About adjective...

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crazYgeeK

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I know that there are adjectives that always stand after "to be" verb. And there are others that can stand either before noun or after "to be" verb.
What is the rule to know what adjectives can stand after "to be" verb and before noun and what can only stand after "to be" verb (can't stand before noun) ?
I know some adjectives such as "alive" that can only stand after "to be" verb to modify the subject.
I'm doubting about "lovable" and "lovely" without knowing what kind of adjective (that I mentioned above) they are. I think "lovable" can only stand after "to be" verb. I can say "she is lovable" but can't say "she is a lovable (use 'lovely' instead) girl".
Could you please help me !
Thank you so much !
 

Rover_KE

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I'm not aware of any rules on this topic.

You certainly can say 'She is a lovable girl', which is very different from '...a lovely girl.'

Rover
 

kainaat

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Lovely is taken in the sense of "pretty"
 

TheNewOne

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I'm not aware of any rules on this topic.

You certainly can say 'She is a lovable girl', which is very different from '...a lovely girl.'

Rover
My dictionary translates lovable almost the same way as lovely.
Convertible terms for lovable are attractive, winning, amiable, pleasing.

Convertible terms for lovely are agreeable , alluring , appealing , attractive , bewitching , captivating , charming , delicious , delightful , delightsome , enchanting , engaging , entrancing , fascinating , adorable , pleasing , ravishing , taking , tempting , winning , winsome.

Can you explain what's the difference?
 

crazYgeeK

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The thing that made me think "lovely" and "lovable" are different is a question in my test where there are 4 choices to select the correct one to fill in the gap like "... beach" , I chose "lovely" randomly and have really not known the difference between "lovely" and "lovable" in this case.
As far as I know they are the same in meaning but maybe not the same in the way we use them in sentence.
 

crazYgeeK

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Please, my main problem is THE RULE to use adjectives properly in sentences not the difference between "lovely" and "lovable" !
At least I know that most derived adjectives starts with "a-" such as "alive" can only stand after "to be" verb. For example, we can say "He is alive" but can't say "He is alive man".
What else ?
Thank you so much !
 
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