Problems
With Adjectives: Using Collective Adjectives (adjective phrases that function as
nouns)
What is a collective
adjective and what is the difference between a collective noun and a collective
adjective? Lets start by taking a
look at a few examples using some common adjectives:
| Poor people are being ignored. |
| Rich people run for political office. |
| Elderly people are more religious than the young people. |
| Homeless people are treated as if they had no rights. |
| Oppressed people must fight for their rights |
In English, it is common to describe a group or class of people by omitting the noun and only using the adjective. The resulting phrase functions like a noun. Look at the following examples:
| The poor are being ignored |
| The rich run for political office |
| The elderly are more religious than the young |
| The homeless are treated as if they had no rights |
| The oppressed must fight for their rights |
In these examples, the noun has been omitted, and the adjective functions as the noun. For a collective adjective to function as a noun, it must meet four conditions:
| The definite article the must precede the |
| The collective adjective is always plural |
| The related verb is always in the floral form |
| Even though you use the specific article (the), the collective adjective functions in the general sense as a category rather than as a unique group. |
By contrast, a collective noun is generally presented in the singular form and takes a singular verb. Consider the following examples and note that the underlined noun is presented as a single unit even though it is made up of several people or components.
| The family is united in their decision. |
| The congregation will leave after the ceremony |
| The jury has recessed for the afternoon |
| The flock descended on the field and devoured the farmer’s crop. |
What allows us to use an adjective in this manner to take the place of a noun? As we read or speak the sentence, the noun is understood, even though it is missing. When we talk about the oppressed, or the homeless, or the poor, it is understood that we are referring to people who are oppressed, people who are homeless, or people who are poor. Therefore, we understand the noun relationship even though it is missing. This is called the understood omission – a process that happens quite regularly in English (see the handout on understood subjects)