Predicative Adjectives

A predicative adjective describes a noun from the other side of a verb. Instead of sitting next to the noun like an Attributive Adjective, it appears in the predicate after a linking verb. The most common linking verb is be in all its forms (am, is, are, was, were), but several other verbs can link as well: seem, become, appear, remain, prove, and grow. For instance, in the sky grew dark, the adjective dark is predicative—it tells you what the sky became.

A particularly important group are the sense verbs: taste, smell, sound, feel, and look. When these verbs act as linking verbs they are followed by an adjective, not an adverb. You sound tired is correct; you sound tiredly is not. This is a common learner pitfall. Similarly, the soup tastes good uses an adjective, while the soup tastes well would mean the soup has ability in tasting—an entirely different meaning. The exception is well used to mean "healthy," as in I don't feel well, where well functions as a predicative adjective.

A predicative adjective can act as a subject complement (describing the subject) or an object complement (describing the object). Subject complements follow directly after the linking verb: She is happy. Object complements follow the direct object and rename or redescribe it: They painted the door red or The news made him anxious. In these sentences the adjective completes the meaning that the verb alone would leave unfinished.

Most adjectives can occupy both attributive and predicative positions, but a handful of a- prefix words—asleep, afraid, alone, afloat, alike—are predicative only. You can say the child is afraid but not the afraid child. Recognizing this restriction will save you from a very common intermediate-level mistake.