- compounds formed with past participles e g a candle-lit table a horse-drawn cart a self-employed author a tree-lined avenue
- compounds formed with present participles e g a long-playing record a long-suffering parent a time-consuming job
- -ed words that look like participles although they are formed from nouns e g cross eyed flat chested hard-hearted open-minded quick-witted slow footed
Compound adjectives of measurement, etc.
Cardinal numbers combine with nouns (usually singular) to form compound adjectives relating to time measurement etc e g
Age a three-year-old building a twenty-year-old man
Area/volume, a three-acre plot a two-litre car
Duration a four-hour meeting a two-day conference
Length/depth a twelve-inch ruler a six-foot hole
Price a $50 dress a £90,000 house
Time/distance a ten-minute walk a three-hour journey
Weight a ten-stone man a five-kilo bag of flour
Ordinal numbers can be used in compounds e g a first-rate film a second-hand car a third-floor flat a nineteenth-century novel
Compound adjectives formed with prefixes and suffixes
Compounds can be formed from a variety of prefixes and suffixes e g class-conscious tax-free loose-fitting waterproof fire resistant car-sick tight lipped vacuum sealed airtight Many compounds can be formed with well and badly -behaved built -done -paid etc Similarly /// and poorly combine with some past participles -advised -educated informed paid etc
Types of adjectives and their uses
Form and use of adjectives
An adjective never varies in form no matter whether it refers to people or things etc in the singular or plural
singular:
He is tall | He is a tall man |
She is tall | She is a tall woman |
It is tall | It is a tall horse |
It is tall | It is a tall tree |
a tall man Bob is tall
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a tail woman Maggie is tall
a tall horse That horse is tall
a tall tree That tree is tall
plural: tall men tall women tall people tall horses tall trees |
Bob and Jim are tall They are tall They are tall men
Mary and Ann are tall They are tall They are tall women
Bob and Ann are tall They are tall They are tall people
Those horses are tall They are tall They are tall horses
Those trees are tall They are tall They are tall trees
6 Adjectives