Adjectives
Middle English Grammar 1
Chapter 4 · Adjectives
📜 Adjectives
Old English adjectives changed their endings for case, gender and number. Middle English adjectives mostly do not, but a small final -e keeps turning up. This chapter follows the Adjectives subsection of Wikipedia's Middle English article, and says plainly where that subsection stops. For the Old English system this wore down, see Old English Grammar 1.
The final -e
| Context | Adjective form |
|---|---|
| Modifying a plural noun | adjective + -e |
| After the definite article | adjective + -e |
| After a demonstrative or possessive | adjective + -e |
| In direct address | adjective + -e |
| Anywhere else | unmarked |
- Where it comes from. The article traces the -e to the Old English weak declension, the pattern Old English used after the, this and similar words.
- Written, not always said. The -e went on being written after it stopped being pronounced.
- Longer adjectives. Adjectives of more than one syllable also took -e in these positions in earlier texts, but less consistently later on.
- No double -e. An adjective that already ends in -e does not gain another.
- Earlier texts inflect more. The article says Layamon's Brut marks several case and gender forms, and that The Owl and the Nightingale adds -e to non-nominative adjectives, but only in the weak declension.
Comparison
| Pattern | What the article says | Example given |
|---|---|---|
| Regular | Comparative and superlative usually in -er and -est | |
| Short long vowel | Some adjectives shorten a long vowel when comparing | greet (great), gretter (greater) |
| Adjectives in -ly or -lich | Comparatives with either -lier / -liest or -loker / -lokest | |
| Umlaut | A few show Germanic umlaut | long, lenger |
| Other irregulars | Described as mostly matching Modern English |
The article names no other irregular adjectives, so this chapter does not list forms such as those for good or bad.
What this chapter could not give
- Agreement. The subsection does not discuss agreement with gender or number beyond the plural and definite-article contexts above.
- Dialects. It describes no regional differences in adjective endings. It mentions two texts, but does not tie their patterns to a dialect, so I give no Northern, Midland, Southern or Kentish adjective forms.
- Chaucer's London English. The subsection does not say how consistently Chaucer's text uses the -e, so I make no claim.
- Full example sentences. I fetched the Wiktionary entry for gret, which says only "alternative form of grete", with no inflected forms or dated citations. The entry for lang was cut off before its Middle English part. So the examples come from the article only.
Words to know
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Weak declension | The Old English adjective pattern used after the or a demonstrative, source of the Middle English -e |
| Direct address | Speaking to someone by name or title |
| Comparative | The form meaning "more", as in -er |
| Superlative | The form meaning "most", as in -est |
| Umlaut | A vowel change caused by a following sound, as in long and lenger |
✏️ Try It Yourself
Think of the answer first, then click to check.
1. Name four contexts in which a single-syllable adjective takes -e.
Show answer
Before a plural noun, after the definite article, after a demonstrative or possessive, and in direct address.
2. Where does the -e come from?
Show answer
The Old English weak declension.
3. The -e stopped being pronounced. Did it stop being written?
Show answer
No. It continued to be written.
4. What happens to an adjective that already ends in -e?
Show answer
It does not gain another -e.
5. What are the usual comparative and superlative endings?
Show answer
-er and -est.
6. What happens to the vowel in greet when it becomes gretter?
Show answer
A long vowel is shortened (and the article's spelling doubles the t).
7. Which pair in this chapter shows umlaut?
Show answer
long and lenger.
8. Why does this chapter give no dialect forms for adjectives?
Show answer
The article's Adjectives subsection describes no regional differences, and the chapter does not fill the gap from memory.