Each nation has its own language. People naturally speak the language spoken by their forefathers. However, English has had worldwide recognition for ages and become the most popular language. Especially, in the open-door period and the trend towards internationalization, English has become an essential tool in international communication and integration. Therefore, the need for learning English is increasing not only in quantity but also in quality. Apart from learning practical English for daily communication, for future jobs, for professional advancement, or for knowledge about England - its people, customs and culture - learners study the theory of its language to get a thorough insight into the language.

Among a variety of English theory, the knowledge of linguistic features related to syntax and semantics plays an important role in understanding and using English properly and effectively. Therefore, in order to use it for the best purpose, an adequate understanding of adjectives in the two foresaid fields is essential. BAD is among the adjectives causing much confusion in communication and it is also a high frequency word. Let us examine the following examples: 

(1)  "Don't call him bad!" said Natasha.       [90]

(2) You bad boy !                             [18, p.124]

Tangin :  Here is the gold. Why do you want it? 

Mr. Bey : This man thinks that it is bad; it’s not gold. 

Tangin :  I think it is good. 

Mr. Bey :  We will cut it and see. It is bad! It is bad! Oh! You bad boy!     

(He goes over to hit Ta Gin but Ta Gin runs away.) 

Many questions are raised here, amongst which:

- How can we analyze BAD in (1) and (2)  in  syntax and semantics ?

- What are the Vietnamese equivalents of BAD in (1) and (2)?

are prominent.

 

BAD, apart from its usage in describing the negativity, the unfavorable side or the low in quality of nouns, has diverse shades of meaning in its syntactic functions as well as contexts of communication which foreign learners of English, especially Vietnamese ones, cannot understand completely. This is also affirmed by Murcia and Freeman [56, p.41] that “Words can often be really understood only in terms of their relationship to other words.”

Learners may make mistakes and, even more seriously, make errors in translation if they have not studied carefully the various meanings of BAD in contexts of communication.

As already been stated, adjectives are one of the kinds of words that are most commonly used to describe the person, the thing, etc to which a noun refers. Adjectives can be used to say what a person, a thing, etc. is like or seems like. A large number of adjectives can also contain information about quality. Among them, BAD – an adjective describing the unfavorable side, the negativeness or the low quality of nouns – is  indispensible and should be taken into account.

Learners may experience interference from their own language in relation to the following characteristics of the adjective BAD in English: