Adjectives

Summary: 
Used to describe people or things
Example: 
Veronica is taking a yellow taxi.
Explanation: 
Yellow is an adjective, and it describes the color of the taxi.

Beginner

Use
Adjectives are used to describe nouns. They give more information about the noun.

Form
Adjectives usually come directly before the noun.
 Veronica is taking a yellow taxi.
An adjective can also be at the end of a sentence if it describes the subject.
 My wife is beautiful.

More Examples
 Maria is a beautiful woman.
 The pizza is hot!
 He works in a big office.
Possessive Determiners
Summary: 
Used to show who possesses someone or something
Example: 
This is your car.
Explanation: 
The possessive determiner your indicates that the car belongs to you.

High Beginner
Use
We use possessive determiners to show ownership of someone or something.

Form
Possessive determiners go before the noun that is possessed. The form changes depending on who
possesses the noun but does not change based on the number or gender of the noun.
 I have a dog. → It is my dog.
 You have a dog. → It is your dog.
 He has a dog. → It is his dog.
 She has a dog. → It is her dog.
 It (the dog) has brown eyes. → Its eyes are brown.
 We have a dog. → It is our dog.
 They (Paul and Julie) have a dog. → It is their dog.

More Examples
 My hands are cold.
 I want her gloves!
 Their tickets were cheap.
 Our tickets were very expensive.
Comparative & Superlative Adjectives
Summary: 
Used to describe the difference between people or things
Example: 
The iPad mini is bigger than the iPhone. The laptop is the biggest.
Explanation: 
The comparative adjective bigger describes the difference in size between the iPad mini and the iPhone. The superlative
adjective biggest indicates that the size of the laptop is greater than the iPad mini and the iPhone.

High Beginner

Use
We use comparatives adjectives to compare two nouns. We use superlative adjectives to compare
three or more nouns, and indicate that one is the highest degree.

Form
To form the comparative or superlative with one- and two-syllable adjectives, we add -er or -ier to the
end for comparative adjectives, and -est or -iest to the end for superlatives.
 tall → taller → tallest
 happy → happier → happiest
For adjectives with more than two syllable, we do not change the adjective but add ‘more’ or ‘less’
before the adjective for the comparative, and ‘most’ or ‘least’ for the superlative.
 beautiful → more beautiful → most beautiful
 comfortable → less comfortable → least comfortable
There are some adjectives with irregular comparative and superlative forms:
 good → better → best
 bad → worse → worst
 far → farther → farthest
Comparative adjectives are followed by ‘than’ unless they are at the end of a sentence.
 My sister is younger than I am.
 This bag is more expensive.
Superlative adjectives are always preceded by ‘the’.
 Out of the three sisters, the youngest one is the most beautiful.
 The laptop is the biggest.

More Examples
 In New York, August is usually hotter than May.
 The dinner menu is expensive, but the lunch menu is less expensive.
 I had the worst day.
Ordinal Numbers
Summary: 
Used to describe the order of something
Example: 
Jessica got second place in the race.
Explanation: 
We use the ordinal number second to describe Jessica’s position in the race. She did not win the race, but was number
two.

High Beginner

Use
We use ordinal numbers to indicate the numeric position of something. Instead of saying, “He is in
number three position”, we say “He is third.”

Form
Ordinal numbers are singular and are usually used with a definite article ('the').
 This is the third time I’ve seen the movie.
They can be written as a word or shortened to a number with the ending.
 third → 3rd
There are different rules for how to change an ordinal number from a regular number. In general, you
just add -th to the original number.
 I have called you four times → This is the fourth time I have called you.
But from 1-12, there are several exceptions:
For numbers 13-19 and 100, just add -th.
 13/thirteen → Maria was born on Friday the 13th. (thirteenth)
 100/hundred → You are our hundredth customer!
For numbers 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90, change the last -y to -ieth.
 90/ninety → You are our ninetieth customer!
For compound ordinal numbers like 246, only the last number is expressed as an ordinal number.
 246/two hundred forty-six → I was the 246th person to cross the finish line. (two hundred
forty-sixth)

More Examples
 Next week is my thirtieth birthday!
 Turn left on sixteenth street.
 Did you celebrate the Fourth of July?
Comparative Constructions
Summary: 
The '...as [adjective] as...' construction is used to describe two things that are similar.
Example: 
The boy is as big as his twin sister.
Explanation: 
The construction as big as shows that the boy and his sister are the same size.

Low Intermediate
Use
The ‘...as [adjective] as...’ construction is used to describe two things that are equal. ‘Like’ and ‘alike’
can also be used to explain that two things are similar.

Form

Affirmative
 My brother is as tall as my father.
 Laura is as smart as Maria.
 This pizza is just as delicious as the pizza I’ve had in Italy!
Negative
 Kyoto isn’t as big as Tokyo.
 Her dog isn’t as cute as my cat.
 The iPhone camera isn’t as good as it used to be.
Examples of 'Like' and 'Alike'
 Her house is so nice. It is like a castle.
 Julia and her twin sister look alike!
Quantifiers
Summary: 
Used to indicate how many or how much there is of something
Example: 
I ate a lot of pizza.
Explanation: 
A lot of tells us that ‘I ate a large quantity of pizza’.

Low Intermediate
Use
We use quantifiers to describe the quantity of a noun.

Form
The quantifier you use depends on the amount you are describing, and what you are
describing.Some quantifiers can only be used with countable nouns, like many and few. Others can
only be used with uncountable nouns, like much and little.

Some quantifiers that indicate a large quantity: a lot of, lots of, much, many

 I have a lot of friends.
Some quantifiers that indicate a quantity between none and a large quantity: some, several, a
number of
 I have some cookies. Do you want one?
Some quantifiers that indicate a small quantity: few, little, a little of, not a lot of, not much, not
many
 There are very few trees in the park.
 There is not much tea left.
Any is used with negative sentences to indicate that there is zero amount.
 “Is there any soup left?”
 “No, there isn’t any left.”
Enough is used to describe when no more is needed.
 I have enough food, thank you.

More Examples
 I have a lot of cheese and wine leftover from the party.
 She needs to buy some new clothes.
 I don’t have any lemonade.
 Do we have any water?
 We have enough food for everyone at the barbecue.
Adjective Clauses
Summary: 
Adjective clauses modify nouns
Example: 
People who understand physics are smart.
Explanation: 
'Who understand physics' describes the people mentioned in the sentence.

Intermediate
Use
Any clause that functions as an adjective becomes an adjective clause, also known as a relative
clause. Adjective clauses modify nouns, begin with a relative pronoun (who, whom, that, or which) or
a relative adverb (when, where, why), and contain a subject and a verb.

Examples and Explanations

Adjective clauses modify nouns and function as adjectives do in a sentence. For example,
 The lady has a hat. (Hat is a noun)
 It’s an old hat. (Old is an adjective which modifies hat)
 The hat that she is wearing is hers. ('That she is wearing' is an adjective clause which
modifies the noun, ‘hat’.)

Note that adjectives usually come before the nouns they modify, but adjective clauses always follow
the nouns they modify.

The subordinators in adjective clauses are called relative pronouns. These are the most important
relative pronouns: who, whom, that, which. These relative pronouns can be omitted when they are
objects of verbs. When they are objects of prepositions, they can be omitted when they do not follow
the preposition.

Punctuating adjective clauses can be tricky. For each sentence, you will have to decide if the
adjective clause is essential or nonessential and then use commas accordingly.
Use
When we want to describe more than one characteristic of a noun, we can use
multiple adjectives sequentially. However, it is important to remember that there is a correct order for
these multiple adjectives.

Form
When there are multiple adjectives before a noun, they follow a general order:

With multiple adjectives before a noun, they are not separated by a comma.
 That looks like a nice tasty sandwich.
 Thank you for my lovely new Japanese ink pen.

More Examples
 Did you see my beautiful new red wallet?
 You have a nice cozy old home.
 Wow, these are delicious big chocolate cookies.