Supplementative adjective clauses Syntactic functions of English adjectives

up with those in other countries. 15 In example 15, it can be understood that the Vietnamese women, who are
industrious and dexterous always strive harder to catch up with those in other
countries. The native English are very friendly.
The English, who are native, are very friendly.

2.3.4 Supplementative adjective clauses

An adjective alone or as head of adjective phrase can function as supplementative adjective clause or a verbless adjective clause . The clause is
mobile, through it usually precedes or follow the subject of the superordinate
clause
by then nervous, the man opened the letter. The man, by then nervous, opened the letter.
The man opened the letter, by then nervous. Quirk et el
1972, 119 When verbless adjective clause comes closely the subject, such as
The man, by then nervous, opened the letter. It is, in some aspects, like a non-
restrictive relative clause as in:
The man, who was by then nervous, opened the letter. Unlike the relative clause, the adjective clause is mobile and its implied
is usually the subject of the sentences. Thus, while we have :
The man restrained the woman, who was aggressive.
We do not have:
The man restrained the woman, aggressive.
However, if the clause contains addition constituents, its implied subject can be other than the subjective of the sentence:
She glanced with disgust at the cat, quiet now in her daughter s
’ lap.
While in the participle clause, the implied subjective can also be other than the subjective of the sentence.
Ngun ThÞ Nga – K 11A 17
She glanced with disgust at the cat, stretched out on the rug. She glanced with disgust at the cat, mewing plaintively.
Quirk et al 1972, 119
Nevertheless, the implied subjective of the adjective clause can be the whole of the superordinate clause. Look at these two examples:
Crowded holiday resorts are not very pleasant.16 Holiday resorts which are crowded are not very pleasant.17
Crowded in the sentence 16 is an adjective and
which are crowded in th example 17 is a clause which has a finite verb
are. The clause is doing exactly the same work as the adjective it is describing the holiday resorts or in other
words it is qualifying the noun holiday resorts so we call it a relative clause
because it relates to the noun. In this case, by means of the word which.
In short, adjectival clause can describe person, things and events. We can realize that the adjectival clause shows that
holiday resorts crowdedness is related to the content of whole sentence. Other examples of the verbless
adjective clause :
Strange, it was she who initiated divorce proceedings. It is semantically equivalent to
that is was she who initiated divorce proceedings is strange.
An adverb may sometimes replace with little difference in meaning, an adjective function as a verbless clause, for example:
Nervously, the man opened the letter. Nervous, the man opened the letter.
The adjective refers to the subjective without explicit reference to the action, and otherwise stated, the characterization is only temporary in its
application. But if an explicit time indicator is introduced, the application of the
adjective is extended in time. For example, when we insert
always, the man’s nervousness becomes a permanent characteristic, and is not specifically connected with the action, for
example: Ngun ThÞ Nga – K 11A
18
Always nervous, the man opened the letter.
But when the implied subjective is the whole clause, a corresponding adverb can replace the adjective with little or no difference in meaning, such as
with strangely for strange, for example:
Strangely, it was she who initiated divorce proceedings.
However, the adjective, unlike the adverb, allows a that- or how- clause
as follows:
Strange that it turned out that way. Strange how she still likes him.
In such cases, it s
’ is ellipted and the adjective is not separated from the
clause by a comma. The supplementive adjective clause also expresses the circumstance or
condition under which what is said in the superordinat clause applies. A subordinator is often present but can be omitted, for example:
Enthusiastic, they make good students. ~ When they feel enthusiastic, they make good students.
When ripe, these apples are sweet. ~ When these apples are ripe, they are sweet.
Whether right or wrong, he always comes off worst in an
argument.
~ Whether he is right or wrong, he always comes off worst in an argument.
The implied subjective of the adjective clause is normally the subjective of the superordinate, but it can also be the objective, for example:
We can drink it hot. You must eat it when fresh.
The adjective then usually comes finally and could be regarded as a complement. The implied subjective can be the whole of the superordinate
clause, for example:
If possible, the dog should be washed everyday.
Ngun ThÞ Nga – K 11A 19

2.2.5 Exclamatory adjective sentence