Adjective - IALA

 We will discuss about Adjectives according to authoritative Interlingua grammar.

Points:

1. Preface for Adjectives

2. No nominal agreement for the adjectives

33. The placement of adjectives

34. Comparative adj

35. Comparative prepositions

36. Absolute superlative

7. Special comparative vocab (irregulars)

38. Le + adj

39. Adjective as subject/object

40. Adjective vs Noun pairs by final syllable difference

41. Adjective with final syllables other than O/A

42. Preface to adjectival formation

General View

Adjectives are usually have the ending -E or consonants. They are noy inflected according to the gender or number of the noun they modify. They works like in English.

Example:

Le parve flore es belle 'The little flower is beautiful'

(Le) parve flores es belle '(The) little flowers are beautiful'

(Le) briliante femina es belle '(The) smart woman is beautiful'

(Le) briliante homines es belle '(The) smart men are handsome'

Le parve libro es belle 'The little book is beautiful'

The Placement

Adjectives are generally placed after the nouns like in Romance languages. But, it is allowed to place them before the nouns like in English. Especially, if they are not long (around two or three syllables). This allowance is rarely used.

Example:

le lingua international e le linguas national

'the international language and the national languages'

Su integre vita esseva ric in viages longe e breve

'His whole life was rich in long and short trips'

Comparatives

The adjectives use plus (more) and le plus (the most) for positive comparison. They use minus (less) and le minus (the least) for negative comparison. These comparative modifiers are placed before the adjectives.

Example:

bon -> plus bon -> le plus bon 'good: better: the best'

bon <- minus bon <- le minus bon 'good less good: the least good'

interessante -> plus interessante -> le plus interessante (interesting)

interessante <- minus interessante <- le minus interessante

Irregular Comparative

Some adjectives have irregular altenatives and thus you can choose from these options. They are rare so you don't have to use them as necessity.

Similarly there are in the Interlingua vocabulary a few adjectives which one may wish to regard as irregular synonyms of certain comparative and superlative forms.

Example:

bon -> plus bon -> le plus bon (regular)

bon -> melior -> le melior (mixed)

bon -> melior -> optime (irregular)

'good: better: best'

mal <- plus mal <- le plus mal (regular)

mal <- pejor <- le pejor (mixed)

mal <- pejor <-  pessime (irregular)

'bad: worse: worst'

Comparative Phrases

We use que (which, than what) + phrase or del (of the) + noun to compare one thing to another.

Example:

Iste historia es le minus interessante que io ha legite

'This story is the least interesting (which, than what) I have read'

Iste historia es le minus interessante del duo

'This story is the less interesting of the two'

Equal Comparison

We use tanto/si + adjective + como to desribe the nouns and before this formula are equal in a certain quality.

Example:

Un homine es tanto bon como un altere.

'One man is as good as another'

Iste flore es si belle como isse flore

'this flower is as beautiful as that flower'

Absolute Superlative

We use this superlative to express "super", "terribly" , etc. This is an emphatic version of Superlative. We use adjective + -issime to form this phrase. We can also use terribilemente + adjective as modifier. We can use noun + multo emphatic as modifier.

Example:

Su replica esseva un "non" multo emphatic

'His reply was a very emphatic "no"'

Su replica esseva un emphatichissime "non"

'His reply was a most emphatic "no"'

Ille parla in un maniera terribilemente interessante

'He talks in a terribly interesting fashion'

Note:

1) For the use of Le + Adjective (nominal use), visit Article - IALA

2) Some adjectives have nominal forms with -O/A ending. You can check this on the dictionary. While some others have the same exact form for both adjective and noun (virgine adj., virgine n.)