Adjectives
Un adjetivo es una palabra como "alto", "solitario" o "educativo" que describe o brinda más información sobre una persona o cosa. Los adjetivos suelen aparecer antes de los sustantivos y después de los verbos ser y sentir, como "saborear" y "sentir".
Ejemplos:
That is a very tall man.
He's such a lonely puppy when I'm at work.
We watched an educational movie.
There was a sweet taste in my mouth.
The old, dark house gave me a bad feeling.
El orden de los adjetivos
Cuando se utilizan varios adjetivos juntos hay un orden:
Cantidad, Valor/opinión, Tamaño, Temperatura, Edad, Forma, Color, Origen, Material
The tall (size) Chinese (origin) vase was worth a lot of money.
My favourite (value/opinion) old (age) blue (colour) sweater was ruined in the wash.
The cold (temperature) round (shape) metal (material) touched my arm and shocked me.
Utilizar adjetivos para comparar
Para comparar los atributos de dos cosas que son iguales, ésta es la estructura que hay que utilizar:
as + adjetivo + as
Coco is as thirsty as Steve.
She is as tall as her best friend.
The string is as long as the table.
Para comparar los atributos de dos cosas que son desiguales, éstas son las estructuras que hay que utilizar:
not as + adjetivo + as
not as + adjetivo + as
adjetivo + than
They are not as cool as the others.
Miranda is not as funny as her sister.
They are less cool than the others.
Miranda is less funny than her sister.
The others are cooler than them.
Yoko is lfunnier than Miranda.
Adjetivos que Describen Cantidades
Cuando se comparan cosas que son iguales, ésta es la estructura que hay que utilizar:
as + adjetivo indicando cantidad + (sustantivo) + as
I had as many books as a library has in my house.
There were as many dogs as there were people at the party.
If I had as few problems as you do, I would be more relaxed.
Cuando se comparan cosas que son desiguales, esta es la estructura que hay que utilizar:
adjetivo que indica cantidad + (sustantivo) + than
Sarah has more pens than her sister.
The big monkey has fewer nuts than the small monkey.
We have had more success than they have.
The company made less money than it did last year.
Adjetivos comparativos
Los adjetivos comparativos nos permiten comparar dos sustantivos entre sí. Esta es la estructura que utilizamos con los adjetivos comparativos:
Sustantivo (sujeto) + verbo + adjetivo comparativo + than + sustantivo (objeto).
La mayoría de los adjetivos comparativos se forman añadiendo "r" o "-er" al final del adjetivo o "more" delante del adjetivo.
Adjetivo | Comparativo |
---|---|
pequeño | smaller |
ancho | wider |
strong | stronger |
happy | happier |
intelligent | more intelligent |
important | more important |
The fir tree is stronger than the pine tree.
My friend is older than your friend.
Your health is more important than your need for sweet snacks.
Tanto los caramelos verdes como los rojos saben bien, pero a mí me gustan más los verdes ("...que los rojos." está implícito).
Adjetivos superlativos
Un adjetivo superlativo compara tres o más sustantivos y lleva la comparación de sustantivos al grado más alto. He aquí cómo estructurarlo:
Sustantivo (sujeto) + verbo + el + adjetivo superlativo + sustantivo (objeto).
La mayoría de los adjetivos superlativos se forman añadiendo "-est" al adjetivo o "most" delante del adjetivo.
Adjetivo | Superlativo |
---|---|
pequeño | smallest |
ancho | widest |
strong | strongest |
happy | happiest |
intelligent | most intelligent |
important | most important |
Jim's mom is the most intelligent person I know.
My town has the smallest library in the country.
Our dog is happiest when she is chewing on a bone.
Adjetivos comparativos y superlativos irregulares
Como ocurre con la mayoría de las cosas en la gramática inglesa, hay excepciones a las estructuras más comunes. He aquí algunos de los comparativos y superlativos irregulares más comunes:
Adjetivo | Comparativo | Superlativo |
---|---|---|
far | farther | farthest |
bueno | better | best |
muchos | more | most |
well | better | best |
malo | worse | worst |