ED1111 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Academic Writing, Participle
Parts of Speech – Adjectives – Lecture 4
Why do we use adjectives?
- The primary aim of academic writing is to convey your ideas to somebody else in a clear, concise and
effective manner
- For this reason, grammar and punctuation are critical
- Adjectives are used to modify or describe nouns or pronouns
- For example; The tests were controlled, rigorous and fair.
- Using adjectives can help give interest to your writing and assist your reader by making meaning clear
- Adjectives help to illustrate your writing by helping the reader to visualise what you are describing
- Adjectives add interest, definition and clarity by helping you to avoid vagueness
Three forms of adjectives:
Basic Adjectives
1. Used to add more information such as an opinion or fact, to enhance a noun
2. For Example; ‘The tests were fair’ is an opinion
3. For Example; ‘The car is red’ is a fact
Participle Adjectives
1. Ending in ‘ed’
Are used to describe a quality of something
For Example; ’90%’ of participants were bored at school’
2. Ending in ‘ing’
Are used to describe feelings
For Example; ’90% of participants found school boring’
Order of Multiple Adjectives
- Where more than one adjective is used to describe a noun, the order is critical
Opinion adjectives
Proceed factual adjectives
For Example; The Parthenon has been described as a beautiful (Opinion) old building (Fact)
Comparative Adjectives
Used to compare two things or concepts
They are formed by adding ‘er’ or ‘ier’
For Example; ‘The tests were fairer than last year’
Superlative Adjectives
Used to compare more than two things
The grammatical form of the adjective
They are formed by adding ‘est’ or ‘iest’
For Examples; ‘The tests were the fairest since records began
Some of the most common adjectives are grammatically irregular
For Example, Good > Better > Best
For Example, Bad > Worse > Worst
Formal Vs. Informal Language
- When using adjectives, as with all vocabulary choices, it is important to consider appropriateness
- For Example; Formal versus informal language
- Academic writing is formal, therefore you must:
Avoid slang and informalities
Use precise, not vague expressions
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Document Summary
Parts of speech adjectives lecture 4. The primary aim of academic writing is to convey your ideas to somebody else in a clear, concise and effective manner. For this reason, grammar and punctuation are critical. Adjectives are used to modify or describe nouns or pronouns. For example; the tests were controlled, rigorous and fair. Using adjectives can help give interest to your writing and assist your reader by making meaning clear. Adjectives help to illustrate your writing by helping the reader to visualise what you are describing. Adjectives add interest, definition and clarity by helping you to avoid vagueness. Basic adjectives: used to add more information such as an opinion or fact, to enhance a noun, for example; the tests were fair" is an opinion, for example; the car is red" is a fact. Are used to describe a quality of something. For example; "90%" of participants were bored at school": ending in ing".
