§ 6. Syntactic functions

Adjectives may have different functions in the sentence.

The most common are those of an attribute or a predicative.

The attributes (premodifying and postmodifying) may be closely attached to their headwords (E.g. a good boy, the delegates present), or they may be loose (detached) (Clever and ambitious, he schemed as well as he could). In the first case the adjective forms a group with the noun it modifies; in the second case the adjective forms a sense-group separate from the head-word and the other parts of the sentence. A detached attribute is therefore separated by a comma from its head-word if it adjoins it, or from other parts of the sentence if it is distant from the head-word. As predicatives, adjectives may form a part of a compound nominal or double predicate (E.g. He was alone, the window was open. Old Jolyon sat alone, the dog went mad). Predicative adjectives may be modified by adverbials of manner, degree, or consequence and by clauses, forming long phrases as, in (E. g. He is not so foolish as to neglect it. She is not so crazy as you may imagine. It is not as simple as you think).

Adjectives may also function as objective or subjective predicatives in complex constructions:

We consider him reliable. I can drink coffee hot. He pushed the door open. Better eat the apples fresh. I consider what he did awful.	objects + objective predicatives
The fruits were picked ripe. The windows were flung open.	subjective predicatives

Adjectives may be used parenthetically, conveying the attitude of the speaker to the contents of the sentence (strange, funny, curious, odd, surprising), often premodified by more or most. (E.g. Strange, it was the same person.

Most incredible, he deceived us).

A certain type of exclamatory sentence is based on adjectives, often modified by other words. (E.g. How good of you! How wonderful! Excellent! Just right!)

§ 7. Substantivized Adjectives

Substantivized adjectives may fall into several groups, according to their meaning and the nominal features they possess.

1. Some substantivized adjectives have only the singular form. They may have either the singular or the plural agreement, depending on their meaning. These are:

a) substantivized adjectives denoting generalized or abstract notions.

They are used with the definite article and have singular agreement:

the fabulous, the unreal, the invisible:

(E.g. The fabulous is always interesting).

There are, however, certain exceptions. Substantivized adjectives denoting abstract notions may sometimes be used in the plural. Then no article is used:

There are many variables and unknowns.

b) substantivized adjectives denoting languages are used without a determiner, but are often modified by a pronoun. They also have singular agreement. (E.g. My Spanish is very poor. He speaks excellent Englis).

c) substantivized adjectives denoting groups of persons or persons of the same nationality are used with the definite article the and admit only of plural agreement the old, the poor, the rich, the blind, the dumb and deaf, the mute, the eminent, the English.

(E.g. He did not look an important personage, but the eminent rarely do. The poor were robbed of their lands).

2. Some substantivized adjectives have the category of number that is they can have two forms - the singular and the plural. These are:

a) substantivized adjectives denoting social rank or position, military ranks, party, creed, gender, nationality, race, groups of people belonging to certain times or epochs, etc. In the plural the use of the article is not obligatory: nobles, equals, superiors, inferiors, commercials, domestics, privates, regulars, ordinaries, marines, Christians, primitives, moderns, ancients, contemporaries, liberals, conservatives, Europeans, Asiatics, Eurasians, Indians, Easterns, blacks, whites, etc.

When denoting an individual such words are used in the singular and are preceded by the indefinite article: a noble, a private, a regular, an ordinary, a Christian, a primitive, a liberal, etc.

There were a few deads missing from the briefing.

(E.g. - How many have you killed? He’s been working like a black).

b) substantivized adjectives denoting animals and plants: evergreens, thoroughbreds (about horses).

3. Some substantivized adjectives have only the plural form. These are:

a) substantivized adjectives denoting studies and examinations. They have either the singular or the plural agreement depending on whether they denote one notion or a collection of notions: classics, finals (final examinations), midsessionals, etc.

Finals were approaching.

b) substantivized adjectives denoting collection of things, substances, and foods. Some of these admit either of both the singular and plural agreement (chemicals, movables, necessaries, valuables, eatables, greens), others admit only of a singular agreement (bitters).

c) substantivized adjectives which are the names of the parts of the body are used with the definite article the and admit of the plural agreement: the vitals, the whites (of the eyes).

d) substantivized adjectives denoting colours are used in the plural without any article: greys, reds, purples, greens.