Adjective phrases – an insightful look

Let us pay attention, first, to the following example:


By succumbing to the simple morning traces, Aurelia noticed that the first ones were entering from the crack in a window. Sun rays, something so imperceptible through the disturbance city and the rush of everyday life.


Continuing the analysis, let us now turn our gaze to the terms that are highlighted. We found that these, in addition to representing some adjective phrases, also enhanced the message and made the aesthetics of the discourse even more plausible. Now, possibly, if we changed these terms for “in the morning”, “of the sun”, “of the city”, we would not obtain such a result.


The fact is that when we learn grammar classes, as well as other subjects related to grammar, we often do not realize their real importance. Only, in a somewhat automatic attitude, we use them in the structuring of our thinking and, consequently, in the materialization of our discourses.

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Therefore, it is interesting to sharpen our perception of this fact, not conceiving adjective phrases as “only” two words used in the value of a single adjective. Its usefulness, therefore, goes beyond this conception, as it confers an authentic improvement of the text, given the possibility of vocabulary variation, thus demonstrating an evident enrichment lexical.


Let us remember, then, some examples. Some of erudite origin, others of more everyday use:


of abdomen - abdominal
lead - lead
nape - occiput
of fire - fiery
of ivory – ebúrneo, eboreo
of memory – mnemonic
of wolf - lupine
of hair - capillary
of Charlemagne – Carolingian
of city – city
gray - cinereous
throat - guttural

And so on...

By Vânia Duarte
Graduated in Letters
Brazil School Team

Grammar - Brazil School

Would you like to reference this text in a school or academic work? Look:

DUARTE, Vânia Maria do Nascimento. "Adjective phrases – a discerning look"; Brazil School. Available in: https://brasilescola.uol.com.br/gramatica/locucoes-adjetivas-um-olhar-criterioso.htm. Accessed on June 27, 2021.

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