English Grammar Drills

Adjectives 19
1. It always immediately precedes the noun being modified. We see in the preceding example
sentences that both slow and the can be used immediately in front of the noun they modify.
But what happens if we use both slow and the to modify the same noun? We can say this:
The slow cars moved into the right lane.
But we cannot say this:
X Slow the cars moved into the right lane.
There is a strict left-to-right rule that says that articles (and other types of noun modifiers as well)
must precede true adjectives when they both modify the same noun. In other words, no other noun
modifier can come between a true noun and the noun it modifies.
2. It has comparative and superlative forms. We can use slow in the comparative and superlative
forms, but there are no comparative and superlative forms for the article the:
Base form Comparative form Superlative form
slow slower slowest
the X ther X thest
3. It can be used as a predicate adjective. The term predicate adjective refers to adjectives
that function as predicates of linking verbs. (These terms are explained in detail in Chapter 10.)
For now, let’s just look at some examples of predicate adjectives:
The Tower of London is ancient.
The children are quiet.
Our dinner is ready.
The verb be is by far the most common linking verb. The predicate adjective in linking verb
sentences is used to give information about the subject. In the three example sentences, ancient
gives information about the Tower of London, quiet gives information about the children, and
ready gives information about our dinner.
We can use slow as a predicate adjective, but we cannot use the:
The clock in the hall is slow.
X The clock in the hall is the.
Exercise 2.1
Here are three exercises in one. Following are pairs of noun modifiers; one member of the pair
is a true adjective, and one is not. Fill in the blanks to see (1) which adjective always immediately