Nouns that behave like adjectives

1. Nouns that behave like adjectives

2. Names of materials substances etc (leather nylon plastic) resemble adjectives So do some nouns indicating use or purpose e g kitchen chairs Examples of such nouns are

3. It's a cotton dress (= it s cotton/made of cotton) • It's a summer dress (= a dress to be worn in summer)

4. Words like cotton or summer behave like adjectives in this one way they do not have comparative or superlative forms they cannot be modified by very etc They remain essentially nouns often modifying a second noun

5. Most of these noun modifiers can be used without change But note wooden and woolen • It’s a wooden spoon /It’s made of wood • It’s a woolen dress /It’s made of wool

6. Here wooden and woolen are adjectives not nouns Some other names for materials have adjectival forms gold golden lead leaden silk silken silky stone stony

7. but the adjectival form generally has a metaphorical meaning ('like ') So, for example, a gold watch is a 'watch made of gold', but a golden sunset is a sunset which is 'like gold' Compare a silvery voice leaden steps silky (or silken) hair (a) stony silence

8. Present and past participles used as adjectives • Most present participles can be used as adjectives e g breaking glass frightening stories • Many past participles of verbs can be used as adjectives e g a broken window (= a window which has been broken), a frozen lake (= a lake which is frozen), a locked door (= a door which is locked),

9. Adjectival participles ending in '-ed' and '-ing' • Common pairs of -ed/-ing adjectives are amazed/amazing annoyed annoying bored boring excited exciting interested interesting pleased pleasing tired/tiring

10. Adjectives ending in -ed often combine with personal subjects and those ending in -ing often combine with impersonal ones

11. This story excites me -- / am excited by it -- It is exciting

12. Possessive Adjectives • The possessive adjectives my, your, his, her, its, our, and their modify nouns by showing possession or ownership. • Examples: • my sweater • their party

13. Demonstrative Adjectives • A demonstrative adjective is a demonstrative pronoun that appears before a noun and emphasizes it. • Example: (note the difference) demonstrative pronoun: • These are wonderful. • demonstrative adjective: • These apples are wonderful.

14. Indefinite Adjectives • Indefinite adjectives are indefinite pronouns used before a noun. • Example: (note the difference) pronoun: Several witnessed the event. adjective: Several pedestrians witnessed the event

15. Interrogative Adjectives • The interrogative adjectives what, which, and whose modify nouns and pronouns to indicate a question about them. • Example: (note the difference) • pronoun: Which fell? • adjective: Which trapeze artist fell?

16. Cardinal Adjectives • Adjectives that modify the noun by numbering it (stating how many) are cardinal adjectives. • Examples: • fivebooks • twofish

17. Ordinal Adjectives • :An ordinal adjective indicates the position of a noun in a series. • Examples: • thefirstdate • thefourthday

18. Proper Adjectives: • Adjectives derived from proper names are called proper adjectives. They are easily recognizable in that they are always capitalized. • Examples: FrenchbreadShakespeareansonnet