Adjectives are words used to describe nouns and pronouns. They include: good, bad, beautiful, mature, intelligent and so on. I have, before now, discussed their comparison. In furtherance of that, this lesson will expatiate upon some errors relating to their deployment in utterances and writing.
First of all, a substantial number of adjectives are formed from the addition of suffixes, such as -ous, -ful, -less, -ic, -ial and the like, to base or root words. This helps generate adjectives like joyful, careless, ceremonial, historic and so forth from the nouns (the base/root words) joy, care, ceremony and history, respectively. The first category of errors concerning the use of adjectives stems from using the wrong suffix with a root/base word. In truth, this is usually born out of inappropriate analogies. For instance, the adjectives, ‘insulting’ and ‘captivating’, are wrongly represented as ‘insultive’ and ‘captivative’ by many speakers of English. This is hinged on the false impression that adjectives almost always attract ‘–ive’, as seen in words like educative, informative and accusative. On the contrary, some adjectives are realised as the progressive forms of verbs. The usages of the aforementioned words are depicted in the example sentences below:
The young lady made an insultive remark (non-standard).
The young lady made an insulting remark (standard).
My sister is really captivative (non-standard).
My sister is really captivating (standard).
What is more, recall that adjectives cannot be pluralised, and they do not take the indefinite articles a/an as precursors, unless the adjectives are succeeded by nouns.
Bolanle is a talkative (non-standard).
Bolanle is talkative (standard).
Bolanle is a talkative person (standard).
Are you a computer-literate (non-standard)?
Are you computer-literate (standard)?
John is not a mediocre (non-standard).
John is not mediocre (standard).
John is not a mediocre member of staff (standard).
They are destitutes (non-standard).
They are destitute (standard).
They are destitute people (standard).
We are cholerics (non-standard).
We are choleric (standard).
Another kind of error is the omission of the obligatory suffixes needed to generate certain adjectives. Many a speaker of English erroneously uses the nouns ‘coward’ and ‘panic’ as adjectives, thereby generating grammatically dysfunctional sentences, as in:
He is coward (non-standard).
They seem panic (non-standard).
The adjectival forms of these words are cowardly and panicky, correspondingly, and they should be appropriately deployed as obtained hereunder:
He is cowardly (standard).
They seem panicky (standard).
Another class of problematic adjectives comprises those erroneously used with the past tense marker ‘-d’. First in this category is ‘advance’. When this word means something which is happening, done or ready before an event, it does not attract the past tense marker -d. The following examples explain this clearly:
We need to make an advanced payment (non-standard).
We need to make an advance payment (standard).
We received no advanced notice of the changes (non-standard).
We received no advance notice of the changes (standard).
I instructed Peter to give you advanced warning (non-standard).
I instructed Peter to give you advance warning (standard).
Note, however, that when the word is related to something that is modern or well developed, it attracts the suffix ‘-d’, as evidenced below:
This is the most advance type of engine available (non-standard).
This is the most advanced type of engine available (standard).
The suffix is also used when the word refers to a phenomenon which is at a higher or more difficult level:
I teach advance English grammar in Lagos State University (non-standard).
I teach advanced English grammar in Lagos State University (standard).
Next, the readership should note that, as adjectives, ‘mature’, ‘secure’ and ‘welcome’ do not admit the ‘-d’ marker thus:
She is emotionally matured (non-standard).
She is emotionally mature (standard).
I am impressed by your matured attitude (non-standard).
I am impressed by your mature attitude (standard).
These animals are not mature (standard).
Matured, though, can be deployed as a verb and should not be preceded by the verb ‘to be’—that is, am, is, are, et cetera. For instance:
Victor has matured into a renowned athlete (standard).
With regard to the usage of ‘secure’ as an adjective:
This is a secured neighbourhood (non-standard).
This is a secure neighbourhood (standard).
Brenda felt safe and secured in Thomas’ arms (non-standard).
Brenda felt safe and secure in Thomas’ arms (standard).
Ensure that you park your vehicle in a secured environment (non-standard).
Ensure that you park your vehicle in a secure environment (standard).
My job is secure (standard).
As a verb, one can say:
The police have secured the neighbourhood against bandits (standard).
Barcelona secured a victory over Liverpool (standard).
Regarding the application of ‘welcome’ as an adjective:
This is welcomed news (non-standard).
This is welcome news (standard).
The use of vulgar language is not welcomed (non-standard).
The use of vulgar language is not welcome (standard).
She makes her employees very welcomed in the workplace (non-standard).
She makes her employees very welcome in the workplace (standard).
Adjectives constitute a complex word class in English, especially in terms of their morphological forms. Thankfully, this treatise has significantly addressed some difficulties that cloud the forms and choices of adjectives in English.
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