CONTEMPORARY ENGLISH

A few adjectives are used only or mostly in attributive position - i.e. with a noun. After a verb, other words must be used.  Elder and eldest are used in expressions like elder brother, eldest daughter (older and oldest are also possible). After a verb, only older and oldest can be used. Ex: My brother's three years older than me.  Live /laiv/ (meaning the opposite of 'dead') is only used attributively, mainly to talk about birds, animals etc (e.g. a live fish). In predicative position, we use alive (e.g. That fish is still alive). When live has other meanings, it can also be used predicatively (e.g. This broadcast comes to you live from Buenos Aires; You'll get an electric shock if you touch that wire - it's live).  When old is used with words like friend, it can mean that a relationship has lasted for a long time. In this case, it can only be used attributively. An old friend is one you have known for a long time; if you say My friend's quite old, you can onl...

  Most adjective can go in two places in a sentence:  With a noun (attributive position):  The new secretary doesn't like me.  She's going out with a rich businessman.  Please send me all the tickets available.  After be, seem, look, become and a few other verbs (predicative position):  That dress is new, isn't it?  S/he looks rich.  Can you tell me if Mr. Smith is available?  Some adjectives can only go in one of these positions (e.g. awake, elder). Some adjectives may come after the noun in attributive position (as in tickets available in the example above). One or two adjectives have different meaning in attributive and predicative positions. When several adjectives are used together, it is always easy to put them in the right order (e.g. a beautiful little old Chinese porcelain vase). There are also problems about the use of and with two or more adjectives.     

Using an adjective alone is not usually possible, instead of adjective + noun. You cannot say *Hello, my little, or *You poor! However, there are some cases in which it is possible to use an adjective alone.  In informal conversation, we often drop the noun in situations where we are choosing between two or more varieties. If you ask for photos to be developed, the assistant will probably say 'Matt or gloss?', not 'Mat or gloss paper?'  Other examples:  'Pint of milk, please.' - 'I've only got sterilized.' We've just bought a new car. It's an automatic.  Twenty full-length, please. (a kind of cigarette) 'Three pints of bitter.' - 'Best or ordinary?' Some adjectives are used so often in this way that they have really turned into nouns. People always say bitter, never *bitter been, in detective stories, we usually read about an automatic, rather than an automatic pistol.  Superlative adjectives are often used with nouns.  Exampl...

  Typical mistake: You look beautifully.  With verbs, we usually used adverbs, not adjectives. But with certain verbs (e.g. seem, look, taste), adjectives can be used. This happens when we are really describing the subject of the sentence, not the 'action' of the verb. Verbs of this kind are be, seem, appear, look, sound taste, feel and smell .  Examples:  S/he is nice.  S/he seems nice.  S/he sounds nice.  S/he smells nice.  S/he feels nice.  But be careful. Some of these verbs have two meanings. Compare the following:  The problem appeared impossible (Not: ...impossibly).  Linda suddenly appeared in the doorway (Not: ...sudden).  In the first sentence, appeared means 'seemed', and is used with an adjective; but in the second sentence appeared means 'came into sight' (an action), so it is used with an adverb.  Look, taste, feel and smell can also be used to refer to actions, and they are then used with adverbs. Compare th...

  Adjectives in -ly ----------------------------------------------------------------- Typical mistakes: He spoke to me very friendly. She sang lovely.  ----------------------------------------------------------------- Many adjectives can be made into adverbs by adding -ly. Compare the following sentences:  The engine is very quiet. > It runs very quietly.  He is a wonderful guitarist. > He plays wonderfully.  But some words that end in -ly are adjectives, not adverbs. For example: friendly, lovely, lonely, likely, ugly, deadly, cowardly, silly. These words cannot be used as adverbs.  Examples:  He spoke to me in a very friendly way.  Her singing was lovely (or she sang beautifully).  Other words that end in -ly can be both adjectives and adverbs. Examples are daily, weekly, monthly, yearly, early. A daily paper is published daily, we get up early to catch an early train.  Adjectives and adverbs with the same form, adverbs with two ...

  Typical mistakes:  She sang beautiful.  I am terrible tired.  She's a typically Englishwoman.  Examples of adjectives : beautiful, tired, typical, old, complete, surprising. Adjectives say what something is or seems like. They can be used in 2 ways:  1. before nouns. This is called 'attributive position'. E.g. a beautiful song, a tired expression, a typical Englishwoman 2. in the complement of a sentence - that is to say, after is, seems and a few other verbs. This is called 'predicative position'. E.g. She is beautiful. He looks tired. That remark was typical of the way he talks to people... Examples of adverbs: beautifully, tiredly, typically, completely, surprisingly, always, soon, however...  With verbs, we use adverbs to give more information about the action - to say how, where, or when it is done... Examples:  She sang beautifully.  I am coming soon. You always misunderstand me.  Adverbs can also be used in other ways: ...

There are a large number of problems connected with the use of adjectives and adverbs. Most of them are explained in the following section, a few are dealt with in other parts of this blog. The problems include:  The difference between adjectives and adverbs, confusing cases like friendly (adjective) or cheap (adjective and adverb).  The use of adjectives with verbs like look, feel, taste... The use of adjectives without nouns (e.g. the blind)... The position of adjectives... The use of nouns as adjectives (e.g. a roof garden)... The order of adjective before nouns (e.g. a great big fat old tabby cat)... The use of and between adjectives... Comparison of adjectives and adverbs... The use of participles as adjectives... The position of adverbs in sentences...

  Typical mistakes :  Unemployment is a very actual problem.  The population of Phnom Penh used to be higher than actually.  To talk about things that are going on at the moment, we use, for example, present, up-to-date, current, topical, just now, at the moment, at present.  Examples:  Unemployment is a current problem.  The population of Phnom Penh used to be higher than at present.  Actual and actually are not used in this sense. They mean almost the same as real and really, or in fact, and they used to correct misunderstandings, or to introduce unexpected information.  Examples:  The book says she was 47 when she died, but her actual age was 45.  'Hello, Tom. Nice to see you again.' - 'Actually, my name's Mike.'  'Could I speak to Linsay?' - 'Well, she's on holiday, actually.'  We often use actually in apologies (to 'break news gently').  Examples:  'How did you get on with my car?' - 'Well, actually, I'm t...

  Typical mistake: I have gotten headache.  Headache is a normal countable noun.  Examples:  I have got a headache.  I often get headache.  The other aches (toothache, earache, stomach-ache and back-ache) can be countable or uncountable. In British English, they are more common as uncountable nouns (without the indefinite article A/AN and with no plural).  Examples:  I have gotten toothache.  I have had toothache a few times this week.  In American English, particular attacks of pain are called a toothache, a stomachache, etc. Compare the following:  Toothache is horrible.  I have a toothache.  When other parts of the body hurt in this way, we use the verb to ache. For example: My legs ache.  Note that heartache is a literary word for romantic sorrow or depression. 

  Typical mistake: It took us 5 hours to walk across the jungle.  Both across and through can be used for a movement from one side of an area to another.  Across is related to On - it suggests that the movement is on a surface.  Through is related to In - you move through a 3-D space, with things on all sicks.  Compare the following:  The lake was frozen, so we walked across the ice. It took us 2 hours to walk through the rice field. I walked across the square to the cafe.  I pushed through the crowds to the bar.  Through is used for a movement from one side to the other of something 'long and thin', like a rive.  He swam through the river. (Not: ...through the river.)

 The prepositions 'Across' and 'Over' are used with similar meaning, but there are differences.  Both Across and Over can be used to mean 'on or to the other side' of a line, river, road, and so on (position or movement related to things that are 'long and thin'.  Examples:  They walked across or over the road... See if you can jump over or across the corridor... Her room's just over or across the corridor... They will be over/across the frontier by midnight... Over is used for movements on or above water, but not in water. For example: How long would it take to swim across the river? (Not: ...over the river?) Both Across and Over can mean 'on the other side of' a high barrier (like a hedge, a fence, a wall, a mountain range...), but only Over is used for a movement to the other side of something high. Compare the following:  If we can be over/across the fence before sunrise, we have got a chance.  When I last saw them, they were climbing ver...

 Typical mistakes:  According to me, the interest rate is too high... According to her opinion, the republicans are going to win... We use 'according to' when we want to say that our info comes from some other person, book and so on. It means something like 'if what A says is true'.  Examples:  According to John, the president of that country is a real tyrant or dictator... According to the ticket, the plane takes off at 10:30... 'According to' is not generally used with words like view or opinion. We say in the Govt's view, in her opinion, etc. Note also that 'after' isn't used in expressions like these. Typical mistake: After my opinion... In my opinion, the interest rate is too high... In her opinion, the republicans are going to win...

Both above and over can be used to mean 'higher than'.  Examples:  Can you see the helicopter above the Angkor Wat temple? The water came up above or over our knees. When the meaning is 'covering' or 'crossing', over is usually used.  Examples:  The plane was flying over Thailand. Electricity cables stretch over the rice fields... There is thick cloud over the Tonle Sap lake... With numbers and expressions of quantity or measurement, using 'over (= more than)' is more common.  Examples:  There were 30,000 people at the Sangkran Angkor... You must be 18 to see this movie... However, above is used when we think about measurement on a vertical (up & down) scale.  Examples:  The temperature is 5 degrees above 0.  S/he is well above average (= the middle of the scale) in intelligence... Hights of land are given above sea-level. Compare the use of above and over in the following example: The Kirirom National Park is 700 meters above sea le...

 'About to + infinitive' means 'going to very soon' and/or 'just going to'.  Examples:  Don't go out now - we are about have dinner.  I was about to go to bed when there was a knock at the door. *In US English, 'not about to' can mean 'unwilling to'.  Example:  I am not about to pay $100 for a pen like that. 

What is the difference between 'a book about Cambodia' and 'a book on Cambodia'? About is usual when the information given is more general or the communication style is more casual.  On is used to suggest that a book, lecture, article and so on is serious or academic and/or suitable for specialists.  Compare the following examples:  - A book on Cambodia history Vs a book for visitors about Cambodia and its people - A textbook on economics Vs a conversation about finance - An article on French industrial problems Vs an argument about strikes