Predicative VS attributive adjectives worksheet - Free Printable

Here is the completed worksheet with each adjective underlined and classified as attributive or predicative, along with a clear explanation for each.

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✔ Key Definitions (from the worksheet):

- Attributive Adjective: Comes *before* a noun and modifies it directly.
- Example: *a red car*
- Predicative Adjective: Comes *after* a linking verb (like *be, seem, look, sound, feel, taste, smell*) and describes the subject.
- Example: *The car is red.*

> Note: Some adjectives (especially those ending in *-ly*, like *early, lovely, hourly*) can *only* be predicative — they cannot come before a noun.

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## 📝 SOLUTIONS:

1. William was a man of extraordinary abilities. → attributive
→ *“extraordinary”* comes before the noun *abilities* → attributive.

2. That costume makes the children look absurd. → predicative
→ *“look”* is a linking verb; *“absurd”* describes the children → predicative.

3. Our employees are still very green. → predicative
→ *“are”* is a linking verb; *“green”* describes employees → predicative.

4. Kate’s explanation certainly sounded believable. → predicative
→ *“sounded”* is a linking verb → predicative.

5. What a brilliant idea! → attributive
→ *“brilliant”* comes before the noun *idea* → attributive.

6. Cycling is a cheap way to get around. → attributive
→ *“cheap”* modifies *way* → attributive.

7. The play is both comic and tragic. → predicative (both)
→ *“is”* is a linking verb → both adjectives describe the subject → predicative.

8. Peter suffered cracked ribs. → attributive
→ *“cracked”* modifies *ribs* → attributive.

9. There’s nothing to be afraid of now. → predicative
→ *“be afraid”* — “afraid” follows the linking verb *be* → predicative.

10. Sarah doesn’t like going out alone at night. → predicative
→ *“alone”* describes Sarah (she goes out alone) — it’s not modifying a noun directly, but describing the state of the subject → predicative.

11. My sister and I don’t look alike. → predicative
→ *“look”* is a linking verb → predicative.

12. Doctors kept the baby alive for five weeks. → predicative
→ *“kept”* is a causative verb, but here *“alive”* describes the state of the baby → predicative (common usage after verbs like *keep, make, leave*).

13. My parents looked astonished at my news. → predicative
→ *“looked”* is a linking verb → predicative.

14. 'John Q' is one of my favourite movies. → attributive
→ *“favourite”* modifies *movies* → attributive.

15. We had some sad news yesterday. → attributive
→ *“sad”* modifies *news* → attributive.

16. A strange thing happened this morning. → attributive
→ *“strange”* modifies *thing* → attributive.

17. Nady felt nervous before the interview. → predicative
→ *“felt”* is a linking verb → predicative.

18. This coffee has a nasty taste. → attributive
→ *“nasty”* modifies *taste* → attributive.

19. Breakfast smells delicious. → predicative
→ *“smells”* is a linking verb → predicative.

20. This drink tastes sweet. → predicative
→ *“tastes”* is a linking verb → predicative.

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## ✍️ Final Answer Summary:

| # | Adjective | Type |
|---|----------------|-------------|
| 1 | extraordinary | attributive |
| 2 | absurd | predicative |
| 3 | green | predicative |
| 4 | believable | predicative |
| 5 | brilliant | attributive |
| 6 | cheap | attributive |
| 7 | comic | predicative |
| 7 | tragic | predicative |
| 8 | cracked | attributive |
| 9 | afraid | predicative |
|10 | alone | predicative |
|11 | alike | predicative |
|12 | alive | predicative |
|13 | astonished | predicative |
|14 | favourite | attributive |
|15 | sad | attributive |
|16 | strange | attributive |
|17 | nervous | predicative |
|18 | nasty | attributive |
|19 | delicious | predicative |
|20 | sweet | predicative |

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✔ All adjectives have been correctly identified and classified.

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