Typically speaking,
adjectives are known to modify nouns. Interestingly, however, English grammar,
like some other languages, allows some adjectives to function as nouns. These
adjectives are called nominal adjectives.
What are nominal
adjectives?
Nominal adjectives are
adjectives that perform the function of a noun in a sentence. They are preceded
by the definitely article ‘the’ and can be found as the subject or
the object of a sentence or clause.
Examples:
1. The elderly are
a great source of wisdom.
2. The just have
their rewards in Heaven.
3. The opposite of
up is down.
4. The best is
yet to come.
In the examples above,
the nominal adjectives do not modify any other noun. They’re acting as nouns
themselves.
Specifically, they are
performing the function of the subject of the sentences, but, as we mentioned,
they can also function as objects.
Examples:
1. We should treat the
elderly with respect. (‘the elderly’ is an object of
‘treat’.)
2. This law
protects the innocent.
(‘the innocent’ is object
of the verb ‘protects’.)
3. We all want the
best for her. (‘The best’ is an object of ‘want’.)
Uses of Nominal
Adjectives
Nominal adjectives
perform several different functions. Some nominal adjectives are used to refer
to a group of people who all share a certain characteristic, which can be
a physical or non-physical characteristic. Other nominal adjectives refer to a
characteristic of an individual person or thing. We’ll look at each type of
nominal adjective separately.
Collective Adjectives
Collective adjectives are
nominal adjectives that are used to refer to groups of people. Sometimes they
refer to a shared physical characteristic, such as the blind, the
deaf, the short, or the tall. Other times, they
refer to non-physical characteristics like the hardworking, the
intelligent, the poor, or the rich.
In each of these cases,
the nominal adjective takes the place of a lengthier description, such as “all
the people who are rich,” or “all the intelligent people.”
Collective adjectives can
also refer to some nationalities, such as the Chinese, the
English, or the French.
Collective (Nominal)
Adjectives vs Collective Nouns
So what is the difference
between collective nouns and collective adjectives?
1. Collective nouns are
always nouns that refer to a group of things or people;
e.g., a group, a bunch, etc.
Here, group and bunch are
both nouns ‘naturally’. By naturally, I mean that it is the word group to
which they belong and, as such, are not acting as nouns but rather are nouns.
However, nominal
adjectives are typical adjective that only function as nouns in a certain
usage circumstance.
2. Collective nouns are
used basically with singular verbs, but can sometimes be used with plural verbs
when they refer to the individual members of a group.
Note, however, that the
above is only the case in British English as, in American English, collective
nouns are always singular and go with singular verbs.
3. Collective adjectives,
on the other hand, are always plural so go with plural verbs.
Collective Adjectives and
Non Collective Adjectives
You can see that whilst
I've just said that collective adjectives always take plural verbs, we can see
examples 3 and 4 using singular verbs. It is so because not all nominal
adjectives are collective adjectives. Confused? Don't be, dear.
We are treating nominal
adjectives, and it's important to note that nominal adjectives can be divided
into two types: collective nominal adjectives and ‘non collective nominal
adjectives.
Now, you can see that in
the repeated examples below, the first two nominal adjectives (‘The
elderly’ and ‘The French’ ) each took plural verbs. This is
because they are collective nominal adjectives. The last two (‘The
opposite’ and ‘The best’), however, are not collective so
go with singular nouns.
Collective Nominal
Adjectives
1. The elderly are a
great source of wisdom.
2. The French have
amazing restaurants.
Singular (Non Collective)
Nominal Adjectives
1.The opposite of
up is down.
2.The best is yet
to come.
The word
‘opposite’ refers not to a group of things or
people with similarities. Instead, it refers only to other side (not
sides) of ‘up’.
‘The best,’ in this
context, refers to the superlative form of the say three things compared.
So, its reference is to one person or thing.
It can also be made to
refer to a group in another context. For instance, in the regional levels
of the Ghana's Most Beautiful pageantry, just one person
emerges as the ‘best’, so the best at regional levels is not collective. But
when individual regional bests meet in Accra, they can collectively be referred
to us ‘the best’ and should, in this context, take a plural verb.
Comparative and
Superlative Forms
Adjectives in their
comparative or superlative form can also be nominal adjectives. Comparative
adjectives are those that end in ‘-er’ or are preceded by the word ‘more’, as
in stronger, taller, cleverer, more
beautiful, more intelligent etc.
They are used to compare
two things. Have a look at these examples of nominal adjectives in comparative
form:
1. His brother is the
taller, but he is the cleverer.
2. They gave the prize to
the more beautiful of the two.
3. Of the two cars, we
chose the more expensive.
Superlative Adjectives
Superlative adjectives
are those that end in “-est” or are preceded by the word most, such as strongest, tallest, most
beautiful, most clever, etc. They compare three or more things,
and they can function as nominal adjectives in the same way that comparatives
can.
Examples:
1. Dan is the
strongest. (Here it's functioning a subject complement)
2. I want the
best for you. ( Here, ‘the best’ is functioning as the object of the
verb ‘want’ because it's behaving as a noun)
3. Whenever we have a job
to do, you give me the most difficult. (‘The most difficult’
here is the direct object of the verb ‘give’)