Adjectives

Adjectives 

 What is an adjective?

 Simply, an adjective describes or modifies a noun. It provides further information about a noun, indicating things like size, shape, color, and more. Adjectives can also modify pronouns.

 They answer questions like, “Which one?” “How many?,” “Whose?,” and “What kind?” Without adjectives, we wouldn’t know if you had a serene vacation or a disastrous vacation.

 Let’s dive into the intricacies of this important part of speech. Information Gatherers Now, we know adjectives are information gatherers. Specifically, they provide further information about an object’s size, shape, age, color, origin, or material. Here are some examples of adjectives in action:

 It’s a big table. (size)

 It’s a round table. (shape)

 It’s an old table. (age)

 It’s a brown table. (color)

 It’s an English table. (origin)

 It’s a wooden table. (material)

 It’s a lovely table. (opinion)

 It’s a broken table. (observation)

 It’s a coffee table. (purpose) 

Also, when an item is defined by its purpose, that word isn’t usually an adjective, but it acts as one with the noun in that situation. coffee, table, pool, hall, hunting cabin, baseball player. For more on that, enjoy this deep dive into Types of Adjectives.

Identifying Adjectives English grammar can be tricky. For every rule, there’s likely an exception. Typically, however, English adjectives end with these suffixes:

 -able/-ible: adorable, invisible, responsible, uncomfortable

 -al: educational, gradual, illegal, nocturnal, viral 

-an: American, Mexican, urban

 -ar: cellular, popular, spectacular, vulgar

 -ent: intelligent, potent, silent, violent 

-ful: harmful, powerful, tasteful, thoughtful

 -ic/-ical: athletic, energetic, magical, scientific

 -ine: bovine, canine, equine, feminine, masculine

 -ile: agile, docile, fertile, virile

 -ive: informative, native, talkative

 -less: careless, endless, homeless, timeless

 -ous: cautious, dangerous, enormous, malodorous

 -some: awesome, handsome, lonesome, wholesome

 Many adjectives also end with -y, -ary, -ate, -ed, and -ing.

* However, nouns and adverbs can end with -y. 

*Many nouns end with -ary.

* Nouns and verbs also end with -ate.

* Verbs can also end in -ed and -ing. 

To work out if a word is an adjective or not, look at its location in a complete sentence. 

 Sentence Placement

If you come across a word that ends in -y, -ary, or -ate (or any other suffix for that matter) and want to know if it’s an adjective, look at where it is, and what it’s doing in the sentence. If it comes immediately before a noun, it’s likely an adjective. Better yet, if it comes between any of these constructs, it’s almost definitely an adjective: 

 An article (a, an, the) + noun The grassy field was wet with dew. In this example, “grassy” comes between an article (the) and a noun (field), so you know it’s an adjective.

 A possessive adjective (my, his, her, its, your, our, their) + noun e.g. These are my old trophies. In this example, “old” comes between a possessive adjective (my) and a noun (trophies), making it an adjective.

 A demonstrative (this, that, these, those) + noun e.g. Did you see that immaculate kitchen? In this example, “immaculate” comes between a demonstrative (that) and a noun (kitchen), so it must be an adjective. 

An amount (some, most, all, a few) + noun e.g.We had a few ordinary days. In this example, “ordinary” comes between an amount (a few) and a noun (days), so it’s definitely an adjective. Adjectives can also act as complements. Complements complete a sentence when the verb is “to be.” Not every compliment is an adjective, but some adjectives can be complements. For example:

 She is tall.

 He is smart, handsome, and rich.

 This tent is malodorous.

* Order of Adjectives

When you list several adjectives in a row, there’s a specific order they need to go in. Native English speakers tend to put them in the correct order naturally, but if you’re learning English, you’ll have to memorize the order. It goes like this:

Determiner – An article (a, an, the),

 A number or amount,

 A possessive adjective (my, his, her, its, your, our, their), or

 A demonstrative (this, that, these, those)

 Observation/Opinion – Beautiful, expensive, gorgeous, broken, delicious, ugly

 Size – Huge, tiny, 4-foot-tall 

Shape – Square, circular, oblong 

Age – 10-year-old, new, antique

 Color – Black, red, blue-green 

Origin – Roman, English, Mongolian

 Material – Silk, silver, plastic, wooden

 Qualifier – A noun or verb acting as an adjective

 This is the correct cumulative order for adjectives that come directly before a noun. They are not separated by commas.

E.g. My beautiful big circular antique brown English wooden coffee table was broken in the move. Remember that, when an item is defined by its purpose, that word isn’t usually an adjective. However, in that situation, it acts like one. We see that in “coffee” table here. It’s also important to note that, when we’re stacking up adjectives like this, we don’t use “and” before the final descriptor.

 If an adjective comes after the verb “to be” as the complement, then the qualifier (the defining word) will stay with the noun at the beginning of the sentence. You’ll notice in the example below that “coffee” stays with “table” as well.

 The rest of the adjectives in the complement are separated by commas with the final two being separated by “and.” My coffee table is beautiful, big, circular, antique, brown, English, and wooden. Practice Exercises 

 Q1. Pick out all the adjectives in the following sentences and say to which class each of them belongs. 1. The car sustained heavy damage in the accident.

 2. He has written several stories.

 3. A dog is very faithful to its master.

 4. Every man has his duties.

 5. He is a man of few words.

 6. Neither party is quite in the right. 

7. Which color do you prefer?

 8. The way was long, the wind was cold.

 9. He calls me every day. 

10. I have not seen him in several days. 

11. John won the second prize.

 12. He was absent from the class. 

13. He died a glorious death.

 14. A small leak is enough to sink a great ship. 

15. King Francis was a hearty king and loved a royal sport. 

 Q2. 1. Which word in this sentence is the ADJECTIVE?

1. He threw the hard rock into the river.

a) threw 

b) rock

c) hard

d) river 

2. Which word in this sentence is the ADJECTIVE?

 The boy wore a blue shirt to school.

a) boy

b) wore

c) blue

d) shirt 

3. Which word best fits in the blank? 

The feather fell to the ground. 

a) soft

b) softly

 4. Which word is an adjective?

a) run

b) color

c) beautiful

d) boy 

5. Which word is an adjective?

a) gorgeous 

b)ourselves

c) surprise

d) hiking

 6. Complete the sentence with the adjective that describes quantity:

 There are stars in the sky tonight! 

a) colorful

b) countless

c) tasty

d) one 

7. Write an adjective that best fits the sentence.

 Abraham Lincoln is often described as ................ . Abraham Lincoln is one of the most ........................American presidents. His............. speeches about freedom united the country. Abe and Mary went to school for................... periods of time.

 8. What is the compound adjective in the following sentence? 

Our team lost, but we enjoyed the halftime show.

a) enjoyed

b) show

c) team 

d) halftime

 9. My favorite baseball team is the BOSTON Red Sox. Is the word in all caps an adjective or adverb? a) adjective

b) adverb

 10. These friendly people are our neighbors. Which word is an adjective?

a) people

b) neighbors 

c) friendly

 11. Usually, when you choose a center for your team, you pick someone who is TALL. Is the word in all caps an adjective or adverb?

a) adjective

b) adverb

 12. Which adjective best fits in the blank? It was not raining, so my umbrella was..........

a)  dry

b) old

c) rude

 13. Which adjective best fits in the blank? My mom asked me to wash the dishes.

a) dirty

b) fancy

c) shiny

 14. Choose the correct adjective to fill the sentence. Cynthia made a nice,…………… cake.

a) sweet 

b) sour

 16. Which word is an adjective? Mr. Argyle jump beautiful run 

17. Which adjective best fits in the blank? Carter looked for a shirt to wear.

a) clean

b) frozen

c) ugly

 18. What is another name for an adjective?

a) people, places, and things

b) a describing word a word that tells what a noun does

c) an opposite 

19. Which adjective best fits in the blank? The kitten looked curled up in the blanket.

a) angry

b) cozy

c) scary

 20. Which word in the following sentence is an adjective? As we crept through the forest, a frosty wind blew through the air.

a) frosty

b) forest

c) blew

d) crept 

e)wind

 21. Which adjective best fits in the blank? We caught the bus.

 a. awful

 b. early

 c. calm 

 ADJECTIVES

 Part-II

 ADJECTIVES: There are three Degrees of Comparison Adjective change in form when they show comparison.

 Positive Degree: An adjective is said to be in the positive degree when there is no comparison. Comparative Degree: An adjective is said to be in the comparative degree when it is used to compare two nouns/pronouns. 

 Superlative Degree: An adjective is in a superlative degree when it is used to compare more than two nouns/pronouns. We use the article ‘the’ before the superlative degrees. Formation of Comparative & Superlative Degrees of Adjectives Adjectives usually form their comparative and superlative degrees: 1) by addition of ‘-er’ and ‘-est’ to the positive degree 

 POSITIVE       COMPARATIVE         SUPERLATIVE

 bright                brighter                        brightest

 black                 blacker                         blackest

 bold                  bolder                           boldest

 clever               cleverer                        cleverest 

cold                   colder                           coldest

 fast                   faster                            fastest 

great                  greater                          greatest

 high                  higher                           highest

 kind                  kinder                           kindest

 long                  longer                           longest
 rich                   richer                            richest

 small                smaller                          smallest

 strong               stronger                         strongest

 sweet                sweeter                         sweetest

 tall                    taller                             tallest

 thick                 thicker                          thickest

 young               younger                        youngest

 http://ucpschool.net / adjectives

 2) by addition of ‘-r’ and ‘-st’ to the positive degree ending in ‘e’

 POSITIVE        COMPARATIVE           SUPERLATIVE 

brave                 braver                        bravest 

 fine                   finer                           finest

 large                 larger                         largest

 nice                  nicer                          nicest

 noble               nobler                        noblest

 pale                 paler                          palest

 simple             simpler                       simplest

 wise                wiser                          wisest

 white              whiter                          whitest http://ucpschool.net/adjectives 

3) When the positive ends in ‘y’ and has a consonant before it, we change ‘y’ into ‘i’ and then add ‘er’ and ‘est’. By deleting the final ‘y’ and adding ‘ier’ and ‘iest’

 POSITIVE         COMPARATIVE        SUPERLATIVE

 costly                costlier                     costliest

 dry                    drier                         driest

 easy                 easier                       easiest

 happy               happier                     happiest

 heavy               heavier                     heaviest

 lazy                 lazier                         laziest

 mercy              mercier                      merciest

 wealthy           wealthier                    wealthiest http://ucpschool.net/adjectives

 4) when the positive degree ends in a consonant with a vowel before it, we double the consonant & then add ‘-er’ and ‘-est’ POSITIVE          COMPARATIVE       SUPERLATIVE

 big                    bigger                     biggest

 dim                   dimmer                   dimmest

 fat                     fatter                      fattest

 hot                   hotter                      hottest

 thin                  thinner                    thinnest http://ucpschool.net/adjectives 

5) by addition of ‘-er’ and ‘-est’ to the positive degree when it ends in ‘-y’

 POSITIVE         COMPARATIVE         SUPERLATIVE 

 gay                   gayer                        gayest

 grey                  greyer                       greyest http://ucpschool.net/adjectives 

5) by placing ‘more’ and ‘most’ before the positive form POSITIVE        COMPARATIVE           SUPERLATIVE 

active               more active                 most active

attractive          more attractive            most attractive

beautiful          more beautiful             most beautiful

brilliant            more brilliant               most brilliant

careful             more careful               most careful courageous     more courageous        most courageous cunning           more cunning             most cunning

difficult            more difficult               most difficult

famous            more famous              most famous

faithful             more faithful               most faithful

important         more important           most important

proper             more proper                most proper

popular           more popular               most popular

splendid         more splendid              most splendid

suitable          more suitable               most suitable http://ucpschool.net/adjectives 

Some adjectives do not follow any of the rules explained earlier. They are compared irregularly. Here are the different forms of such adjectives.

POSITIVE       COMPARATIVE          SUPERLATIVE

bad                 worse                         worst

evil                  worse                         worst

good               better                         best

ill                    worse                         worst

far                   farther                        farthest

well                 better                          best

late                 later                            latest (time) 

late                 later                            last (position)

little                less                             least

much              more                            most 

many              more                           most

near                nearer                        nearest

old                 older                           oldest

old                 elder                           eldest http://ucpschool.net/adjectives 

Practice Exercises

1.”The BRAVE few fought the war.” – Which type of adjective is the word in capitals?

 a) An adjective that modifies the pronoun.

 b) Indefinite Adjective.

 c) Demonstrative Adjective.

 d) Possessive Adjective.

 2.”If he sees THAT burglar again, he will call the police.” – Which type of adjective is the word in capitals?

 a) An adjective that modifies the pronoun.

 b) Indefinite Adjective.

 c) Demonstrative Adjective.

 d) Possessive

 3.”Did you see ANY person come on this road?” “No, I saw NO one come here.” – Which type of adjectives are the words in capitals?

 a) An adjective that modifies the pronoun.

 b) Indefinite Adjective.

 c) Demonstrative Adjective.

 d) Possessive Adjective. 

 4.” In the last FEW days, SEVERAL animals were shot by MANY poachers.” – Which type of adjectives are the words in capitals?

 a) An adjective that modifies the pronoun.

 b) Indefinite Adjective.

 c) Demonstrative Adjective.

 d) Possessive Adjective. 

 5.”Can you see THAT plane?” – Which type of adjective is the word in capitals? 

 a) An adjective that modifies the pronoun. 

 b) Indefinite Adjective. 

 c) Demonstrative Adjective. 

 d) Possessive Adjective. 

 6.”I have seen SOME biscuits in the box.” – Which type of adjective is the word in capitals?

 a) An adjective that modifies the pronoun.

 b) Indefinite Adjective. 

 c) Demonstrative Adjective.

 d) Possessive Adjective. 

 7.”The students were caught cheating and the teacher confiscated THEIR answer papers.” – Which type of adjective is the word in capitals? 

 a) An adjective that modifies the pronoun. 

 b) Indefinite Adjective. 

 c) Demonstrative Adjective. 

 d) Possessive Adjective. 

 8.”He was asked to spot the car that crashed and he identified the RED one.” – Which type of adjective is the word in capitals? 

 a) An adjective that modifies the pronoun. 

 b) Indefinite Adjective. 

 c) Demonstrative Adjective. 

 d) Possessive Adjective.

 9.”He was asked to take possession of MY cycle.” – Which type of adjective is the word in capitals? 

 a) An adjective that modifies the pronoun. 

 b) Indefinite Adjective. 

 c) Demonstrative Adjective. 

 d) Possessive Adjective. 

 10.”Dog collars will be given to THOSE dogs that are trained.” – Which type of adjective is the word in capitals? 

 a) An adjective that modifies the pronoun. 

 b) Indefinite Adjective. 

 c) Demonstrative Adjective. 

 d) Possessive Adjective. 

 Exercise-2 

 Q1. What is an adjective? 

 a) a person, place, thing, or idea 

 b) an action 

 c) a word used to describe a noun or pronoun 

 d) the main events of a play, novel, movie, or similar word 

 Q2. Which kind of adjective uses : this, that, these, and those? 

 a) Artice 

 b) Proper 

 c) Demonstrative 

 d) Describer 

 Q3. Which type of adjective uses: A, An, or The? 

 a) Article 

 b) Proper 

 c) Describer 

 d) Demonstrative 

 Q4. My shirt is in that drawer. 

 a) Proper 

 b) Describer 

 c) Article 

 d) Demonstrative 

 Q5. What the interrogative pronouns/adjectives? 

 a) this, that, these, those 

 b) which, what who 

 c) what, which, whose, when 

 d) what, which, whose 

 Q6. Is the green word a demonstrative/interrogative adjective or pronoun?

 Which book would you like to borrow from the library? 

 a) demonstrative adjective 

 b) demonstrative pronoun 

 c) interrogative pronoun 

 d) interrogative adjective 

 Q7. Most children enjoy camping because of the abundant wildlife, the nightly campfires, and the calm pace.

 What are the adjectives in this sentence? 

 a) most, the, abundant, the, nightly, the, calm 

 b) enjoy, abundant, pace 

 c) camping, children, campfires 

 Q8. Choose the correct form of the adjectives in parentheses for the sentence.Packing for a camping trip can be one of the __________ tasks a camper faces. (challenging, superlative) a) more challenging 

 b) most challenging 

 c) much challenging 

 Q9. Choose the correct form of the adjective for the following sentence. For ____________ weather, pack lightweight clothing and a hat with a wide brim. (warm, comparative) 

 a) warm 

 b) warmer 

 c) warmest 

 Q10. Choose the correct form of the adjective for the following sentence. Avoid wearing blue jeans in rainy or snowy weather since they take __________ to dry than wool or cotton. 

a) long,

b) longer 

c) longest 

d) more long 

 Q11. What is the adjective in the sentence? A volcanic eruption frightened the islanders. 

 a) islanders 

 b) frightened 

 c) eruption 

 d) volcanic 

 Q12. What is the article in the sentence? We can spend the afternoon at home. 

a) We 

b) the

c) at 

d) home 

Q13. Which word describes the word in blue? Mr. Henderson’s oldest son goes to college. 

a) oldest 

b) Mr. Henderson’s 

c) goes 

d) college 

Q14. What type of adjective is used in this sentence? Scott spends his free time playing video games. 

 a) noun 

 b) proper noun 

 c) compound noun 

 d) pronoun 

 Q15. What type of adjective is used in this sentence? I would like to know what the weekend weather will be. 

 a) noun 

 b) proper noun 

 c) compound noun 

 d) pronoun 

 Q16. Identify the ADJECTIVE in this sentence: I wanted her to give me that pencil quickly. 

 a) wanted 

 b) that 

 c) pencil 

d) quickly

Q17. Identify the ADJECTIVE in this sentence: She had less juice in her glass than I did. 

a) less 

b) juice 

c) glass 

d) did 

Q18. Find the noun used as an adjective in the following sentence: Congress is made up of two government houses.

a) Congress 

b) two 

c) government

d) houses 

Q19. Find the noun used as an adjective in the following sentence: Because of the rain, the football field was a mess. a) rain 

b) football 

c) field 

d) mess 

Q20. Find the compound adjective: You may find outspoken representatives arguing about some issues. 

 a) outspoken 

 b) representatives 

 c) some 

 d) issues 

 Q21. An adjective is a word that describes a noun or pronoun. What is the adjective in the sentence? The young class was nervous about the test.

 a) young 

 b) class 

 c) about 

 d) test 

 Q22. What word is being modified by the adjective in RED? I’ll give you five dollars for the antique bottle. 

 a) five 

 b) dollars 

 c) give 

 d) bottle

 Q23. What word is being modified by the adjective in RED? I’ll give you five dollars for the antique bottle.

 a) give 

 b) dollars 

 c) antique 

 d) bottle

 Q24. What word is being modified by the adjective in RED? An elderly man sat on the shady porch. 

 a) man 

 b) sat 

 c) shady 

 d) porch 

 Q.25. Click all of the descriptive adjectives. 

 a) beautiful 

 b) balloon 

 c) trash 

 d) outstanding 

 Q.26. click all of the quantitative adjectives 

 a) three 

 b) blue 

 c) car 

 d) many

 Q27.click all of the demonstrative adjectives

 a) this 

 b) that 

 c) green 

 d) sky

 Q28. click all of the possessive adjectives 

 a) she 

 b) nice 

 c) glue 

 d) he 

 Q29. click all of the interrogative adjectives 

 a) which 

 b) seven 

 c) how 

 d) tree 

 Q30. How do adjectives affect your writing? 

 a) make your writing dull 

 b) make your writing cooler 

 c) make your writing easier 

d) make your writing more vivid

 Exercise-3 

 1. Those are probably the ___________ curtains in the store. a) fancyest 

b) fanciest

c) most fanciest

 2. Uncle Carl is really ______________________ man. 

a) an old sweet

b) a sweet

c) a sweet old

 3. The Karmen-Ghia used to be _________________ sportscar. 

a) a fine German 

b) a German, fine

c) a fine, German 

4. They grew up in ___________________ house in Mexico City. 

a) a comfortable, little 

b) a little, comfortable

c) a comfortable little

 5. Diehard is the ____________ movie I’ve ever seen.

a) most excited

b) most exciting 

c) most exciteable 

6. Tashonda wanted to take a course with _____________________ professor.

a) that interesting new Japanese economics

b) that Japanese interesting, new economics

c) that interesting, new, Japanese, economics 

7. Of all the mechanics in the shop, Jerzy is surely ______________ .

a) the less competent.

b) the least competent. 

c) the competentest. 

8. In the fall, the valleys tend to be ___________ than the hilltops.

a) foggy 

b) more foggier

c) foggier

 9. My cold is definitely _________ this morning.

a) worse

b) worst

c) worser

 Exercise-4 

 1. Andrea had a ________ in her hair yesterday.

 a) nice yellow bow 

 b) yellow nice bow 

 c) bow nice yellow 

 2. She lost a ________ .

 a) small white cat 

 b) cat small white 

 c) white small cat 

 3. I bought ________ oranges.

 a) great some big

 b) big great some

 c) some great big 

 4. We met ________ people at the conference.

 a) very smart two

 b) two very smart 

 c) very two smart 

5. The clown was wearing a ________ hat. 

 a) big green-yellow 

 b) big green and yellow

 c) yellow and green big

 6. The cookies that you ________ .

 a) smell deliciously baked

 b) baked smell delicious

 c) delicious smell baked 

 7. Is it ________ ? 

 a) cold getting outside

 b) getting cold outside

 c) getting outside cold 

 8. The course you are ________ .

 a) taking sounds interesting 

 b) sounds interesting taking 

 c) interesting sounds taking 

 9. My uncle wore a ________ to the wedding. 

 a) silk blue tie 

 b) tie blue silk

 c) blue silk tie 

 10. Have you met that _____ next door?

 a) cute boy new

 b) cute new boy

 c) new boy cute

 Exercise-5 

 Choose the right adjective in the following sentences:

 1. Small children skipped.

 A. Children B. Skipped C. Small 

2. Silly puppies tugged.

 A. Silly B. Puppies C. Tugged

3. The round ball bounced.

 A. Round B. Ball C. Bounced

4. Pretty flowers bloomed.

 A. Flowers B. Bloomed C. Pretty

5. Special people won.

 A. People B. Won C. Special

6. The worried parent waited.

 A. Parent B. Worried C. Waited 

7. The hot volcano erupted.

 A. Hot B. Erupted C. Volcano

8. Wet ducks swam. 

A. Wet B. Swam C. Ducks 

9. The bright light glowed.

 A. Glowed B. Light C. Bright

10. Fast cars raced.

 A. Cars B. Raced C. Fast