An adjective is a word that describes a noun or
pronoun. Read the following sentences.
- She is an honest woman.
- They've made a big house in the street.
- I haven't visited that restaurant so far.
- Two men are looking for a hotel room.
In the first, the word honest
describes what type of woman she is.
In the second sentence, the word big tells us about the size of the house.
The word that in the third sentence point out which restaurant is meant.
In the fourth sentence, the word three tells us the number of men.
All these words tell us something about the noun or pronoun.
In the second sentence, the word big tells us about the size of the house.
The word that in the third sentence point out which restaurant is meant.
In the fourth sentence, the word three tells us the number of men.
All these words tell us something about the noun or pronoun.
How to Define an Adjective
A word used to modify a noun or a
pronoun by telling about the kind, number or quantity, quality, or point out
the animal, place, or thing is called an adjective.
The word modify means "to
limit"; it makes the thing, person, or place more definite. They
usually come before the word (noun or pronoun) they modify; however, they may
come after a noun or a pronoun or after a linking verb. Adjectives remain in
the same form to agree with the word to which they applied.
Attributive and Predicative Position of Adjectives
There are two main ways to use
adjectives. They can be used attributively or predicatively.
An adjective that stands directly
before the word they qualify is known as an attributive adjective. It is
the normal position of an adjective; however, it may be directly placed after
the noun or pronoun they qualify.
Examples
- The black cat ran across the road.
- He is a busy boy.
- Three men have died in a car accident.
All three adjectives,
black, busy, and three, are used attributively in these sentences.
On the other hand, a predicative
adjective appears after the noun they modify and separated by a verb.
In the below example sentences, the
adjectives are used predictively.
- My foot felt cold.
- The boy was beautiful.
- The weather is getting warmer.
Types of Adjectives with Examples
Adjectives are classified into two
main classes.
1. Descriptive Adjective/Adjective of Quality
Descriptive adjectives describe the
kind or quality of the noun they modify. These adjectives describe the long-lasting or perceived
qualities of a noun like a shape, size, or color.
Qualities that tell us about the
size
a big house
long trousers
tiny feet
a huge load
a tall man
Adjectives describe the colors of things.
a redshirt
a blue uniform
green peppers
Some qualities tell people or things by describing their quality
a beautiful girl
a rich man
a sunny day
a rough surface
a kind lady
Some qualities describe the materials from which other things are made.
a paper bag
a wooden pot
a glass door
a stone wall
Descriptive adjectives are divided
into two classes. Qualifying and classifying are also
called gradable and non-gradable adjectives. Qualifying adjectives
describe the passing qualities of a noun. These qualities can be graded, i.e.
they can be admitted of comparative and superlative degree. For example, we can
grade a heavy thing by saying it is heavier than that thing or it is the
heaviest of all. We can also use "very" or "more"
to grade these adjectives.
Another class of descriptive
adjectives is called classifying or non-gradable adjectives. They
describe the permanent qualities of a person, place, or thing. These adjectives
cannot be graded, i.e. they don't have comparative and superlative forms.
For example, we cannot grade the
adjective "married" a person cannot be very or more
married.
Many of these adjectives can be used
in both forms, gradable or non-gradable depends on the context. Let's take the
adjective "old" as an example.
Examples
- His house is very old.
- She is old.
- The old computer was less expensive than the new model.
In the first two examples, the
adjective "old" describes the passing quality, and therefore
gradable. The third example shows an absolute value that conveys the meaning of
former or previous and is, therefore, cannot be graded.
2. Determiner Adjectives
These
adjectives are generally classified into the group of determiners. Determiners
adjectives are classified into the following classes.
Adjective of Quantity
The adjective
quantity expresses how much quantity of a thing is meant. Some, little,
much, and no are an example of the adjective of quantity.
Examples
- He needs some food.
- He has no sense.
- The whole class was absent.
- You have lost all your money.
Numerical Adjective
It shows the number
of persons or things or shows the order of persons or things.
Many, no, one, several, first and last,
etc., are numerical adjectives.
Examples
- I have no friends.
- There are six books on the table.
- He has learned many things from me.
- He made several mistakes with his essay.
An adjective that
shows amounts one, two, three, etc., is called cardinal.
A number that shows the position of
something (1st,2nd, or 3rd, etc.) in a list of
things is called Ordinal.
Demonstrative Adjectives
Words such as 'this',
'that', 'these', and 'those' specify which person or thing
is referred to. They are sometimes known as demonstrative determiners. They are
always followed by a noun; otherwise,
they become demonstrative pronouns.
Examples
- This boy is intelligent.
- Would you mind giving me that stick?
- I need these shoes as well.
"This" is used to point out the thing that is nearby
and singular. "That" is used to signalize singular things.
"These" and "those" are used with
singular and plural nouns, respectively.
Interrogative Adjectives
The question words what, which,
when, and whose when used with a noun to make questions are
called interrogative adjectives.
Examples
- Which movie are you watching now?
- Whose car is this?
- What shirt do you want to buy?
It will notice that "what"
is used generally, i.e. the number of answers to these questions is unknown.
"Which" is used in a selective sense, i.e. we either know how many choices
there are.
In typical direct questions,
the interrogative adjectives are placed at the start of the sentence followed
by the noun, which they modify. In direct question sentences, they usually follow
the noun they modify in the middle of the sentence.
Distributive Adjectives
Adjectives refer to each one of a person,
or things is called distributive adjectives.
Each, every, either, neither, etc., are distributive
adjectives.
Examples
- Each student should present his proposal.
- The store is open every day except Friday.
- Neither computer works properly.
Possessive Adjectives
Adjectives that show possession or
ownership are called possessive adjectives.
Possessive adjectives are my, your, our, his, her, its, their. These adjectives
are sometimes followed by "own."
As my own house. Our own party.
Etc.
Examples
- My
father may ask about the paper.
- His brother was injured in a car accident.
- Your car is costly.
Their roommate invited
them to his birthday party.
Proper Adjectives
When
a proper noun is used to form an adjective such are known as proper adjectives.
Proper
adjectives are always written in capital.
Proper Noun | Adjective |
---|---|
America | American |
China | Chinese |
Mexico | Mexican |
Norway | Norwegian |
Italy | Italian |
Sweden | Swadesh |
Asia | Asian |
Emphatic Adjectives
The words Own, such, same,
very. Are emphatic or emphasizing adjectives.
Examples
- He makes all his own clothes.
- I enjoy the game very much.
The Order of Adjectives
If many adjectives come before a
noun in a sentence, we must put them in a particular order. There are some
rules of adjective order, but first, we discuss the fact and opinion
adjectives.
Fact Adjectives: Adjectives that tell a fact about a noun they are describing are
called fact adjectives.
There are several categories of fact
adjectives. For example, adjectives describing size, shape, age,
color, nationality, and material of which things are made
are fall in the class of fact adjectives.
Opinion Adjectives: These adjectives describe the thought or belief of someone about
something.
The opinion adjectives may be
general or specific. The general opinion describes lots of different
things, while a particular opinion describes a particular type of thing.
To order several adjectives that
come before a noun, we put
1. General opinion adjectives before specific opinion adjectives.
2. The order of fact adjectives depends on the fact they describe.
Examples
- That is a lovely little puppy.
- She is a nice, intelligent, tall girl.
In sentence 1, lovely is an
opinion adjective that comes before the fact adjective little.
In sentence 2, the general opinion
adjective nice comes before the specific opinion adjective intelligent
followed by fact adjective tall at very last position.
Fact adjectives go in this order size, quality, color, origin,
material.
Examples
- I need a small white leather bag.
- I love listening to old Indian songs.
- She is ironing her clothes on a large wooden table.
Adjectives that describe size
and length usually come before that describe shape and width.
A small wide table
A large round wood
A short narrow street
A tall fat woman
When two color adjectives come
before a noun, use and between them.
Examples
- She wore a black and white clothes. (not "a black and a white")
- A black, white and redshirt.