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Unit 99 — Adjectives: a nice new house, you look tired


A. Sometimes we use two or more adjectives together

  • My brother lives in a nice new house.
  • In the kitchen there was a beautiful large round wooden table.

Adjectives like new / large / round / wooden are fact adjectives. They give us information about age, size, colour etc.

Adjectives like nice / beautiful are opinion adjectives. They tell us what the speaker thinks of something or somebody.

Opinion adjectives usually go before fact adjectives.

opinionfactnoun
anicelongsummer holiday
aninterestingyoungman
delicioushotvegetable soup
abeautifullarge round woodentable

1. Opinion adjectives 和 Fact adjectives

多个形容词放在名词前面时,首先可以把形容词分成两大类:

Opinion adjectives

表示:

说话者的主观看法、评价

例如:

  • nice — 好的、不错的
  • beautiful — 漂亮的
  • interesting — 有趣的
  • delicious — 美味的

Fact adjectives

表示:

客观事实或特征

例如:

  • new — 新的
  • large — 大的
  • round — 圆的
  • wooden — 木制的
  • young — 年轻的
  • hot — 热的

2. Opinion 通常放在 Fact 前面

基本顺序:

Opinion → Fact → Noun

例如:

a nice new house

其中:

  • nice = opinion
  • new = fact
  • house = noun

所以:

nice → new → house


再例如:

a beautiful large round wooden table

可以拆成:

beautiful → large → round → wooden → table

其中:

  • beautiful = opinion
  • large = size
  • round = shape
  • wooden = material
  • table = noun

3. 一个非常实用的理解方式

不要只背:

nice 必须在 new 前面

而应该理解成:

主观评价 → 客观描述 → 名词

例如:

a beautiful old house

先说:

我觉得它怎么样? beautiful

再说:

它客观上怎么样? old

最后:

它是什么? house

所以:

a beautiful old house


B. Order of fact adjectives

Sometimes we use two or more fact adjectives together.

Usually (not always) we put fact adjectives in this order:

顺序含义问题
1size / lengthhow big?
2agehow old?
3colourwhat colour?
4originwhere from?
5materialwhat is it made of?
NOUN

也就是:

Size → Age → Colour → Origin → Material → Noun


4. Fact adjectives 的基本顺序

5. Size / Length

大小、长度:

  • big
  • small
  • large
  • tall
  • short
  • long

6. Age

年龄、新旧:

  • old
  • young
  • new

7. Colour

颜色:

  • black
  • white
  • blue
  • red
  • green

8. Origin

来源、国家、地区:

  • Russian
  • Chinese
  • American
  • Italian

9. Material

材料:

  • wooden
  • plastic
  • cotton
  • metal

最后才是:

Noun


10. 教材中的例子

a tall young man

顺序:

tall → young → man

对应:

size → age → noun

即:

1 → 2


big blue eyes

顺序:

big → blue → eyes

对应:

size → colour → noun

即:

1 → 3


a small black plastic bag

顺序:

small → black → plastic → bag

对应:

size → colour → material → noun

即:

1 → 3 → 5


a large wooden table

顺序:

large → wooden → table

对应:

size → material → noun

即:

1 → 5


an old Russian song

顺序:

old → Russian → song

对应:

age → origin → noun

即:

2 → 4


an old white cotton shirt

顺序:

old → white → cotton → shirt

对应:

age → colour → material → noun

即:

2 → 3 → 5


11. Size / Length 通常在 Shape / Width 前面

Adjectives of size and length (big / small / tall / short / long etc.) usually go before adjectives of shape and width (round / fat / thin / slim / wide etc.):

例如:

a large round table

不是:

❌ a round large table


a tall thin girl

不是:

❌ a thin tall girl


a long narrow street

不是:

❌ a narrow long street

因此:

Size / Length → Shape / Width

例如:

large → round

tall → thin

long → narrow


12. 两个或更多颜色之间使用 and

When there are two or more colour adjectives, we use and:

a black and white dress

一条黑白相间的裙子。


a red, white and green flag

一面红、白、绿三色旗。


但其他类型的形容词放在名词前时,通常不使用 and

a long black dress

而不是:

❌ a long and black dress


13. 完整的形容词顺序思维模型

结合 A 和 B,可以整理成:

Opinion → Size → Age → Shape → Colour → Origin → Material → Noun

例如:

a beautiful large old round brown Italian wooden table

可以拆成:

单词类型
beautifulOpinion
largeSize
oldAge
roundShape
brownColour
ItalianOrigin
woodenMaterial
tableNoun

日常英语一般不会一次堆这么多形容词,但这个顺序可以帮助理解多个形容词同时出现时的位置。


C. Adjectives after be / get / become / seem

We use adjectives after be / get / become / seem:

  • Be careful!
  • I’m tired and I’m getting hungry.
  • As the film went on, it became more and more boring.
  • Your friend seems very nice.

14. be + adjective

最常见的结构:

Subject + be + adjective

例如:

I am tired.

我累了。

She is happy.

她很开心。

The movie is boring.

这部电影很无聊。

这里的 adjective 描述:

主语的状态或特征


15. get + adjective

get + adjective 经常表示:

变得……

例如:

I’m getting hungry.

我开始饿了 / 我越来越饿了。

这里:

get hungry = become hungry


其他常见表达:

get tired 变累

get angry 生气起来

get cold 变冷

get dark 天变黑

get better 变好


16. become + adjective

become 也表示:

变得……

例如:

It became boring.

它变得无聊了。

教材:

As the film went on, it became more and more boring.

随着电影继续播放,它变得越来越无聊。

结构:

become + adjective


17. seem + adjective

seem 表示:

看起来 / 似乎

例如:

Your friend seems very nice.

你的朋友看起来人很好。

结构:

seem + adjective


18. look / feel / sound / taste / smell + adjective

We also use adjectives to say how somebody/something looks, feels, sounds, tastes or smells:

  • You look tired.
  • I feel tired.
  • She sounds tired.
  • The dinner smells good.
  • This tea tastes a bit strange.

这些动词后面直接使用:

adjective


look + adjective

You look tired.

你看起来很累。

这里不是说:

你“如何做 look 这个动作”

而是在描述:

你的状态

所以使用形容词:

tired


feel + adjective

I feel tired.

我感觉很累。


sound + adjective

She sounds tired.

她听起来很累。


smell + adjective

The dinner smells good.

晚餐闻起来很香。

注意:

good

是形容词。

不是:

❌ smells well


taste + adjective

This tea tastes a bit strange.

这个茶尝起来有点奇怪。


19. 系动词后面使用 adjective

这一组可以统一理解:

be / get / become / seem / look / feel / sound / smell / taste + adjective

例如:

You look tired.

I feel happy.

It sounds interesting.

The food smells good.

The soup tastes strange.

这些 adjective 都是在:

描述主语

而不是描述动作。


20. Adjective 和 Adverb 的区别

But to say how somebody does something, you must use an adverb:

Drive carefully. (not Drive careful)

这里:

carefully

描述:

drive 这个动作是怎么完成的

所以使用副词。


Suzanne plays the piano very well. (not plays ... very good)

这里:

well

描述:

plays

所以使用副词。


21. 快速区分 adjective 和 adverb

问自己:

我是在描述“人/东西是什么状态”,还是描述“动作怎么发生”?

描述人或东西的状态

使用:

adjective

例如:

You look tired.

tired 描述:

you


描述动作如何发生

使用:

adverb

例如:

You drive carefully.

carefully 描述:

drive


比较:

He is careful.

他很小心。

这里描述:

he

所以:

adjective


He drives carefully.

他开车很小心。

这里描述:

drives

所以:

adverb


22. good 和 well

这是非常常见的一组:

good

通常是:

adjective

例如:

The food tastes good.

The dinner smells good.


well

通常是:

adverb

例如:

She plays tennis well.

Suzanne plays the piano very well.

所以:

good → 描述东西

well → 描述动作

例如:

She is a good driver.

good 描述:

driver


She drives well.

well 描述:

drives


D. the first two days / the next few weeks

We say:

the first two days

the next few weeks

the last ten minutes

etc.

例如:

  • I didn’t enjoy the first two days of the course. (not the two first days)

  • They’ll be away for the next few weeks. (not the few next weeks)


23. 序数/顺序词通常放在数量前面

注意:

the first two days

而不是:

❌ the two first days

结构:

first → two → days

也就是:

顺序 → 数量 → 名词


同样:

the next few weeks

不是:

❌ the few next weeks

结构:

next → few → weeks


再例如:

the last ten minutes

结构:

last → ten → minutes


24. 常见结构

可以记住:

the first + number + noun

例如:

the first three days

前三天


the next + number/quantity + noun

例如:

the next two weeks

接下来的两周

the next few days

接下来的几天


the last + number + noun

例如:

the last ten minutes

最后十分钟

the last three years

过去三年 / 最近三年


25. Unit 99 核心规则汇总

规则 1:Opinion 在 Fact 前

Opinion → Fact → Noun

例如:

a nice new house

a beautiful old building


规则 2:多个 Fact adjectives 有基本顺序

Size → Age → Shape → Colour → Origin → Material → Noun

例如:

a small old black Italian leather bag


规则 3:Size / Length 在 Shape / Width 前

a large round table

a tall thin girl

a long narrow street


规则 4:多个颜色之间可以使用 and

a black and white dress

a red, white and green flag

但:

a long black dress

不是:

❌ a long and black dress


规则 5:系动词后使用 adjective

be / get / become / seem

以及:

look / feel / sound / taste / smell

后面通常使用:

adjective

例如:

You look tired.

I feel tired.

She sounds tired.

The dinner smells good.

The tea tastes strange.


规则 6:描述动作方式使用 adverb

Drive carefully.

She plays the piano well.


规则 7:first / next / last 在数量前

the first two days

the next few weeks

the last ten minutes


26. 最终思维模型

这一单元可以分成三个核心问题。

① 多个形容词放在名词前,怎么排序?

先判断:

Opinion 还是 Fact?

如果同时存在:

Opinion → Fact

然后 Fact 内部大致按照:

Size → Age → Shape → Colour → Origin → Material

最后:

Noun

完整模型:

Opinion → Size → Age → Shape → Colour → Origin → Material → Noun


② 动词后面应该用 adjective 还是 adverb?

如果是在描述:

主语是什么状态

使用:

adjective

例如:

You look tired.

The food smells good.

如果是在描述:

动作怎么完成

使用:

adverb

例如:

Drive carefully.

She plays well.


③ first / next / last 和数量谁在前?

记住:

first / next / last → quantity → noun

例如:

the first two days

the next few weeks

the last ten minutes


27. 一句话记忆

形容词顺序:

观点 → 大小 → 年龄 → 形状 → 颜色 → 来源 → 材料 → 名词

英文:

Opinion → Size → Age → Shape → Colour → Origin → Material → Noun

而动词后:

描述状态 → adjective

描述动作 → adverb

例如:

You look tired, but you still work carefully.