The syntactic functions of english adjectives in comparison with those of vietnamese ones

HANOI PEDAGOGICAL UNIVERSITY NO.2
FACULTY OF FOREING LANGUAGES

MAI THI TRANG

THE SYNTACTIC FUNCTIONS OF ENGLISH
ADJECTIVES IN COMPARISON WITH THOSE OF
VIETNAMESE ONES

(SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE
REQUIREMENTS OF THE DEGREE OF BARCHELOR OF ARTS IN
ENGLISH)

SUPERVISOR: NGUYEN THI MEN, M. A

Hanoi, 2013
i


DECLARATION

I certify that this thesis is my own work and effort, it is originally written by
me under strict guidance of my supervisor. The support I have received in my work
and the preparation of the minor thesis itself has been acknowledged. In addition, I
certify that all information sources and literature used are indicated in the minor
thesis’s references.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

For the completion of this paper, I have been fortunate to receive invaluable
contributions from many people. I would like to express my sincere thanks to my
supervisor, Nguyen Thi Men, M. A. who step by step guides me during my writing
thesis. Without her assistance, excellent suggestions, expert advice and detailed
critical comments, the work could not have been completed. I owe her for a debt of
gratitude that cannot be measured.
In addition, I am greatly indebted to all my lecturers at Faculty of Foreign
Languages at Hanoi Pedagogical University No.2, Vinh Phuc, for their useful
lectures, support, encouragement and for inspiring me the love for English foreign
language teaching and doing scientific research.
Besides, the study couldn’t have been prepared without the support and the
provision of useful materials from my friends. Therefore, their kindness will never
be forgotten.
Finally, although great efforts have been made to complete the thesis, I am
aware that this study is far from perfect. Hence, constructive comments are
welcome for more perfection of the thesis.

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ABSTRACT

“Adjective” is an interesting category of English grammar. It is used in many
contexts to describe the characteristic, quality, shape, etc of things or people.
However, the use of the syntactic functions of adjectives sometimes causes learners
of English to be confused and this theme has not been adequately dealt with in
some studies. As a matter of fact, Vietnamese learners of English are not often
totally aware of the syntactic functions of adjectives in English and in Vietnamese,
too.

Therefore, the research is carried out into the syntactic functions of
adjectives in comparison with those in Vietnamese in the hope of providing a
valuable input about the theme for Vietnamese learners of English and vice versus
so that it can partly reduce the barriers in the learning process of English to
Vietnamese learners and of Vietnamese to English-native-speaking learners.
Moreover, the researcher hopes to fill the gap in the research field.
Based on results of the comparison, the similarities and differences have
been found. Teaching implications for the theme of adjectives have been suggested.

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ABBREVIATION

Adj P

Adjective phrase

Adv

Adverb

CS

Subject complement

CO

Object complement

FC

Finite clause

Non-FC

Non-finite clause

NP

Noun phrase

O

Object

S

Subject

V

Verb

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
DECLARATION ............................................................................................. i
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................ ii

ABSTRACT ..................................................................................................... iii
ABBREVATION ............................................................................................. iv
TABLE OF CONTENTS ................................................................................ v

PART ONE
INTRODUCTION
1. Rationale....................................................................................................... 1
2. Research presupposition ............................................................................. 2
3. Research scope ............................................................................................. 2
4. Research objectives ..................................................................................... 3
5. Research tasks ............................................................................................. 3
6. Research methods........................................................................................ 3
7. Significance of the proposed research ....................................................... 4
8. Design of the research work ....................................................................... 4

PART TWO
DEVELOPMENT
CHAPTER I: THEORICAL BACKGROUND
1. Literature review in brief ........................................................................... 5
2. Definitions of adjectives .............................................................................. 10
3. Characteristics of adjectives....................................................................... 11
3.1. Adjectives in English ................................................................................ 11
3.1.1. Classification .......................................................................................... 11
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3.1.1.1. Based on meaning ...................................................................... 12
3.1.1.1.1. Demonstrative............................................................... 12
3.1.1.1. 2. Distributive .................................................................. 12
3.1.1.1. 3. Quantitative ................................................................. 12

3.1.1.1. 4. Interrogative................................................................. 13
3.1.1.1. 5. Possessive .................................................................... 13
3.1.1.1. 6. Quality ......................................................................... 13
3.1.1.2. Based on the ground of the complexity of the structure ............ 14
3.1.1.2.1. Short adjectives ............................................................ 14
3.1.1.2.2. Long adjectives ............................................................ 14
3.1.1.2.3. Special adjectives ......................................................... 14
3.1.2. Position of adjectives .............................................................................. 15
3.2. Adjectives in Vietnamese ......................................................................... 16
3.2.1. Classification ......................................................................................... 16
3.2.1.1. Based on general meaning and ability of adjectives to
combine with adjuncts of degree ........................................................... 16
3.2.1.1.1. Non-gradable adjectives ......................................................... 16
3.2.1.1.1. Gradable adjectives .................................................................. 18
3.2.1.2. Based on the semantics and ability of adjectives to control
adjuncts after the adjectives ............................................................................ 19
3.2.1.2.1. Adjectives of external features of things .................................... 19
3.2.1.2.2. Adjectives of internal characteristics and states of things ......... 20
3.2.2. Position of adjectives............................................................................. 21
3.2.2.1. After noun and verbs ...................................................................... 21
3.2.2.2. Before nouns ................................................................................... 22
4. Syntactic functions of adjectives ................................................................ 23
4.1. Definitions of syntactic function ............................................................. 23
4.2. Syntactic functions of adjectives in English ............................................ 24
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4.2.1. Attributive .................................................................................... 24
4.2.2. Predicative with “be” and copular verbs ...................................... 26
4.2.3. Postposition ................................................................................... 29

4.2.4. Head of noun phrases (the + adjective) ........................................ 31
4.2.5. Verbless adjective clause .............................................................. 32
4.3. Syntactic functions of adjectives in Vietnamese ...................................... 32
4.3.1. Predicate (Adjective placed after right the subject)...................... 33
4.3.2. Modifier to both the nouns and verbs ........................................... 34
4.3.3. Adverbial phrase ........................................................................... 35
4.3.4. Subject of a sentence..................................................................... 36
4.3.5. Preposition .................................................................................... 37

Chapter II: SYNTACTIC FUNCTIONS OF ENGLISH
ADJECTIVES IN COMPARISON WITH THOSE OF
VIETNAMESE ONES
1. Similarities .................................................................................................. 38
1.1. Adjectives function as attributive ................................................... 38
1.2. Adjectives in English and in Vietnamese function as verbless
adjective clause ....................................................................................... 40
1.3. Adjectives in both languages can be placed in the position of
subject or object when they become a head of a noun phrase ................ 42
2. Differences ................................................................................................... 43
2.1. English adjectives tend to appear more in pre-position, while
Vietnamese ones mainly come in postposition ....................................... 44
2.2. When functioning as predicative, English adjectives must
appear after copular verbs or the verb “be”, whereas Vietnamese
adjectives can be direct predicative ........................................................ 46
2.3. Vietnamese adjectives can modify verbs in the predicative
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which are similar to adverbs modifying the verbs in English, but
English ones cannot ................................................................................ 47

2.4. Some English adjectives only get the syntactic function of
predicative, but Vietnamese ones do not have it .................................... 50
2.5. Some English adjectives only function as attributive, but
Vietnamese ones do not .......................................................................... 51
2.6. Most of the English adjectives become the head of a noun phrase
by adding or reducing the suffixes except the case of combining with
the definite article “the”, while the Vietnamese adjectives can go
with adjuncts without changing their form. ............................................ 52
3. Major findings and recommendations ...................................................... 53

PART III
CONCLUSION
1. Conclusion .................................................................................................... 55
2. Implications for teaching ............................................................................ 57
3. Recommendations for further researchers ............................................... 58
REFERENCES

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PART ONE
INTRODUCTION
1. RATIONALE
Language is very important means of communication in daily human life.
Human beings use language, both in written and spoken forms, to express their
ideas. In a wider scope, language functions as means of international
communication. In a smaller group whose members share the same language, for
instance, there are likely to be no difficulties in using the language since the people
involving in the process of communication are used to speaking their own native
language. On the other hand, if people taking part in the conversation speak

different languages, they might face difficulties or obstacles in getting along with
each other. One of the problems causing the difficulties is the language used.
Accordingly, they need a language which is understood by sides, the speaker and
his or her counterpart. This will occur when speakers are different from
background: nationality, race, and language, etc. In this case, an international
language is really in need, especially the one that is the most widely spoken in the
world. Such a language is English.
In Vietnam as well as in other countries, there is a greater and greater need to
learn English, from young to old, and from male to female. No one can deny the
importance of English in Vietnam at present. Therefore, English is taught at every
educational level.
However, learning a language is difficult because each language has its own
system which is different from that in the learner’s native language. The differences
in systems of language may bring about problems for foreign language learners.
Hence, it is inevitable that in learning English as a foreign language Vietnamese
students usually have problems on account of the differences between Vietnamese
and the target language. It is true that English grammar is complex and often causes
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embarrassment to students. The adjective is one of the language categories that all
learners of English have to learn much. In every English skills, students usually use
adjectives with a high frequency since it is one of the important complements of
one sentence. However, many students confess that the adjective is one of the
problems of English grammar that they are vague about and often make mistakes in
the use. Besides, they find it difficult to distinguish the syntactic functions of
adjectives in English from those in Vietnamese.
In addition, as a prospective teacher, I would like to make contribution to the
English teaching in Vietnam. For all these reasons, this study is conducted, which
focuses on the syntactic functions of adjectives in English in comparison with those

in Vietnamese.
2. RESEARCH SUPPOSITION
Some questions are raised:
a) What are the syntactic functions of adjectives in Vietnamese?
b) What are the syntactic functions of adjectives in English?
c) What are the similarities and differences between the syntactic functions of
adjectives in English and those in Vietnamese?
Based on the questions above, I am eager to learn about the problems and
make a comparison analysis between English adjectives and Vietnamese ones so
that the major similarities and differences may be found.
3. RESEARCH SCOPE
The general research area of this study is grammar.
The phenomenon is the syntactic functions of adjectives in English in
comparison with those in Vietnamese. Others relating to the functions of adjectives
are also briefly mentioned.
4. RESEARCH OBJECTIVES
The thesis is to be focused on:
a) The syntactic functions of English adjectives and Vietnamese ones
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b) Similarities and differences in the syntactic functions of English
adjectives and Vietnamese ones
c) Implications for teaching
5. RESEARCH TASKS
The study involves fulfilling the following tasks:
a) To study the classifications, the positions, and the syntactic functions of
adjectives in English
b) To study the classifications, the positions, and the syntactic functions of
adjectives in Vietnamese

c) To compare the syntactic functions of adjectives in English with those in
Vietnamese. On the basic of the findings teaching implications to this
category are recommended.
6. RESEARCH METHODS
To achieve the objectives of the study, the following methods have been
applied:
a) Quantitative
- Collecting the materials and references
- Consulting the supervisor, experienced teachers and friends
- Synthesizing theoretical documents on English and Vietnamese grammar
b) Descriptive
Giving the theoretical background of the adjectives and the syntactic
functions of the adjectives in the two languages
c) Comparison
Comparing the syntactic functions of adjectives in English with those in
Vietnamese ones based on the materials’ analysis and the researcher’s own
knowledge
7. SIGNIFICANCE OF THE PROPOSED RESEARCH

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The syntactic function category in the two languages always has similarities
and differences. It will get mislead for learners if they cannot distinguish the
differences in the classification, the position, the functions, and even the formation
of that category. It is, therefore, essential for teachers to have better solutions to
limit the misleading. After the research, it is hoped that the result will be helpful to
provide:
a) Input for Vietnamese learners of English about different aspects of
adjectives especially their syntactic functions

b) Input for foreign learners of Vietnamese about different aspects of
adjectives especially their syntactic functions
c) Input for teachers of English with teaching implications
This study is also beneficial to anyone who is interested in adjectives in
English.
8. DESIGN OF THE RESEARCH WORK
The research work has three main parts, namely: Introduction, Development,
and Conclusion. The part Development includes two chapters. Chapter one is
entitled Theoretical Background that deals with things related to the adjectives such
as literature review in brief, definition, classification, position, and the syntactic
functions.
Chapter two is named The Syntactic Functions of Adjectives in English in
Comparison with those in Vietnamese, which has three sections. Section one
provides the definition of syntactic functions of adjectives. The second one deals
with the similarities. The last one focuses on the differences.

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PART TWO
DEVELOPMENT
CHAPTER I: THEORICAL BACKROUND

1. Literature review in brief
Adjectives are very familiar to us in language use. They make our life more
colorful and language more beautiful. However, basing on their syntactic functions
adjectives are used differently in different languages, and so are adjectives in
English and in Vietnamese. There are a great number of Vietnamese and Foreign
grammarians doing studies on adjectives and their syntactic functions such as S.
Greenbaum (1973), Geoffrey (1989), Eastwood (1999), Side and Wellman (1999),

Nguyen Huu Quynh (1980), Le Bien (1999), Dinh Van Duc (2001), Hoang Thung,
et.al (2003), Nguyen Van Thanh (2003), Diep Quang Ban (2005), etc. They have
their own way to describe adjectives. Generally, they focus their attention on the
definition, classification, position, order and formation of adjectives. About
syntactic functions of adjectives, almost grammarians mention their functions as
predicative and attributive.
R. Quirk and S. Greenbaum who are the authors of A University Grammar of
English (1973) give a general picture of the syntactic functions of adjectives in
English. They pay much attention to five aspects like attributive, predicative, as a
head of noun, verbless clause, and exclamatory adjective sentence. Besides, they
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also describe such characteristics of the adjectives as modifying nouns, taking
comparative and superlative forms. Basing on the functions of the adjectives, the
authors divide the adjectives into attributive and predicative only. Next basing on
their meanings, the grammarians classify them into three pairs such as stative and
dynamic, gradable and non-gradable, inherent and non-inherent. Finally, they
mention the order of the adjectives. R. Quirk and S. Greenbaum provide a complete
view on the English adjectives, especially their syntactic functions.
A Communicative Grammar of English (1989) written by G. Leech and J.
Svartvik shows the syntactic functions of the adjectives in attributive and
predicative, then the adjectives function as a head of a noun phrase. They carefully
and clearly describe them in common and particular usages. Besides, the two
authors also give explanations and examples for comparative and superlative
adjectives. Thus, Leech and Svartvik only concentrate on some characteristics of
adjectives and make them remarkable. They are different from the others when
mentioning the function of adjective as a head of a noun phrase by taking the
determiners.
In Collin Cobuild English Grammar (1990) William Collin Sons deal with

the types of adjectives including qualitative, classifying, color, emphasizing, and
determiners. Moreover, he gives more descriptions of comparative, “ing” form, “ed” form and compound adjectives. The functions of adjectives as attributive and
predicative are found in his book.
To illustrate the adjectives in English, the grammarians in National Literacy
Secretariat of Human Resources Development Canada concentrate on the
definition, classification, position, and function of the adjectives in Academic
Studies English Grammar (1998). For the classification, the authors only remark
the use of demonstrative. Then they add one more syntactic function of adjectives
that is verbless clause. Nevertheless, it is better when they mention three syntactic
functions of the adjectives.
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In Grammar Practice for Upper Intermediate Students (1999), E. Walker
and S. Ellsworth provide a general picture of adjectives in English. They
concentrate on position, function, order and formation of adjective. For position of
adjective, they indicate that when adjective comes before a noun it is attributive
and it is predicative when coming after a copular verb. For function of adjective,
they show the function of attributive and predicative. However, for the formation of
adjective in English they only pay attention to particles as adjectives. Walker and
Ellsworth also mention comparison of adjectives with some expressions used for
positive, comparative, and superlative comparison. One thing different in their
study is that they give definition and using of non-gradable adjectives. Two
grammarians represent a lot of specific information about adjectives in English.
In Grammar and Vocabulary for Cambridge Advanced and Proficiency
(1999), G. Side and G. Wellman deal with position of adjective with specific
examples. Then they prove that some adjectives can be used in both positions. In
conclusion, their study on adjectives is narrower than others’.
M. Swan and C. Walter who wrote The Good Grammar Book (2002) point
out some characteristics of English adjectives like their definition, comparison and

position. But the authors do not explain more about the syntactic functions of
adjectives. Basing on the position in relation to nouns and copular verbs, they
function as attributive and predicative.
According to Advanced Learners’ Grammar (2003) written by M. Foley and
D. Hall, the adjectives used before nouns function as attributive and those placed
after linking verbs function as predicative. Unlike the above grammarians, they
focus on functions and positions of the adjectives; classify them into predicative
and attributive adjectives.
Likewise Advanced Learners’ Grammar, Hewing in Advanced Grammar in
Use (2005) presents adjectives in their functions and positions. It is more specific

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when he pays much attention to how to use gradable and non-gradable adjectives.
Hence, these grammarians have no new ideas on the syntactic functions.
Ruth Colman in The Briefest English Grammar Ever (2005) refers to
definition and function of adjectives in English. He wrote that the adjectives are
formed from nouns and verbs. His study has a lot of ideas which concentrate on
demonstrative and comparison of adjective. However, they are not as specific as
others’.
Unlike foreign grammarians that only conduct researches on the English
adjectives, some Vietnamese ones compare Vietnamese adjectives to the adjectives
in European languages to emphasize them. Ngữ pháp Tiếng Việt Từ loại (2001)
written by Dinh Van Duc explains the adjectives in this way. He points out that the
position of Vietnamese adjectives is different from those in English and Russian.
The adjectives in Vietnamese come after nouns but those in European languages
are placed before nouns. In that book, he mainly makes comparison between the
syntactic functions of Vietnamese adjectives and those in European languages.
In Từ Loại Tiếng Việt (2002), Le Bien particularly describes adjectives in

Vietnamese. He defines adjective as a type of word having positive ability to create
other words. Next, he gives grammatical functions of adjective with attributive,
predicative, subject and combination to different types of word. Lastly, he points
out that there are two types of adjective: relative adjectives and strict adjectives.
When describing Vietnamese adjectives, Nguyen Van Thanh in Tiếng Việt
Hiện Đại (2003) collects the definitions of the adjectives by many Vietnamese
grammarians and from his view. He classifies the adjectives into nine types as
following: quality, color, characteristic, temperature, state, gender, relationship. In
addition, he presents the comparison of Vietnamese adjectives with the three levels
the same as English ones. And the most important is that he indicates that the
adjectives have three functions of attributive, predicative, and subject (as a head of
a noun phrase) in comparison with those in European languages. Therefore,
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Nguyen Van Thanh is only different from others in classification of the adjectives
and the way he shows the characteristics of Vitenamese adjectives in comparison
with those in European languages.
Diep Quang Ban in Ngữ Pháp Tiếng Việt (2005) begins his study with
definition of adjective and emphasizes the functions of main components in a
phrase. He classifies Vietnamese adjectives into two kinds that are quality
adjectives and relative adjectives. A new thing in his study is distinguishing
between adjectives and verbs relating to state of mind. To sum up, Diep Quang Ban
focuses much on the classification of adjectives.
With Ngữ Pháp Tiếng Việt (2009) written by Nguyen Ly Kha, the features of
adjectives are described in detail. Firstly, she defines Vietnamese adjectives as a
major part of speech denoting quality of nouns. Then she shows their ability to
combine with adjuncts. Different from Nguyen Van Thanh, she classifies the
adjectives into two types: gradable and non-gradable. For the function, she presents
it so clearly and completely. According to her, Vietnamese adjectives are used as

attributive, predicative, subject and verbless clause (adverbial).
We would have a comprehensive view on adjectives in Vietnamese with
Cẩm Nang Ngữ Pháp Tiếng Việt (2010) written by Tran Ngoc Dung. Firstly, he
gives a simple definition of adjective. Secondly, he represents types of adjectives in
Vietnamese including impartial adjectives, partial adjectives, semi-partial
adjectives and special adjectives. His classification is not like other authors’. Then,
he shows one new thing in comparison to other Vietnamese grammarians that is
forms of adjective consisting of simple adjectives, compound adjectives and
complex adjectives. In addition, he describes the position of adjective before and
after a noun. His final point is about comparison of adjectives.
In Tiếng Việt 3 (2003) Hoang Thung points out that Vietnamese adjectives
function as subject, attributive, predicative. He continues describing adjective with
its conversion into noun. In this study, he mentions adjective generally.
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In conclusion, a lot of studies have been conducted on adjectives in English
and in Vietnamese. However, most of them only describe adjectives in either
English or Vietnamese without comparison between the syntactic functions of
English adjectives and those of Vietnamese ones. Due to this, Vietnamese learners
of English have some difficulties in using English adjectives. Therefore, it is
essential to have a comprehensive study of the syntactic functions of the adjectives
in English in comparison with those in Vietnamese.

2. Definitions of adjectives
2.1. Definitions of adjectives in English
People use adjectives in their daily speech, which can denote a person, thing
or phenomenon.
For example:
I am hungry.

It’s so hot today.
This picture is so wonderful.
All the words “hungry, hot and wonderful” are adjectives. So what are
adjectives? There are a lot of definitions of adjectives given by a large number of
grammarians. Mentioning adjectives, Michael Swan and Catherine Walter in The
Good Grammar Book (p.199) indicates:
“Adjectives are words like easy, slow, sorry, important, etc. They usually
tell you more about people and things.”
Similarly, in Academic Studies English Grammar (Part I: Part of Speech,
1998, p.7) the authors define adjectives as a description of nouns, but in a more
general way “[…] that give the reader a clearer picture of what you mean, [...].
Words that tell more about pronouns and nouns are called adjectives.”
If the two books define the adjectives in terms of meaning, S. Chalkier and
E. Weiner, who are the authors of The Oxford Dictionary of English Grammar
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(1993, p.18) show the definition of adjectives in terms of both syntactic and
semantic functions, an adjective is “A major part of speech, traditionally defined
as a describing word or ‘a word that tells us something about a noun.”
Those are some ways foreign grammarians define the adjectives in English. .
2.2. Definitions of adjectives in Vietnamese
For Vietnamese adjectives, Nguyen Van Thanh who is the author of the book
entitled Tiếng Việt Hiện Đại (2003, p.213) states that:
“Tính từ là những từ diễn đạt những đặc điểm về chất lượng, về tính chất,
mù sắc, mùi vị, trạng thái, quan hệ của các danh từ hay đại từ. (Đại từ xưng hô,
đại từ xác định)”
(Adjectives are words that describe the quality, characteristic, color, state
and relationship of nouns or pronouns)
He includes all things and phenomena in the term “noun”, which makes the

definition of Vietnamese adjectives shorter and easier to remember.
However, to concretize the meaning of adjective Ngữ Pháp Tiếng Việt (p.17)
written by Nguyen Ly Kha shows that:
“Tính từ là lớp từ loại có ý nghĩa chỉ đặc trưng, tính chất của sự vật, hiện
tượng, hành động, trạng thái, quá trình. VÍ dụ: xanh, dỏ, tím, vàng, tốt, xấu,
cao, thấp, ít, nhiều, thông minh, ngu, nhanh, chậm…”
(Adjective is a main part of speech denoting the characteristic and quality of
objects, actions, states, and processes. For instance, they are green, red, violet,
yellow, kind, ugly, tall, short, little, much, intelligent, stupid, quick, slow, etc.)
Like other foreign grammarians, she gives the definition of adjectives in
Vietnamese from a semantic perspective. Hence, it is summarized that adjectives in
both English and in Vietnamese is a major part of speech which describes the
quality, characteristic, state and relationship of nouns or pronouns.
3. Characteristics of adjectives
3.1. Adjectives in English
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3.1.1. Classification
Likewise other parts of speech, the adjectives are classified into some kinds
based on their meanings or the ground of the complexity of the structure.
3.1.1.1. Based on meanings
Basing on the meanings, the adjectives can be divided in to many different
types. According to Advanced English grammar and Communication (2008) –
Vipul, there are four principal classes of adjectives such as adjectives of quality,
adjectives of quantity, mineral adjectives, and demonstratives. And in Collin
Cobuild English Grammar (1990), William Collins Sons classified the adjectives
into 5 types like qualitative adjectives, classifying adjectives, color adjectives,
emphasizing adjectives and determiners. However, these two classifications do not
include all typical adjectives. So in my study, I will present 6 main types of

adjectives in accordance with the book A practical English Grammar written by A.
J. Thomson and A.V. Martinet and other materials which provide a general view on
classification of English adjectives.
3.1.1.1.1. Demonstrative
Demonstrative adjectives point out which person or thing is meant. They
contain this, that, these, those.
For example:
I love this book.
“This” is the demonstrative adjective showing the book which is near the speaker
3.1.1.1.2. Distributive
They are used with singular nouns to identify them. There are 4 distributive
adjectives: each, every, either, and neither.
For example:
Every member in my family loves playing badminton.
Each person should be responsible for his/her action.
“Each” and “every” are distributive adjectives.
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3.1.1.1.3. Quantitative
This is the family of numeral adjectives and identified ones which is used to answer
the questions “How many/much and Which order”. They can be some, any, no, a
little, etc. (numeral adjectives or one, two, the first, the eighth, etc., indefinite
adjectives). For example:
Would you like to some milk?
One month has 30 days
“Some” and “30” are quantitative adjectives, of them “some” is indefinite
adjective and “30” is numeral one.
3.1.1.1.4. Interrogative
They are often used to ask questions and including which, what, whose

For example:

Which pens do you like?
What time does train leave?

From the example, it is clear that “which” and “what” are interrogative adjectives.
3.1.1.1.5. Possessive
A possessive adjective modifies a noun by telling to whom something or
somebody belongs. These possessives are popularly used such as my, his, her, their,
our, its, your.
For example:
English people don’t like to talk about their private things to others
even their friends.
I love my family so much.
All the words highlighted in the example are possessive adjectives.
3.1.1.1.6. Quality
The adjectives of quality show the quality or state of thing which contains
color, size, shape even classification and emphasis.
For instance:
In the fall, all leaves turn yellow.
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On the way to the supermarket, I am met his friends and their baby is
so lovely.
The adjective “yellow” indicates the state of changing the color of the leaves
in the fall. And the adjective “lovely”describes the quality of a baby which is very
bable.
3.1.1.2. Based on the ground of the complexity of the structure.
The structure of adjectives is also a basic to classify adjectives. They may be

short adjectives, long adjectives or special adjectives.

3.1.1.2.1. Short adjectives
Short adjectives are adjectives which have one or two syllables. In
comparison forms they only need adding “-er” or “-est” to the end of the
adjectives.
For example:
Romeo and Juliet written by Shakespeare is a sad and romantic love story.
Ho Chi Minh City is bigger than Hanoi.
In the example, “sad”and “bigger” are short adjectives with one syllable
(“big” is in comparison form) and “romantic” is not one for including three
syllables.
3.1.1.2.2. Long adjectives
Long adjectives have two or more syllables of which the comparison is
formed by using “more” or “the most” prior to adjectives. In the case of the
adjectives ending in “y”, “y” is changed into “i” then adding “-er”. However, the
adjective “friendly” is a special so when it becomes comparative or superlative it
can be used as the the form of short adjectives or long ones. Some adjectives can
illustrate them as following: beautiful, important, mischievous, etc. The following
sentences are specific samples:
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Electric vehicles are friendly with environment.
Hoa is the most excellent students in my class.
3.1.1.2.3. Special adjectives
Sometimes they are called irregular adjectives. In comparison forms, they are
built in a special way.
For instance:
Good – better – the best

Far – farther – the farthest
- further – the furthest
Bad – worse – the worst
Eating a lot of vegetables is better for our healt.
Uranus is the farthest planet from the Sun in the solar system.
Basing on the formula, the comparative adjective “better” and the
superlative adjective “the farthest”are derived from the positive “good” and “far”
respectively.
3.1.2. Position of adjectives
Adjectives have function of modifying nouns so they can go before or after a
noun. The adjectives coming before a noun are called attributive and those coming
after linking verbs are called predicate. Most adjectives can be both in attributive
and predicative positions.
For example:
Harry hit an old man. (Attributive)
This car is very old. (Predicative)
She thinks there is something strange in the box.
The adjective in the first sentence attribute the noun “man” and in the
second sentence modifies the noun phrase“this car”and it comes after the verb
“is”. Lastly, the adjective “strange” become after indefinite pronoun.
In Advanced Grammar in Used (2005, p.132), Michael Hewing points out that:
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“Many adjectives can be used either before the noun they describe or
following the linking verbs such as appear, be, become, feel, get, and seem.”.
In this part, I only run over some general information of the English adjectives
position. I will present more details it in the section of the syntactic functions of
English adjectives due to the relationship between the position and the syntactic
functions of English adjectives are much closed.

3.2. Adjectives in Vietnamese
3.2.1. Classification
The Vietnamese language is an inflectional one, so the adjectives can be
combined with nouns, verbs and other parts of speech to create significant phrases.
For this reason, adjectives in Vietnamese are classified into rather many different
types basing on different criteria. In this part, the two ways to divide Vietnamese
adjectives are presented.
3.2.1.1. Based on the general meaning and the ability of adjectives to
combine with adjuncts of degree
From Diep Quang Ban and Hoang Van Thung’s point of view in Ngữ Pháp
Tiếng Việt (2006) and other grammarians, there are two types of adjectives such as
gradable adjectives (adjectives of degree) and non-gradable adjectives basing on
the above criteria.
3.2.1.1.1. Non-gradable adjectives
They are words themselves implying the absolute sense of quality and
characteristic of nouns. Moreover, they do not have ability to combine with
adjuncts referring to degree such as rất (very), hơi (quite, a bit), quá (so), kém
(less). For instance, riêng (private), chung (common), trắng tinh (spotlessly white),
tím ngắt (dark purple), etc.
Hoang Van Thung and Diep Quang Ban continue classifying non-gradable
adjectives into two smaller kinds as following: absolute adjectives (tính từ tuyệt
đối) and absolute adjectives without building pairs of absolute antonyms (tính từ
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