Adjective Phrases, Adverb Phrases and Adverbials

Grammar Awareness

Adjective Phrases, Adverb Phrases and Adverbials Agneta M-L SvalbergRead the following text:(Sophie and Toni are children. They are twin sisters. Sophie is jealous of Toni.)

What Mrs Goodchild had said to Mr Goodchild was quite true. The twins, Sophy and Toni Stanthope, were everything to each other and they hated it. If they had been identical it might have been better but they were as different as day and night ...Even when Matty saw them, within a week of their tenth birthday, Sophy had a sharp idea of how different they were. She knew that Toni had thinner arms and legs... Tonis ankles and knees and elbows were a bit knobbly and her face was thinner like her arms and legs. She had big, brown eyes and ridiculous hair. It was long and thin. It was not much thicker than well if it had been any thinner it wouldnt have been at all: and as if preparing for disappearance it had entirely got rid of its colour. Sophy on the other hand knew that she herself lived at the top end of a smoother and rounder and stronger body, inside a head with dark curls all over it. She looked out through eyes that were a bit smaller than Tonis with masses of long, dark eyelashes round them. Sophy was pink and white, Tonis skin, like her hair, had no colour in it. You could see through it in a way; and Sophy, without bothering to know how she knew, knew pretty well the Toni-ness of being who lived more or less inside it. More-or-less was as near as you could get because Toni did not live entirely inside the head at the top, but loosely, in association with her thin body. She had a habit of kneeling and looking up and saying nothing that had a curious effect on any grown-up present. They would go all soppy. What made this so maddening was that all these times, Sophy knew Toni wasnt doing it at all. She wasnt thinking and she wasnt feeling and she wasnt being. She had simply drifted away from herself like smoke. Those huge, brown eyes, looking up from the falls of lintwhite hair! It was magic and it worked.From: Golding, William. (1979) Darkness Visible. London: Faber & Faber, p.105

How do Adjectives behave?Typically, adjectives are gradable, i.e. have comparative and superlative forms (-er, -est; more/most); and can be modified by intensifiers or downtoners (very, extremely, rather, slightly, barely.).

Tonis ankles and knees and elbows were a bit knobbly and her face was thinner like her arms and legs. (Golding 1979)

An infinity of sea and sky bluer and more brilliant than in any dream. Our wake made a white streak across the blue so struck with glittering points of light it smarted the eye. We passed islands to our left and to our right; bottle green bosomy mounds frilled about with white sand rising out of that electric world of blue. (Irvin, Lucy. Castaway)

The usual rules of thumb for comparative and superlative are:

add er/ -est to one syllable adjectivesput more/ most before adjectives with three or more syllablesdo either of the above with two syllable adjectives

This is a good start, but we can refine these rules further.

Some adjectives are not normally gradable because of their meaning (e.g. dead, finished) but creative language users sometimes challenge that.

-er/-est is not used on most adjectives ending in a suffix

Because of this more/most has to be used with:participles used as adjectives boring, giftedeven if they are irregular participles brokenadjectives with a typical adjective ending sleepless, special, spacious, identical, different, ridiculous, curious, magic, soppy, maddening

(exceptions are most adjectives ending in y, e.g. frosty; or ly, e.g. friendly. Note that y and ly are not the same suffix.)What do Adjectives do? Adjectives can pre-modify nouns, and can serve as complements.

Our temporary companions were a young female photographer and the two silent Torres Strait Islanders who were manning the boat. The sensation of waiting and the vastness of the sea and sky made the passage seem limitless.... (from Irvin, Castaway)

Adjectives as pre-modifiers of nouns are attributive;

b)She had big, brown eyes and ridiculous hair. she herself lived at the top end of a smoother and rounder and stronger body

After a copular verb adjectives are predicative.

a)Tonis ankles and knees and elbows were a bit knobbly and her face was thinner like her arms and legs. d)They would go all soppye) That tastes rather good.e)She looked out through eyes that were a bit smaller than Tonis

Adjectives can also post-modify a noun/pronoun (they are then said to have a postpositive function)

Can you suggest anything useful?

She had a habit of kneeling and looking up and saying nothing that had a curious effect on any grown-up present.Some adjectives are restricted in their functions. The dog is asleep.*An asleep dog.

Do you consider any of the following to be odd or unacceptable? Why?1a)the tall woman1b)The woman is tall.2a)my former friend2b) My friend is former.3a)the principal fact3b) The fact is principal.4a)the afraid men4b)The men are afraid.5a)the alone children 5b)The children are alone.6a)an anthropological find6b)a very anthropological find7a)a British passport7b)a very British passport8a)This is a minority view 8b)This is a very minority view

Some adjectives change their meaning depending on the position that they occupy This is an old friend of mine.This friend of mine is old.

Consider also the use of certain, present, late in phrases like:at a certain time; the time is certainany grown-ups present; the present grown upsthe late Prime Minister (Eastwood 1994:225); the Prime Minister is late

Adjectives tend to occur in a particular order. Which of the following are acceptable/likely?

a big old wooden rocking-horsea lovely, soft, cuddly toythe existing monetary system the planned single currency wear protective suitable clothingwear rubber thick disposable glovesnot suitable for use on wooden unsealed surfacesa round, red, cheerful face.

Eastwood (1994: 256) provides a useful list of features to look for in pre-modifying adjectives. They tend to occur in the following order:

opinion, size, quality, age, shape, colour, participle forms (-ed, -en, -ing), origin, material, type, purpose.

There is a tendency for the shorter of two similar types to come first.

The adjective nearest to the head is usually the one that has the closest semantic relationship to it.An adjective is the head of an Adjective Phrase (AdjP)

The adjective can be pre-modified by adverbs, e.g. intensifiers and downtoners.

more/less tiredextremely/somewhat tiredless smooth, pink a bit knobbly quite true so maddening all soppy

Some Adjs take a complement.The most common forms of complementation are prepositional phrases (PPs) and subordinate clauses.

1a)They are loyal. b) They are loyal to the government.2a)He is jealous.b) He is jealous of his friend.3a)*She is fond. b) She is fond of her sister.4a) She was happy. b) She was happy that he had left/to leave.

Why is 3a) unacceptable?

Occasionally, there can be two complements.5) They were angry at John for his carelessnessComplements are part of the grammatical structure of lexical items that is of the word grammar, for example of the adjectives we just saw:

jealous ofhappy thatangry at forfond of

Adjectives also enter into more complex structures for the purpose of comparison:

(If) any thinner (then) Conditional

not much thicker than Neg+Adv (as downtoner)+Adj+[Prep+NP]

a bit smaller than Tonis NP (as downtoner) +Adj+ [Prep+NP]

as different as day and night Adv + Adj + [Prep +NP])2. Adverbs and AdverbialsThis is what most people know about adverbs:Adverbs modify verbs Adverbs end in lySquashed tightly into a corner.

While this is true in the example, it is only a small part of the story.

Adverbs modify verbs, adjectives, adverbs, clauses and sentences (i.e. anything except nouns).Adverbs dont necessarily end in ly, and ly does not necessarily mean that it is an adverb (e.g. friendly)

How do adverbs behave?Like adjectives, many adverbs are gradable, i.e. have comparative and superlative forms (-er, -est; more, most); can be modified by intensifiers or downtoners (very, extremely, rather .)

Type faster/ more quickly/ extremely fast

But because of their varied functions as modifiers, adverbs can occur almost anywhere in a clause or sentence.

I have rarely seen so many children playing quietly here.Adverb?

They corrected the mistake immediately.They corrected the mistake without delay.

Meet me here, at noon.Meet me then, in the same place.

immediately, here, then are adverbswithout delay, at noon, in the same place express very similar/the same meanings, but they are not adverbs.

How are they related?immediately, here, then are adverbs (one-word adverbials)without delay, at noon, in the same place are adverbials

The relationship between adverbs and adverbials is tricky. There are two ways of looking at it:

1. GrammaticallyAdverb is a word class (like noun, verb, adjective).Adverbial is a function in the sentence (like subject, object, complement).

2. Semantically (in terms of meaning)Adverbs are one-word Adverbials. (A useful rule of thumb)

The same adverbial meanings can be expressed by one word or a longer expression:

a. immediately, here, then b. without delay, at noon, in the same place

Both a. and b. are adverbials, but only a. are adverbs. What do adverbials as a class have in common?

Semantically (in terms of meaning):

most provide information about when, where, why, how

Space (where? where from/to?)Time (when? how long? how often?)Manner (how? how often? Degree (how much?)Cause (why?)Certainty (how true?)

Others relate to how the speaker evaluates the information content (how does it seem?):

just, onlyjust before Ramadhan; only one man; it is probably for the best;

Or to the logical relations between sentences (how do they relate?):

however, nevertheless

Because of the diversity of meanings, functions and forms within what is called adverbials, it has been suggested other terms should be used.

An alternative is to reserve the term adverbial for an obligatory constituent of a sentence (alongside subject, object, complement).

Other occurrences can then be divided into

Conjuncts: Sentence linkers such as nevertheless, moreover, in contrast.Disjuncts: Sentence adverbials which express the speakers attitude, such as Honestly..., Luckily...Adjuncts: All the other non-obligatory adverbials, e.g. (We took a stroll) in the park after lunch.We will, however, use the term adverbial for all.

Examples of meanings/types of adverbials ( see a list in G & N: 36-37)Space (location, direction)under the sun, in a town, from within, to Granada, here, thereTime (location, duration, frequency)before nightfall, rarely, for two hours, then, nowMannerwith a hammer, slowlyDegreeslightly, very much, intensely, with vigour (includes intensifiers and downtoners)Cause(ill) with anxiety, for my sake, because of youCertainty/ Doubtprobably, perhaps, without a doubtEvaluationfortunately, apparentlySentence linkersnevertheless, on the contrary, however, in other words

Adverbials can function on their ownWe did it there and then.but they frequently modify other constituentsverbsdrive carefully; come back; chop into small piecesadjectives extremely slow; rather hesitant; adverbsextremely slowly; right theresentencesFinally, when Julie arrived, we sat down and had dinner

What do adverbials as a class have in common?

Grammaticallythey do not function as subject/object or verb.they are typically optional (from a grammar point of view)My father rarely left the house before nightfallMy father left the house

But they can sometimes function as (obligatory) complementsThey were there (subject complement)They were outside the White House (subject complement)

Adjective or Adverb or Verb?

It is often not possible to tell the word class of a lexical item without considering the context.

I was late.I arrived late.She was boring. She was boring the audience with her anecdotes.

This session should have provided you with some tools for classifying the underlined words, and for justifying your classifications.

Workshop Task

In the Sophie text (see handout):

Underline the Adj PsDouble underline the head of each AdjPDescribe how the adjectives have been modifiedCircle any adverbials. Looking at the list of adverbials in G & N 36-37, try to match the adverbials you have found with types.

Who is the narrator of this text? Would you say that the use of adjectives is sophisticated or rather simple? What is the effect? How challenging and how important is the use of adjectives to your learners?What are the major challenges for your learners in the use of adverbials? Are there any useful rules of thumb to do with adjectives? With adverbials?