Adjectives

ADJECTIVES
An adjective is a describing word. It qualifies or
describes a noun. It adds to the meaning of a noun.
It is a noun-helper.
⚫ Eg: Rama is a big boy.
Lazy students fail.
Govinda is poor but honest.
England is a rich country.
Lead is a heavy metal.
The rose is a beautiful flower.
Ahmed is a poor man.
Mary has a little lamb.
Bombay has a fine harbour.
Kinds of adjectives
⚫ Adjectives of quality
⚫ Adjectives of quantity
⚫ Adjectives of number
⚫ Demonstrative adjectives
⚫ Distributive adjective
⚫ Possessive adjective
⚫ Interrogative adjective
Adjectives of Quality
⚫ It shows the kind or quality of an object or person.
Adjectives of quality answer the question “of what
kind”? Eg: thick forest, old building, wise man, new
clothes, young boy.
⚫ I know a funny little man.
⚫ Foch was a great soldier.
⚫ Bombay is a big city.
⚫ I like the little pedlar who has a crooked nose.
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Adjective of quantity
⚫ Adjectives of quantity refers
to the quantity. Yet it is an
indefinite numeral. It answers
the question “how many” or
‘how much’? Eg: some books,
many people, all fools’ day, a
few words, a little amount,
more problems.
⚫ Eg: Four boys ran down
the street.
⚫ There are twenty girls in
the class.
⚫ Shakespeare wrote many
plays.
⚫ I want some money.
⚫ He has much money.
⚫ There is little hope in
victory.

5 ELYSE NDAYISENGA . B.Ed. Dipl,BA

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THE USE OF ‘’SOME’’ AND ‘’ANY’’

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We can use some, any or 'no article' (Ø) before plural or
uncountable nouns. They all mean something similar to a/an
before a singular noun. For example:

 Can I have a banana? [One banana, but any one is okay.]

 Can I have some bananas? [More than one banana, but
any small group is okay.]
NOTE:
 We use 'any' in the same way as 'some': when we are
thinking about a certain amount or number of something.

 'some' and 'any' can only be used with plural countable

nouns or uncountable nouns, but not usually with singular
countable nouns.

The difference between 'some' and 'any':

 We usually use 'some' with affirmative (positive) sentences
and 'any' with negatives and questions:

 She bought some tomatoes [positive sentence].

 She didn't buy any tomatoes [negative sentence].
 Did she buy any tomatoes [question]?
6 ELYSE NDAYISENGA . B.Ed. Dipl,BA
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EXCEPTION:

1. 'Any' can be used in a positive sentence to mean 'it's not

important which one'. When we use 'any' in this way, it's most
often used with singular countable nouns:

 You can take any bus.

 Pass me any glass.
 Come over any Sunday

7 ELYSE NDAYISENGA . B.Ed. Dipl,BA

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'Any' can also be used in positive sentences that have a

negative feeling, for example if they include 'never', 'hardly',
'without':

 She never eats any fruit.

 We hardly watch any television.
 Julia left the house without any money.

'Some' can be used in questions when we expect that the

answer will be 'yes'. This is very common in offers and
requests:

 Would you like some coffee?

 Do you want some sandwiches?
 Could you give me some help?
 Could you pass me some sugar?

Compare the following two sentences:

 Do you have any letters for me? [This is a real question.

 I don't know if you have any letters or not.]
 Do you have some letters for me? [I think you do, so I'm
expecting that you will say 'yes'.]

8 ELYSE NDAYISENGA . B.Ed. Dipl,BA

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Demonstrative Adjectives

It is an adjective that points to an object or objects, a

person or persons. Eg: this girl, that pencil, these boys.
those balls.
Come and look at this snake.
look at that tree.
I like these bananas.
I want those mangoes, not the others.
Oh! Do look at that funny kitten
Note: the word ‘this’, ‘that’, ‘those’, ‘these’ can function
as demonstrative pronouns as well as demonstrative
adjectives
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Distributive adjectives
⚫ It is an adjective that refers to a person or
thing, one at a time. Eg: each, every, either,
neither ,

⚫ Each one teach one.

⚫ Every girl is a pearl.
⚫ Walk along either side.
⚫ Give support to neither party.
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Possessive adjective
⚫ It is an adjective that denotes possession. It is nothing but
the possessive form of the pronoun. Eg. My pen, our
school, your sister, his bag, their house, its tail.
Pronoun Possessive Possessive
adjectives pronooun
I my mine
we our ours
You your yours
he his his
she her hers
it its its
they there theirs
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Interrogative adjective
⚫ It is an adjective used to frame questions. They are
, of course, the question words(‘what’, ‘which’,
and ‘whose’) preceding a noun in a question.
⚫ Eg.: What colour do you like?
⚫ Which book is hers?
⚫ Which way shall we go?
⚫ Note: the interrogative words ‘what’,
‘which’, and ‘ ‘whose’ function as
interrogative adjective as well as
interrogative pronoun.
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Degrees of adjectives
⚫ Every adjectives has three different degree.
They expressed in three different forms:

⚫ Positive
⚫ Comparative
⚫ Superlative
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Positive Comparative Superlative

bold bolder boldest
Short shorter shortest
Tall taller tallest
sweet sweeter sweetest
thick thicker thickest
Young younger youngest
big bigger biggest
hot hotter hottest
Thin thinner thinnest
angry angrier angriest
sad sadder saddest
happy happier happiest
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heavy heavier heaviest

Holy holier holiest

pretty prettier prettiest
active More active Most active
faithful More faithful Most faithful
important More important Most faithful
interesting More interesting Most interesting
useful More useful Most useful
Foolish More foolish Most foolish
Bad worse worst
ill worse worst
good better best
little less least
much more most
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