Page 51 - DENG103_English - I
P. 51
English–I Jayatee Bhattacharya, Lovely Professional University
Notes
Unit 5: Parts of Speech: Adjective and Preposition
CONTENTS
Objectives
Introduction
5.1 Degrees of Adjectives
5.2 The Order of Adjectives in a Series
5.3 Capitalizing Proper Adjectives
5.4 Preposition
5.5 Summary
5.6 Keywords
5.7 Review Questions
5.8 Further Readings
Objectives
After studying this unit, you will be able to:
• Explain about parts of speech
• Understand the adjectives
• Use the preposition in the sentences.
Introduction
Definition
Adjectives are words that describe or modify another person or thing in the sentence. The Articles—
a, an, and the—are adjectives.
• the tall professor
• the lugubrious lieutenant
• a solid commitment
• a month’s pay
• a six-year-old child
• the unhappiest, richest man
If a group of words containing a subject and verb acts as an adjective, it is called an Adjective
Clause. My sister, who is much older than I am, is an engineer. If an adjective clause is
stripped of its subject and verb, the resulting modifier becomes an Adjective Phrase: He is the
man who is keeping my family in the poorhouse.
Before getting into other usage considerations, one general note about the use—or over-use—
of adjectives: Adjectives are frail; don’t ask them to do more work than they should. Let
your broad-shouldered verbs and nouns do the hard work of description. Be particularly
cautious in your use of adjectives that don’t have much to say in the first place: interesting,
beautiful, lovely, exciting. It is your job as a writer to create beauty and excitement and
44 LOVELY PROFESSIONAL UNIVERSITY