Let’s tackle your questions one at a time:
What’s the grammatical difference between these two usages of the word «awareness?»
By including a definitive article (the) before awareness, the sentence describes a specific and clearly-defined awareness that the rest of the sentence should go on to identify; in this case, the awareness is specifically of the things that he did in [the] dark. This shifts what would essentially be a complex adjective clause (…of the things that he did in [the] dark) into a noun clause by «binding» it to the noun that it is describing (awareness of the things that he did in [the] dark).
Why does one require a «the» whereas the other doesn’t, and swapping it sounds awkward?
By using the we are essentially pinning the description of the noun onto the noun itself. To reiterate the previous point, we’re not just talking about any kind of awareness, we’re talking specifically about awareness of the things that he did in [the] dark.
What explains why you need to say «in the dark» here?
Here the definite article is working in reverse. When used with some adjectives — like dark or wild, for example — the definite article instead transforms it into a noun. While dark is an adjective (With the sun down it’s getting dark quickly…), the dark is a noun that describes itself (…and I really don’t want to get stuck in the dark). Wild tigers live in the wild, not in captivity. Both the sky and the waters of the seas and oceans are blue (in color) and as such can be referred to as «the blue.»
Wait, what about this «idiomatic use» of the that some people have commented on?
Idiomatic use can alter things a bit, but even then they still follow the basic rules. In DrMoishe Pippik’s example, he illustrates a difference between British English and American English. The British «to hospital» is describing a general type of place, so it omits any article. One could easily include the article «a» and retain the same meaning (to a hospital).
On the other side of the (proverbial) pond, Americans generally use either «to a hospital», which has the same meaning as its British counterpart, or «to the hospital» which might be confusing if you’re not familiar with the American tendency toward linguistic ellipsis. In this case, it is generally understood that the hospital in question to be the most appropriate one; commonly this is the closest one (when seconds can mean the difference between life and death, a longer trip can literally kill you), though it can also assume an associated hospital (a Mayo Clinic Ambulance brings people to Mayo Clinic), or one that’s been determined in advance («The baby is on its way, so we’re headed to the hospital [that we elected to have the baby at]»).
The words that come before a noun are:
ARTICLES
Definite articles: the; used to identify a specific noun.
Indefinite articles: a (used before a noun starting with a
consonant sound), an (used before a noun starting with a vowel
sound); used to identify a singular general noun.
ADJECTIVES
An adjective describes or qualifies a noun (a big dog, a small
dog); adjectives are used before the noun or after the verb (This
is an easy subject. or This is hard.); two or more adjectives can
be used together (a beautiful, young lady). There are hundreds of
adjectives, some samples are: happy, sad, green, white, special,
somber, chewy, dark, heavy, sweet, lucky, wonderful, etc.
ATTRIBUTIVE NOUNS
Nouns used to describe other nouns (nouns used as adjectives),
for example horse farm, house plant, vegetable broth, school books,
shoe lace, ranch dressing on a house salad, etc.
MODIFYING PRONOUNS
Personal pronouns: my, your, his, her, their, its.
Demonstrative pronouns: this, that, these, those.
Distributive pronouns: each, either, none, neither, etc.
Numeral pronouns: some, any, few, many, none, all, etc.
We have created a new grammar lesson about the most common order of Adjectives before a noun.
Why do I say the most common order?
Because there seems to be no fixed, definitive order for adjectives when they appear before a noun. The information we have compiled on that page, which was then used for creating our chart, is based on the most frequent occurrences.
And … (drum roll) … here’s the chart:
This is now based on the mnemonic OSASCOMP that is taught in many schools.
So, let it be known from here to the end of eternity that this will now be the OFFICIAL correct version … just kidding 🙂
What? You would like another version?
Try this version where I have included the categories of Numbers and Condition.
Wow, TWO versions to choose from!
Now, back to the boring stuff…
On that new lesson you will find an explanation of each of the types of Adjectives that go before a noun.
We also have a very simple game to practice the order of adjectives before a noun on our grammar website.
If you are looking for the older version of the adjectives word order chart, you can find it here:
Adjectives Word Order
Have an awesome day!
Rob W.
На основании Вашего запроса эти примеры могут содержать грубую лексику.
На основании Вашего запроса эти примеры могут содержать разговорную лексику.
As these words are not changed, they express their agreement with a noun with their positioning near it, not before a noun, but after it.
Поскольку такие слова не изменяются, то согласование с существительным они выражают только положением рядом с ним, но не перед существительным, а после него.
Другие результаты
The next property of a phrasal verb is the possibility to have adverbial postposition before and after a noun used with the given verb.
Следующим свойством фразового глагола является возможность располагать адвербиальный послелог до и после существительного, употребляемого с данным глаголом.
In English, adjectives usually come before nouns: a big city/ a small city.
В английском языке прилагательное обычно стоит перед существительным, например: а good student — хороший студент, a nice city — красивый город.
One interesting feature of Spanish is that there are two forms of the verb «to be»: estar, which denotes a relatively temporary state, and ser, which denotes a relatively permanent condition and which is also used before a predicate noun.
Одной из интересных черт испанского языка являются две формы глагола «быть»: «estar», которая обозначает относительно временное состояние и «ser», которая обозначает относительно постоянное состояние и которая также используется перед предикативным существительным.
Before nouns we use other words.
They mean the same thing as their counterparts described above, but can only be used before nouns.
Они имеют такое же значение, как было описано выше, только носят их друзья.
Before nouns of which there is only one.
Researchers at the IULM University in Milan have noted that, over 50 years, Italian syntax has shifted towards English patterns, for instance in the use of possessives instead of reflexives to indicate body parts and the frequency with which adjectives are placed before nouns.
Исследователи из университета IULM в Милане заметили, что за последние 50 лет итальянский синтаксис переместился к образцам, имитирующим английские модели, например, в использовании притяжательных и местоимений вместо возвратных при обозначении частей тела, а также в частоте, с которой прилагательные стали помещать перед существительными.
In this case, the adjective goes before the noun.
The indefinite article is used before countable nouns.
In English, adjectives usually come before the noun they describe.
We also use the before certain nouns when we know there is only one of a particular thing.
Кроме того, «the» следует ставить перед некоторыми существительными, когда мы знаем, что они могут быть только одной конкретной вещью.
But unlike simple and compound epithets, which may have pre- or post-position, phrase epithets are always placed before the nouns they refer to.
Как видно из приведенных выше примеров перифрастические синонимы имеют ту же номинативную функцию, что и слова, которые они заменяют.
Many people claimed since the adjective usually comes before the noun in French, the phrase should say «fleur rebelle.»
Многие люди утверждали, что поскольку прилагательное обычно стоит перед существительным во французском, фраза должна сказать «Флер»- свободной птице.
This phrase is missing the word «speech» before the noun «mother», from which the total meaning of the phrase is not too clear.
В данной фразе пропущено слово «речи» перед существительным «матери», от чего общий смысл фразы становится не слишком понятен.
In Sanskrit the adjective is placed before the noun and in Oddiyana language it is placed after it, just like in Tibetan.
В санскрите прилагательное ставится перед существительным, а в языке Уддияны, как и в тибетском, — после.
Indefinite articles can be used either before or after the noun.
Теснифы обычно исполняются до или после мугама.
Let’s look at the history and see which way passed English nouns, before being brought to us.
Давайте обратимся к истории и посмотрим, какой путь прошли английские существительные, прежде чем предстать перед нами.
As noted in one of the other articles opposing person-first language, however, English is a language that puts adjectives before nouns, whereas there are multiple languages that always place adjectives after nouns.
Однако, как отмечается в одной из статей против принципа «сначала человек», в английском языке прилагательные идут перед существительным, но есть много языков, где прилагательные всегда стоят после существительных.
Adjectives are almost always found before nouns and pronouns (We look at a red dress.) or after the linking verb «to be» (The dress is red.)
Прилагательные почти всегда стоят перед существительными и местоимениями (Шё look at a red dress) или после глагола-связки «to be» (The dress is red).
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Adjectives are words that describe nouns within sentences. They usually answer questions that someone might have about the noun, such as “What kind?” “How many?” and “Which one?” Because adjectives appear in a few places within a sentence, you can usually spot an adjective by checking certain places. Depending on the form of the adjective, it may also have a suffix, such as -ish, -ous or -ful, which can make it easy to identify adjectives that are not used in a sentence.
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Look for a word before a noun that describes the noun. This is the most typical way to use an adjective. When reading a sentence, find the noun first. The nouns is the person, place or thing that is the subject of the sentence. Then, check to see if there is a descriptive word right before the noun. If there is, then it may be an adjective.[1]
- For example, in a sentence that reads, “The short man walked away,” the noun is the “man” and the word describing “man” is “short.” Therefore, “short” is the adjective.
- Or, if the sentence reads, “The pristine beach was nearly empty,” the noun is the “beach” and the adjective is “pristine.”
Tip: Keep in mind that there can be more than one adjective in a sentence. For example, a sentence that reads, “The shy, brunette girl smiled,” “shy” and “brunette” are adjectives.
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Check for words that follow a noun and describe it. Multiple adjectives may also follow a noun depending on how the sentence is structured. When adjectives come after a noun in a sentence, there will usually be a comma separating the noun and adjectives.[2]
- For example, in a sentence that reads, “The cotton candy, pink and fluffy, called my name,” “pink” and “fluffy” are both adjectives being used to describe the noun “cotton candy.”
- In the sentence, “Carla, tired and weary, crawled into bed,” the noun is “Carla” and the adjectives are “tired” and “weary.”
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Check for adjectives that come after verbs. Another common way of placing an adjective in a sentence is after a “verb of being” or “linking verb.” These verbs include “is,” “will,” “has been,” “was,” and “are.” Linking verbs connect a noun to a descriptive adjective, such as “tastes,” “feels,” “smells,” and “looks.”[3]
- For example, in a sentence that reads, “The car is red,” the verb is “is,” and the adjective is “red.”
- In a sentence that reads, “Janice looks happy,” the verb is “looks” and the adjective is “happy.”
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4
Watch for adjectives within sentences that make comparisons. This is another easy way to spot an adjective within a sentence. Just look for a descriptive word within a sentence that compares 2 nouns. The word “than” will usually also be present in this type of sentence.[4]
- For example, in a sentence that reads, “The desert is prettier than the mountains,” the word “prettier” is the adjective.
- Or, in a sentence that reads, “Silk is softer than cotton,” the word “softer” is the adjective.
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Watch for common adjective suffixes. Adjectives often end in suffixes, so learning common suffixes may help you to identify an adjective when it’s not included in a sentence or phrase. Some common adjective suffixes include:[5]
- -ful
- -ish
- -able
- -some
- -ous
- -al
- -ic
- ive
- -less[6]
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2
Check for comparative and superlative forms that end in -er and -est. These are adjectives that take an adjective through different degrees, as in short, shorter, and shortest or smart, smarter, and smartest. Some other examples of comparatives and superlatives include:[7]
- Lovelier and loveliest
- Taller and tallest
- Skinnier and skinniest
- Wider and widest
Tip: To remember this, think of adjectives as words on a scale, which means that they go from the least to greatest version of the word.[8]
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Watch for multi-syllable adjectives paired with “more” and “most.” If the adjective has more than 2 syllables, you may see it paired with words like “more” and “most.” These words indicate that the adjective is a superlative.[9]
- For example, the word “gorgeous” is an adjective, but it has more than 2 syllables. Therefore, it cannot end with –est or –er. Instead, you might say, “The girl was more gorgeous than I ever could have imagined.”
- Likewise, the word “majestic has more than 2 syllables, so it cannot end in –est or –er. Instead, you might say, “The white horse was the most majestic of all.”
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Be aware that some adjectives that don’t follow the rules. These adjectives don’t work with suffixes or the words “more” and “most,” so they can be a little harder to identify as adjectives. However, if you memorize these 4 words, you’ll know that they are adjectives and you can easily spot them if they show up on a test.[10]
- Good
- Bad
- Ill
- Little
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Practice Sentences with Answers
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Question
What are adjectives out of the following: book, giraffe, tortoise, flower, car, cake, dog, building, match, weight, jersey and coffee?
They are all nouns. The only one that could be an adjective is «jersey» when meaning «made of jersey». For example, if you said «jersey shirt», it would be an adjective, but if you said «a shirt made from jersey», it would be a noun.
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Practice spotting adjectives in everyday communications, such as emails, text messages, and on social media. Adjectives are everywhere!
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