BSEE 23

GRAMMATICAL
CATEGORIES:
ADJECTIVES
Prepared by: Rafael G. Mendoza, LPT
TABLE OF CONTENTS

Definitions of Adjectives Classes of Adjectives

01 Discuss the ways on how an 02 Learn about the different types
adjective is defined. of adjectives.

Order of Adjectives Comparison of Adjectives

03 Find out how adjectives are 04 Talk about the three degrees of
sequenced or ordered. comparison of adjectives.
 01
Discuss the ways on how an
adjective is defined.
 WHAT IS AN ADJECTIVE?
❑An adjective is a grammatical category that
modifies or describes a noun or pronoun.
❑They can be used to describe the qualities
of someone or something independently or
in comparison to something else.
❑They can make the products of writing and
speaking more specific and interesting.
❑Adjectives are used to identify and quantify
individual people and unique things.
 WHAT IS AN ADJECTIVE?
❑Adjectives are usually positioned before the
noun or pronoun they modify. However, it is
possible for an adjective not to be placed
before the noun or pronoun it describes as
adjectives can also come after a linking verb
(predicate adjective; subject complement).
❑The cow is happy with its new environment.
❑Crist John is an intelligent, young professor.
❑Some sentences contain multiple adjectives.
WHAT IS AN ADJECTIVE?
SOME ADJECTIVES IN ENGLISH
DARK SMART WHICH
GLOOMY POOR THEIR
SMALL FILTHY UNEVEN
BEAUTIFUL PITIFUL STRAIGHT
CUTE FOUR MANY
THESE SEVENTH DELICIOUS
 TRY TO EXAMINE THESE!
❑The scariest vampire in the world is Barnabas.
❑Jolina watched the latest movie adaptation of
Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women.
❑Furry dogs may overheat in the summertime.
❑Margot wore a beautiful dress in the pageant.
❑She does not want to use that wedding gown
because of its intricate details.
❑He wants a cake with eighteen candles for his
birthday.
 02
Learn about the different
types of adjectives.
 COORDINATE ADJECTIVE
❑It refers to the use of two or more adjectives
that modify the same noun in a sentence.
❑Coordinate adjectives should be separated by
commas or the conjunction and.
❑Some adjectives that appear in a series are
not coordinate. Therefore, they should not
be separated by commas.
❑The guy who delivered my parcel was driving
a green delivery truck.
 TRY TO EXAMINE THESE!
❑My cat, Rollie, loves sleeping on this tattered
woolen sweater.
❑The plums in the market were cool and tasty.
❑No one in the family could open the old silver
locket.
❑Ms. Margaret Mitchell wrote a heartbreaking,
inspiring novel, entitled Gone with the Wind.
❑The sign had big, bold, and bright letters.
❑Rose Anna is living in a big, beautiful mansion.
DEMONSTRATIVE ADJECTIVE
❑Demonstrative adjectives are used to indicate
or demonstrate the position of specific people,
animals, things, etc.
❑It identifies a noun or pronoun by expressing
its position as near or far (including time).
❑The demonstrative adjectives in English are
this, these, that, and those.
❑A demonstrative adjective always comes first
in the noun phrase or before other adjectives.
 TRY TO EXAMINE THESE!
❑This adaptation of And Then There Were None
is my go-to and most favorite of all!
❑Please put all those cookies on the blue plate.
❑Would you like to borrow these jewelries?
❑These next couple of Saturdays should be fun.
❑He clearly remembers that day as it was just
yesterday.
❑Those sly and suspicious-looking sneaks have
shifty schemes.
 DESCRIPTIVE ADJECTIVE
❑Descriptive adjectives are also referred to as
attributive adjectives.
❑They are the adjectives that generally modify
a noun, giving them quality or attributes.
❑These are the adjectives that discuss specific
traits, qualities, or features of nouns.
❑He hurt her feelings when he called her lying
bitch.
❑The pitiful dog got trapped in the filthy cage.
TYPES OF DESCRIPTIVE ADJECTIVES
❑Observation Adjectives – they indicate value
or talk about subjective measures, such as real,
perfect, best, interesting, beautiful, and cheap.
❑Size and Shape Adjectives – talk about those
that are measurable and objective in qualities,
such as small, large, square, round, and large.
❑Age Adjectives – used to denote specific ages
in numbers, as well as general ages, such as
young, old, middle-aged, five-year-old, and new.
TYPES OF DESCRIPTIVE ADJECTIVES
❑Color Adjectives – they are the adjectives that
are used to indicate color, such as pink, blue,
yellow, red, and purple.
❑Origin Adjectives – they indicate the source of
noun, whether it is a person, place, animal, or
thing, such as American, Korean, Singaporean,
Canadian, Mexican, and French.
❑Material Adjectives – denote what something
is made of, such as gold, cotton, wooden, etc.
 TRY TO EXAMINE THESE!
❑Our hostel warden behaves like a cruel man.
❑Samantha was one of the most hard-working
employees who worked with us.
❑Imagine buying a triangular wedge of cheddar
and placing it on the table with the wide side
facing down.
❑Philippine English is different from traditional
English.
❑Maria received two gold coins from her friend.
 INDEFINITE ADJECTIVE
❑It is an adjective that is used to describe nouns
in non-specific sense.
❑They are like the indefinite articles, a and an,
which are considered to be a type of adjectives
as well.
❑These are also classified as quantifiers, a type
of determiner, in contemporary grammar.
❑The common indefinite adjectives are any, few,
each, many, much, most, several, and some.
 TRY TO EXAMINE THESE!
❑Sean doesn’t like to hear any complaints from
you.
❑There are several reasons for my resignation.
❑Everyone is born with genius, but most people
only keep it a few minutes.
❑She bought some batteries, but they were not
included.
❑There are several in the safe room. There are
several people in the safe room.
INTERROGATIVE ADJECTIVE
❑It refers to the adjectives that are used to pose
a question.
❑They always come with a noun or pronoun by
their side that they need to modify.
❑The interrogative adjectives in English are the
following: what, which, and whose.
❑Which dress do you want to wear tonight?
❑What brand do you prefer to buy for a laptop?
❑Whose mother is here to see the principal?
 POSSESSIVE ADJECTIVE
❑Refers to the adjectives that show ownership.
❑These adjectives sit before a noun or pronoun
to show who or what owns it.
❑The possessive adjectives in English are my,
your, his, her, its, our, their, and whose.
❑The dog saw its owner and wagged its tail.
❑They live in a port city whose economy relies
heavily on fishing.
❑“Do not touch our Ferrari,” said by Mr. Lewis.
 PREDICATE ADJECTIVE
❑A predicate adjective is an adjective that goes
with or follows a linking verb and describes
the subject.
❑It contrasts with a descriptive adjective, which
typically sits immediately before the noun it
modifies.
❑These linking verbs include am, is, are, was,
were, etc.
❑She is intelligent. We are so poor. He seems
nice and generous.
QUANTITATIVE ADJECTIVE
❑Quantitative adjectives are the adjectives that
describe the quantity of something.
❑They are sometimes referred to as numeral
adjectives.
❑They answer the questions, how much or
how many.
❑Note that numbers zero (0) through nine (9)
must be written in words while for anything
ten (10) and above, numerals must be used.
 TRY TO EXAMINE THESE!
❑Athena and Jones hope to have three children
in the future.
❑“I will take the whole pizza,” said Merian Sophie
when they ordered in a resto bar.
❑He ate 23 hotdogs during the contest and was
sick afterwards.
❑My grandmother has nine children and a total
of 25 grandchildren.
❑The stagecoach was pulled by a team of six.
 SEQUENCE ADJECTIVE
❑Sequence adjectives are those adjectives, which
illustrate the order of things.
❑They are also referred to as ordinal adjectives.
❑Note that there are some sequence adjectives
that describe the order of things without using
numbers.
❑This is my second take for the licensure exam.
❑Roxanne celebrated her eighteenth birthday.
❑He watched the latest movie sequel of Panther.
 ARTICLES AS ADJECTIVES
❑A, an, and the, which are the only articles in
English, are considered adjectives as they help
modify or describe the nouns in sentences.
❑Articles are a way of letting the listener or the
speaker know that a noun is either specific or
unspecific.
❑There are two types of articles in English, these
are: definite article and indefinite article.
❑A and an are indefinite and the is definite.
 ARTICLES AS ADJECTIVES
❑The is used to demonstrate that the speaker
is referring to something that is specific and
not talking in a general sense.
❑Can I see the blue dress? I do not like the red
one.
❑I need the long wire; it is the only wire, which
will reach the plug socket.
❑Let’s go on an adventure. The Grand Canyon
mule ride sounds perfect!
 ARTICLES AS ADJECTIVES
❑A and an are used when we are not referring
to a specific item or person but rather talking a
more general sense.
❑ If the noun begins with a vowel, we use an.
❑If the noun begins with a consonant, we use a.
❑I am going to watch a movie; however, I am not
sure which one.
❑I have an invention I am currently working on.
❑There is an animal lost in the Queen’s garden.
 03
Find out how adjectives are
sequenced or ordered.
PLACE TYPE OF ADJECTIVE EXAMPLES
a, an, the
Article
this, these, that,
1 Demonstrative
those
Possessive
my, your, his, our
one, four, ninety-
2 Quantity
nine, etc.
Opinion or beautiful, clever,
3
Observation witty, poor, etc.
Big, large, small,
4 Size
medium-sized
PLACE TYPE OF ADJECTIVE EXAMPLES
thin, thick, lumpy,
cluttered, round,
5 Physical Quality
rough, messy,
symmetrical, etc.
square, round,
6 Shape
long, circular, etc.
young, middle-
7 Age
aged, old, modern
red, blue, purple,
8 Color
yellow, green
PLACE TYPE OF ADJECTIVE EXAMPLES
French, Buddhist,
American, British,
9 Origin or Religion
Catholic, Italian,
Canadian, etc.
plastic, wooden,
10 Material
golden, metal, etc.
W-shaped, two
11 Type
sided, all-purpose
Purpose mixing, drinking
12
Attributive Noun service, volleyball
 CUMULATIVE ADJECTIVE
❑It refers to two or more adjectives that build
on one another and together modify a noun.
❑They cumulate or are combined together as
they get nearer to the noun to create a more
specific meaning.
❑They are also referred to as unit modifiers
and must appear in a specific order.
❑They also work together as a unit and are
not independent descriptions of the noun.
 TRY TO EXAMINE THESE!
❑Which is correct, a handmade mixing bowl or
a mixing handmade bowl?
❑Which is correct, those unsold and goalkeeper
gloves or those unsold goalkeeper gloves?
❑Which is correct, my first yellow taxi cab or my
first, yellow, taxi cab?
BOWL NICE BLUE BIG SCREEN YELLOW
CAT SMALL WHITE SILK BLUE TIE
SMART VERY TWO KIDS CUTE BOY YOUNG
 04
Talk about the three degrees
of comparison of adjectives.
COMPARISON OF ADJECTIVES
❑The comparison of adjectives or the degrees
of comparison are those that we use to talk
about or describe the degree of modification.
❑In grammar, the degrees of comparison are
used to relate to adjectives and adverbs.
❑The degrees of comparison are the following:
❑Positive Degree – offers no comparison.
❑Comparative Degree – compares two things.
❑Superlative Degree – compares three and up.
 POSITIVE DEGREE
❑It offers no comparison. It just talks about the
existence of a quality.
❑It is used to describe only one item, group, or
person.
❑The woman wearing a white cap is beautiful.
❑The boy in the backyard is tall.
❑I may be drunk, Miss, but in the morning, I will
be sober, and you will still be ugly.
❑Lay is extremely hungry. He could eat a horse.
 COMPARATIVE DEGREE
❑It compares two things (and only two) things
to show which has lesser or greater quality.
❑Oftentimes, a comparative degree of adjective
is followed by than.
❑As a rule, if using a short adjective, add –er and
if using long adjectives, use more.
❑Lay is hungrier than Mark.
❑At 18, people are thrust into the real world and
shown its uglier side, but not before.
 SUPERLATIVE DEGREE
❑This compares more than two things to show
which has the least or greatest degree of the
quality.
❑This describes three or more items, groups, or
people.
❑This is formed by adding –est to an adjective
or by using most.
❑Shane was the ugliest woman I had ever seen.
❑The last boy in the row is the tallest.
FORMING OF COMPARATIVE
AND SUPERLATIVE DEGREES
❑Rule Number 1 – most one-syllable adjectives
and some two-syllable adjectives form the
comparative degree by using –er to the positive
degree, and the superlative degree by adding
–est to the positive degree.
POOR POORER POOREST
CLEVER CLEVERER CLEVEREST
FORMING OF COMPARATIVE
AND SUPERLATIVE DEGREES
❑Rule Number 2 – if the positive form is a one-
syllable word that ends in a single consonant
followed by a single vowel, the consonant is
doubled before –er and –est is added.
SAD SADDER SADDEST
GLAD GLADDER GLADDEST
DIM DIMMER DIMMEST
FORMING OF COMPARATIVE
AND SUPERLATIVE DEGREES
❑Rule Number 3 – if the positive form ends in a
–y followed by a consonant, the –y is changed
to an –i before –er or –est is added.
HAPPY HAPPIER HAPPIEST
BUSY BUSIER BUSIEST
HEAVY HEAVIER HEAVIEST
EASY EASIER EASIEST
FORMING OF COMPARATIVE
AND SUPERLATIVE DEGREES
❑Rule Number 4 – By adding more and most
before the positive degree, most adjectives with
two or more syllables can be converted to
comparative and superlative degrees.
ACTIVE MORE ACTIVE MOST ACTIVE
HONEST MORE HONEST MOST HONEST
USEFUL MORE USEFUL MOST USEFUL
POSITIVE COMPARATIVE SUPERLATIVE
GOOD BETTER BEST
BAD WORSE WORST
MANY MORE MOST
LARGE LARGER LARGEST
SIMPLE SIMPLER SIMPLEST
SURE SURER SUREST
HONEST MORE HONEST MOST HONEST
POSITIVE COMPARATIVE SUPERLATIVE
CLEAN CLEANER CLEANEST
BRAVE BRAVER BRAVEST
GREAT GREATER GREATEST
STRONG STRONGER STRONGEST
CHEAP CHEAPER CHEAPEST
OLD OLDER OLDEST
LONG LONGER LONGEST
POSITIVE COMPARATIVE SUPERLATIVE
WARM WARMER WARMEST
HIGH HIGHER HIGHEST
FAMOUS MORE FAMOUS MOST FAMOUS
WEAK WEAKER WEAKEST
TALL TALLER TALLEST
YOUNG YOUNGER YOUNGEST
LIGHT LIGHTER LIGHTEST
THANK YOU!
Always stay safe and healthy,
beautiful people!