Lesson 3 - Adjectives

Adjectives are words that describe or modify nouns (people, places, things, or animals) or pronouns.
They describe the noun by telling us its size, shape, age, colour, etc. Adjectives usually come before the
noun or pronoun, or sometimes they can come after it.
The following are the subsections in this lesson:

1. Kinds of Adjectives

2. Comparison of Adjectives

3. Forming Adjectives

4. Adjectives Function as Nouns

5. Position of Adjectives

Adjectives coming before nouns are attributive adjectives

Everyone knows a giraffe has a long neck.

My old car didnt have air conditioning.

Today, we have blue sky.

The words in bold long, old and blue are adjectives, and they come before the nouns neck, car and sky.
The adjectives describe the shape of the neck, age of the car and colour of the sky.
Adjectives coming after nouns are predicative adjectives

That statue of a goddess was quite large.

One of my tables is round.

The sky looks very black.

The words in bold large, round and black are adjectives, and they come after the
nouns statue, table and sky. Without the adjectives, we wouldnt know the size of the statue, the shape
of the table, and the colour of the sky.
The above adjectives large, round and black are predicative adjectives, and the verbs (was, is, looks)
connecting them to their respective subjects (statue, table, sky) are linking verbs.

An adjective can take up any position in a sentence, preferably close to the noun that it describes. More
than one adjective can appear in a sentence, and we can make the two or more adjectives describe the
same noun. The adjectives are in bold in the following sentences.

The pretty girl is angry with her boyfriend.

The warm air is thick with dust.

His big house must be expensive to maintain.

1. Kinds of Adjectives
The different kinds of adjectives are discussed in detail in under their respective sections:
Descriptive adjective or adjective of quality
Descriptive adjectives are the most numerous of the different types of adjectives. These adjectives
describe nouns that refer to action, state, or quality (careless, dangerous, excited, sad, black, white, big,
small, long, fat, English, Mediterranean, three-cornered).

dangerous chemicals

green vegetables

a square box

a big house

a tall tree

a cold morning

a true story

English language

Mediterranean country.

Adjective of quantity
An adjective of quantity tells us the number (how many) or amount (how much) of a noun.

He has eaten three apples.

I dont have much money.

There is so much wine for the guests.

This long, thin centipede has many legs.

Demonstrative adjective
A demonstrative adjective (this, that, these, those) shows the noun it modifies is singular or plural and
whether the position of the noun is near or far from the person who is speaking or writing. A
demonstrative adjective also points out a fact about the noun.

This red balloon is mine and those three yellow ;ones are yours.

This cute baby is his brother. That cute baby is his sister.

These two fat cats have tails, but that thin cat doesnt have a tail.

Possessive adjective
A possessive adjective expresses possession of a noun by someone or something. Possessive adjectives
are the same as possessive pronouns. All the possessive adjectives are listed in the following table:
Possessive adjectives/pronouns
Singular

Plural

my

our

your

your

his

their

her

their

its

their

Examples of possessive adjectives/pronouns:

o

I spent my afternoon cleaning the toilet.

This must be your cap.

His arms have a few tattoos.

Its skin is dry and rough.

Our grandmothers were classmates.

2. Comparison of Adjectives
When we compare two or more nouns, we make use of comparative adjectives and superlative
adjectives. We use the following three forms of comparison when we compare two or more nouns.
The absolute form
We use the absolute degree to describe a noun or to compare two equal things or persons.

Examples:
o

My uncle is bald.

My uncle is as bald as a cue ball.

His head is big.

His head is as big as my head.

His wife-to-be is very charming.

His ex-wife is not as charming as his wife-to-be.

The comparative form

When comparing two nouns, we use a comparative form of adjective to describe how one person or thing
is when compared to another person or thing. In making such a comparison, we have to use the
word than to show that one noun is bigger, longer, taller, etc. than the other one.

Examples:
o

A hen's egg is bigger than a pigeon's egg.

Our fingers are longer than our toes.

This basketball player is taller than that footballer.

She says her pet hen walks faster than her pet duck.

His head is bigger than my head.

The superlative form

When comparing three or more nouns, we use a superlative form of adjective. We use the word the when
using the superlative adjective to compare.

Examples:
o

My great grandfather is the oldest one in the family.

She has the prettiest face in the whole school.

He talks the loudest in his circle of friends.

Bozo is the funniest clown in the circus.

His head is the biggest in the family.

More and most

We can use the words more and most in front of an adjective to form respectively
the comparative and superlative. Use the adverbial more with most adjectives that have two or more
syllables, and most with all adjectives that have more than two or more syllables. For example, the
word big has one syllable, funny has two syllables, and beautiful has three syllables. Regardless of
the number of syllables, the adjective itself does not change in form when used with more or most.
Two syllables

She is more careless with money than her husband is.

Sometimes, she was the most cheerful person in the office.

Three syllables

The professor is more forgetful than his students are.

That is the most foolish thing he has ever done.

We use the Comparative degree to compare two unequal nouns.

Example: His house is bigger than my house.

We use the Superlative degree to compare three or more Nouns.

Example: His house is the biggest in the neighbourhood

Positive

Comparative

Superlative

big

bigger

biggest

black

blacker

blackest

bold

bolder

boldest

brave

braver

bravest

bright

brighter

brightest

busy

busier

busiest

clean

cleaner

cleanest

clear

clearer

clearest

clever

cleverer

cleverest

cold

colder

coldest

cool

cooler

coolest

dark

darker

darkest

dear

dearer

dearest

deep

deeper

deepest

dirty

dirtier

dirtiest

dry

drier

driest

easy

easier

easiest

fair

fairer

fairest

fast

faster

fastest

fat

fatter

fattest

fine

finer

finest

funny

funnier

funniest

great

greater

greatest

green

greener

greenest

happy

happier

happiest

hard

harder

hardest

healthy

healthier

healthiest

heavy

heavier

heaviest

high

higher

highest

hot

hotter

hottest

kind

kinder

kindest

large

larger

largest

late

later

latest

lazy

lazier

laziest

light

lighter

lightest

long

longer

longest

low

lower

lowest

lucky

luckier

luckiest

mad

madder

maddest

merry

merrier

merriest

narrow

narrower

narrowest

naughty

naughtier

naughtiest

near

nearer

nearest

new

newer

newest

noisy

noisier

noisiest

old

older

oldest

pale

paler

palest

poor

poorer

poorest

pretty

prettier

prettiest

proud

prouder

proudest

quick

quicker

quickest

red

redder

reddest

rich

richer

richest

sad

sadder

saddest

safe

safer

safest

shallow

shallower

shallowest

sharp

sharper

sharpest

short

shorter

shortest

slow

slower

slowest

small

smaller

smallest

smooth

smoother

smoothest

strong

stronger

strongest

sweet

sweeter

sweetest

tall

taller

tallest

thick

thicker

thickest

thin

thinner

thinnest

tiny

tinier

tiniest

ugly

uglier

ugliest

warm

warmer

warmest

wealthy

wealthier

wealthiest

wet

wetter

wettest

white

whiter

whitest

wide

wider

widest

wild

wilder

wildest

wise

wiser

wisest

young

younger

youngest

Positive

Comparative

Superlative

ancient

more ancient

most ancient

beautiful

more beautiful

most beautiful

brilliant

more brilliant

most brilliant

careful

more careful

most careful

careless

more careless

most careless

cheerful

more cheerful

most cheerful

comfortable

more comfortable

most comfortable

dangerous

more dangerous

most dangerous

delightful

more delightful

most delightful

difficult

more difficult

most difficult

enjoyable

more enjoyable

most enjoyable

foolish

more foolish

most foolish

forgetful

more forgetful

most forgetful

frightening

more frightening

most frightening

generous

more generous

most generous

handsome

more handsome

most handsome

helpful

more helpful

most helpful

ignorant

more ignorant

most ignorant

important

more important

most important

intelligent

more intelligent

most intelligent

interesting

more interesting

most interesting

pleasant

more pleasant

most pleasant

powerful

more powerful

most powerful

prosperous

more prosperous

most prosperous

sensible

more sensible

most sensible

terrible

more terrible

most terrible

thoughtful

more thoughtful

most thoughtful

unusual

more unusual

most unusual

useful

more useful

most useful

valuable

more valuable

most valuable

wonderful

more wonderful

most wonderful

Positive

Comparative

Superlative

bad

worse

worst

far

farther

farthest

far

further

furthest

good

better

best

little

less

least

many

more

most

much

more

most

3. Forming Adjectives
Adjectives derived from verbs are formed by adding ing or ed to the verbs.
ed/ing: amazed/amazing, annoyed/annoying, damaged/damaging,
decayed/decaying, interested/interesting
ed: the escaped prisoners, improved version, polluted river

Examples:
o

We need to get more young people interested in the subject.

We need to make the subject more interesting to more young people.

We were totally amazed by the brilliance of the player.

What an amazing player he was.

She was quite annoyed at the way he behaved.

She found his behaviour quite annoying.

The chunk of meat was completely decayed.

The smell of decaying meat wafted towards him.

His health appears badly damaged by excessive smoking.

Smoking is seriously damaging to his health.

4. Adjectives Function as Nouns

Some adjectives are used as nouns to describe groups of people. Each of these groups follows the
determiner the (definite article). There are the blind,the deaf, the elderly, the homeless, the old, the
rich, the sick, the young, etc.

Examples:
o

The injured were in the thousands.

Every year, millions join the ranks of the unemployed worldwide.

There seems to have no plans to provide cheap housing for the homeless.

5. Position of Adjectives
Adjectives appear in different positions in a sentence. The two positions we often encounter are before a
noun and after a linking verb which comes after a noun.
(1) The adjective that comes before a noun is called an attributive adjective.
The attributive adjective modifies the noun that follows it. There can be more than one adjective appearing
side-by-side to modify the same noun.
Adjectives (in bold) that come before a noun.

Examples:
o

a fresh fish.

a small tree.

a long dress.

a square box.

a beautiful house.

More than one adjective can come before a noun.

Examples:
o

an ugly old witch.

a funny little clown.

a tall young manager.

a big powerful sound.

(2) The adjective that comes after a noun is called a predicative adjective.
A predicative adjective says something about the subject of the sentence. In the following sentence, the
subject is the bulls and the adjective black modifies the subject. The adjective is joined to the subject
by a verb look, alinking verb. Linking verbs are used here as they connect the subject with the adjective
that describes it. Examples of linking verb include all forms of be(am, is, are, was, were) and other verbs
such as grow, remain, sound, taste, etc.
Adjectives that come after the BE-verb:

Examples:
o

He is thin.

We are hungry.

She was tired after work.

They were friendly towards me.

Adjectives that come after other linking verbs:

Examples:
o

The beef tasted delicious.

She grewbored being alone.

The question sounds silly.

The child remained silent when questioned.

Adjectives that cannot come before the subject noun:

Examples:
o

The boys are ready to go. (Not: The ready boys are to go.)

The parents were glad about their daughter's success. (Not: The glad parents were ..)

Her mother is seriously ill in hospital.