English

ADJECTIVE
S
 Contents
*Introduction
*Different forms of Adjectives
*Examples
*Activity
*Exercises
 What are Adjectives?
Adjectives are used to qualify nouns.

e.g. John is a lazy boy.

This is a big house.

Hong Kong is a busy

city.
 Can you describe yourselves or
your friends with adjectives?
careless useless
friendly beautiful
good tall unhappy
lazy clever
fat boring
lovely
bad
interesting unfriendly
thin
naughty
ugly careful
happy hardworking
polite handsome
short helpful lonely shy
Can you classify the adjectives used?

helpless friendly
beautiful
careless lovely interesting
helpful
lonely boring
careful
hardworking
good, bad, tall,
short, fat, thin, crying
unfriendly
lazy, shy, ugly,
running
unhappy polite, clever,
handsome, happy
 Examples: Adjectives in
Past Participle Form
Regular: Irregular:
surprise…. surprised break………broken
interest…...interested fall…………fallen
excite……..excited write………written
frighten…..frightened steal……….stolen
crowd…….crowded give……….given
tire……….tired see…………seen
injure…….injured drive………driven
boil ……….boiled speak……...spoken
bore……….bored forget……..forgotten
cook………cooked *sell…………sold
*worry………worried *lose…………lost
A crowded flower A broken vase
market
Adjectives in Present Participle Form

Verb + ‘ing’ form

= 1. Causing the feeling of

2. Showing a continuous
status
 Examples: Adjectives in
Present Participle Form
Regular: Irregular:
interest……interesting
surprise………surprising
fall…….…..falling
fly……..…..flying excite…………exciting
boil…..…….boiling tire……………tiring
relax……….relaxing
run……………running
worry……...worrying
satisfy...…….satisfying work hard……hardworking
cry…...……..crying die…………….dying
burn………...burning
disappoint….disappointing
A crying boy

A shopping centre
A hardworking farmer

A swimming lesson
 Fallen leaves Falling leaves

What is the difference between these two

adjectives?
 Boiling water Boiled water

What is the difference between these two

adjectives?
 Adjectives formed by adding
suffixes to nouns
1. Noun + ‘ful’ 3. Noun + ‘able’ or
‘ible’
= full of something / = able to do something/
having the quality of showing qualities of
something something

2. Noun + ‘less’ 4. Noun + ‘y’

= without something = full of something

 Examples: Noun + ‘ful’ / ‘less’
Noun + ‘ful’: Noun + ‘less’
care…….…careful care………careless
help…….…helpful help………helpless
hope….…...hopeful hope……..hopeless
power…..…powerful power…….powerless
colour….…colourful colour……colourless
use……..….useful use……….useless
cheer……...cheerful cheer…….cheerless
fear……..…fearful fear………fearless
meaning……meaningful meaning….meaningless
success…….successful doubt…….doubtless
beauty……..beautiful
Beautiful flowers Colourful fruits
 A careful girl A careless boy
Compare these two adjectives.

careless = ? careless = not careful /

without care
 Helpful children A helpless beggar

Compare these two adjectives.

helpless helpless = needing others’ help /

=?
A meaningful sentence

a meaningless sentence
 A successful man

A successless man
?
NO!
An unsuccessful man
 Examples: noun + ‘able’ /
‘ible’
enjoy…….…enjoyable response……responsible
comfort……comfortable sense………..sensible
reason……...reasonable horror……..horrible
agree……….agreeable
move……….movable
value….……valuable
believe…..….believable
forget……....forgettable
A comfortable home
 Examples: noun + ‘y’
wind……….windy health………..healthy
cloud………cloudy wealth……….wealthy
snow……….snowy luck………….lucky
rain………..rainy greed…………greedy
sun…………sunny sleep………….sleepy
noise……….noisy rock………….rocky
taste……….tasty sand………….sandy
salt…………salty blood…………bloody
cream……..creamy speed…………speedy
 Tasty food
A dirty city A noisy place
A rainy day A windy day A sunny day
 Adjectives formed by adding
prefixes to adjectives
1. ‘un’ + adjective
2. ‘dis’ + adjective
3. ‘in’ + adjective
= NOT + adjective
4. ‘im’ + adjective
(opposite in meaning)
5. ‘ir’ + adjective
6. ‘il’ + adjective
7. ‘non’ + adjective
 Examples: ‘un’ + adjectives
happy……..unhappy usual……….unusual
tidy……….untidy healthy……..unhealthy
able……….unable helpful……..unhelpful
kind………unkind comfortable…uncomfortable
lucky…….unlucky forgettable….unforgettable
fair……….unfair friendly……..unfriendly
likely…….unlikely cooked………uncooked
locked……unlocked important…...unimportant
seen……….unseen reasonable…..unreasonable
equal……..unequal attractive…….unattractive
 A tidy room

An untidy room
A happy family An unhappy girl
They feel comfortable. They feel uncomfortable.
Healthy sports activities Unhealthy snacks
 An easy word

An uneasy word
?
NO! A difficult word
Examples: ‘dis’ + adjectives
honest…….……….dishonest
able…….………….disabled
obedient…………...disobedient
satisfied……………dissatisfied
orderly……………..disorderly
continuous………….discontinuous
advantageous………disadvantageous
Examples: ‘in’ + adjectives
direct…….…indirect
active…….…inactive
correct……...incorrect
Complete.…..incomplete
famous……...infamous
convenient….inconvenient
considerate…inconsiderate
dependent…..independent
A question in direct speech

A question in indirect speech

 A correct sentence

An incorrect sentence
Examples: ‘im’ + adjectives
Polite……..…….impolite
Possible….…..…impossible
Perfect……..…..imperfect
Patient……..…..impatient
Balanced……....imbalanced
Mature……..….immature
Measurable…....immeasurable
A possible wish

An impossible wish
Examples: ‘ir’ + adjectives

regular………….…..irregular
responsible………….irresponsible
relevant……………..irrelevant
removable…………..irremovable
replaceable…….……irreplaceable
 Regular Irregular
MTR service mini-bus service
Examples: ‘il’ + adjectives

legal………..…illegal
logical………..illogical
literate……….illiterate
 A logical sentence

An illogical sentence
Examples: ‘non’ + adjectives

stop…………….non-stop
violent…………non-violent
smoking……….non-smoking
verbal…………non-verbal
Adjectives formed by adding the
suffix ‘ly’ to nouns / adjectives

Noun + ‘ly’ or Adjective +

‘ly’

= having the quality of

Examples: Adjectives formed by
adding ‘ly’ to nouns / adjectives
*Noun + ‘ly’ *Adjective + ‘ly’
love…………lovely live………..lively
friend……….friendly like………..likely
order……….orderly lone……….lonely
 The friendly
Lovely monkeys
Santa Claus
Activity: Describe this picture with adjectives
On a windy day, a horrible
fire broke out in a locked
building. The responsible
firemen came at once and
found a helpless and
frightened girl who was
shouting from a broken
window. With the help of
some useful tools, the
firemen saved the crying girl.
They had done a wonderful
job. It was impossible for the
girl to forget this
unforgettable experience.
 Story-writing Exercise 1
Our English teacher gives us dictations every week. Sometimes,
the teacher asks us to study for the dictations beforehand, but
sometimes we do not have to. That means some are ___________
dictations and some are ______________ dictations.
However, my classmates are bad students. Some of them tell lies.
They are ____________________.
Some of them do not obey the teachers. They are _____________.
Some of them always sleep in class. It seems that they always feel
_____________________.
Some of them always throw rubbish. So, the classroom is very
_______________.
Some of them shout loudly in class. They are very __________.
In this examination, most of them get poor results. Their teachers
and parents feel ________________________ at their performance.
 Story-writing Exercise 2
Once, there was an old man. He was very rich, but he wanted
more and more money. He was really ___________________.
He had a son, but he always beated him up. He was ___________
to his son.
It rained heavily one day. The old man travelled with his son in
a car on this _________________ day.
When the old man was driving, he did not look at the traffic
lights which had turned red and so the car crashed in a lorry. He
was very ___________________.
His son fell into a river. He could not swim and he felt
___________________ because he needed help.
Luckily, a man who always helped others saved him. He was a
______________________ man. The son was really _______________
because he did not die.
 However, the old man was trapped in the car. He was going to
die. The son had no hope that his father would live. He felt
_________________.

At this time, the man came to help again. He used some tools to
open the door of the cars. The tools were very __________________.

At last, the kind man saved the old man who was taken to
hospital.