You are none the worse for the experience.
f) if the worst comes to the worst - в худшем случае
e.g. If the worst comes to the worst, I can always go back home to my parents.
g) to go from bad to worse - становиться все хуже и хуже
e.g. Thinks went from bad to worse in the family.
h) as best - в полную меру старания, как только можно
e.g. He made a living as best he could.
i) at (the) best - в лучшем случае
e.g. She cannot get away from her home for long. At (the) best she can stay with us for two days.
Substantivization of Adjectives.
Sometimes adjectives become substantivized. In this case they have the functions of nouns in the sentence and are always preceded by the definite article. Substantivized adjectives may have two meanings:
1) They may indicate a class of persons in a general sense (e.g. the poor = poor people, the dead = dead people, etc.) Such adjectives are plural in meaning and take a plural verb.
e.g. The old receive pensions.
The young are always romantic, aren't they?
The blind are taught trades in special schools.
If we wish to denote a single person we must add a noun.
e.g. The old man receives a pension.
If we wish to refer to a particular group of persons (not the whole
class), it is aslo necessary to add a noun.
e.g. The young are usually intolerant.
The young men are fishing.
Some adjectives denoting nationalities (e.g. English, French, Dutch) are
used in the same way.
e.g. The English are great lovers of tea.
There were a few English people among the tourists.
2) Substantivized adjectives may also indicate an abstract notion. Then
they are singular in meaning and take a singular verb.
e.g. The good in him overweighs the bad.
My mother never lost her taste for extravagant.
Syntactic Functions of Adjectives.
Adjectives may serve in the sentence as:
1) an attribute e.g. Do you see the small green boat, which has such an odd shape? The lights of the farm blazed out in the windy darkness.
Adjectives used as attributes usually immediately precede the noun.
Normally there is no pause between the adjective and the noun. Such attributes are called close attributes. However, an adjective placed in pre-position to the noun may be separated from it by a pause. Then it becomes a loose attribute. e.g. Clever and tactful, George listened to my story with deep concern.
Yet loose attributes are more often found in post-position to the noun.
e.g. My father, happy and tired, kissed me good-night.
2) a predicative
e.g. Her smile was almost professional.
He looked mature, sober and calm.
3) part of a compound verbal predicate
e.g. He stood silent, with his back turned to the window.
She lay motionless, as if she were asleep.
4) an objective predicative
e.g. I thought him very intelligent.
She wore her hair short.
5) a subjective predicative
e.g. The door was closed tight.
Her hair was dyed blonde.
It should be noted that most adjectives can be used both attributively
and predicatively, but some, among them those beginning with a-, can be used only as predicatives (e.g. afraid, asleep, along, alive, awake,
ashamed and also content, sorry, well, ill, due, etc.) A few adjectives can be used only as attributes (e.g. outer, major, minor, only, whole, former, latter and some others).
Position of Adjectives.
1 Most adjectives can be used in a noun group, after determiners and
numbers if there are any, in front of the noun.
e.g. He had a beautiful smile.
She bought a loaf of white bread.
There was no clear evidence.
2 Most adjectives can also be used after a link verb such as `be',
`become', or `feel'.
e.g. I'm cold.
I felt angry.
Nobody seemed amused.
3. Some adjectives are normally used only after a link verb.
afraid asleep due ready unable
alive aware glad sorry well
alone content ill sure
For example, we can say `She was glad', but you do not talk about `a glad
woman'.
I wanted to be alone.
We were getting ready for bed.
I'm not quite sure.
He didn't know whether to feel glad or sorry.
4. Some adjectives are normally used only in front of a noun.
eastern existing neighbouring
northern atomic indoor occasional
southern countless introductory outdoor
western digital maximum
For example, we talk about `an atomic bomb', but we do not say `The bomb was atomic'. He sent countless letters to the newspapers.
This book includes a good introductory chapter on forests.
5. When we use an adjective to emphasize a strong feeling or opinion, it
always comes in front of a noun.
absolute outright pure true
complete perfect real utter
entire positive total
Some of it was absolute rubbish.
He made me feel like a complete idiot.
6. Some adjectives that describe size or age can come after a noun group
consisting of a number or determiner and a noun that indicates the unit of
measurement.
Deep long tall wide
high old thick
He was about six feet tall.
The water was several metres deep.
The baby is nine months old.
Note that you do not say `two pounds heavy', you say `two pounds in
weight'.
7. A few adjectives are used alone after a noun.
|designate |elect |galore |incarnate |
She was now the president elect.
There are empty houses galore.
8. A few adjectives have a different meaning depending on whether they come in front of or after a noun.
concerned involved present proper responsible
For example, `the concerned mother' means a mother who is worried, but `the mother concerned' means the mother who has been mentioned.
It's one of those incredibly involved stories.
The people involved are all doctors.
I'm worried about the present situation.
Of the 18 people present, I knew only one.
Her parents were trying to act in a responsible manner.
We do not know the person responsible for his death.
Order of Adjectives.
1. We often want to add more information to a noun than you can with one adjective, so we need to use two or more adjectives. In theory, we can use the adjectives in any order, depending on the quality you want to emphasize. In practice, however, there is a normal order. When we use two or more adjectives in front of a noun, we usually put an adjective that expresses our opinion in front of an adjective that just
describes something. e.g. You live in a nice big house. He is a naughty little boy. She was wearing a beautiful pink suit.
2. When we use more than one adjective to express our opinion, an adjective with a more general meaning such as `good', `bad', `nice', or `lovely' usually comes before an adjective with a more specific meaning such as `comfortable', `clean', or `dirty'. e.g. I sat in a lovely comfortable armchair in the corner. He put on a nice clean shirt. It was a horrible dirty room.
3. We can use adjectives to describe various qualities of people or things.
For example, we might want to indicate their size, their shape, or the
country they come from. Descriptive adjectives belong to six main types, but we are unlikely ever to use all six types in the same noun group. If we did, we would normally put them in the following order:
Size shape age colour nationality material
This means that if we want to use an `age' adjective and a `nationality'
adjective, we put the `age' adjective first. We met some young Chinese girls.
Similarly, a `shape' adjective normally comes before a `colour'
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