Fun
is sometimes used as an adjective in the following contexts:
It was a fun thing to do.
It was a fun place to go to.
She is a fun person to be with.
instead of:
She is fun to be with.
It was fun to go there.
It was fun to do that.
Fun
here means pleasant and enjoyable. It/she made you feel happy.
However,
funny is the normal adjective and fun is normally
used as a noun. Note that when funny is used as an adjective
in this way, it will have one of two quite different meanings. Consider
the following:
She
is a funny person.
She
makes me laugh.
She is a funny person.
Her
behaviour is really strange.
Adjectives
describe the qualities of people, things and places. They are one
of the largest word classes in English. They are normally placed before
a noun but, as we saw above, they can also come after the verb to
be and also after other linking verbs such as stay, look,
seem, appear, become, etc. Study the following:
A tall young man and a petite middle-aged woman were walking along
the narrow road.
Tasty, fresh, white French bread is always best served with
Stilton cheese and red wine.
The fine sunny weather is set to
continue. It will stay fine for the next few days.
New ideas are always
interesting and exciting.
Note
that if we have more than one adjective before a noun, the order
in which they appear is not always fixed, although it tends to be
in this order: quality, size, age, colour, class. Check to see to
what extent this is true in the above examples.
Note
also that we often use adverbs of degree to modify the meanings
of the adjectives we use. Among the most common are very,
too, quite, rather, much, more,
and most. Consider the following:
It was very noisy in the garden but much quieter
in the house.
I would have said he was rather tall. But my mother
described him as exceedingly tall.
She is a very gifted child. Her teacher says that she
is too intelligent for her class.
adjectival
endings
Many
of the most common adjectives have no special endings. Consider
these pairs which are opposite in meaning:
light
- dark / heavy
cool
- warm
difficult
- easy / simple
sad
- happy
rough
- smooth
cruel
- kind
However,
many common adjectives can be recognised as such by their endings.
Here are some of the most common:
-al:
typical,
special, international, industrial, mental, physical, general
Finally,
now, test your knowledge of adjectives with the ending: -ful.
Think about what you think is the most appropriate adjective in
each case and then check youranswerswith those below:
1. It was the worst play we had ever seen. It was really _________ful.
2.
The car had a three-litre engine. It was really ___________ful.
3.
She paid a lot of attention to detail to ensure that everything
was correct. She was really ___________ful.
4.
He could never remember where he had put things. He was one of the
most _______________ful professors I had ever met.
5.
He obtained the highest grades in exams and was an excellent sportsman
too. He was one of the most _____________ful students the school
had ever had.
6.
His garden was always full of the brightest flowers in summer. It
was really ____________ful.
7.
It was really quiet in the woods. The only sound you could hear
was that of birdsong. It was really ____________ful.
8.
I decided I would impress my mother by tidying my room and doing
all the washing up. "Oh, you've been really _________ful," she said
when she came in.
