2015-08-03 Writing: adjectives

Greg Malivuk
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http://www.pastebin.com/u/gmalivuk
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Homework: finish (and proofread) your descriptive paragraphs
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https://mblc.state.ma.us/libraries/literacy/results.php?municipality=all
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Adjectives: words that describe something, someone, or somewhere  (nouns and pronouns)
p. 122 - circle all the adjectives you can find in the paragraph about the author’s first car
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“broken” and “stuck” are participial adjectives = they come from the past participle of verbs
Others include: bored, confused, interested, complicated, surprised, stolen

The car was stolen by thieves. (passive verb)
It was a stolen car. (participial adjective)

Many of these also have an adjective from the present participle (verb+ing form):
boring, confusing, interesting, surprising
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Remember: adjectives can come before nouns, but they can also come after verbs like “be”
(These are called linking verbs - be, seem, look, smell, taste, feel, sound, appear)

The bird runs quickly. (adverb: The action is done quickly.) = The bird runs fast. (adverb)
The bird looks quick. (adjective: It looks like a quick bird.) = The bird looks fast. (adjective)
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It is a one-way street. I want a round-trip ticket. She only has a part-time job.

Compound adjectives do not include plural nouns, just like the first part of compound nouns and all simple adjectives.
one-way street, two-way street, three-way stop, four-way stop
one-dollar bill, five-dollar bill, ten-dollar bill (but “The meal costs ten dollars.”)
one-page essay, two-page essay, three-page essay (but “The essay is three pages.)
one-year-old child, two-year-old child, three-year-old child (but “The child is three years old.”)

(compound nouns: shoebox, bookbag, not “shoesbox” or “booksbag”)
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In English noun phrases, the last word is the “head” noun, which tells you what the phrase is about.
blue sky = sky, which is blue colored
sky blue = blue, like the sky

English learner = a learner of English (a person who is learning English)
learner English = English spoken by learners (the type of English that students speak)

vocabulary bank = a bank (list or collection) of vocabulary
bank vocabulary = vocabulary that you can use at the bank

box key = a key (which you can use to open a box)
key box = a box (which you can put your keys in)