Let Tom teach you how to use adjectives without nouns in this English In A Minute.
Tom
How can use adjectives without using a noun? Let’s find out.
Normally, we use adjectives to describe a noun.
People is a noun.
Rich people have a lot of money.
Rich people are a group.
To describe a group of people with a shared quality, we can use an adjective without using a noun.
We just add the.
Then, we can delete the noun.
The rich have a lot of money.
Now, we have a plural expression.
We can say that poor people are the opposite of rich people.
Poor people have less money than rich people.
Or:
The poor have less than the rich.
This is a simple direct expression and it sounds very natural.
British people drink a lot of tea.
We can delete people [and] add the:
The British drink a lot of tea.
Adjectives without nouns
Normally, we use adjectives to describe a noun.
- Unemployed people are looking for jobs.
- Young people are interested in video games.
In these sentences, unemployed and young are adjectives.
Unemployed people and young people are a group. If you want to describe a group of people with a shared quality, we can use an adjective without using a noun. We need to add the in front of the adjective. Then you have a plural expression, for example: The young.
- The unemployed are looking for jobs.
- The young are interested in video games.