Adjectives without nouns

We cannot usually leave out a noun after an adjective.

• Poor little boy.'(NOT poor little)

But there are some exceptions:

We sometimes leave out a noun when we are talking about a choice between two or three different kinds (of car, milk, cigarette, bread).

• Have you got any bread?¹ 'Do you want white or brown? '


• A pound of butter, please.' 'I've only got unsalted '

We can use superlative adjectives without nouns, if the meaning is clear.

• I'm the tallest in my family.


• 'Which one shall I get?' The cheapest'

We can use some adjectives with theto talk about people in a particular condition.

• He s collecting money for the blind

Note that this structure has a plural 'general' meaning: the blind means 'all blind people', not 'the blind person' or 'certain blind people'.

The most common expressions of this kind are:

• the dead
  


• the sick
  


• the blind
  


• the deaf
  


• the rich the poor
  


• the unemployed
  


• the young
  


• the old
  


• the handicapped
  


• the mentally ill

(In informal speech, we usually say old people, young people etc instead of the old, the young.)

These expressions cannot be used with a possessive's.

• the problems of the poor
  


• poor people s problems (NOT the poor's problems)