ADJECTIVE

What is an Adjective?
Adjective (noun): a part-of-speech that modifies or describes a noun or a
pronoun
An adjective is a describing word. It tells you more about a noun. An
adjective usually appears before the noun it describe. Sometimes, though,
the adjective appears after the noun, later in the sentence.
An adjective is a word that modifies a noun or a pronoun. In general, the
purpose of an adjective is to describe a noun or pronoun and provide more
information about it. Adjectives provide answers to questions such as “What
kind?” “Which one?” and “Whose is it?”
There are two ways that adjectives are
used in sentences and clauses:
1. The adjective is right next to the noun/pronoun that it modifies. Most of the
time, adjectives come before the nouns/pronouns they modify, but they can
sometimes come after them:
 The blue birds built a nest. (The adjective blue modifies the noun birds.)
 I was looking for someone else. (The adjective else modifies the pronoun
someone.)
2. The adjective follows a linking verb and functions as a subject complement.
 The house is old. (The adjective old follows the linking verb is. Old modifies the noun
house as the subject complement of the sentence.)

In either case, it is possible to use multiple adjectives to modify the same noun or pronoun:
 It was a dark and stormy night.
 My big, goofy dog is named Buddy.
 The mirror was crooked, cracked, and dirty.
 When multiple adjectives are used before a noun/pronoun, they typically follow a
specific adjective order.
 Common types of adjectives
We are going to briefly examine 13 different types of adjectives as follow:
 Comparative adjectives
 Superlative adjectives
 Predicate adjectives
 Compound adjectives
 Possessive adjectives
 Demonstrative adjectives
 Proper adjectives
 Participial adjectives
 Limiting adjectives
 Descriptive adjectives
 Interrogative adjectives
 Attributive adjectives
 Distributive adjectives
1.Comparative adjectives
 Comparative adjectives are used to
compare two different people or
things to each other. Some
examples of comparative adjectives
include words such as smaller,
faster, more expensive, and less
reasonable.
 Comparative adjective examples:
 Whales are larger animals than
dolphins.
 We moved to a cheaper apartment.
2. Superlative adjectives
Superlative adjectives are used to
compare more than two people or things
by indicating which one is the most
supreme or extreme. Some examples of
superlative adjectives include words such
as smartest, loudest, most impressive,
and least valuable.
Superlative adjective examples:
Adrian is the fastest member of our
team.
Out of all of my books, this one is the
oldest.
3. Predicate adjectives
 Predicate adjectives are adjectives
that appear in the predicate of a
sentence as a subject complement
rather than directly next to the
nouns or pronouns that they
modify. Predicate adjectives follow
linking verbs in sentences and
clauses.
 Predicate adjective examples:
 Andrea is tall.
 Freddy became angry.
4. Compound adjectives
Compound adjectives are adjectives
that are formed from multiple words,
which are usually connected by
hyphens. Some examples of compound
adjectives include never-ending, cross-
eyed, and run-of-the-mill.
Compound adjective examples:
She had enough of the double-dealing
salesman.
My happy-go-lucky daughter loved our
trip to Disneyland.
5. Possessive adjectives
Possessive adjectives are often used
to express possession or ownership.
The most commonly used possessive
adjectives are my, your, its, her, his,
our, their, and whose.
Possessive adjective examples:
My favorite food is pizza.
Sydney spent the day with her
parents.
6. Demonstrative adjectives
Demonstrative adjectives are used to
express relative positions in space and
time. The most commonly used
demonstrative adjectives are this,
that, these, and those.
Demonstrative adjective examples:
This watch is cheaper than that one.
This weekend is going to be really fun.
7. Proper adjectives
Proper adjectives are adjectives
formed from proper nouns. In general,
proper adjectives are commonly used
to say that something is related to a
specific person or place. Proper
adjectives include words such as
African, Napoleonic, and
Shakespearian.
Proper adjective examples:
He was reading a Russian newspaper.
I think Haitian food is tasty.
8. Participial adjectives
Participial adjectives are adjectives
that are based on participles, which
are words that usually end in -ed or
-ing and derive from verbs. Participial
adjectives include words like amazing,
impressed, and fascinating.
Participial adjective examples:
Travis was late for his swimming
lessons.
Please hand me my reading glasses.
9. Limiting adjectives
Limiting adjectives are adjectives that
restrict a noun or pronoun rather than
describe any of its characteristics or
qualities. Limiting adjectives overlap
with other types of adjectives such as
demonstrative adjectives and possessive
adjectives. Limiting adjectives include
words such as these, your, and some.
Limiting adjective examples:
I bought some eggs at the store.
She found three pennies under the couch
cushions.
10. Descriptive adjectives
Descriptive adjectives are adjectives
that describe the characteristics,
traits, or qualities of a noun or
pronoun. Most adjectives are
descriptive adjectives. Words such as
purple, friendly, and attractive are
examples of descriptive adjectives.
Descriptive adjective examples:
A lot of interesting people visit this
park.
She told a scary story.
11. Interrogative adjectives
Interrogative adjectives are adjectives
that are used to ask questions. The
interrogative adjectives are what,
which, and whose.
Interrogative adjective examples:
What color is your favorite?
Which button turns off the lights?
12. Attributive adjectives
Attributive adjectives are adjectives
that are directly next to the noun and
pronoun that they modify. Usually,
attributive adjectives come directly
before nouns and pronouns but they
modify. But they can sometimes
appear after them.
Attributive adjective examples:
Shane has beautiful handwriting.
The hungry gorilla ate the fresh
mangoes.
13. Distributive adjectives
Distributive adjectives are used to refer to members of a group individually.
Examples of distributive adjectives include each, every, either, and neither.
Distributive adjective examples:
Each puppy got their own little doghouse.
Every member of the team scored a goal.
Adjective Endings
Adjectives have different endings
Some adjective end in –ful or –less

An adjective that ends in –less is the opposite of the same adjective ends In –ful
Example:
Careful-careless
Colorful-colorless
Useful-useless
Harmful-harmless
The –ful ending means having a lot of something
For Example:
Painful: Having a lot of pain
Haopeful: Having a lot of hope

The –less ending means without

Example:
Leafless: without leaves
Sleeveless: without sleeves
Some adjective end in –y
A dirty street
A noisy room
An oily pot
A sunny day

Some adjective end in –ive

An active child
An attractive hat
A creativity day
An expensive car
Some adjective ends in –ing
A caring nurse
An interesting book
Loving parents
A smiling face

Some adjective ends in –ly

A costly ring
Lively kittens
A lonely boy
A weekly magazine
Here are some adjective with the endings –able, -al, -en, -ible, -ish, and
–ous
A broken chair
Childish behavior
A dangerous place
A foolish act
A horrible smell
A loveable koala
A national costume
A musical instrument
A woolen sweater
Further kinds of Adjective discussion:
There are different kinds of adjective
Some adjective describe the qualities of nouns

 A cold drink
 A beautiful flower
 A hot bun
 A clever monkey
 An old house
 A rich family
 A sad story
Some adjective tell you which place or country a person or thing comes from,
or belongs to. They are called adjectives of origin
Example:
 Chines Kungfu
 a Mexican hat
 An Italian car
 Thai boxing
 A Balinese dancer

Some adjective tell you the color of things

Example:
 The sea is blue
 Roses are red
 Flamingos are pink
Some adjectives tell you the size of the noun they describe
Example:
 A huge balloons
 A fat sumo
 A thin boy
 A big hat
 A high mountain
 a large ship
 A wide street
 Small animal

The word tall describes people and narrow, upright objects. For example, you can say:
A tall girl a tall bookcase

The word high describes bigger or wider objects that reach a great height. For example, you can say:
A high mountain a high wall
Numbers are adjective, too. They tell you how many people, animals, or things
there are. Sometimes they are called adjectives of quantity

Example:
 Two princes
 One giant
 Six fairies
 Fifteen frogs
 Thirteen mice

Other adjectives tell you something about quantity without giving you the exact
number
Example:
 A lot of books
 A few cups
 A little salt
Comparison Adjective
When you compare two people or things, use the comparative form of the adjective.
Lots of comparative adjectives end in –er
Small-smaller
Bright-brighter
Cheap-cheaper
Loud-louder
New-newer
Rich-richer
Slow-slower

The word than is often used with comparative adjectives. For example, you might say:
Jack is taller than John
A sport car is faster than a motorbike

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Use the superlative form of an adjective to compare three or more nouns. Lots of
superlative end in –est

Clean Cleaner Cleanest

Easy Easier Easiest
Fat Fatter Fattest
Thin Thinner Thinnest
Hot Hotter Hottest
Flat Flatter Flattest
Heavy Heavier Heaviest
Noisy Noisier Noisiest

You often add “the” before the superlative form. For example, you can say:
Mount Everest is the highest mountain in the world
Peter is the tallest boy in his class
With some adjectives, you use more to make the comparative form, and most to
make the superlative form.
Example:
Active more active most active
Charming more charming most charming
Cheerful more cheerful most cheerful
Delicious more delicious most delicious

The comparative and superlative forms of some adjectives are completely

different words.
Good Better Best
Little Less Least
Bad worse Worst
Few less least
Many more Most
Much more most
 Adjectives denoting attributes usually
occur in a specific order. Generally, the
adjective order in English is:
Quantity or number
Order of adjectives 1.

Quality or opinion
How to order adjectives 2.

in English 3. Size
4. Age
5. Shape
6. Color
7. Proper adjective (often nationality,
other place of origin, or material)
8. Purpose or qualifier
When there are two or more adjectives that are from the same
group, the word and is placed between the two adjectives:
The house is green and red.
The library has old and new books.

When there are three or more adjectives from the same

adjective group, place a comma between each of the
coordinate adjectives:

We live in the big green, white and red house at the end of the
street.
My friend lost a red, black and white watch.
A comma is not placed between an adjective and the noun.
More examples:
1. I love that beautiful old big green antique car that always parked at
the end of the street. [quality – age – size – color – proper adjective]
2. My sister has a big beautiful tan and white bulldog. [size – quality –
color – color]
3. A wonderful old Italian clock. [opinion – age – origin]
4. A big square blue box. [dimension – shape – color]
5. A disgusting pink plastic ornament. [opinion – color – material]
6. Some slim new French trousers. [dimension – age – origin]
7. An amazing new American movie. [opinion – age – origin]
8. I bought a pair of black leather shoes. [color – material]
Thank u..
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