Korean Job Discussion Forums

[crisdean]

I was asked an interesting question today involving adjectives.

My coteacher showed my the sentence, "She has long curly hair." And asked if there should be an 'and' between 'long' and 'curly.'
The statement seems perfectly natural to me, so I said "no, it isn't necessary."
So the obvious follow-up, "Why?"

I told her I wasn't sure, but thought that 'curly hair' itself was a noun and 'long' was an adjective being applied to it. Similarly with the phrase large blue eyes, 'blue eyes' is a noun and large is being applied to it (not certain about this either).

Are there any experts here that could tell me if I'm even in the right ballpark on this?

[Ramen]

"she has long curly hair."

she has long and curly hair. (not proper)
she has long (what). she has curly hair.

her hair is long and curly. (proper)
her hair is long. her hair is curly.

thus, you can say "she has long black curly wet hair," but not "she has long, black, curly, and wet hair."

[edwardcatflap]

Not exactly. 'Curly hair' is not a compound noun but just an adjective modifying a noun in the same way 'long hair' is. In English we can stack adjectives before nouns (as long as they're in the correct order) e.g. 'A big black leather bag' without needing to use 'and'. Usually if there are more than two and they are long, we separate them with commas. E.g. It was a challenging, satisfying, well-paid job

[koreatimes]

long curly hair = emphasis on the hair collectively with the qualities of being long and curly

long and curly hair = emphasis on the hair independently being long and independently being curly

We say:

My hair is (long) and (curly).
I have (long curly hair).

We don't say:

My hair is long curly.

[nathanrutledge]

Let's consult the Practical English Usage -

16 adjectives (5): with and

When two or more adjectives (or other modifiers) come together, we sometimes put and before the last one and sometimes not. It depends partly on their position in the sentence.

2 before a noun
In attributive position (before a noun), and is less common. However, and is possible when the adjectives give similar kinds of information, especially when "piling up" favorable or unfavorable descriptions.
a cruel and vicious tyrant, a warm and generous personality, an ill-planned, expensive and wasteful project.

And is necessary when two or more adjectives (or other modifiers) refer to different parts of something, or different types of things.
a yellow and black sports car
a concrete and glass factory
hot and cold drinks

SO, the question is, are you referring to the same hair, or different hair? I.E. she has long (on her head) and curly (aHEM) hair.

I'm sure the sentence was meant as referring to the same hair, so there really isn't a "rule" per se, but since you're using similar descriptions, it's acceptable.

[crisdean]