Nouns and Adjectives: Types, Functions, and Structures

Nouns: Types, Functions, and Constituents

Common Nouns: These group beings and objects with the same characteristics.

Concrete Nouns: Refer to objects that have a real existence and are perceived by the senses.
- Individual: Designates singular beings or objects, or plural, which can be individualized (e.g., the chair, the car).
- Collective: Designates singular beings, yet are mainly perceived as a unit (e.g., military, school).
Abstract Nouns: Do not refer to concrete objects; they are only perceived by intelligence and are represented by concepts (e.g., scarcity).
- Abstract quality (adjectives)
- Events (verbs)
- Quantity (number of precious objects or inaccurate)

Proper Nouns: Designate unique beings and are individualized among species.

Serve as the subject of a sentence.
Complement a verbal nucleus and act in various functions such as Direct Object, Indirect Object, etc.
Complement itself and function as a prepositional complement and complement of the noun.
Share functions with other categories:

The noun phrase consists of a nucleus (required) and updates and modifications (optional).

The nucleus grants other components of the phrase morphemes of gender and number.
Selects adjacent elements according to significance.
Grants the whole phrase its own functional properties.
Imposes the number and person morphemes on the verb when it is the subject.

They belong to a closed grammatical category and are grouped as articles, demonstratives, numerals, possessives, indefinites, identity, distributives, interrogatives, and exclamatives.

Adjective: A word characterized by carrying morphemes of gender, number, and grade.

Adjectives with one ending: Do not mark gender distinctions by morpheme (e.g., pleasant sun, fertile land).
Adjectives with two endings: Present a formal opposition generated through morphemes (-o for masculine, -a for feminine).

There are two ways to express the grade of an adjective:

Synthetic or morphological: Consists of the addition of suffixes and prefixes.
Analytic or periphrastic: By using adverbs that modify the adjective to form a phrase with it.

There are three grades of adjectives:

Positive Grade: Features quality without intensifying it and without comparing it with other people or things. The adjective appears without specific morphemes and designates quality.
Comparative Grade: A comparison of quality between two terms or beings. There are three types:
- Equality (as high as)
- Superiority (higher than)
- Inferiority (less compact than)
Superlative Grade: Expresses the quality of the adjective at its most intense level. There are two structures: analytical and synthetic. There are two types of superlatives:
- Absolute: Expresses the highest degree of quality of a being (e.g., The tree is a very tall living being, extremely tall).
- Relative: Expresses the being or component that has the quality at its highest point (e.g., That is the most fertile field of all).

Adjectives modify the noun.

Specifying Adjectives: Limit and restrict the meaning of the noun.
Explanatory Adjectives: Indicate a quality of the being or object that is not necessary for its location.

Based on their meaning, adjectives can be classified as:

Qualifiers: Express a quality of the noun (e.g., good, bad).
Relationship or Membership: Make connections between objects (e.g., musical, civil).
Gentilics: Indicate the origin or source of those born in a town, city, or country (e.g., Palencia, Cantabria).