ABOUT GRAMMAR: THE USE OF COMPOUND ADJECTIVES IN ENGLISH

Revista del Centro de Investigación de Lingüística y de Didáctica de la Lengua Inglesa (CILDLI)

Instituto de Formación Docente Nuestra Señora del Sagrado Corazón

Lugar: Córdoba Capital; Año: 2009; p. 13 - 17

Compound adjectives abound in English. Their formation and use is much more characteristic of the artistic, creative written language than it is of the language used by scientific disciplines. In basic terms, compound adjectives are adjectival expressions made up of two (or sometimes more) words, usually linked by hyphens; i.e. they involve at least two free morphemes, which function as simple adjectives in higher organisational units. Double-barrelled adjectives are clearly a common feature of English; however, they are a very alien feature to many foreign learners who are generally unsure of the meaning and formation of some compound adjectives. Consequently, students usually find them problematic to use due to confusion over what they mean, how they are formed, where they can be effectively used, when hyphens should be used, and so on. In this context, the aim of this paper is to examine some of the most frequent cases of English compound adjectives, making particular reference to their form and meaning.