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Adjective Phrases
Sometimes a group of words does the work of an
adjective.
Study the following examples.
The mayor
was a wealthy man.
The mayor
was a man of great wealth.
In
sentence 1, the adjective wealthy
says what sort of man the mayor was. In sentence 2, the group of words ‘of great wealth’ also says the same thing. It qualifies the noun man as an adjective does. It therefore
does the work of an adjective and is
called an adjective phrase.
Definition
An adjective phrase is a group of words that
does the work of an adjective.
The
magistrate was a kind man. (Here the
adjective kind modifies the noun man.)
The
magistrate was a man with a kind heart.
(Here the adjective phrase ‘with a kind heart’ modifies the noun man.)
They
lived in a stone house.
They
lived in a house built of stone.
The
workers belonged to a hill tribe.
The
workers belonged to a tribe dwelling in
the hills.
Study the following adjectives and the adjective
phrases that are equivalent to them.
A golden
necklace – a necklace made of gold
A white
coat – a coat of white color
A jungle
track – a track through the jungle
A
deserted city – a city with no inhabitants
The
French flag – the flag of France
A wooden
hut – a hut built of wood
A blank
page – a page with no writing on it