Discharges of adjectives: the general concept and features of meaning, change and use

The adjective in Russian is a part of speech, the main function of which is the designation of the nonprocess feature of the subject (unlike the participle, which designates the feature of the subject by action). Adjectives are capable of changing in cases and numbers, and in the singular - also in gender, and also classified according to special lexico-grammatical groups - categories. Thus, the categories of adjectives are three large groups that combine words that are similar in meaning and method of designating the feature of the subject. Adjectives belonging to each of the categories have their own characteristics of change and use. Let's talk about this in more detail below, and below is a summary table.

The names of adjectives

Qualitative adjectives: features of meaning, change and use

Qualitative adjectives are a lexico-grammatical category that combines words denoting the quality of an object, that is, a sign that is capable of manifesting in varying degrees, to a greater or lesser extent, for example: an expensive doll, a beautiful girl, a poor artist, a talented actor . Qualitative adjectives, in addition to changes in cases, births and numbers, can still form brief forms, degrees of comparison, and be combined with the adverb "very". Other categories of adjectives (relative and possessive) do not have these characteristics.

Formation of short forms

The short form is formed from the full and has a close semantic connection with it: close - tight, tight, tight; Beautiful - beautiful, beautiful, beautiful; Harmful - harmful, harmful, harmful . There are a number of adjectives that once in Russian had both a full and a short form, but today they are used only briefly, for example: rad, lyub, gorazd, must and others.

It is noteworthy that historically it is the short form of the adjective that is considered basic, the initial one, and at the initial stages of the development of the language the full form was formed from a brief form. Today, with the formation of a short form, the alternation or loss of vowels can be observed: green - green, green, green; Sharp - sharp, cutting, cutting . Adjectives in a brief form vary in numbers and births (in the singular), but do not decline. In the sentence, as a rule, they perform the function of the predicate: In this dress the countess was unusually beautiful.

Formation of degrees of comparison

Comparative and excellent degree of comparison - this is an illustration of how bright and fully expressed this quality in the subject: the father is good - better - the best; An artist talented - more talented than the other - talented . Recall that other categories of adjectives denote the feature of the subject as permanent, not capable of gradation.

The degrees of comparison can be formed as synthetically - suffixally ( expensive - expensive, beautiful - beautiful ), and analytically - with the help of special words:

• Comparative - more, less than + the initial form of the adjective ( more complex, less interesting );
• Excellent - most, least, most + the initial form of the adjective ( most attractive, most cheerful ) or all, all + simple comparative degree of the adjective ( sings best, is valued more than anything else ).

The words of this part of speech in a synthetic comparative form do not change in case, number and gender and do not agree with the noun, the sign of which they designate. Their syntactic function in the sentence is the nominal part of the compound nominal predicate ( Old friend is better than the new two ).

For most qualitative adjectives, simple and composite forms of degrees of comparison can exist in parallel, but words that do not form a simple comparative degree in modern language are found: mass, early, timid, and others.

Another nuance that needs to be paid attention is the formation of degrees of comparison from different bases, for example: good - better, bad - worse, smaller - less .

From adjectives in comparative and superlative degree, it is necessary to distinguish words-manifestations of subjective evaluation, which denote not the degree of manifestation of a given trait in a particular situation, but the evaluation of this attribute by the speakers: a tiny pen, a pretty face, tremendous paws . Do not include adjectives with suffixes in this group - ovat - / - evata -: such words denote not a subjective evaluation of a feature, but an objective incompleteness of its manifestation, for example: a whitish haze, a greenish tinge .

Relative adjectives

If we compare the categories of nouns and adjectives, then we can draw the following parallel: real nouns denote substance, material, and relative adjectives are a sign for this substance, material: wood - wood, rice - rice, ice - ice . However, the sign denoted by the adjectives of this group can refer not only to the material, but also to the place, time, etc., for example: evening, summer, foreign, domestic, coastal . This sign manifests itself constantly and can not be expressed to a greater or lesser extent, so the relative adjectives are unable to form the degree of comparison.

Possessive adjectives

This category combines adjectives that answer the question whose? And denoting the belonging of the object to anyone or anything: father's friend, wolf's fang, fleece, grandfather's cap .

Discharges of adjectives: the use of words in figurative meaning

To increase the expressiveness of speech, in some cases, adjectives from one category can be used in the meaning of words from another category, for example: iron circle - iron nerves, wolf track - wolfish gaze, gold chain - golden hands . In connection with this, the category of the adjective is determined not only taking into account the general formal indicators, but also with close attention to the context.