Learn to Obey Orders

By Gururaj B.S. and Prabhat N.R.

The baton has been handed over, and Gururaj and Prabhat are at the receiving end. Grammar does not change; grammarians do. In this issue of INDUS, Grammar Sutra becomes GRAMMAR DOSE.

Have you been, as technical writers, working your butt off? Have you not had the time to flip through Wren and Martin or, worse still, browse through an online grammar resource? If the answer is yes, you constitute the audience for this column. Grammar Dose is for everybody who wishes to better their communication, both written and spoken. Novices will learn the basic concepts they must know, and for experienced writers, this column serves as a language refresher. What perturbs us is when aspiring technical writers, having stumbled on a job requirement, are more interested in learning the intricacies of documentation tools. Some people have a misconception that grammar is nagging, useless, and pernicious. Grammar is the foundation of a beautiful house in which we live our writers’ lives. If the foundation is not stable, the house collapses. Here are some tips to help you lay a good foundation for yourselves.

Decide the Position

Most adjectives (descriptive) can go in one of the following places:

• Attributive position - with a noun
  Example: He is a good technical writer.
  
• Predicative position – after linking verbs
  Example: She looks awesome.

We want you to take a look at the verb in this sentence. The verb “looks” is not an action verb. Instead, it is describing the subject of the sentence. Verbs of this kind are be, seem, look, sound, smell, taste, feel, and appear.) 

Some adjectives can go in one of these positions (attributive or predicative). Some adjectives may come after the nouns that they modify (for example, Send me all the documents available). Some adjectives have different meanings in attributive and predicative positions. For example, elder and eldest adjectives are usually used in the attributive position, before the nouns that they modify (for example, elder sister, and eldest son). The same adjectives change to older and oldest when they come after a verb in the sentence (for example, My sister is two years older than me).

The adjective live, the opposite of dead, is always used in the attributive position (for example, a live bird). In the predicative position, the same adjective changes to alive (for example, The bird is alive). Note that live has other meanings in the predicative position (for example, This show comes to you live from Pokhran). Adjectives that act as intensifiers in the sentence are always used in the attributive position (for example, It is sheer stupidity). Compound adjectives (noun-participle, numeral-adjective, or numeral-noun combinations) are usually used in the attributive position (for example, one-eyed, 2-year). Some adjectives beginning with a- always come in the predicative position (for example, afraid, awake, alight, alive, and alone). Some attributive adjectives come immediately after the noun, instead of before it (for example, Court Martial, Solicitor General). Participles serving as adjectives can come in both attributive and predicative positions. When a participle comes before a noun, it expresses a permanent characteristic of the noun. The participle loses its importance as a verb; it becomes an adjective. If we talk about an interesting column, we do not mean that the column interests somebody at the moment when we make a statement. We are talking about the general characteristic of the column, and we are not thinking of the action (verb). On the other hand, when a participle comes after a noun, it refers to an action. We are thinking of the action (verb), and we are using the participle as both verb and adjective.

So, Two Blunders

Consider these sentences:

They are so strange people.
 It is too tough job.

Have you been using these sentences? Believe us, these are blunders that ruin the quality of your writing. You can use intensifiers (as, how, so, and too) with an adjective and a noun, but only when the noun is modified by an indefinite article. Here is how you must use them in a sentence.

Consider these sentences:

He is too kind a guy to refuse.
 How established a technical writer is he?

Obey the Order

Now coming back to the topic at hand, let us focus on the order of adjectives when several adjectives come before a single noun in a sentence. Please obey the following order:

1. The noun is modified by a functional adjective that tells you what the something (noun) is meant for (for example, Cricket bat).
2. The functional adjective is preceded by a composite [denominal] adjective that tells you what something (noun) is made of (for example, Plastic cricket bat).
3. The composite adjective is preceded by an origin [denominal] adjective that tells you where something (noun) comes from (for example, Japanese plastic cricket bat).
4. The origin adjective is preceded by a color adjective that tells you what the color of something (noun) is (Yellow japanese plastic cricket bat).
5. The color adjective is preceded by a descriptive adjective that tells you what the general characteristic of something (noun) is (for example, Big yellow japanese plastic cricket bat).
6. The descriptive adjective is modified by an article.

So, the final order of the adjectives looks like this:

Gururaj B.S. works for Hewlett-Packard, Bangalore. He has a master’s degree in English, a bachelor’s degree in Science, and a PG Diploma in Teaching of English Language. He has a penchant for grammar, and has conducted many workshops on language and editing. He is the Membership Manager of the STC India chapter, and also the owner of the Technical Writers of India (TWIN) list.

Prabhat N.R. works for Aztec, Bangalore. He has a master’s degree in business administration, a bachelor’s degree in Science, and a diploma in sales and marketing. He has been teaching technical writing and grammar for the last four years.