The second largest economy

I would say that it is an adverb.

Thanks, YL.

Yes, I agree it could be an adverb.
The thing is, I think, determing whether it is an adverb/adjective cou

Hi,

If I were writing carefully, which I usually do, I'd use a hyphen, ie second-largest.

If you do that, it becomes apparent that the whole term is an adjective.

I suppose you might call it a compound adjective.

Best wishes, Clive

LiveinjapanWhat part of speech is 'second'?
My terminology is:
'second' is an adjective or a pre-determiner and largest is also a determiner.

LiveinjapanThe thing is, I think, determing whether it is an adverb/adjective could lead to something counterproductive for learners.

I've never understood how adding more terms makes it

I tend to go with Clive's approach to avoid uncessary grammatical clashes.

I also agree with Avangi who said: "By definition, adjectives modify nouns, and adverbs modify adjectives". However, there are times rules don't conform to practicality. i.e.

He got a good old fashiion spanking for stealing his father's money. --what is "good" here?

To me, "good" can n

I'm fine with hyphens. I'm fine with compound nouns and adjectives. I'm fine with multiple adjectives modifying the same noun. I'm fine with adverbs modifying other adverbs, per definition.

In attempting to answer LiJ's question about counterproductivity, I'm not sure that in analyzing a noun with multiple modifiers/determiners, the learner is served by having four choices instead of

Thank you guys!

I really appreciate all of your instructive comments.
As YL said, some dictionaries define it's an adverb but it depends on each dictionary, I suppose. And as Goodman said there must be a clash.
The sentense itself is easy to understand and I think many would actually/imaginarily hyphenate '
second-largest', which makes me understand it in the way that it is a

Hi Liveinjapan,

We all understand the basic rules in grammar. Adverb can modify adjective, or another adverb. However, adjective preceeding anothjer adjective can not be an adverb modifying the adjective following, for there is no such rule, nor there is such understanding. There are many instances like these. cold hard cash, scalding hot soup, freezing cold rain etc... Therefore, I perso

I was driving my old green car.I hope "my" isn't a pre-determiner.

Edit. What about "He came in second."

Oh, am I stuck in this necessary/unnecessary grammatical terminology?

AvangiI was driving my old green car.   I hope "my" isn't a pre-determiner.