Adjective and Noun Partnerships

Nouns or noun phrases are commonly pre-modified by adjectives or other nouns:

  • ... a clear message aimed at changing high risk behaviour among drug-users. (adjective + noun)
  • The student meeting will take place on Wednesday 5 November. (noun + noun)

In these examples participle adjectives (many of which have the same form as -ing and -ed participles) are used to pre-modify the noun:

  • Ready-made meals are being blamed for the rise in obesity. (adjective + participle adjective + noun)
  • On 9 September 2015, Queen Elizabeth II will become the longest-reigning female monarch in world history. (adjective + participle adjective + adjective + noun).

In addition, adjectives can be modified by adverbs:

  • The relatively low cost of oil makes it an attractive alternative to renewable energy sources. (adverb + adjective + noun)
  • CRM, or Customer Relationship Management, is a rapidly-growing sector in IT. (adverb + participle adjective + noun)

Collocation

In many cases, adjectives and nouns can be freely combined (e.g. big / small + noun).

However, in order to achieve both a natural and academic style it is important to select an appropriate collocation. For example, the phrase  this had a big impact on sales  could be criticised as sounding too informal. Big should be replaced by a more suitable collocation, such as a dramatic, profound, or significant impact.

  •  *the students were under high pressure

In this example, there is a problem with the collocation high pressure. High is an appropriate collocation only when talking about the force of a gas or liquid; however, the meaning of pressure in the example is stress or worry. A more suitable collocation would be considerable pressure.

In addition, adverb + adjective combinations (which pre-modify the noun) require the correct use of collocation.

  • significantly reduced (rate)
  • strictly regulated (system)
  • conspicuously absent (leader)
  • deeply offensive (language)
  • highly inappropriate (behaviour)
  • densely populated (areas)

 

Test Yourself I

Identify how the noun phrase in bold is pre-modified:

Our campaign has a clear message aimed at changing high risk behaviour among drug-users.

noun + noun + noun

adjective + noun + noun

adverb + participial adjective + noun


CRM, or Customer Relationship Management, is a rapidly-growing sector in IT.

adjective + participial adjective + noun

adverb + adjective + noun

noun + noun + noun


Queen Victoria is currently the longest-reigning monarch in the history of Britain.

adverb + participial adjective + noun

adverb + adjective + noun

adjective + participial adjective + noun


Herring was forced to apologise for posting the deeply offensive tweet.

adverb + adjective + noun

adjective + participial adjective + noun

adverb + participial adjective + noun


The relatively low cost of oil makes it an attractive alternative to renewable energy sources.

adjective + noun + noun

adjective + participial adjective + noun

adjective + adjective + noun


Test Yourself II

Choose the most appropriate collocation.

In the absence of any     evidence, it is difficult to draw firm conclusions.

The    principle outlined here also relates to post-graduates.

Students preferred having a   method of assessing their spoken performance in presentations.

 

Without     evaluation, there is little hope of distinguishing truth from unfounded belief.

There was also evidence of an     consequence of the current tax regime.

Water fluoridation is the most     strategy in public health for gum disease prevention.