Home of English Grammar

Free Guide (Updated for 2022)

  • Home
  • Download Lessons
  • Grammar Rules
  • Online Exercises
  • Online Tools
    • Grammar Checker
    • Word Counter
  • Guides
  • Contact
You are here: Home / Adjectives / Adjective phrase

Adjective phrase

August 27, 2013 - pdf

A word group that has an adjective as its head is called an adjective phrase. Note that the adjective in this phrase may be accompanied by other words such as determiners, modifiers etc.

Adjective phrases can go before a noun (attributive position). They can also go after a linking verb like be (predicative position).

  • He was wearing a dark brown suit. (Here the adjective phrase ‘a dark brown’ modifies the noun suit.)
  • The fish tasted awfully funny. (Here the adjective phrase ‘awfully funny’ says something about the fish. It goes after the copular or linking verb tasted.

A copular verb does not take an object and it cannot be modified by an adverb. The word or phrase that follows a copular verb typically says something about the subject of the sentence.

  • The fish tasted awful. (NOT The fish tasted awfully.)

Here the adjective awful says something about the fish. It doesn’t modify the verb tasted.

Note that the adjective in an adjective phrase may be modified by an adverb. When it is modified by an adverb, the adverb goes before the adjective. The adjective may also be modified by other determiners like articles, possessives and demonstratives.

Consider the phrase ‘my cute little daughter’

Here the adjective phrase ‘my cute little’ consists of a possessive (my) and two adjectives (cute and little).

Sometimes the idea expressed by an adjective can also be expressed using a noun phrase. Consider the examples given below.

  • Brutus is an honorable man. (Here the adjective honorable modifies the noun man.)

The same idea can be expressed using the phrase: a man of honor

  • Brutus is a man of honor.

Another example is given below.

  • Churchill was an eminent man. (Here the adjective eminent modifies the noun man.)
  • Churchill was a man of eminence. (Here the noun phrase ‘a man of eminence’ means the same as the phrase ‘an eminent man’.)
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter
  • WhatsApp
1,127,749 
201,073 

Check Your Grammar

GrammarCheck.net - Try online
Hint → Bookmark GrammarCheck for future use.

Latest Exercises

  • Will vs. Would June 26, 2022
  • See vs. Look vs. Watch June 23, 2022
  • General Grammar Exercise June 21, 2022
  • Tenses Gap Filling Exercise June 21, 2022
  • Gap Filling Exercise June 20, 2022
  • Subject Verb Agreement Exercise June 20, 2022
  • Prepositions Exercise June 19, 2022
  • Gap Filling Exercise June 19, 2022
  • Tenses Exercise June 18, 2022

Topics

  • Adjectives
  • Adverbs
  • Business Writing
  • Commas
  • Conjunctions
  • Creative Writing
  • Difference
  • Essay Writing
  • Exercises
  • Learning
  • Lessons
  • Nouns
  • Prepositions
  • Pronouns
  • Proofreading
  • Punctuation
  • Quiz
  • Spelling
  • Style Guide
  • Teaching
  • Terms
  • Verbs
  • Words
  • Writing

Quiz

  • Can you correct these 14 basic grammar mistakes?
  • What kind of writer are you?

Copyright © 2022 · EnglishGrammar.org
Disclaimer · Privacy Policy · Sitemap