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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Is there a term for using adjectives as adverbs? [closed]
Consider sentences like these:
He doesn't take it serious.
She talks weird.
They looked at me odd.
Sentences like these, though nonstandard, seem to be common in informal speech. In formal writing, ...
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Labor-saving as an adjective [migrated]
Initiatives for labor-saving
This title doesn't sound strange to me. But "labor-saving" is an adjective, so why does the title sound strange if we substitute it for other adjectives? For ...
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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?
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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Is there a term that describes reducing a person's identity to certain characteristics?
Is there a term that describes reducing a person's identity to certain characteristics, behaviours or traits that are not physical? The term should have a negative connotation. I've heard the ...
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"one/two/three-car households" vs "single/dual/triple-car households" (attributive forms)
Which way is more natural when it comes to numbers of things that people have or own? For example, the numbers of cars owned by households:
The rate of single/dual/triple-car households is increasing....
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Adjective for the name 'Grothendieck'
Grothendieck was a major mathematician in the 20th century.
I would like to know how one can use his name to talk about the content of a study.
For example in French we would say
Hi all,
Études ...
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What are some pro-adjectives?
What are some pro-adjectives? That is, a pro-form that can substitute (satisfy the substitution test with) an adjectival phrase? A Google search brought up "such", but was otherwise ...
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What's the adjective for "register" in the linguistic sense?
What's the adjective for register in the linguistic sense (formal, informal, frozen, etc.)?
There is a ___________ difference between "how do you do" and "howdy".
I thought up ...
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Is "inauthentic" inauthentic?
"Inauthentic" is more commonly used than "unauthentic", at least these days, but they are both valid. Several sources (World Wide Words for example) suggest what prefix the ...
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What's a good word to describe someone who is prone to sudden changes of mood? [closed]
I'm looking for an adjective, preferably a kind of "fancy" one that I can use to describe a character who has frequent changes of mood, often in a very sudden or extreme way. It also causes ...
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Is post-hyphenation necessary in "I am a child and adult psychologist..."?
I am editing a bio for a non-writer who has written:
"I am a child and adult psychologist..."
This is awkward... it sounds like he's a child. How do I remedy this?
Is it something like: &...
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What is the usage of adjectives directly after a non-copular verb (phrase) called?
Sometimes adjectives can be placed directly after a non-copular verb or verb phrase:
We would swim naked every day.
They got married young.
He walked barefoot on the still charring coal.
In these ...
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Is the adverb 'just in time' still used adverbially when used in the sentence, "He is just in time?"
Can this phrase ever be used adjectivally other than in a hyphenated way such as,'a just-in-time system'?
(I ask because in another language which I am learning, "He came just in time." is ...
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How do I express the quality of being alien as a noun? [duplicate]
Alien can be a noun and an adjective. In this case, I am using it as an adjective. I am wondering how to express the quality of being alien as a noun (for example, happy expressed as a noun is ...
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Why do we say 'Harry Potter fan' but 'Harry Potter's biggest fan'
In the following constructions, why do we use an 's on the second option but not on the first one?
Harry Potter fan
Harry Potter's biggest fan
I cannot find any explanation for this anywhere online....
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Is "I wanted to have written something more round" correct? Or do I have to use "rounder"? Or is only well-rounded is acceptable?
Is "I wanted to have written something more round" correct? Or do I have to use "rounder"?
I think that I hear more people saying "This should be more round", than "...
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Is "shaping" an adjective in "has been truly shaping for"? [closed]
I'm writing this sentence:
Five years at X has been truly shaping for my professional life and development.
Is "shaping" here used correctly as an adjective?
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What is the correct way to exaggerate an adjective. With the word "more" before it, or with the ending -er? [duplicate]
Firstly, I wondered if they were interchangeable. Recently I have been reading older articles(Hamilton's Federalist Papers and what such) and have noticed an increasing use of -er at the end of words ...
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In the sentence, "They went to bed hungry," what type of adjective is "hungry?" [duplicate]
This question arises from a mistake I made in class. I incorrectly identified hungry as an adverb in the sentence below. I appreciate your wisdom.
Question: In the sentence, "They went to bed ...
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Passive or Adjective 'respected' [closed]
Is the following sentence passive or is 'respected' used an adjective?:
He is respected.
And how would one know the difference?
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"China balloon" vs "Chinese balloon"?
Is the phrase "China balloon" grammatically correct?
I was under the impression that it must be "Chinese balloon", but I see the former used in mainstream news such as the ...
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Can I describe myself as "self-teaching" instead of "self-taught"?
I am learning sculpting by myself and this is an ongoing process. So, I'm going to describe myself as a "self-teaching" rather than a "self-taught" sculptor, since it seems to me ...
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Is 'kickoff' an adjective?
It seems like 'kickoff' should be able to function as an adjective, like in the following sentence:
The kick-off event was a 90-minute lecture by Bill Gates.
However, I can't find any dictionaries ...
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Is there an adjective to describe an action that's done to fake being carefree?
I've thought about using nonchalant, insouciant, carefree, blithe, and so on, but they don't really communicate that the character does actually care about what they're doing, they're just pretending ...
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How confident is confident?
I'd always thought that "sure" and "certain" were close to synonymous, both meaning absence of doubt (with "certain" in a slightly higher register, and maybe a bit ...
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What's a word that means "once rich but now poor"?
I'm looking for a one-to-two word adjective that describes a person that was once rich, but after several unfortunate events has much less money. However, the person is not suffering, but the person ...
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Do 'exogenous' and 'exogenetic' mean the same thing?
IMF managing director Kristalina Georgieva used a word I had never heard before when she stated, of the UK :
The announced fiscal plan navigates well the difficult tradeoff between fighting inflation ...
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Is there an adjective for a word that contains multiple connotations as implied by its contextual usage? [duplicate]
I recognized in the process of writing this clause,
Resulting in the discretion of death as we know it
That the “discretion of death” could encompass a range of semantic vectors depending on how one ...
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Is there an English word to define someone who qualifies their knowledge by (family) association?
I know someone who consistently refers to the fact that their aunt/brother-in-law/cousin or someone in his family has the highest level of expertise to validate his comments to have the highest value.
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Why are English tense names backward (adjective after noun)? [duplicate]
The adjectives in English tense names to often be postpositive adjective: present continuous/progressive/perfect(ive). Simple is used rather sloppily by different authorities, varying in either being ...
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Am I using the adjective correctly in 'an opportunity to contribute to something meaningful'?
My genuine, honest intentions are to live up to being the "go-to" person for all tasks related to certain datasets, especially when the information will, in some way, relate to all my direct ...
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