AdjectivePhrases

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AdjectivePhrases

Whatisanadjectivephrase?
Anadjectivephraseisanadjectiveandanyadditionalinformationlinkedtoitthatworktogethertodescribeanounor
pronouninasentence.Theadjectivearoundwhichanadjectivephraseisformedisknownastheheadwordofthe
phrase.

Somegrammarguidesconsideranadjectivefunctioningbyitselftobeanadjectivephrase,but,inthisguide,whenwe
refertoaphrase,wealwaysmeanagroupoftwoormorewords.

Thereisalsoatendencytocombinethetermsadjectivephraseandadjectivalphraseintoasinglecategory,butthey
arenotquitethesame.Welllookatthisdistinctionmorecloselylateroninthissection.

Attributivevs.Predicative
Adjectivephrasescaneitherbeattributiveorpredicative.

Attributiveadjectivesoccurimmediatelybeforeorafterthenountheymodify,asin:
Youhaveaverybeautifulvoice.

Predicativeadjectives,ontheotherhand,appearafteralinkingverbtodescribethesubjectoftheclause.Forexample:
Yourvoiceisverybeautiful.

Formingadjectivephrases
Anywordorwordsthatworkinconjunctionwithanadjectiveconstitutepartofanadjectivephrase.Theseareusually
madeupofdeterminersoradverbs.Prepositionalphrases,infinitives,andnounclausescanalsobeusedas
adjectivecomplementstocreateadjectivephrases.

Asyouwillnoticeinsomeofexamplesbelow,wecanalsouseacombinationofdifferentelementstogethertocreatemore
complexadjectivephrases.

Determiners
Determinersareusedtointroduceanounornounphrase.Thereareseveralclassesofdeterminers:articles,
demonstrativedeterminers,possessivedeterminers,interrogativedeterminers,distributivedeterminers,pre
determiners,quantifiers,andnumbers.

Determinersareabletostandalonetointroduceanoun,butwhentheyfunctionwithanadjective,theycreateanadjective
phrase.Forexample:
Iwouldlikealargesoda,please.(Thearticleaformsanadjectivephrasewiththeheadwordlargetodescribethe
nounsoda.)
Thisgreenpenbelongstome.(Thedemonstrativedeterminerthisformsanadjectivephrasewiththeheadword
greentodescribethenounpen.)
Ivelostmyfavoritebackpack.(Thepossessivedeterminermyformsanadjectivephrasewiththeheadwordfavorite
todescribethenounbackpack.)
Whoseblacklaptopisthis?(Theinterrogativedeterminerwhoseformsanadjectivephrasewiththeheadwordblack
todescribethenounlaptop.)
Thecampgivesoutwelcomepackstoeachnewarrival.(Thedistributivedeterminereachformsanadjectivephrase
withtheheadwordnewtodescribethenounarrival.)
Shessuchasweetgirl.(Thepredeterminersuchformsanadjectivephrasewiththearticleaandtheheadword
sweettodescribethenoungirl.)
 Manyvintagecarswereparkedoutsidethediner.(Thequantifiermanyformsanadjectivephrasewiththeheadword
vintagetodescribethenouncars.)
Theyownthreegiganticyachts.(Thenumberthreeformsanadjectivephrasewiththeheadwordgigantictodescribe
thenounyachts.)

Adverbs
Adverbsmodifyadjectives,verbs,andotheradverbs.Whenanadverbisusedtomodifyanadjective,thetwowork
togetherasanadjectivephrasetomodifyanounorpronoun.Ifadeterminerappearsbeforetheadverb,itisalso
consideredpartoftheadjectivephrase.

Adverbsoftenappeardirectlybeforetheadjectivetheymodify.Forexample:
Heisaverygoodswimmer.(Verymodifiestheadjectivegoodtogethertheymodifyswimmer.
Thebrightlylitroomhurtmyeyes.(Brightlymodifiesthepastparticiplelit(whichfunctionsasanadjective)together
theymodifythenounroom.
Sheiswonderfullytalented.(Wonderfullymodifiestheadjectivetalentedtogethertheymodifythepronounshe.)

However,wecansometimesuseadverbsdirectlyafteranadjective.Thiscanservetoplaceemphasisontherelationship
betweentheadjectiveandtheadverb.Forexample:
Thehelicoptersarecontrolledremotely.

Inthissentence,remotelymodifiesthepastparticiplecontrolled(whichfunctionsasanadjective)togethertheymodify
thenounhelicopters.Becauseremotelyappearsaftercontrolled,itputsextraemphasisonthewayinwhichthe
helicoptersarecontrolled.

Wecanseehowthisemphasisworksifwerewordthesentence:
Thehelicoptersareremotelycontrolled.

Thesentencedoesntloseanyliteralmeaning,butthereisnowslightlylessemphasisontherelationshipbetween
remotelyandcontrolled.

AdjectiveComplements
Anadjectivecomplement(alsocalledanadjectivephrasecomplement)isaphraseorclausethatprovidesinformation
necessarytocompleteanadjectivephrasesmeaning.

Theyaremostoftenusedwithpredicativeadjectives(adjectivesthatfollowlinkingverbstodescribethesubjectofthe
clause)andcanbeprepositionalphrases,infinitivephrases,andnounclauses.Sometimestheseadjectivesare
modifiedbyadverbs,whichalsoformpartofthefulladjectivephrase.

PrepositionalPhrases
Iamperfectlycontentonmyown.(Onmyownisthecomplementoftheadjectivecontent,whichismodifiedbythe
adverbperfectly.)
Hefeltaloneintheworld.(Intheworldisthecomplementoftheadjectivealone.)
Theyseemalittleconcernedaboutthedirectionweretaking.(Aboutthedirectionweretakingisthecomplement
oftheadjectiveconcerned,whichismodifiedbyadverbialphrasealittle.)

Prepositionalphrasescanalsobeusedwithadjectives(oftenpastparticiples)thatareattributivebutappearafterthenoun,
asin:
Peopleweariedbytraveloftenstopheretorest.
Iwillnotallowadogcoveredinmudintomycleanhouse.

Infinitives
Imveryhappytoknowyou!(Toknowyouisthecomplementoftheadjectivehappy,whichismodifiedbyadverb
very.)
Weregladtobeofservice.(Tobeofserviceisthecomplementoftheadjectiveglad.)
Theyfeltrelievedtoreturnhome.(Toreturnhomeisthecomplementoftheadjectiverelieved.)

NounClauses
 Wewerealittlecuriouswhytheydecidedtoleave.(Whytheydecidedtoleaveisthecomplementoftheadjective
curious,whichismodifiedbyadverbialphrasealittle.)
Imthrilledthatyouarecomingtovisit!(Thatyouarecomingtovisitisthecomplementoftheadjectivethrilled.)
Itssowonderfulwhathedoesforcharity.(Whathedoesforcharityisthecomplementoftheadjectivewonderful,
whichismodifiedbytheadverbso.)
Theyresomewhatunsurewhetherthisistherightdecision.(Whetherthisistherightdecisionisthecomplement
oftheadjectiveunsure,whichismodifiedbytheadverbsomewhat.)

AdjectivePhrasesvs.AdjectivalPhrases
Thetermsadjectivephraseandadjectivalphraseareoftentreatedassynonymoustermshowever,whiletheyarevery
similar,theyareinfacttwodifferentthings.

Atrueadjectivephrasecontainsanadjectiveasaheadword,whileanadjectivalphrasedoesnothavetoitisany
phrasethatisfunctioningasanadjectiveinasentence,whetherornotitcontainsanadjectiveasaheadword.Therefore,
anadjectivephrasecanbeconsideredaspecifickindofadjectivalphrase.

Prepositionalphrases,forinstance,oftenfunctionindependentlyasadjectivesinasentence,inwhichcasetheyfollowthe
nountheyaredescribing.Forexample:
Thecaronthelawnbelongstomybrother.
Passmethecupwiththehandle.
Hewroteabookaboutmoderneconomics.

Allthreeoftheseexamplesareadjectivalphrasestheydonothaveadjectivesasheadwords.Theprepositionalphrase
inthethirdexampledoescontaintheadjectivemodern,butitismodifyingthenouneconomics(theobjectofthe
prepositionabout),notthenounbook.

Relativeclauses(alsoknownasadjectiveclauses)arealsokindsofadjectivalphrases.Theyareintroducedbyrelative
pronounsandmodifyanouninasentence.Forexample:
ThemanwhomImetinthebankwasonthesamebusasmetonight.
ItsthenicestthingthatIown.
Thesong,whichhewroteforhiswife,isbeautiful.

Quiz

1.Whichofthefollowingcanbeusedtoformanadjectivephrase?

a)Determiners
b)Adverbs
c)Infinitives
d)Nounclauses
e)A&B
f)C&D
g)Alloftheabove

2.TrueorFalse:Anadjectivephrasecanonlybeattributive.

a)True
b)False

3.Identifywhatisusedtocreatetheadjectivephrase(inbold)inthefollowingsentence:
Amandressedinfinesilkwalkedthroughthedoors.

a)Adverb
b)Prepositionalphrase
c)Infinitivephrase
d)Nounclause

4.Whichofthefollowingdoesanadjectivephraserequirethatanadjectivalphrasedoesnot?
 a)Anounasaheadword
b)Anadjectiveasaheadword
c)Anountomodify
d)Anadjectivecomplement

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