Adjective Introduction
An adjective is a word that describes or modifies a noun or pronoun by providing more information about its qualities, characteristics, or attributes.
Adjectives can indicate size, shape, color, texture, taste, smell, sound, personality, emotion, or any other characteristic of the noun or pronoun. Such as beautiful, ugly, charming, fantastic, etc.
Example:
- She is a kind lady.
- She lives in a large house.
- He is a strong player.
*** In the above examples, the adjective is kind, large, and strong. These adjectives add additional information and help to clarify or enhance the meaning of the nouns.
Types of Adjective
Descriptive Adjective; Comparative Adjective; Superlative Adjective; Demonstrative Adjective; Possessive Adjective; Interrogative Adjective; Indefinite Adjective; Quantitative Adjective; Proper Adjective; ed & ing Adjective
Descriptive Adjective
1. Descriptive Adjectives: These adjectives describe the qualities, characteristics, or properties of a noun. For example: happy, tall, intelligent.
A. Attribute adjective: attribute adjective are referring to an adjective that is used to describe or attribute a quality to a noun, then that would fall under the category of descriptive adjectives.
Examples:
- Beautiful: She has a beautiful smile.
- Intelligent: He is an intelligent student.
- Green: The grass is green.
- Spacious: They have a spacious house.
- Delicious: The pizza was delicious.
- Strong: He is a strong athlete.
In these examples, the adjectives “beautiful,” “intelligent,” “green,” “spacious,” “delicious,” and “strong” attribute or describe qualities of the respective nouns.
B. Predicate adjective: A predicate adjective is an adjective that follows a linking verb and describes the subject of a sentence. It is called a predicate adjective because it is part of the predicate, which contains the verb and provides information about the subject.
Example:
“She is happy.”
In this sentence, “happy” is the predicate adjective that describes the subject “she.” The linking verb “is” connects the subject to the predicate adjective.
“The cake smells delicious.”
Here, “delicious” is the predicate adjective that describes the subject “cake.” The linking verb “smells” connects the subject to the predicate adjective.
Comparative Adjectives
2. Comparative Adjectives: A comparative adjective is an adjective that is used to compare two nouns and indicates a greater or lesser degree of a quality or characteristic. Comparative adjectives are formed by adding the suffix “-er” to the base form of the adjective, or by adding the word “more” before the adjective. They indicate superiority, inferiority, or equality.
Example:
- Brighter: The sun is brighter than the moon.
- Taller: John is taller than his brother.
- Smaller: The toy car is smaller than the real car.
- More intelligent: She is more intelligent than him.
- More beautiful: The sunset is more beautiful than the sunrise.
- More interesting: The book is more interesting than the movie.
In each of these examples, the comparative adjective is used to compare two nouns and indicate a greater or lesser degree of a quality or characteristic. The suffix “-er” or the word “more” is used to form the comparative adjective like brighter, taller, smaller, and more.
Superlative Adjectives
Superlative Adjectives: A superlative adjective is an adjective used to compare three or more nouns and indicate the highest degree of a quality or characteristic. Superlative adjectives are formed by adding the suffix “-est” to the base form of the adjective or by adding the word “most” before the adjective.
Example
- Brightest: The sun is the brightest star in our solar system.
- Tallest: Mount Everest is the tallest mountain in the world.
- Smallest: The ladybug is the smallest insect in the garden.
- Most intelligent: She is the most intelligent student in the class.
- Most beautiful: The Taj Mahal is the most beautiful monument in the world.
- Most interesting: The documentary was the most interesting film I’ve ever seen.
In these examples, the superlative adjective is used to compare three or more nouns and indicate the highest degree of a quality or characteristic. The suffix “-est” or the word “most” is used to form the superlative adjective like brightest, tallest, smallest, and more.
Degree of comparison
| Positive degree | Comparative degree | Superlative degree |
| Good | Better | Best |
| Bad | Worse | Worst |
| Much/many | More | Most |
| Few | Fewer | Fewest |
| Little | Less | Least |
| Early | Earlier | Earliest |
| Late | Later | Latest |
| Old | Older | Oldest |
| Far | Farther | Farthest |
| Near | Near | Nearest |
| Tall | Taller | Tallest |
| wise | Wiser | Wisest |
| Beautiful | More beautiful | Most beautiful |
| Interesting | More interesting | Most interesting |
| Intelligent | More intelligent | Most intelligent |
| Delicious | More Delicious | Most delicious |
| Creative | More creative | Most Creative |
| Comfortable | More comfortable | Most comfortable |
| Difficult | More difficult | Most difficult |
| Expensive | More expensive | Most expensive |
| Generous | More generous | Most generous |
- One-syllable adjectives are adjectives that consist of only one syllable or one unit of sound. like – good, bad, much, few, little, early, late, old, far, near, tall, wise, and many more.
- The comparative degree is formed by adding “-er” to the positive form of the adjective, and the superlative degree is formed by adding “-est” to the positive form.
- Multisyllabic adjective: A multisyllabic or more syllable adjective is an adjective that consists of more than one syllable or sound unit. Examples of multisyllabic adjectives are Beautiful, Interesting, Intelligent, Delicious, Creative, Comfortable, Difficult, Expensive, Generous and many more.
- The comparative degree is formed by adding “more” before the adjective, and the superlative degree is formed by adding “most” before the adjective.
Demonstrative Adjectives
Demonstrative Adjectives: These adjectives point out or indicate specific nouns.
Example: this, that, these, those.
- This book is interesting.
- That car is fast.
- These cookies are delicious.
- Those houses are beautiful.
Demonstrative adjectives help to specify and point out specific nouns in relation to the speaker’s location or context.
Possessive Adjectives
Possessive Adjectives: These adjectives show ownership or possession.
Example: my, your, his, her, their, our, and its.
- This is my cat
- This is your bag.
- I like his hat.
**These possessive adjectives help to indicate ownership or possession and clarify relationships between people, objects, and entities.
**They are used to express the idea of “belonging to”.
Interrogative Adjectives
Interrogative Adjectives: These adjectives are used to ask questions about a noun.
Example: which, what, whose, etc.
- Which book did you like?
- Whose pen is this?
Interrogative adjectives help to form questions and seek specific information related to nouns.
Indefinite Adjectives
Indefinite Adjectives: These adjectives give a general idea or indefinite quantity about a noun.
Example: some, any, several, many, few, all, each. Every, another, etc.
- I have some books.
- I saw several birds.
These indefinite adjectives help to provide a general or non-specific description when the noun being referred to is not identified or when a broader sense of quantity or choice is intended.
Quantitative Adjectives
Quantitative Adjectives: These adjectives indicate the quantity or amount of a noun.
Example: few, many, several, some, much, little, numerous, etc.
- There are few apples.
- There are many people at event.
- There is little time left for preparation.
Quantitative adjectives provide information about the numerical value, amount, or quantity of a noun, helping to specify or quantify it.
Proper Adjectives
Proper Adjectives: These adjectives are derived from proper nouns and are used to describe specific things or people.
Example: Indian, American, Chinese, Shakespearean, etc.
They add specificity or cultural context to the nouns they modify.
ed & ing adjective
“-ed” Adjectives: When the “-ed” suffix is added to a verb, it forms an adjective that describes the state or feeling of a person or thing. These adjectives typically describe emotions or characteristics that result from the action of the verb.
Example:
- “She is interested in learning new languages.”
- Verb: “Interest” – Adjective: “Interested”
- “After running a marathon, he felt exhausted.”
- Verb: “Exhaust” – Adjective: “Exhausted”
“-ing” Adjectives: When the “-ing” suffix is added to a verb, it forms an adjective that describes a characteristic or quality of a person or thing. These adjectives often describe ongoing actions or experiences.
Example:
- They witnessed an amazing performance.
- Verb: “Amaze” – Adjective: “Amazing”
- The thrilling roller coaster ride was exciting.
- Verb: “Excite” – Adjective: “Exciting”
*** It’s important to note that not all adjectives formed with “-ed” and “-ing” have the same meaning.
*** The suffixes can alter the sense of the verb to create different adjective forms. Additionally, some adjectives can be formed with either “-ed” or “-ing” to indicate different qualities.
Example:
- He was bored during the lecture.
- Verb: “Bore” – Adjective (ed): “Bored”
- The lecture was boring.
- Adjective (ing): “Boring”
Adjective Exercise
Find the adjective
- Fox is a clever animal.
- Ram has a little dog.
- Sita is prettier than her sister.
- The food is delicious.
- I found that book.
Answer:
- Clever
- Little
- Prettier
- Delicious
- That
Fill the blanks
- People become …………………… when they are ill. (irritate)
- The police arrested them for raising …………………….. slogans. (provoke)
- It was the most ……………………. holiday. (memory)
- He was arrested under ……………………… circumstances. (suspect)
- He is very ………………….. ( intelligent)
Answer:
- Irritable
- Provocative
- Memorable
- Suspicious
- Intelligent
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- Adjective Introduction Types Exercise
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- Antonyms words list A to Z – List of opposite words
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- Change of Voice Rules, Exercise
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