English: Adjectives

What is an adjective?

Adjectives are words that describe or modify, or add meaning to, other words.

They are usually placed before the noun or pronoun that they modify.

Adjectives:

1.     Describe feelings or qualities:

Examples

·        She is a happy woman

·        They are sad people

 

2.     Give nationality or origin:

Examples

·        Seeta is Indian.

·        He is American.

·        This clock is French.

 

3.     A thing’s characteristics:

Examples

·        A wooden chair.

·        The knife is sharp.

 

4.     Age:

Examples

·        She is a young woman.

·        My shirt is very old.

 

5.     Size and measurement:

Examples

·        Bhushan is a thick man.

·        This film is very long.

 

6.     Colour:

Examples

·        Ramlal wore a red shirt.

·        The sky is blue.

 

7.     Material

Examples

·        They have a wooden table.

·        He wore a cotton shirt.

 

8.     Shape

Examples

·        A square box.

·        A rectangular envelop.

 

9.     Judgment or a value

Examples

·        A superb film.

·        Grammar is difficult.

 

 

 

 

 

Form of Adjectives

 

Rules:

1.     Adjectives are invariable. They don’t change their form depending upon the gender or number of the noun.

Example:

·        A clean room.

·        Some clean rooms.

 

2.     To emphasize or strengthen the meaning of an adjective then use ‘very’ or ‘really’:

Example:

·        A very hot potato.

·        Some really hot potatoes

 

Position of adjectives:

1.     In front of noun: A beautiful girl.

2.     After verbs like “to be”, “to look”, “to taste”, etc.: He looks tired.

3.      After the noun (in some fixed expressions): The Princess Royal.

4.     After the noun (with the adjectives involved, present, concerned)

 

 

Order of Adjectives

 

Rule

      When number of adjectives are used together, the order depends upon the function of the adjective. The order is as follows:

  Value/Opinion, Size, Age/Temperature, Shape, Colour, Origin, Material

 

FUNCTIONS	ADJECTIVES
Value/Opinion	delicious, lovely, charming
Size	small, huge, tiny
Age/Temperature	old, hot, young
Shape	round, square, rectangle
Colour	red, black, green
Origin	Indian, Chinese, German
Material	plastic, wooden, silver

Comparative and Superlative of Adjectives:

 

Number of syllables	Comparative	Superlative
one syllable	+ -er	+ -est
big	bigger	biggest
One syllable with the spelling consonant + single vowel + consonant: double the final consonant.
tall	taller	tallest
fat	fatter	fattest
sad	sadder	saddest
Number of syllables	Comparative	Superlative
two syllables	+ -er / more + adjective	+ -est / most + adjective
adjective ending with: -y, -ly, -ow, -le, -er or ure and common adjectives- handsome, polite, pleasant, common, quiet. Note: ending in ‘-y’ is replace with ‘ier’ & ‘-iest’ in the comparative & superlative form respectively.
happy	happier/more happy	happiest/most happy
yellow	yellower/more yellow	yellowest/most yellow
simple	simpler/more simple	simplest/most simple
busy	busier/more busy	busiest/most busy
Number of syllables	Comparative	Superlative
three syllables or more	more + adjective	most + adjective
important	more important	most important
expensive	more expensive	most expensive

 

 

 

Comparison – by using than

        We can compare the difference between two people, things, events, etc.

         Examples:

·        Jay is taller than Viru.

·        Manasi is shorter than Reena.

·        BMW is more expensive than Tata.

·        A bicycle is cheaper than bus.

 

 

Comparison – by using ‘as…as’

        When we want to compare people, places, events or things and there is no difference then we can use as + adjective + as.

 Examples:

·        Mukesh is as rich as Narendra.

·        Amit is as smart as Sharad.

·        Math is as hard as History.

·        BMW is as expensive as Mercedes.

 

 

Comparison – by using ‘not as…as’

         We can also compare people, places, events or things by using not so/as…as

  Examples:

·        Mayur is not as busy as Chinmay.

·        Reshma is not as thick as Ulka.

·        He is not as smart as Mohit.