ADJECTIVES

What is an adjective?
The simplest definition of an adjective is …

An adjective is a word
used to describe a noun
IT GIVES THE READER EXTRA INFORMATION ABOUT IT
Activity 1. Match adjectives with nouns
 What is an adjective?

When you write the noun "dog"

you give the reader basic information.
When you add an adjective,
you give the reader information that they can use
to create a more detailed picture of the dog.
In this way, adjectives transform the general idea of a dog
into the more specific idea of a "muddy old sheep dog".

Adjectives transform the man into the ”elderly man”

or the ”fragile elderly man” 

And the cake into the ”ornate wedding cake”

Find the adjectives
Add adjectives
 Activity 2. Can you recognize an adjective when you see one?
Underline the adjectives in the following sentences.

1. He is an honest man.

2. The wretched girl sat in the back row.

1. The racing boat zoomed over the calm surface of the lake.

2. Our adventurous tour guide led us up he rocky, mountainous path.

3. The tall, creamy, delicious milkshake melted on the counter while the

inattentive waiter flirted with the pretty cashier.

4. Jeanne's two fat Siamese cats hog the electric blanket on cold winter
evenings.
 How many adjectives before a noun?

Sometimes we use more than one adjective in front of a noun.

• We often have 2 adjectives in front of a noun:

It’s a nice
comfortable car.

• We sometimes have 3 adjectives in front of a noun, but this is unusual.

It’s a nice
comfortable
convertible car

• It is very unusual to have more than 3 adjectives.

 Order of Adjectives
Adjectives cannot be written in any order. There are rules.
When you list several adjectives in a row, you have to put them in the right order,

Some adjectives give a general opinion. Some adjectives give a specific opinion.
BIG COMFORTABLE

 Place

general opinion adjectives
Use a comma
before when writing similar adjectives.
specific opinion adjectives “It was a dark, gloomy night”.

However,
A big comfortable car
 if the adjectives
have different meanings,
skip the comma.
“It was a dark sad night”
 Types of adjectives
NUMBER A number adjective gives information about how many of the noun.
Five, several
OPINION An opinion adjective explains what you think about something (other people may not
agree with you). Silly, beautiful, horrible, difficult, interesting, stupid

SIZE A size adjective, of course, tells you how big or small something is.
Large, tiny, enormous, little, big, thin
AGE An age adjective tells you how young or old something or someone is.
Ancient, new, young, old, modern

SHAPE A shape adjective describes the shape of something.

Square, round, flat, rectangular

COLOUR A colour adjective, of course, describes the colour of something.

Blue, pink, reddish, grey

ORIGIN An origin adjective describes where something comes from.

French, lunar, American, eastern, Greek, beach

MATERIAL A material adjective describes what something is made from.

Wooden, metal, cotton, paper, plastic

PURPOSE A purpose adjective describes what something is used for. These adjectives often
end with “-ing”. Sleeping (as in “sleeping bag”), roasting (as in “roasting tin”)
 Types of adjective

ACTIVITY 3. Classify the adjectives according to their type.

BEAUTIFUL - BIG - BROWN - INDIAN - NEW - SQUARE - WOODEN

opinion size age shape colour origin material

It’s a box.

ACTIVITY 4. What type of adjectives are these? Can you make a sentence?

opinion size age shape colour origin material purpose

It’s a table.
 Adjectives describing the noun CAR

It's a convertible car

It's an expensive car  
 
It’s a big car
It's    
a beautiful car.

It’s a German car

It's a new car 
It's a black car   

It’s a sports car It’s an elegant car

It’s a comfortable car
Can you describe the car using sentences with more than one adjective?

 
   
Continue with these exercises

Adjective Order 1. Choose the correct answer for each sentence.

(University of Victoria’s English Language Centre)

The order of adjectives. Are these adjectives in the natural order?.

(Better English Lessons)

Quiz. Order of adjectives. (UsingEnglish.com)