Language/English/Grammar/ADJECTIVES

ADJECTIVES in English

Do you want to add colour to your speech or writing? Try using appropriate, vivid adjectives to express your thoughts and feelings. Adjectives describe nouns by telling us more about them, e.g. their size, colour or shape. Using adjectives to describe the things, people or ideas we are talking about helps our readers and listeners form a more vivid picture of them.

What are Adjectives?

Adjectives are words that can be used to describe a noun. They can be used to add detail and meaning to the words they are describing. They are also words that are used to answer the questions of what kind, how many, how much, and which one. They are words that tell you what something looks like, sounds like, tastes like, feels like, or smells like. Adjectives are also used to tell more about the subject of a sentence by providing more information about it. Adjectives always come after the nouns they modify and before verbs, adjectives, and adverbs.

Considering the following nouns:

• Polly

• Place

• Car

• Tuesday

• Cats

Adjectives give a more vivid picture about the nouns that they describe. Placing an adjective with these nouns give:

• Pretty Polly

• That place

• Expensive car

• Busy Tuesday

Colorful cats

There are many types of adjectives, and they can be used in different ways. Here are the 13 common types of adjectives.

• Comparative adjectives - Get me the smaller envelope.
• Superlative adjectives - Polly is the kindest member of our team.
• Predicate adjectives - Paula is huge.
• Compound adjectives - My happy-go-lucky friend whistled as he walked.
• Possessive adjectives - My favorite food is pizza.
• Demonstrative adjectives - This weekend seemed longer than the last.
• Proper adjectives - I love Korean food.
• Participial adjectives - I need to get new reading glasses.
• Limiting adjectives - I bought some eggs at the store.
• Descriptive adjectives - She loves funny stories.
• Interrogative adjectives - Whose house is that?
• Attributive adjectives - She has a beautiful voice.
• Distributive adjectives - Every member of the team contributed at the benefit.

The Importance of Using the Proper Adjectives

The use of adjectives is important for a variety of reasons.

• First, they help the reader understand what the writer is trying to say.
• Second, they can be used to create a specific mood or tone.
• Third, they can be used to make a point seem more persuasive.

The Do's and Don'ts of Using Adjectives

Adjectives are words that describe nouns and provide more information to readers about the noun.

Don't:

• Use too many adjectives or adverbs
• Use adjectives and adverbs that don't provide any additional information about the noun

Do:

• Use adjectives and adverbs to paint a picture in the reader's mind

Examples of Adjectives in Sentences

• Please bring that beautiful leather bag to me. (expresses a positive opinion)
• She was a timid, nondescript girl when she was at school. (expresses a negative opinion)

Sources

• https://www.languagecouncils.sg/goodenglish/-/media/sgem/document/additional-sgem-resources/pdf/grammar-rules-_-speak-good-english-movement.pdf?la=en

Other Lessons

• Positions of Reflexive Pronouns in Sentences
• Express Past
• Formation of Adjectives
• Mass noun
• Different Forms of the Verbs
• Adverbs of Time
• In: place
• Common Mistake What That
• Prepositions of Position