A new approach to semantic and syntactic functions of English adjectives – A contrastive analysis with their Vietnamese equivalents

Graduation paper submitted in partial fulfillment for B.A Degree in English

Hanoi open university Faculty of English

equivalents

Supervisor : hoµng TuyÕt minh, m.a student : nguyÔn thÞ nga

date of birth : 13/ 08/ 1985 course : k11a (2004- 2008)

(Graduation paper submitted in partial fulfillment for B.A Degree in English)

I certify that no part of the above report has been copied or reproduced by

me from any other person’s work without acknowledgements and that report

is originally written by me under strict guidance of my supervisor

Date submitted: May 2008

Student Supervisor

Acknowledgements

First of all, I would like to express my sincere thanks to my supervisor,Mrs Hoang Tuyet Minh She is the person who made clear my confuse initialideas, step by step guiding me during my writing graduation paper I couldfinally complete my graduation I own her a debt of gratitude that cannot bemeasured

Secondly, I would like to give my thanks to Dean and Leading Board ofEnglish faculty, who gave me opportunities to study and do my graduationpaper I would also give my deepest gratitude to all lectures of English faculty

at Hanoi Open University for their enthusiastic teaching during my four_ year

study They gave me not only knowledge but also the precious experience in life

Thirdly, I should also express many thanks to my dear friends who have shared with me a lot during my studies and my research work as well

Constantly, rather than final, I would like to send my great thanks to all members in my family for their support and encouragement during my study

Hanoi, May 2008

Student: Nguyen Thi Nga

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Acknowledgements

Abbreviations

Chapter I: Introduction 1

1.1 Rationale 1

1.2 Aims of the study 2

1.3 Scope of the study 2

1.4 Methods of the study 3

1.5 Design of the study 3

Chapter II: An overview of English adjectives 4

2.1 What is an adjective? 4

2.2 Semantic functions of English adjectives 5

2.2.1 Stative and dynamic adjectives 5

2.2.2 Gradable and non- gradable adjectives 6

2.2.3 Inherent and non- inherent 7

2.3 Syntactic functions of English adjectives 9

2.3.1 Attributive adjectives 10

2.3.2 Predicative adjectives 12

2.3.3 Adjectives function as head of a noun phrase 14

2.3.3.1 Well- known groups 15

2.3.3.2 Adjectives referring to abstract ideas 16

2.3.4 Supplementative adjective clauses 17

2.2.5 Exclamatory adjective sentence 20

2.4 Summary 20

Chapter III: A new approach to SEMANTIC AND Syntactic functions of English Adjectives 22

3.1 Classification of English adjectives in terms of their usage 22

3.2 Classification in terms of their semantic functions 27

3.2.1 Gradable and non-gradable adjectives 27

3.2.2 Stative and dynamic adjectives 29

3.3 Classification in terms of syntactic functions 30

3.3.1 Attributive 30

3.3.1.1 Adjectives as premodification 31

3.3.1.2 Adjectives as postmodification 31

3.3.2 Predicative 32

3.3.3 Adjectives as head of a noun phrase 33

3.3.4 Supplementary adjective clause 34

Chapter IV: A contrastive analysis between English and their Vietnamese equivalents 36

4.1 Some features of contrastive analysis in learning a foreign language .36

4.2 An overview of Vietnamese adjectives 37

4.3 A contrastive analysis between English and Vietnamese adjectives .38

4.3.1 In terms of their syntactic functions 38

4.3.2 In terms of their order 42

Chapter V: Conclusion 45

References

Chapter I Introduction

In grammar, Adjective is one of essential parts of speech to form asentence Adjective is frequently used in daily life such as describing things,objects,… or expressing feeling, emotion, etc As well known, English or expressing feeling, emotion, etc As well known, Englishadjectives are diversified in many forms, meanings as well as usages It takeslearners quite a long time to understand grammar deeply, especiallyadjectives It therefore seems that the semantic and syntactic function ofadjectives are still too difficult for students

So the writer researches the semantic and syntactic function of Englishadjectives with the hope that the writer’s graduation paper will contribute asmall part on enriching the source of materials, and it hopes that students beable to further understand about semantic and syntactic function of Englishadjectives as well as partly avoid making errors when studying these matters

In the writer’s point of view in order to use English effectively, studyinggrammar is essential requirement because English Grammar is one of themost difficult subject It is said that study of English grammar could improvethe ability of other skills like listening, speaking, reading, writing, … or expressing feeling, emotion, etc As well known, EnglishMastering English grammar helps us to use the language correctly andeffectively That is why the writer chooses studying one aspect of Englishgrammar for the graduation paper, particularly adjectives in English Thewriter decided to study a new approach to semantic and syntactic functions ofEnglish adjective, apart from that making a contrastive analysis with theirVietnamese equivalents The writer hopes that this thesis will be helpful forthe learners in their studying and after reading the graduation paper, manystudents will be interested in searching and developing this topic in order that

the matter of semantic and syntactic function of English adjectives will beclearer and more well-provided than those presented in the graduation paper.

1.2 Aims of the study

In the frame of the graduation paper, the writer would like to focus on:

- Making a general view on definition of adjectives in general andfocusing on discussing matters in relation to semantic and syntactic functions

of English adjectives in particular

- Classifying kinds of English adjectives in terms of their usage

- Making a contrastive analysis between English adjectives and theirVietnamese equivalents

1.3 Scope of the study

English grammar is a large field that can not be mentioned all,therefore, the writer only mentioned to some small aspect of Englishgrammar, that is English adjectives

In the frame of the study, this graduation paper deals with the semanticand syntactic functions of English adjectives, especially the classification ofadjective semantic features in terms of their usage as well as presents acontrastive analysis between English adjectives with their Vietnameseequivalents

1.4 Methods of the study

This study mainly based on scientific theories about English adjectives,the writer has to collect materials and finds the most suitable ones tosystematize as well as analyze them The main methods of the graduationpaper are:

Firstly, descriptive method is used to describe and make a generaloverview of English adjectives in terms of their semantic and syntacticfunctions

Secondly, statistic method is used to gather information about Englishadjectives, apart from that giving the study points of view of this thesis

Finally, contrastive analysis method is used to make a comparisonbetween English adjectives and their Vietnamese equivalents

1.5 Design of the study

To gain the above goals, the graduation paper is divided into fivechapters and reference part

Chapter I is the introduction, including the reasons for choosing the

title, aims and objectives, scope, methods and design of the study

Chapter II introduces an overview of English adjectives with the

definitions of adjectives and their semantic and syntactic functions of Englishadjectives

Chapter III is a study to a new approach to semantic and syntactic

functions of English adjectives

Chapter IV is to make a contrastive analysis between English

adjectives and their Vietnamese equivalents, pointing out the similarities anddifferences of English adjectives

Chapter V is the conclusion part, giving brief findings of all the above

sections

References come at the end of the graduation paper.

Professor Robert s lecture on environment was’ fascinating

Many adjectives can answer the question what … like ? like ?

What s Tom like?’ ( to look at)

He is dark/ short/ tall (Alexander 1998, 106)

However, as the opinions of Quirk et al, “ we usually can not tell aword is an adjective by looking at it in isolation because the form of a worddoesn’t necessarily indicate its syntactic function Nor can we identify a word

as an adjective merely from its potentials for inflexion ” (1973,114) As forthem, a word is commonly considered an adjective if it has at least one of fourcriteria:

It can freely occur in attributive function, i e they canpremodify a noun, appearing between the determiner and the head of a nounphrase as in:

an oval face a beautiful girl the round table

It can freely occur in predicative function, i e they can function

as subjective complement or as object complement:

The girl is attractive.

I guess the girl attractive (Quirk et al 1973, 116)

They can be modified by the intensifier very For example:

The new house is very large.

She is very happy now.

It can take comparative and superlative forms The

comparison may be by means of inflections (-er, -est), or by the addition of the premodifiers more and most or called periphrastic Let’s see the following

examples:

Ho Chi Minh is the most wonderful city in Vietnam.

Lan is more charming than other classmates.

The children are happier now ( Quirk et al 1973, 115 )

To sum up, adjective is one of four elements of open class items(noun, adjective, adverb, verb), which belongs to part of speech in Englishgrammar, and adjectives are words expressing quality, quantity, size, colour,characteristics, etc.

2.2 Semantic functions of English adjectives

According to researches, adjectives are classified into stative anddynamic, gradable and non- gradable as follows:

2.2.1 Stative and dynamic adjectives

According to the opinion of Quirk et al, As their name suggests,stative adjective denote “a state or condition, which may generally be consider

permanent” (124), such as big, red, tall, etc Stative adjectives can not

normally be used in imperative constructions:

* Be big/ red/ tall.

* He is being red/ big/ tall ( Quirk et al 1973, 124)

In contrast, dynamic adjectives denote attributes which are, to someextent at least, “under the control of the one who possesses them”(Quirk et al

1973, 124) For instance, brave denotes an attribute which may not always be

in evidence (as unlike red), but which may be called upon as it is required For

this reason, it is appropriate to use it in an imperative

Be brave.

Don t be afraid ’ (Quirk et al 1973, 124)

Adjectives that can be used dynamically include: awkward, brave,

calm, careless, cruel, funny, good, noisy, timid, etc.(Quirk at al 1973, 124)

All dynamic adjectives can be used in imperatives such as be careful,

don t be cruel,’ and they can also be use predicatively in progressive tense:

Your son is being disruptive in class.

He is being careful.

We are being very patient with you.

The majority of adjectives are stative The stative or dynamic contrast,

as it related to adjectives, is largely a semantic one, though as we have seen italso has syntactic implications

2.2.2 Gradable and non- gradable adjectives

According to L G Alexander (1988, 108) adjectives can be also

divided into gradable and non- gradable

Gradable adjectives mean “a large class of words which can begraded, or in other words, they can be modified by intensifiers and include

comparison such as very young, young, younger, the youngest … like ?”

An adjective is gradable when:

_ We can imagine degrees in the quality referred to and so can use it

with words like very, too and enough Let’s see the followings examples:

Your work is good.

Your work is very good.

Mary has been very ill.

_ We can form a comparative and superlative from it as big, bigger,

biggest, etc.

Non- gradable adjectives are a small class that can not be graded or inother words, principally technical adjectives and adjectives denoting

provenance such as atomic, hydrochloric, British … like ?

According to L G Alexander (1988, 108) an adjective is gradable when:

_ We can not modify it, it means that we can not use it with very, too,

… like ?

_ We can not make a comparative or superlative from it such as daily,

dead, medical, unique, etc.

2.2.3 Inherent and non- inherent

Based on Quirk et al’s point of view (1973,125), some adjectives are classified into inherent and non- inherent

Most attributive adjectives denote some attribute of the noun which

they modify For instance, the phrase a red car may be said to denote a car

which is red In fact most adjective- noun sequences such as this can be

loosely reformulated in a similar way, for example:

an old man ~ a man who is old difficult questions ~ questions which are difficult

round glasses ~ glasses which are round

This applies equally to postpositive adjectives as:

Something understood ~ something which is understood The people responsible ~ the people who are responsible

In each case the adjective denotes an attribute or quality of the noun,

as the reformulations show Adjectives of this type are known as inherent

adjectives The attribute they denote is , as it were, inherent in the noun which they modify

However, not all adjectives are related to the noun in the same way

For example, the adjective small in a small businessman does not describe an attribute of the businessman It can not be reformulated as a businessman who

is small Instead, it refers to a businessman whose business is small We refer

to adjectives of this type as non- inherent adjectives They refer less directly to

an attribute of the noun than inherent adjectives do

Whether or not an adjective is inherent or non- inherent, it may

involve relation to an implicit or explicit standard, such as in a big mouse, the adjective big is inherent, the meaning is the relative size of mice, contrast a little mouse and in a big fool, the adjective big is non- inherent, the meaning is degrees of foolishness, contrast a bit of a fool.

Here are some more examples, showing the contrast between inherentand non- inherent:

Inherent Non- inherent

distant hills distant relatives

a complete chapter a complete idiot

a heavy burden a heavy smoker

a social survey a social animal

an old man an old friend

( wikipedia.com viewed on March 10, 2008)Some adjectives can come before or after nouns, which may changemeaning or may not change meaning of adjective The following is somecases denoting the position of adjectives ( with or without change in meaning)

Adjectives come before or after nouns, which may not change in

meaning: some adjectives, mostly ending in –able and –ible can come

before or after nouns and usually with no change in meaning such as

available, eligible, imaginable, taxable, possible, impossible, etc Let’s

consider the above examples:

I doubt whether we can complete our contract in the time

available / in the available time.(1)

We have to exploit all available potential/ all potential available

in our country (2)

As we know that when changing the position of adjective available in

the example1 and 2, there is no change in meaning of adjective

However, some adjectives sometimes have different meanings if they

modify different nouns; for example, old can be either a central adjective or

an adjective restricted to attributive position as in an old friend of mine means

a longstanding friend In this case, old is the opposite of new The person referred to is not identified as old , but it is very his friend that is old.

Moreover, some adjectives come before or after nouns with a change

in meaning, in some case a few adjectives change in meaning depending on

whether they are used before or after a noun Some of these are concerned,

elect, involved, present, proper, responsible They would be illustrated as

follows:

The concerned doctor rang for an ambulance.

~ The worried doctor rang for ambulance.

The doctor concerned is on holiday.

~ The doctor responsible is on holiday (L G Alexander 1988,

111)

Some adjectives such as present, absent, concerned, involved and

responsible are used with most frequency in postmodification Sometimes

they are also used in postmodification but then their meaning are different, forexample:

There were ten members of staff present (there) Our present problems are much worse (now) The person concerned must be fined (relevant) (Quirk et al,

1972, 418)

2.3 Syntactic functions of English adjectives

An adjective may bear several possible relationships to the noun ornoun phrase that it qualifies

2.3.1 Attributive adjectives

According to Alexander’ point of view (1988, 110) adjectives are

attributive when they modify nouns (they can pre-modify or post-modifynouns) Therefore attributive adjectives can be considered as part of the nounphrase Let’s see the following the examples:

Lan is a beautiful girl.

Hung is a heavy smokers.

( ~ Hung smokes a lot.)

After the compound indefinite pronouns and adverbs, which begin

with no-, any-, some-, every-, and end in -body, -one, -thing, -where,

adjectives are usually used attributively as postmodifiers:

Anyone ( who is) intelligent can do it.

I want to try on something ( that is) larger.

There is nothing new, but something important.

Some adjectives can be only used attributively with absolute/complete

meanings such as mere, out and out, sheer, utter,… or expressing feeling, emotion, etc As well known, Englishfor example:

What you say is sheer/ utter nonsense.

He is a mere boy.

The above adjectives can behave like adverbs of degree or intensifiers but they can be used only in the attributive position To prove this, we can take some examples into consideration:

* He is mere.

* What you say is sheer/ utter.

These sentences is meaningless, they are not correct They can not be complement, so one time, we can affirm that the above adjectives can be only attributive

Adjectives which restrict the reference of the noun are always

attributive as the followings:

certain (a woman of a certain age)

chief (my chief complaint)

main (my main concern)

only (the only explanation)

particular (my particular aim)

principle (the principle reason)

sold (my sold interest)

These adjectives only used attributive, except for certain and

particular which then change in meaning (110-111).

We should take the use of commas into consideration to separate adjectives which are used attributively When we have more than two

adjectives before a noun, we only need commas to separate those which are equally important (it means that where the order of the first two could easily

be reversed), for instance:

This is a beautiful, bright clean room.

That is to say, we put a comma after the quality adjective, we never use

a comma after the adjective that comes immediately in front of a noun Let’s see the following examples:

The hotel porter led me to a beautiful, bright clean room.

Joy is engaged to a daring, very attractive young air force pilot.

If there are only two adjectives, we separate them with and.

He wore dirty and old shoes.

I have a young and beautiful sister.

When there more than two adjectives, they may be separated by

commas and apart from the last adjective which separated by and.

He wore dirty, wet, old and worn shoes.

But, there are some fixed phrases of adjectives which are often linked

by and : old and musty with, a long and winding road, hard and fast rules.

When the premodifiers are two color adjectives, it is obligatory to use

and, not the commas as: the yellow and blue flag and it does not exist in * the yellow, blue flag.

Sometimes, we use but instead of and if the meaning of two

premodifying adjectives are contrastive: a rich but stingy man, a cheap but

effective solution (115-116).

2.3.2 Predicative adjectives

An adjective may serve to quality as subject or objective and tocomplete the predication begun to the verb Such an adjective is called apredicative adjective If it qualifies the subject, it functions as a subjectivecomplement, if it qualifies a direct objective, it functions as an objectivecomplement

_ Subject complement: Adjective is subject complement when there is aco-reference between subject and subject complement Both of them are in an intensive relationship Let’s see the following examples:

The children were noisy and naughty.(3)

In the example 3, noisy and naughty function as predicative adjectives, they both qualify children and complete the predications begun by the verb

were.

Your suspicions seem to be unfounded.(4)

In example 4, the infinitive to be unfunded functions as a predicative adjective, it both qualifies suspicions and completes the predication begun by the verb seemed.

_ Object complement: adjective is object complement when there is reference between direct object and object complement They are in intensive relationship with object Let’s see the following examples:

Co-The situation made Mr Hardy courageous and even a bit daring.

(5)

In sentence 5, courageous and daring functions as predicative

adjectives, they both qualify Mr Hardy and complete the predication begun

by the verb made They are objective complement

The jury found him guilty.(6)

In example 6, guilty is a predicative adjective, it both qualifies him and completes the predicative begun by the verb found, so guilty is an objective

complement

Apart from being subject complement to noun phrase ( subjunctive) , adjectives are also subject complement to clauses when the subject is a finite Clause or non-finite Clause

Whether he will design is uncertain.

Driving a bus isn’t easy.

The adjective which functions as objective complement often show the result of the process denoted by the verb, for example:

He tide the rope tight

( As a result, he rope was then tight)

He pushed the window open

( As a result, the window was then open.) (Quirk et al 115-116) Apart from the above cases, some adjectives with different meaning also are predicative adjectives:

_ Adjectives describing health uses predicatively:

The following adjectives are most common in predicative position

relating to health: faint, ill, poorly, unwell and well:

“What’s the matter with him?

He’s ill/ unwell He feels faint”

However, some adjectives describing health used both predicative and attributive with different meanings:

How are you?

I m very well, thank you’ (7)

I m fine thanks.’ (8)

Fine in example 8 related to health is predicative because it modifies the subject and linking by a linking verb am so it’s realized by object

complement It can be paraphrased in another sentence I m well thanks ’ (9)

But when we use the adjective fine in the attributive position It no longer relates to health, it means excellent Let’s see another example :

She is a fine woman.

Fine is an adjective realized as noun phrase in which fine pre-modifies noun

woman so fine is attributive similarly, faint can be used attributively when it

is not in connection with health such as a faint chance, a faint hope.

_ Predicative adjectives beginning with The following adjectives are used only predicatively like afloat, afraid,

a-alight, alike, alone, ashamed, asleep, awake.

The children were asleep at 7, but now they’re awake.

These adjectives: asleep, awake used predicatively because they complete the predication begun with the linking verbs were, was.

_ Predicative adjectives describing feelings, reactions, etc

Some adjectives which describes feeling, etc As content, glad,

pleased, sorry, upset and a few others like far and near apart from the far East or the Near East are normally used only predicatively, for example:

I am very glad to meet you.

Your hotel is quite near here, It isn t far from home.’

( L G Alexander 109-110)

2.3.3 Adjectives function as head of a noun phrase

Adjective can function as head of noun phrase and can be subject, of the sentence, object, complement or complement of a preposition As a result,they do not inflect for number or genitive case, and they must take a definitivedeterminer We can not usually leave out a noun after an adjective, for

example:

Poor little boy! ( not poor little!) (10)

In the example (10) poor little has meaningless, non-sense so reader

can’t understand

There are some exceptions, there are three types of adjectives that function without noun, that are adjectives functioning as head of noun phrase)

2.3.3.1 Well- known groups

Adjectives belonging to well- known group are adjectives expressing some group of people in society The form the + adjective used to discuss

certain well- known groups of people in society especially people in a

particular physical or social condition such as the blind, the dead, the deaf,

the handicapped, the jobless, the mentally ill, the old, the poor, the rich, the unemployed, the young, the sick,… like ?for example:

He s collecting money for ’ the blind.(11)

In the example 11, it means that he s collecting money for the blind ’

people or all blind people in general It does not refer to just one person or to

a small group It can not denote one person the blind man, the blind woman It

is often capable of adding a general word for human beings likes people In which case, people is normally omitted and the use of the blind as head of the

noun phrase or without noun

The meaning of well-known groups is usually general, sometimes a

more limited group is referred to, for instance:

After the accident, the injured were take to hospital.(12)

(Michael Swan, 13)

In the example 12, the injured doesn’t mean generally, but it refers to a

limited group, that is the injured people in the accident, but such as the

injured people in the war, fighting

Note that these expressions can not be used with a possessive s The

problems of the poor or poor people’s problem is not correct grammatically

Some adjectives used without the as head of a noun phrase in paired structures with and or or, for example:

Opportunities for both the rich and the poor.(13) (Michael

Swan, 13)

In the example 13, the rich and the poor express the rich people and the

poor people in general

From the above point, it’s a very common knowledge that adjectives use

as head of a noun phrase ( NP heads) normally need a definite determiner, they are absolutely able to without a determiner if they are linked So it is the

reason that opportunities for both rich and poor we can also say that in the sentence : opportunities for both the rich and the poor.

2.3.3.2 Adjectives referring to abstract ideas

Some adjectives used as noun phrase heads When they have abstract orgeneral reference such as the supernatural, the unexpected, the unknown, the best, the ridiculous,… or expressing feeling, emotion, etc As well known, English so its abstract sense means that thing or those things

which are unknown In which case we can insert a general noun like thing/

news And these abstract adjectives are followed by a singular verb, for

example:

The most surprising (thing) is that she will study abroad.

Verb which has subject ( with abstract adjectives) taken singular form

is Let’s see another example:

The annoying thing was that I didn t understand deeply the ’

exercise.

2.3.3.3 Nationality adjectives used without nouns

Some adjectives referring to nationalities use as noun phrase heads:

The Vietnamese are very proud of their history.(14)

In example 14, the Vietnamese expresses the Vietnamese people in

general, but not the particular Vietnamese people or Vietnamese women/ men

A few nationality adjectives ending in -sh, -ch or –ese are used after

the as head of noun phrase, they include: -sh : British, English, Spanish, Irish;

-ch : Dutch, French; -ese : Vietnamese, Chinese, Japanese.

Similarly, adjectives relating to well-known groups of people in social group, nationality adjectives are referred to general meaning and take plural

and singular equivalences as well For example an Irish woman, a welsh man

unlike adjectives referring social groups, adjectives of nationality can not be

modified by adjectives like very with general and plural meaning They can be

modified by adjectives which are commonly non-restrictive Consider the following sentence:

The industrious Vietnamese women always strive harder to catch

up with those in other countries (15)

In example 15, it can be understood that the Vietnamese women, who are industrious and dexterous always strive harder to catch up with those in other countries

The native English are very friendly.

( The English, who are native, are very friendly.)

2.3.4 Supplementative adjective clauses

An adjective (alone or as head of adjective phrase ) can function as supplementative adjective clause or a verbless adjective clause The clause is

mobile, through it usually precedes or follow the subject of the superordinate clause

(by then) nervous, the man opened the letter.

The man, (by then) nervous, opened the letter.

The man opened the letter, (by then ) nervous (Quirk et el

1972, 119 )

When verbless adjective clause comes closely the subject, such as The

man, (by then) nervous, opened the letter It is, in some aspects, like a

non-restrictive relative clause as in:

The man, who was ( by then) nervous, opened the letter.

Unlike the relative clause, the adjective clause is mobile and its implied

is usually the subject of the sentences Thus, while we have :

The man restrained the woman, who was aggressive.

We do not have:

*The man restrained the woman, aggressive.

However, if the clause contains addition constituents, its implied

subject can be other than the subjective of the sentence:

She glanced with disgust at the cat, quiet (now) in her daughter s’

Crowded holiday resorts are not very pleasant.(16)

Holiday resorts which are crowded are not very pleasant.(17)

Crowded in the sentence 16 is an adjective and which are crowded in th example 17 is a clause which has a finite verb are The clause is doing exactly

the same work as the adjective it is describing the holiday resorts or in other

words it is qualifying the noun holiday resorts so we call it a relative clause because it relates to the noun In this case, by means of the word which.

In short, adjectival clause can describe person, things and events We

can realize that the adjectival clause shows that holiday resorts crowdedness

is related to the content of whole sentence Other examples of the verbless adjective clause :

Strange, it was she who initiated divorce proceedings.

It is semantically equivalent to that is was she who initiated divorce

proceedings is strange.

An adverb may sometimes replace with little difference in meaning, an adjective function as a verbless clause, for example:

Nervously, the man opened the letter.

Nervous, the man opened the letter.

The adjective refers to the subjective without explicit reference to the action, and otherwise stated, the characterization is only temporary in its application But if an explicit time indicator is introduced, the application of the adjective is extended in time

For example, when we insert always, the man’s nervousness becomes a

permanent characteristic, and is not specifically connected with the action, for example:

Always nervous , the man opened the letter.

But when the implied subjective is the whole clause, a corresponding adverb can replace the adjective with little or no difference in meaning, such

as with strangely for strange, for example:

Strangely, it was she who initiated divorce proceedings.

However, the adjective, unlike the adverb, allows a that- or how- clause

as follows:

Strange that it turned out that way.

Strange how she still likes him.

In such cases, it s ’ is ellipted and the adjective is not separated from the

clause by a comma

The supplementive adjective clause also expresses the circumstance or condition under which what is said in the superordinat clause applies A

subordinator is often present but can be omitted, for example:

Enthusiastic , they make good students.

~ When they feel enthusiastic, they make good students.

When ripe , these apples are sweet.

~ When these apples are ripe, they are sweet

Whether right or wrong , he always comes off worst in an argument.

~ Whether he is right or wrong, he always comes off worst in an

argument.

The implied subjective of the adjective clause is normally the subjective

of the superordinate, but it can also be the objective, for example:

We can drink it hot.

You must eat it when fresh.

The adjective then usually comes finally and could be regarded as a complement The implied subjective can be the whole of the superordinate clause, for example:

If possible , the dog should be washed everyday.

2.2.5 Exclamatory adjective sentence

An adjective as head of an adjective phrase or as its sole realization can

be an exclamation:

How good of you!

An exclamation is a sentence spoken with emphasis and feeling

Attention here is restricted to exclamatory utterances introduced by:

How + Adjective + (S +V)!

How warm the water is !

The exclamation shows that the water is very warm or in other words, the water extremely warm It expresses the speaker’s feeling about the degree