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Adjectives in English — Types, Order & Degrees of Comparison | @MyProGrammar
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Deepen your understanding of Adjectives and related English skills with these resources:
Deepen your understanding of Adjectives and related English skills with these resources:
Master describing words that add colour and detail to your writing.
Adjectives are words that describe nouns. A noun is a person, place, animal, or thing. Adjectives tell us what something is like. For example, we can describe size, color, age, shape, feeling, or quality. A red apple is not the same as a green apple. A small dog is different from a big dog. The adjective gives more information about the noun. Usually, adjectives come before the noun: a happy child, a tall building, an old book. They can also come after some verbs like be, seem, look, feel, taste, and sound: The child is happy. The soup smells good. • Adjectives answer questions like: What kind? Which one? How many? • They make sentences clearer and more interesting. • One noun can have more than one adjective: a small blue car. • A word is not always an adjective; it must describe a noun. At the beginner level, learn to spot adjectives in simple sentences and use them to describe everyday things.
• a big house (big tells us about the house) • the red ball (red describes color) • a happy baby (happy describes feeling) • The flowers are beautiful. (beautiful after be) • The soup smells delicious. (delicious after a sense verb)
Think: “What is it like?” If the word describes a noun, it is probably an adjective. Remember: adjectives often come before nouns, but they can also come after be, look, feel, and similar verbs.
Comparative adjectives compare two people, animals, places, or things. Superlative adjectives compare three or more. We use comparatives to show a difference and superlatives to show the highest or lowest level. For many short adjectives, add -er for the comparative and -est for the superlative: tall, taller, tallest. Small changes in spelling may happen: big, bigger, biggest. For longer adjectives, use more and most: more interesting, most interesting. Use comparative adjectives with than: My bag is lighter than your bag. Use superlative adjectives with the: This is the tallest building in the city. • Comparative = 2 things • Superlative = 3 or more things • Use than with comparatives • Use the with superlatives Beginner learners should remember that these forms help us compare size, speed, age, and many other qualities. Practice with simple pairs and groups first.
• My car is faster than your car. (comparing two) • This book is bigger than that book. (comparative + than) • Anna is the tallest student in the class. (superlative) • Today is hotter than yesterday. (comparative) • This is the most useful lesson. (long adjective with most)
Use than when you compare two things. Use the when you talk about the top one in a group: the best, the tallest, the most useful.
Some adjective types help us say exactly which noun we mean or add more detail. Demonstrative adjectives point to a noun: this book, that bag, these shoes, those cars. Possessive adjectives show ownership: my, your, his, her, its, our, their. Quantitative adjectives tell how much or how many: one apple, some milk, many friends, few coins, several ideas. Proper adjectives come from names of places or people and usually start with a capital letter: Italian food, American music, Shakespearean style. Participial adjectives come from verbs and end in -ing or -ed: a boring movie, an excited child. The -ing form often describes the thing causing the feeling; the -ed form often describes how a person feels. Predicate adjectives come after a linking verb: The sky is blue. The children are tired. Adjective order means that when we use more than one adjective, they usually follow a natural order. A common simple order is opinion, size, age, color, noun: a nice small old brown table. Beginners do not need every rule perfectly, but using a natural order sounds better. • this/that/these/those point to nouns • my/your/his/her/our/their show possession • one/some/many/few tell quantity • proper adjectives begin with capital letters • -ing and -ed adjectives can describe feelings or causes • predicate adjectives come after linking verbs like be
• This pencil is mine. (demonstrative + possessive idea) • Her brother is tall. (possessive adjective) • We have many books. (quantitative) • Italian pizza is popular. (proper adjective) • The movie was boring. (participial adjective) • The flowers are fresh. (predicate adjective)
Look at the job of the word: point, own, count, or describe. When you use two or more adjectives, put opinion before size and color: a nice big red ball.