.
To me, it seems like you can put &...
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Which contexts warrant the use of prepositional phrases over stacked adjectives, and vice versa?
Are there good reasons to use, e.g., "customer relationship management solution" over "solution for customer relationship management"?
I understand that in certain contexts ...
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Question about English grammar [closed]
I was discussing with some friends about English grammar, and we ended up confused about the accuracy of the sentences below
"I know the motive for your rescheduling the class"
"I know ...
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Which one is better "all incurred expenses" or "all expenses incurred?" [duplicate]
I am writing this document for HR at work and wish to outline what our staff should do to get reimbursed. The sentence should be something along the lines of...
All incurred expenses/expenses ...
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Why do we say "narrow artificial intelligence" but "artificial general intelligence"?
When discussing artificial intelligence, we often distinguish between "narrow artificial intelligence" and "artificial general intelligence".
Why does the word "artificial&...
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What is it called when someone addresses you by addressing their dog? [closed]
A friend said something to their dog and it was meant for me. I told her that I am pretty sure that is passive aggressive, but don't think I am correct.
What is this called?
I attempted wording it ...
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A word that means "given to frequent censorship"?
I always assumed that the word censorious meant someone or something that is given to censorship. Like if you say that a community, an organization, or a person is overly-censorious, that means they ...
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Two dozens or two dozen [closed]
Is there any slight difference between these two?
She bought two dozens of eggs.
She bought two dozen eggs.
In an online course a tutor told that second one is more appropriate if both options come ...
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Stative verbs and adjectives/adverbs
Premise:
Verb 'want' is normally (?) stative
We use adverbs when we have an action verb and adjectives when the verb is stative
In sentence "I want it bad(ly)" we would use the adverb '...
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Of what chocolate-house does Swift write in "An Argument Against Abolishing Christianity"?
In An Argument Against Abolishing Christianity it is written:
Another advantage proposed by the abolishing of Christianity is the clear gain of one day in seven, which is now entirely lost, and ...
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Faced with vs faced by
I am faced with a problem.
I am faced by a problem.
What is the difference between these two sentences? Is there an agent when using “faced with” since it is a passive construction? Or is “faced with”...
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When an Adjective Is Used with “Kept” (and Possibly Other Participles?), Does It Become an Adverb? [duplicate]
In phrases with “kept” (and perhaps there are other participles that have the same effect?), such as:
He kept it secret.
It was kept hidden.
Do these (nominal) adjectives function effectively as ...
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Resounding positive vs resoundingly positive [closed]
When describing a situation where only positive feedback was received, which one is correct:
We received resoundingly positive feedback
We received resounding positive feedback
To my ears Nr 1. ...
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Adverb Nowhere/Anywhere/Somewhere
I understand that anywhere is an adverb in this sentence:
We couldn't go anywhere nice to eat.
However, I am a little confused about how nice to eat is explained.
nice and to eat both modify the ...
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Is the "stupid" in "Keep it simple, stupid" a form of address or a second adjective that you should "keep it"?
i.e. is the comma to signify the boundary between the instruction and the recipient of it (that is to say, "Hey, stupid! Keep it simple"), or is it serving the function of an "and" ...
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What is a word to describe a person that is too kind (in a negative way)? [duplicate]
I'm looking for a word to describe a person that is:
always trying to treat others nicely, kindly,
afraid of saying or doing something that makes others upset,
never say or think about what he/she ...
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How should I punctuate a phrasal adjective with additional adjective before the noun?
I am trying to discover the correct hyphenation and/or comma placement for the following sentence relating to honey bees:
When she hatches out of her egg, she is placed into a royal jelly filled ...
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What does Thoreau mean by "horizontal body" in this paragraph from "The Last Days of John Brown"? [closed]
In The Last Days of John Brown, Thoreau writes:
“He nothing common did or mean Upon that memorable scene, Nor called the gods with vulgar spite, To vindicate his helpless right; But bowed his comely ...
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What is the status of logically pointless adjectives and adverbs, such as chairy or chairly? [closed]
Adjectives and adverbs can be formed by adding "y" or "ly" to e.g. a noun, such as:
heart -> hearty, heartily
However, sometimes these words are not in use, or make no logical ...
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Functional vs. function
I often see "functional" used as an adjective in situations where I think that "function" would actually be the better choice.
Specifically, I am referring to translations of ...
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When an adjective is in front of a noun listed as part of a group, does the adjective also apply to the other nouns? [closed]
I will use an example to explain my question...
Transphobia is an irrational fear of, aversion to, or discrimination against transgender people.
In the above sentence, is the true definition that ...
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Why are some adjectives noncomaparable? [duplicate]
As far as I was taught and read in various places (examples: 1, 2), some adjectives in English are not comparable, which is that they don't have comparative and superlative forms. Why is that? I think ...
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Does this "eagerly active" make sense in this context? [closed]
I am not eagerly active on social media.
Is "eagerly" appropriate to use before an adjective, and does it make sense in the context of the above sentence?
I want to convey that I don't use ...
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Favorite new restaurant vs new favorite restaurant [closed]
This is my favorite new restaurant.
This is my new favorite restaurant.
Why is the meaning of these two different when you swap the adjectives?
Is it because favorite and new modify restaurant in the ...
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"You are no king" vs "You are not a king"
I watched a movie, the character said
You are no king.
I am thinking, why not say
You are not king,
You are not a king.
What's the difference?
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Can this past participle also be an adjective? [closed]
A recent word game used
which surprised me because they usually don't include conjugations of verbs, unless they are also adjectives, like e.g. "burnt". Can
be an adjective? The only ...
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Such + adj. only: Is that acceptable usage? Or should I use "so" only in these cases?
For the word "such", most sources say that it should be followed by a noun (phrase) but mention nothing about "such" + adj.
e.g.
Such confident of him! But can he pull that off?
...
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Adjective that explains a variable (e.g. curve in a diagram) is growing slightly exponential
I am writing some sentences describing the diagram below. From my perspective, the GDP resembles a bit like a curve (exponentially growing) rather than roughly a straight line.
Is there a particular ...
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Nominalized adjectives or nominalized adjective phrases?
Numerous adjectives can be combined with the. Examples include the poor, the limitless, the miraculous, etc. Such constructions are semantically equivalent to nouns. According to Wikipedia:
A ...
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Can the word "incredulous" be used to describe an unbelievable idea, instead of an unbelieving person?
The word incredulous is usually used to describe a person's unwillingness/inability to believe. But I would also like to use it to describe an idea's inability to be believed. For example, instead of ...
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Do the adverb and adjective together modify the noun? [closed]
The really good golfer is playing well.
I know really modifies good and good modifies golfer, but does the full phrase really good modify golfer?
The really big house is for sale.
Does the phrase ...
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Confused about compound nouns vs. adjectives
I was taught that "ball-point pen" = compound noun, but "ball-point" is NOT an adjective because it doesn't pass the primary tests for an adjective (has adjective-making morpheme, ...
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adjective vs adverb for a gerund
This sentence occurs in Wikipedia:
The method of voting can range from formal submission of written votes, through show of hands, voice voting or audience response systems, to informal noting which ...
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