PART OF SPEECH
Adjective
Adjectives are words that describe the qualities or states of being of nouns:
Eg
enormous, doglike, silly, yellow, fun, fast. They can also describe the quantity of nouns:
many, few, millions, [Link] 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).
Adjective Form
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.
Common types of adjectives
We are going to briefly examine 13 different types of adjectives.
1. Comparative adjectives
2. Superlative adjectives
3. Predicate adjectives
4. Compound adjectives
5. Possessive adjectives
6. Demonstrative adjectives
7. Proper adjectives
8. Participial adjectives
9. Limiting adjectives
10. Descriptive adjectives
[Link] adjectives
12. Attributive adjectives
13. Distributive adjectives
14. NUMERIAL ADJECTIVE
1. Comparative adjectives
Comparative adjectives are used to compare two different people or things
to each other. Some examples of comparative adjectives include words
such as smaller, faster, more expensive, and less reasonable.
Comparative adjective examples
● Whales are larger animals than dolphins.
● We moved to a cheaper apartment.
● The sequel was even more incredible than the first movie.
2. Superlative adjectives
Superlative adjectives are used to compare more than two people or things
by indicating which one is the most supreme or extreme. Some examples
of superlative adjectives include words such as smartest, loudest, most
impressive, and least valuable.
Superlative adjective examples
● Adrian is the fastest member of our team.
● Out of all of my books, this one is the oldest.
● We are trying to figure out the least confusing way to explain
the lesson to the new students.
3. Predicate adjectives
Predicate adjectives are adjectives that appear in the predicate of a
sentence as a subject complement rather than directly next to the nouns or
pronouns that they modify. Predicate adjectives follow linking verbs in
sentences and clauses.
Predicate adjective examples
● Andrea is tall.
● Freddy became angry.
● The steak looks delicious.
4. Compound adjectives
Compound adjectives are adjectives that are formed from multiple words,
which are usually connected by hyphens. Some examples of compound
adjectives include never-ending, cross-eyed, and run-of-the-mill.
Compound adjective examples
● She had enough of the double-dealing salesman.
● My happy-go-lucky daughter loved our trip to Disneyland.
● The better-off members of the city live by the river.
5. Possessive adjectives
Possessive adjectives are often used to express possession or ownership.
The most commonly used possessive adjectives are my, your, its, her, his,
our, their, and whose.
Possessive adjective examples
● My favorite food is pizza.
● Sydney spent the day with her parents.
● Canadians celebrated their team’s victory at the Olympics.
6. Demonstrative adjectives
Demonstrative adjectives are used to express relative positions in space
and time. The most commonly used demonstrative adjectives are this, that,
these, and those.
Demonstrative adjective examples
● This watch is cheaper than that one.
● This weekend is going to be really fun.
● Watch out for those prickly rose bushes next to you.
7. Proper adjectives
Proper adjectives are adjectives formed from proper nouns. In general,
proper adjectives are commonly used to say that something is related to a
specific person or place. Proper adjectives include words such as African,
Napoleonic, and Shakespearian
OR
(Adjectives formed from Proper Nouns (e.g., French wines, Turkish
tobacco, Indian tea, etc.) are sometimes called Proper Adjectives. They are
generally classed with Adjectives of Quality) language
Proper adjective examples
● He was reading a Russian newspaper.
● I think Haitian food is tasty.
● We studied the history of Victorian England in school today.
8. Participial adjectives
Participial adjectives are adjectives that are based on participles, which are
words that usually end in -ed or -ing and derive from verbs. Participial
adjectives include words like amazing, impressed, and fascinating.
Participial adjective examples
● Travis was late for his swimming lessons.
● Please hand me my reading glasses.
● The silly clown cheered up the bored children.
9. Limiting adjectives
Limiting adjectives are adjectives that restrict a noun or pronoun rather than
describe any of its characteristics or qualities. Limiting adjectives overlap
with other types of adjectives such as demonstrative adjectives and
possessive adjectives. Limiting adjectives include words such as these,
your, and some.
Limiting adjective examples
● I bought some eggs at the store.
● She found three pennies under the couch cushions.
● Take a look at that house over there.
10. Descriptive adjectives
Descriptive adjectives are adjectives that describe the characteristics,
traits, or qualities of a noun or pronoun. Most adjectives are descriptive
adjectives. Words such as purple, friendly, and attractive are examples of
descriptive adjectives.
Descriptive adjective examples
● A lot of interesting people visit this park.
● She told a scary story.
● The leaves turned orange and red.
11. Interrogative adjectives
Interrogative adjectives are adjectives that are used to ask questions. The
interrogative adjectives are what, which, and whose.
Interrogative adjective examples
● What color is your favorite?
● Which button turns off the lights?
● Whose turn is it to wash the cat?
12. Attributive adjectives
Attributive adjectives are adjectives that are directly next to the noun and
pronoun that they modify. Usually, attributive adjectives come directly
before nouns and pronouns but they modify. But they can sometimes
appear after them.
Attributive adjective examples
● She has beautiful handwriting.
● The hungry gorilla ate the fresh mangoes.
● Keith gave his dad something special for his birthday.
13. Distributive adjectives
Distributive adjectives are used to refer to members of a group individually.
Examples of distributive adjectives include each, every, either, and neither.
OR
Adjectives of Quality (or Descriptive Adjective) show the kind or quality of a
person or thing; as,
Kolkata is a large city
Distributive adjective examples
● Each puppy got their own little doghouse.
● Every member of the team scored a goal.
● I’ll be happy if either candidate wins the election.
NUMERIAL ADJECTIVE
● Adjectives of Number (or Numeral Adjectives) show how many
persons or things are meant, or in what order a person or thing
stands; as,
● The hand has five fingers. Few cats like cold water. There are no
pictures in this book.
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