Quick Grammar Reference

Adjective order

Order of adjectives
When we use more than one adjective to describe something (e.g. A big, red car) there are
rules about which order the adjectives come in.
Colour, origin, material, purpose
Just before the noun come adjectives that tell you the purpose of the noun.
● A dining table.
● A tennis racket.
In these sentences ‘dining’ and ‘tennis’ are adjectives that tell us the purpose of the noun.
Before ‘purpose’ come adjectives that tell us what something is made of – the ‘material’
● A wooden dining table.
● A plastic lunch box.
‘Wooden’ and ‘plastic’ tell us the material that the noun is made from. Other ‘material’
adjectives include ‘steel’, ‘metal’, ‘woollen’, ‘stone, ‘leather’ etc.
Before ‘material’ come adjectives that talk about ‘origin’ – where something comes from.
● A Swedish wooden dining table.
● Egyptian cotton bed sheets.
Before ‘origin’ comes colour.
● A black Swedish wooden dining table.
● A bright blue dressing gown.
● Some red leather shoes.
So, the order of adjectives is:
COLOUR then ORIGIN then MATERIAL then PURPOSE
It’s important to remember that it’s unusual to have all of these adjectives in one sentence.
Other adjectives
Other adjectives can describe the size or age of something and also our opinion of it.
Adjectives describing ‘size’, ‘length’ or ‘age’ come before ‘colour’, ‘origin’, ‘material’
and ‘purpose’.
● He drives a big Japanese car.
● She’s got long black hair.
● They live in an old stone farmhouse in France.
An adjective that gives our opinion of something usually comes before all other adjectives.
● She’s got beautiful long black hair.
● He’s wearing an expensive Italian silk suit.
Finally, numbers usually come before adjectives.
 ● We bought four beautiful Swedish dining chairs.
● They’ve got two lovely children.

Adjectives & Prepositions

Adjectives & Prepositions

Some adjectives go with certain prepositions. There is no real pattern – you need to learn them
as you meet them. Here are some examples but remember that there are many other adjective
+ preposition combinations that are not covered here.
With ‘at’
● I’m quite good at English but I’m bad at maths and I’m terrible at physics.
With ‘for’
● Jogging is good for your health but smoking is bad for you.
● The town is famous for its cheese.
As well as ‘good for’, ‘bad for’ and ‘famous for’ we also say ‘qualified for’ ‘ready
for’, ‘responsible for’, ‘suitable for’ and several others.
With ‘of’
I’m perfectly capable of doing it myself, thank you.
I’m very fond of this old sweatshirt.
As well as ‘capable of’ and ‘fond of’ we also say ‘aware of’, ‘full of’, ‘tired of’ and several
others.
With ‘with’
● We’re very pleased with your progress.
● You’re not still angry with me are you?
As well as ‘pleased with’ and ‘angry with’ we also say ‘bored with’, ‘delighted
with’, ‘satisfied with’ and several others.
With ‘to’
● She’s the one who’s married to a doctor, isn’t she?
● You’ll be responsible to the head of the Finance department.
Notice that you can be responsible for something but responsible to someone.
Other common adjective + preposition combinations include ‘interested in’ and ‘keen on’. It’s a
good idea to make a note of new combinations in your vocabulary notebook as you meet them.
Remember too that a preposition is followed by a noun or a gerund (‘ing’ form).

Adjectives (gradable / non-gradable)

Gradable / Non-gradable adjectives

Adjectives can be either gradable or non-gradable
Gradable
Gradable adjectives are adjectives like ‘cold’ ‘hot’ and ‘frightened’. You can be very cold or a
bit cold. Gradable adjectives show that something can have different degrees.
Non-gradable
Non-gradable adjectives are adjectives like ‘married’ or ‘wooden’. You can’t be very married or
a bit married. Non-gradable adjectives do not have different degrees.
Adjectives like ‘terrifying’, ‘freezing’ ‘amazing’ are also non-gradable adjectives. They already
contain the idea of ‘very’ in their definitions – ‘freezing’ means ‘very cold’ etc.
Using adverbs of degree
When we use adverbs of degree to modify adjectives we usually have to use different adverbs
for gradable and non-gradable adjectives.
● NOT I’m completely hot.
● NOT It was very fantastic!
With gradable adjectives
● It’s a bit cold in here. Shall I turn the fire on?
● He’s very interested in history. Why don’t you buy him a history book?
● This exercise is really difficult. I don’t know any of the answers.
● I’m extremely tired. I’m going to bed.
The adverbs a bit, very, really, extremely and quite can all be used with gradable adjectives.
With non-gradable adjectives
● It’s absolutely freezing in here. Shall I turn the fire on?
● He’s completely fascinated by history. Why don’t you buy him a history book?
● This exercise is absolutely impossible.
● That film is really terrifying. Don’t go and see it on your own.
The adverbs absolutely and completely can be used with non-gradable adjectives.
Notice that really can be used with both gradable AND non-gradable adjectives.
NOTE: There are other adverbs of degree that we haven’t covered in this section. The ones
included here are some of the most common.

Adjectives ending in -ed and –ing

-ed and –ing adjectives

Adjectives that end ‘-ed’ (e.g. ‘bored’, ‘interested’) and adjectives that end ‘-ing’
(e.g. ‘boring’, ‘interesting’) are often confused.
-ed adjectives
Adjectives that end ‘-ed’ describe emotions – they tell us how people feel about something.
● I was very bored in the maths lesson. I almost fell asleep.
● He was surprised to see Helen. She’d told him she was going to Australia.
● Feeling tired and depressed, he went to bed.
-ing adjectives
Adjectives that end ‘-ing’ describe the thing that causes the emotion – a boring lesson makes
you feel bored.
● Have you seen that film? It’s absolutely terrifying.
● I could listen to him for hours. He’s one of the most interesting people I’ve ever met.
● I can’t eat this! It’s disgusting! What is it?
Remember that people can be boring but only if they make other people feel bored.
● He talks about the weather for hours. He’s so boring.
● NOT I was very boring at the party so I went home.
Here are some more adjectives that can have both an ‘-ed’ and an ‘-ing’ form
● amused
● amusing
● annoyed
● annoying
● confused
● confusing
● disappointed
● disappointing
● excited
● exciting
● exhausted
● exhausting
● frightened
● frightening
● satisfied
● satisfying
● shocked
● shocking

Articles 2
In a Articles 1 we looked at the 3 golden rules of articles:

1. People’s jobs have a/an. He’s an architect.

2 Singular countable nouns have an article. That’s the woman I met last week.
3 Things in general – no article. Cats like mice.

Here we look at some other rules for the use of articles.

Special places
● My son’s at university but my daughter still goes to school.
● He was sent to prison for 10 years.
● Now that winter’s here I find it difficult to get out of bed.
 ● I go to work by bus but I go home on foot.
In expressions with a number of places there is no article after a preposition.

These places include: to/at school, to/at university/college, to/in church, to/in/out of prison, to/in
hospital, to/in/out of bed, to/at work, at home.

NOTE: While we say ‘go to school’ and ‘go to work’ etc, the expression ‘go home’ has
neither ‘the’ nor ‘to’.

Transport
● I go to work by bus but I go home on foot.
● I hate travelling by train.
Modes of transport (by bus, by train, by car, by plane, by bicycle) don’t have an article. Notice
that on foot is different.

Geography

No article – continents (Africa, Asia etc.) countries (France, Germany, Slovakia etc - but the
Slovak Republic, the United States, the United Kingdom) towns & cities (Bratislava, London
etc.) lakes (Lake Victoria, Lake Balaton etc.) universities (Oxford University, Nitra University
etc.)

With ‘the’ – seas & oceans (the Atlantic, the Mediterranean etc.) mountain ranges (the
Himalayas, the Tatras) rivers (the Amazon, the Danube etc.)

Other expressions
● I don’t watch television very often but I listen to the radio all the time.
● I’ve got a headache.
● I’ve got a stomach-ache
● I’ve got a cold.
BUT
● I’ve got ‘flu.
● I’ve got earache.
● I’ve got toothache.
Other illnesses have no article.

As and Like
As and like are often confused since they are both used to compare actions or situations. There
are, however, important differences.

As
We use as to talk about job or function.
● I worked as a shop assistant for 2 years when I was a student.
● He used his shoe as a hammer to hang the picture up.
In comparisons, the structure ‘as adjective as’ is often used.
● He’s not as tall as his brother
● She ran as fast as she could.
In the following comparisons as is a conjunction – it’s followed by a clause with a subject and a
verb.
● He went to Cambridge University, as his father had before him.
● She’s a talented writer, as most of her family are.

Like
In the following comparisons, like is a preposition and it’s followed by a noun or a pronoun.
● I’ve been working like a dog all afternoon.
● None of my brothers are much like me.
● She looks just like her mother.
Like and As if/As though

Like, as if and as though can all be used to make comparisons. There is no difference in
meaning among the 3 forms.
● You look as if you’ve seen a ghost.
● You talk as though we’re never going to see each other again.
● It looks like it’s going to rain.
Expressions with ‘as’

The following expressions all use as.

● As you know, classes restart on January 15th.
● I tried using salt as you suggested but the stain still didn’t come out.
● As we agreed the company will be split 50/50 between us.
● Their house is the same as ours.