AN INTRODUCTION TO ENGLISH GRAMMAR & LANGUAGE
(Judging from his walk that he is drunk this compari-
ADJECTIVE son doesn’t belong to the category of unreal, essentially).
An Adjective is a word used to qualify a Noun or Pro- But,
noun: He walks as if he were drunk. (implying he is drunk,
For example : a red cover, a long time, a beautiful girl. but he is not).
CLASSIFICATION Þ An infinitive is used after such as / such --- as.
Adjectives may be classified as follows : My behaviour was not such as to cause a problem.
1. Qualitative — Wonderful, noble, intelligent, red, good, I am not such a fool as to believe that.
bad, beautiful, short, tall, big, small, sharp, blunt, long, Þ We use such a statement (Not, a such statement)
lovely, handsome. Such a decision (Not, a such decision)
2. Quantitative — Little, some, much, any, no, none, Þ Such is not generally used demonstratively, to refer
whole, enough, half, a lot of, lots of, a great deal of, the things in the present situation. To express the idea, ‘of
plenty of, some, enough. the kind that I am showing you’ or ‘of the kind that we can
3. Proper — Indian, American, English, German. see / hear now.’ We prefer like this / that or this / that
4. Numerical : (a) Definite kind / sort of,
Cardinal — One, two, three etc.. 2. Before : Whenever before is used as a conjunction
Ordinal — First, second, third etc. with reference to some future event, it is never followed by
a Verb in the Future Tense, even if the Verb in the principal
Multiplicative — Single, double, triple etc.
clause is future :
(b) Indefinite—Many, a great many, a good many,
3. If
many a, several, various, numberous, a lot of, lots of, a If is used to mean :
great deal of, all, any, no, few, some (i) Admitting that -
5. Possessive—My, our, his, her, their, its. If I am dull, I am at least honest.
6. Distributive—Each, every, either, neither. (ii) Whenever -
7. Demonstrative — If you feel any doubt, you inquire.
(a) Definite—this, that, these, those, such, the same, (iii) On supposition,
the other. If he is there, I shall see him.
(b) Indefinite—a, an, a certain, certain, another, other, (Here the use of ‘shall’ is valid, see ‘Problems’)
some, any etc. (iv) Whether,
8. Interrogative — what, which, whose, etc. I wonder if she comes.
9. Exclamatory — What 4. ‘And’ is used after ‘Both’ (Not, as well as, or, else) :
What a genius! Both Sita or Shyam may come today. — incorrect
What a blessing! Both Sita and Shyam may come today. — correct
(10) Emphasizing — own, very 5. ‘Except’ and ‘Without’.
I saw it with my own eyes. ‘Except’ or ‘without’ are sometimes wrongly used for
That is the very thing we want. unless.
Comparison of Adjectives — there are three Degrees She will not come except you need her. — incorrect
of Comparison : She will not come unless you need her. — correct
Positive Comparative Superlative Similarly, without is also a Preposition.
(1) (2) (3) Þ ‘Whether’ and ‘or’
Tall taller tallest ‘Or’ is used after whether (Not that)
Great greater greatest I do not know that he wil come or not. — incorrect
Noble nobler noblest
(Whether should be used in place of that)
Happy happier happiest
I don’t know whether he will come or not. —
Wealthy wealthier wealthiest
correct
Hot hotter hottest
Tell me that whether you will return soon. —
Fat fatter fattest
incorrect
Difficult more difficultmost difficult
‘That’ Conjunction should never be used before a sen-
Beautiful more beautifulmost beautiful
tence is Direct Narration, nor before Interrogative Adverbs
CONJUNCTION or Pronouns in Indirect Narration
He sings as well as cooks Þ ‘Or’ is used to introduce an alternative, you must
(= he not only cooks, but also sings). work or starve.
He sings as well as he cooks. Þ ‘Or’ means ’otherwise’
(= His singing is as good as his cooking). We must hasten or night will overtake us.
1. As if and as though mean the same. We use them to Þ ‘Or’ is also used between two numbers to indicate
say what the situation seems like. As, you look as if / that you are giving an approximate amount :
though you’re going to kill me. You are supposed to polish your can three or four times
Þ As if / as though is used to indicate imaginary case a year.
(Particularly to snow that a comparison is unreal). Þ ‘Or’ is also used to introduce a comment which cor-
He walks as if he’s drinking. rects or modifies what you have just said : My organisation
is paying rent or at least contributing to it.
SEE–85