Classes of adjectives

According to the meaning and grammatical charac­teristics adjectives fall into two classes: 1) qualitative adjectives, and 2) relative adjectives.

Qualitative adjectives denote such properties as size, colour, physical or mental qualities, etc. which a living being or an object, etc. may possess in various degrees and thus their amount or quantity can be measured: a clever boy, a very clever boy, rather a clever boy, such a clever boy; a big house — a very big house, rather a big house, such a big house.

Their most typical suffixes are -ful, -less, -ous, -ant/ -ent, -able/ible, -ing, -like, -some, -y: colourful, colourless, industrious, confidant, current, usable, intelligible, surprising, businesslike, troublesome, easy.

Most qualitative adjectives can be further transfor­med into adverbs by means of the suffix -ly: colourfully, colourlessly, industriously, confidantly, currently, surpri­singly, easily.

Relative adjectives denote properties of a substance in relation to other substances such as materials: silken > silk, woolen > wool, watery > water; places — American > America, European > Europa, Austrian > Austria; periods of time — daily > day, weekly > week, monthly > month, yearly > year; shape — rectanglular > rectangle, triang-lular > triangle; to actions — compulsory > compulsion, preparatory > preparation, consolatory > consolation.

Their most typical suffixes are: -en, -an, -ic/-ical, -al: wooden, Italian, photographic, grammatical, historic — historical.

Relative adjectives do not usually form adverbs with the suffix -ly with the exception of adjectives in -ic/-ical: grammatically, geographically, historically.

Qualitative adjectives: the category of comparison

The ability of qualitative adjectives to express measured properties accounts for their specific grammatical feature, namely the category of comparison, which is regarded as the formal sign of this class of adjectives.

The category of comparison suggests the idea of gradience of a property and is constituted by the opposition of three categorial forms: 1) the positive degree of comparison, 2) the comparative degree, 3) the superlative degree.

The form of the positive degree, the unmarked member of the opposition, is a simple form of a qualitative adjective which expresses no comparison: big, clever, interesting, important.

The other two are the marked members of the opposition because they are expressed grammatically.

The form of the comparative degree shows some increase or decrease in property while the superlative form expresses the highest or least degree of property denoted by qualitative adjectives. Both comparative and superlative forms may be realized synthetically and analytically.

The synthetic way of the degree formation is charac­terized by adding grammatical suffixes to 1) one-syllable adjectives: big, large, high, low, etc; 2) two-syllable adjectives ending in -y, -er, -ow: easy, happy, clever, narrow, etc. 3) two-syllable adjectives with the last syllable stressed: complete, concise, etc.

The analytical way presupposes the use of special words in preposition to adjectives consisting of more than one syllable: difficult, careful, interesting, enthusiastic, etc.

Thus, synthetically the comparative degree of adjectives is formed by adding the suffix -er while the superlative degree — by means of the suffix -est. bigger — biggest, larger — largest, higher — highest; easier — easiest, cleverer — cleverest, narrower — narrowest; com-pleter — completest, conciser — concisest.

Analytically the comparative degree of adjectives is expressed with the help of the words more — to show increase of property and less to to show its decrease whe­reas the superlative degree is formed by means of words most and least correspondingly, more/less, most/least, being the comparative and superlative forms of the adjectives much/many and little: more difficult, less difficult — the most difficult (task), the least difficult (task); more interesting book, less interesting book — the most interesting book, the least interesting book.

Note that most as part of the analytical superlative degree of adjectives must not be confused with the homonymous adverb in the meaning very. Compare: This is the most interesting book I have ever read. — This is a most interesting book. This book is most interesting.

Apart from the great number of adjectives which form their degrees of comparison in accordance with the rules given above there may be found some adjectives with the irregular comparative and superlative degrees, on the one hand, and those that have missing forms of the comparative degree, on the other. They are as follows: much/many — more — most little — less — least good — better — best bad/evil/ill — worse — worst eastern — more eastern — easternmost

northern — more northern — northern most

southern — more southern — southern most