2.

Adjectives
Source: What is an Adjective? | Grammar | EnglishClub

a) What is an Adjective?

An adjective (noun): is a part-of-speech that modifies or describes a noun or a pronoun

An adjective is one of the nine parts of speech.

An adjective is a word that tells us more about a noun. It "describes" or "modifies"

a noun (The big dog was hungry). In these examples, the adjective is in bold and the
noun that it modifies is in italics.

An adjective often comes BEFORE a noun:

 a green car
 a dark sky
 an interesting story

And sometimes an adjective comes AFTER a verb:

 My car is green.
 The sky became dark.
 His story seemed interesting.

But adjectives can also modify pronouns (She is beautiful). Look at these examples:

 They were empty.

 I thought it seemed strange.
 Those are not expensive.

Note that we can often use two or more adjectives together

(a beautiful young French lady / it is black and white).

“The adjective is the enemy of the noun”

This is sometimes said because, very often, if we use the precise noun we don't need
an adjective. For example, instead of saying "a large, impressive house" (2 adjectives +
1 noun) we could simply say "a mansion" (1 noun).

b) FORMS OF ADJECTIVES

i) Those that take suffixes:

Some adjectives have particular endings, for example:

  -able/-ible: washable, credible
 -ish/-like: childish, childlike
 -ful/-less: careful, careless
 -ous: dangerous, harmonious
 -y: dirty, pretty

However, many adjectives have no obvious form.

ii) Those used in comparisons: (Comparative, Superlative)

Most adjectives can be comparative or superlative, for example:

 big, bigger, biggest

 good, better, best
 beautiful, more beautiful, most beautiful
iii) Those that talk of quality:
 Mary is beautiful.
 It looks nice.
iv) Those that talk of size:
This house is big, huge, large etc.
v) Those that we use to demonstrate:
 That boy is rude.
 Those mangoes are ripe.
vi) Those that show possession:
 My car is damaged.
 Your watch is very expensive.

Advanced material:
By Richard Nordquist
Source: Definition and Examples of Adjectives (thoughtco.com)
Updated on February 04, 2020
An adjective is a part of speech (or word class) that modifies a noun or a pronoun. In addition to
their basic (or positive) forms (for example, big and beautiful), most adjectives have two other
forms: comparative (bigger and more beautiful) and superlative (biggest and most beautiful).
Adjectives often—but not always—serve as modifiers, providing additional information about
another word or word group, such as a noun or noun phrase. But adjectives can
also themselves act as nouns in a sentence.
Below are the main types of adjectives you are likely to encounter in English, together with
accompanying explanations for each.
1. Absolute Adjectives
An absolute adjective—such as supreme or infinite—is an adjective with a meaning that cannot
be intensified or compared. It is also known as an incomparable, ultimate, or absolute
modifier. English Language Centres gives this example of an absolute adjective: -He is dead.

In the sentence, the word dead is an absolute adjective. The person is either dead or he is not,
says the firm that offers online and in-person English language courses. You cannot
be deader than someone else and you cannot be the deadest among a group. According to
some style guides, absolute adjectives are always in the superlative degree. However, some
absolute adjectives can be quantified by the addition of the word almost, nearly, or virtually.

2. Attributive and Predicative Adjectives

An attributive adjective usually comes before the noun it modifies without a linking verb. For
example, take this sentence from Maya Angelou's work "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings":
-"In those tender mornings, the Store was full of laughing, joking, boasting, and bragging."
The word tender is an attributive adjective because it precedes and modifies the
noun mornings. Attributive adjectives are direct modifiers of nominals/nouns.

By contrast, a predicative adjective usually comes after a linking verb rather

than before a noun. Another term for a predicative adjective is a subject complement. The
Oxford Online Living Dictionaries gives this example: - The cat is black.
In general, when adjectives are used after a verb such as be, become, grow, look, or seem,
they’re called predicative adjectives, says the dictionary.

3. Appositive Adjectives
An appositive adjective is a traditional grammatical term for an adjective (or a series of
adjectives) that follows a noun and, like a nonrestrictive appositive, is set off
by commas or dashes. For example:
"Arthur was a big boy, tall, strong, and broad-shouldered."
– Janet B. Pascal, "Arthur Conan Doyle: Beyond Baker Street"
“Mr Edgar Lungu, former President of Zambia, is travelling to Malawi for a visit.
As the example shows, appositive adjectives often appear in pairs or groups of three,
called tricolons.

4. Comparative and Superlative Adjectives

The comparative adjective is the form of an adjective involving the comparisons of more or less
as well as greater or lesser.
Comparative adjectives in English are either marked by the suffix -er (as in "the faster bike") or
identified by the word more or less ("the more difficult job"). Almost all one-syllable adjectives,
along with some two-syllable adjectives, add -er to the base to form the comparative. In most
adjectives of two or more syllables, the comparative is identified by the word more or less.

The superlative adjective, by comparison, is the form or degree of an adjective that indicates
the most or the least of something. Superlatives are either marked by the suffix -est (as in
"the fastest bike") or identified by the word most or least ("the most difficult job"). Similar to
comparative adjectives, almost all one-syllable adjectives, along with some two-syllable
adjectives, add -est to the base to form the superlative. In most adjectives of two or
more syllables, the superlative is identified by the word most or least. Not all adjectives have
superlative forms.

After a superlative, in or of plus a noun phrase can be used to indicate what is being compared
(as in "the tallest building in the world" and "the best time of my life").

5. Compound Adjectives
A compound adjective is made up of two or more words (such as part-time and high-speed)
that act as a single idea to modify a noun (a part-time employee, a high-speed chase).
Compound adjectives are also called phrasal adjectives or compound modifiers.
As a general rule, the words in a compound adjective are hyphenated when they come before a
noun (a well-known actor) but not when they come after (The actor is well known). Compound
adjectives formed with an adverb ending in -ly (such as rapidly changing) are usually not
hyphenated.

6. Demonstrative Adjectives
A demonstrative adjective is a determiner that comes before and points to a particular noun.
Indeed, a demonstrative adjective is sometimes called a demonstrative determiner. For
example:
a) Son, take this bat and hit that ball out of the park.
b) There are four demonstratives in English:
c) The "near" demonstratives: this and these
d) The "far" demonstratives: that and those
e) The singular demonstratives: this and that
f) The plural demonstratives: these and those

7. Denominal Adjectives
A denominal adjective is formed from a noun, usually with the addition of a suffix—such
as hopeless, earthen, cowardly, childish, and Reaganesque. An example would be:
-Our new neighborhood seemed romantic, somehow, and very San Franciscoish, especially to a
couple of young people who hailed from Idaho.

In this sentence, the proper noun San Francisco is altered with the suffix -ish to form the
denominal adjective. These kinds of adjectives can heighten the drama and descriptiveness of a
sentence, as in this example:

"The president's oration was...Lincolnian in its cadences, and in some ways, was the final,
impassioned, heart-felt rebuke to all those, including his opponent, who tried to portray him as
somehow un-American."
– Andrew Sullivan, "The American President." The Daily Beast, Nov. 7, 2012
8. Nominal Adjectives
The term nominal adjective refers to an adjective or group of adjectives that function as a noun.
"The Complete English Grammar Rules" by Farlex International notes that nominal adjectives
are generally preceded by the word the and can be found as the subject or the object of a
sentence or clause. For example:
-The elderly are a great source of wisdom.
The word elderly generally acts as a true adjective—an elderly gentleman—but in the previous
sentence, it functions as a collective noun and as the subject of the sentence. Nominal
adjectives are also known as substantive adjectives.

9. Participial Adjectives
A participial adjective is an adjective that has the same form as the participle (a verb ending in -
ing or -ed/-en) and usually exhibits the ordinary properties of an adjective. For example:
"What kind of a man was he to fall in love with a lying thief?"
– Janet Dailey, "The Hostage Bride"

In the sentence, the verb lie is altered by adding the ending -ing to form the participial
adjective lying, which then describes the noun thief. Also, the
comparative and superlative forms of participial adjectives are formed
with more and most and less and least—not with the endings -er and -est.

10. Adjectival Observations

Not everyone is a fan of adjectives. Constance Hale, in "Sin and Syntax: How to Craft Wickedly
Effective Prose," noted that the famous humorist and author Mark Twain had some rather
negative comments about this part of speech:

"When you catch an adjective, kill it. No, I don't mean utterly, but kill most of them—then the
rest will be valuable. They weaken when they are close together. They give strength when they
are wide apart."​
And in his 2002 memorial eulogy to former British Cabinet Minister Barbara Castle, Foreign
Secretary Jack Straw recalled her remark:
-"Bugger the adjectives. It's the nouns and verbs people want."
– Ned Halley, "Dictionary of Modern English Grammar"

Nouns generally are the subject of a sentence, while verbs do describe the action or state of
being. But used effectively and correctly, as you see from the previous examples, adjectives can
indeed enhance many sentences by adding colorful, vivid, and detailed description, increasing
interest in an otherwise mundane sentence.

For a summary, watch the video on the link below.

ADJECTIVES | Definition, Types & Examples | Parts of speech - Bing video

Exercises:
Follow the rules for each exercise below.
A. much vs many: Decide whether you have to use much or many:
1. We saw _____ animals at the zoo.
2. How _____ oranges did you put in the box?
3. There isn’t _____ sugar in my coffee.
4. I don’t have ______ friends.
5. The old man hasn’t got _____ hair on his head.
6. I’ve packed _____ bottles of water.
7. I didn’t get _____ sleep last night.
8. How _____ fruit do you eat in an average day?
Answers:

1) many
2) many
3) much
4) many
5) much
6) many
7) much
8) much

B. a little vs a few Decide whether you have to use a little or a few:

1. Can you please buy _______ apples.
2. We need _______ water.
3. I have _______ money left.
4. I take _______ sugar with my coffee.
5. We had _______ pints of beer there.
6. You have _______ time left.
7. There are _______ chairs in the room.
8. He only spent _______ dollars there.
Answers:

1) a few
2) a little
3) a little
4) a little
5) a few
6) a little
7) a few
8) a few
C. some vs any Decide whether you have to use some or any:
1. Is there _______ milk left?
2. There is _______ juice in the bottle.
3. Do you have _______ coffee?
4. I don’t have _______ money left.
5. She has _______ money.
6. Do you know _______ of these singers?
7. I don’t know _______ of them.
8. I know _______ of them.
Answers:

1) any
2) some
 3) any
4) any
5) some
6) any
7) any
8) some
D. some vs many Decide whether you have to use some or many:
1. The child put _______ sand into the bucket.
2. I can lend you _______ money if you need it.
3. There aren’t _______ pears left. Only two.
4. We had _______ cake with the tea.
5. Don’t eat so _______ sweets or you’ll get fat.
6. I had _______ beer last night at the bar.
7. I don’t have _______ friends.
8. He brought _______ food with him.
Answers:

1) some
2) some
3) many
4) some
5) many
6) some
7) many
8) some
E. little vs less Decide whether you have to use little or less:
1. I have _______ interest in classical music.
2. I have _______ faith in him.
3. We need _______ furniture in this dance hall than in the big one.
4. You have to drink _______ coffee.
5. He has _______ money than I thought.
6. Tonight I drank _______ wine than last night.
7. She dedicates _______ time to her homework than to her hobbies.
8. This will take _______ time to finish than the last time we tried.
Answers:

1) little
2) little
3) less
4) less
5) less
6) less
7) less
8) less
F. a little vs a lot Decide whether you have to use a little or a lot:
1. That may cost you _______ of money.
2. I added _______ sugar to the mix.
3. You’ll have to spend _______ of cash on this car. (a lot)
4. I can do it with _______ help from my friends.
5. _______ change can really make a difference.
6. I don’t have _______ of free time today.
7. He left _______ of laundry for me to do.
 8. She gave him _______ attention.
Answers:

1) a lot
2) a little
3) a lot
4) a little
5) a little
6) a lot
7) a lot
8) a little
G. few vs little Decide whether you have to use few or little:
1. There’s _______ point in calling.
2. _______ people understood what he said.
3. There is _______ use in trying to do this.
4. There’s _______ space here as it is.
5. There’s _______ I can do about this.
6. Dan is a great student. He has _______ problems with history.
7. There was _______ traffic on the road.
8. I think Coventry will win the match but _______ people agree with me.
Answers:

1) little
2) few
3) little
4) little
5) little
6) few
7) little
8) few
H. fewer vs less Decide whether you have to use fewer or less:
1. There were _______ days below freezing last winter.
2. I drank _______ water than she did.
3. I have _______ than an hour to do this work.
4. People these days are buying _______ newspapers.
5. I have _______ time to do this work.
6. _______ than thirty children each year develop the disease.
7. I wear _______ makeup on weekdays.
8. He worked _______ hours than I did.
Answers:

1) fewer
2) less
3) less
4) fewer
5) less
6) fewer
7) less
8) fewer
I. farther vs further Decide whether you have to use farther or further:
1. How much _______ do you plan to drive tonight?
2. I just can’t go any _______.
 3. Do you have any _______ plans for adding on to the building?
4. That’s a lot _______ than I want to carry this heavy suitcase!
5. The _______ that I travel down this road, the _______ behind schedule I get.
6. How much _______ do you intend to take this legal matter?
7. It’s not that much _______ to the gas station.
8. How much _______ do I have to run, coach?
Answers:

1) farther
2) further
3) further
4) farther
5) farther, further
6) further
7) farther
8) farther
J. later vs latter Decide whether you have to use later or latter:
1. My neighbours have a son and a daughter : the former is a teacher, the _______ is a nurse.
2. I will address that at a _______ time.
3. Of the first two Harry Potter books, I prefer the _______.
4. John arrived at the party _______ than Mary did.
5. I prefer the _______ offer to the former one.
6. I will be back _______.
7. I was given the choice between a hamburger or a hotdog, I chose the _______ of the two; the
hotdog.
8. When it comes to soy burgers or a juicy cow burger, I prefer the _______.
Answers:

1) latter
2) later
3) latter
4) later
5) latter
6) later
7) latter
8) latter
K. last vs latter Decide whether you have to use last or latter:
1. Jack, Jill and Bob went up the hill; the _______ watched the other two fall down.
2. The former half of the film is more interesting than the _______ half.
3. Out of chapters 1, 2, and 3, the _______ one is the most difficult to learn.
4. Dan is now friends with Ruth, Maya and Ben. The _______ is his cousin.
5. Jane speaks Italian and English: the former language fairly well and the _______ fluently.
6. There are two versions, A and B, but the _______ is more popular.
7. Tom and Dick were both heroes but only the _______ is remembered today.
8. I study math, English and history. I enjoy the _______ one most.
Answers:

1) last
2) latter
3) last
4) last
5) latter
 6) latter
7) latter
8) last

Now, answer the following Adjective Exercise in your books.

1. Form adjectives from the following nouns: (Example)

A. water
B. ice
C. syrup

Answers: Watery, Icy, Syrupy

2. Form adjectives from the following verbs:
A. walk
B. amaze
C. decay Answers: ……………………………………………………………………………….

3.Which of the following sentences contains a proper denominal adjective?

i) a) People in New York are usually busy.
b) New York residents are often busy.
ii) a) We had fun listening to classic French music.
b) Music by the French is fun to listen to.
iii) a) He speaks Russian.
b) He speaks the Russian language. Answers: ………………………………………………………..

4.Choose the superlative adjective in each group of sentences:

A i) I like dark coffee.
ii) This is the fastest car I’ve ever driven.
iii) I’d like darker curtains.
iv) This is good ice cream.
v) Meet Sue, my younger sister.

B i) Of all the options available, this seems to be the best one.

ii) This is a better play than the last one.
iii) The box was blue, and oddly shaped.
iv) This is the most exciting thing I’ve ever experienced! Answer: A ………………… B ………………..

5. Choose the absolute adjective in each group of sentences:

A i) We live in a blue house.
ii) The grass is greener on the other side.
iii) This is the shortest my hair has ever been.

B i) That’s a short dress.

ii) Why don’t you choose a longer style?
iii) Just because it’s the shortest dress doesn’t mean it’s the most stylish.

C i) Our house is bigger than our grandmother’s is.

ii) They live in the biggest house I’ve ever seen.
iii) That’s a big house! Answer: A ………… B…………… C……………
 6. Choose the adjective from each of the following groups of words:
A. interest, interesting, party
B. amount, colorful, medicine
C. fur, hilarious, cup
Answer: ………………………………………………………………………………..
7. Fill in the blanks with the best compound adjective for the situation.

A. With ______________ temperatures, this is the coldest winter on record.

i. below zero
ii. below-zero
iii. freezing

B. Jeremy gave Linda a _____________________ engagement ring.

i. gorgeous diamond
ii. gorgeous-diamond
iii. big

C. We’re celebrating with a __________________ bottle of champagne.

i. costly
ii. ten-year-old
iii. 10 year old
Answer: A………………. B ……………… C…………………
8. Choose the sentence containing the denominal adjective:
A. We practiced for the play.
B. We spent two hours practicing the Shakespearean play.
C. We practiced Shakespeare’s play for two hours. Answer: ………………………….

9. Choose the comparative adjective in each group of sentences:

A. This list is longer than the last one.
B. This is probably the longest one I’ve ever seen.
C. This is a long list.

A. Stop acting so weird.

B. You’re acting weirder than ever.
C. You’re the weirdest person in this class.

A. This is the chocolatiest cake I’ve ever tasted.

B. Have some chocolate cake.
C. Do you think this cake tastes chocolatier than the last one?
Answer: i)…………… ii) …………… iii) ……………..
10. For each of the following sentences, choose the correct order of adjectives to fill in the blank.

A. His grandfather lives in the ________________________ house down the street.

i. big old yellow
ii. yellow old big
iii. old big yellow

B. The shop offers all kinds of _____________________ objects.

i. interesting old antique
ii. old antique interesting
iii. old interesting antique
C. We went for a long walk on a __________________________ trail.
i. Beautiful new 5-mile
ii. New, beautiful 5-mile
iii. 5-mile new, beautiful Answer: i) ……………….. ii) ………………… iii) ……………………….

11. A, B, or C? Which phrase contains the denominal adjective?

A. open door
B. fun time
C. Parmesan flavor Answer: ………………..

12. Some compound adjective contain hyphens. Which of the following sentences is correct?
A. He’s a decent-judge of character.
B. She submitted a 190-page document supporting her position.
C. We’re adopting a two year old parakeet. Answer: ……………………..

13. Which sentence uses the correct order of adjectives?

A. We took a ride on a red, new, Italian motorbike.
B. We took a ride on an Italian, new, red motorbike.
C. We took a ride on a new red Italian motorbike. Answer: ………………………

14. For each of the following sentences, choose the correct order of adjectives to fill in the blank.

A. I was thrilled to receive a __________________ book with my order.

i. big, beautiful, leather-bound
ii. leather-bound, big, beautiful
iii. beautiful big leather-bound

B. His clown costume consists of a red nose, oversized shoes, and a ________________ jacket.
i. Size 4X polka-dotted silk smoking
ii. polka-dotted silk smoking size 4X
iii. polka dotted size 4x silk smoking

C. I’ve been shopping for the perfect _______________ chopsticks.

i. Japanese long sushi
ii. long Japanese sushi
iii. long sushi Japanese. Answer: A ………………… B ………………… C …………………

15. From each group, choose the sentence containing the correct compound adjective.
A. Jennifer is overworked. She has been putting in 12 hour days lately.
B. Jennifer is overworked. She has been putting in 12-hour days lately.
C. Jennifer is overworked. She has been putting in 12-hour-days lately.

A. Jim prefers spicy, Caribbean-style food.

B. Jim likes Caribbean foods with lots of spice.
C. Jim’s favorite foods are spicy ones with Caribbean flavors.

A. He’s grown two inches since last time we saw him.

B. He’s grown by a whole two inches since we last saw him.
 C. He’s had a two-inch growth spurt since last time we saw him.

Answer: i) ………………… ii) …………………. Iii) ………………..

End…