adjective phrase
C1Technical/Formal
Definition
Meaning
A grammatical unit headed by an adjective that functions to modify a noun or as a complement, e.g., 'very tall' in 'a very tall building'.
A phrase with an adjective as its head word. It can include modifiers (like adverbs) before it and complements after it (such as prepositional phrases or clauses). It primarily acts as a modifier within a noun phrase or as a subject/object complement.
Linguistics
Semantic Notes
This is a strictly grammatical term used in linguistics and language teaching. It is not a phrase describing an adjective (e.g., 'a descriptive phrase'), but a phrase that *is* an adjective and its dependents.
Dialectal Variation
British vs American Usage
Differences
No significant difference in meaning or use. Spelling conventions for examples may differ (e.g., 'colourful' vs. 'colorful').
Connotations
None. Purely technical.
Frequency
Equally common in academic and pedagogical contexts in both varieties.
Vocabulary
Collocations
Grammar
Valency Patterns
AdjP → (AdvP) Adj (PP/Clause)AdjP → Adj + enoughAdjP → too + AdjVocabulary
Synonyms
Strong
Neutral
Weak
Vocabulary
Antonyms
Phrases
Idioms & Phrases
- “None”
Usage
Context Usage
Business
Rare. Might appear in communication training materials.
Academic
Common in linguistics, grammar, and language teaching textbooks and papers.
Everyday
Virtually never used in casual conversation.
Technical
The primary context of use. Essential terminology in grammatical analysis.
Examples
By CEFR Level
- 'Very big' is an adjective phrase.
- The word 'happy' can be an adjective phrase.
- In the sentence 'She is incredibly smart', 'incredibly smart' is the adjective phrase.
- Find the adjective phrase in this clause.
- The adjective phrase 'aware of the danger' functions as a subject complement after the verb 'was'.
- We can expand a simple adjective into a more complex adjective phrase by adding modifiers and complements.
- Syntactically, the adjective phrase 'too expensive for me' is headed by 'expensive' and includes both a pre-modifying degree adverb and a post-modifying prepositional phrase complement.
- The analysis posits that the adjective phrase can be recursively embedded within another adjective phrase.
Learning
Memory Aids
Mnemonic
An ADJECTIVE PHRASE is an ADJECTIVE Plus its Helpmates (Adverbs, Prepositions) - AP for short.
Conceptual Metaphor
GRAMMAR AS ANATOMY (the 'phrase' is a limb or organ with a specific function in the body of the sentence).
Watch out
Common Pitfalls
Translation Traps (for Russian speakers)
- Do not confuse with 'adjective' alone ('прилагательное').
- The Russian equivalent 'адъективная группа' or 'адъективное словосочетание' is a direct match but less commonly used in basic pedagogy.
- Beware of false friend 'фраза', which more commonly means 'sentence' or 'idiom' in everyday Russian.
Common Mistakes
- Using it to mean 'a phrase that is descriptive' rather than a specific grammatical unit.
- Confusing it with a noun phrase that contains an adjective (e.g., 'the red car' is a noun phrase, not an adjective phrase).
- Thinking it must contain multiple words (a single adjective like 'tall' is also an adjective phrase).
Practice
Quiz
Which of the following is an adjective phrase?
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes. In grammatical theory, a phrase can consist of just its head word. So 'tall' in 'She is tall' is both an adjective and an adjective phrase.
An adjective phrase *modifies* a noun or acts as a complement. A noun phrase with adjectives (e.g., 'the old wooden house') has a noun as its head ('house') and functions as a subject or object. The adjectives are part of the noun phrase, not a separate adjective phrase modifying the noun from outside.
In most modern linguistic contexts, they are synonymous. 'Adjectival phrase' is sometimes used to describe any phrase functioning like an adjective, even if not headed by one (e.g., a prepositional phrase like 'in a good mood'), but this distinction is not always made.
Understanding phrase structures helps learners analyse sentence patterns, improve syntactic accuracy (especially with complements like 'interested in...', 'afraid that...'), and create more complex and varied sentences.