Adjectives

Adjective

Oa word that modifies or describes a noun or a pronoun.

I have a handsome boyfriend.

Source: http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/adjective_order.htm

Order of adjectivesO Determiners — articles and other limiters. O Observation — postdeterminers and limiter adjectives

(e.g., a real hero, a perfect idiot) and adjectives subject to subjective measure (e.g., beautiful, interesting)

O Size and Shape — adjectives subject to objective measure (e.g., wealthy, large, round)

O Age — adjectives denoting age (e.g., young, old, new, ancient)

O Color — adjectives denoting color (e.g., red, black, pale) O Origin — denominal adjectives denoting source of noun

(e.g., French, American, Canadian) O Material — denominal adjectives denoting what

something is made of (e.g., woolen, metallic, wooden) O Qualifier — final limiter, often regarded as part of the

noun (e.g., rocking chair, hunting cabin, passenger car, book cover)

Kinds of AdjectivesO Descriptive Adjective

tells “what kind” ; gives quality, size, shape, color, and other characteristics

Ex. petite, sunny, big, tiny, oval, round, yellow,

Kinds of AdjectivesO Limiting Adjective

tells “which one, how many, and how much.”

Articles – a, an, the

Kinds of AdjectivesNumerical Adjective

Cardinal (numbers used in counting and in stating quantities)

Ex. one bus six children twenty boxes

Ordinal (numbers used in indicating a place, rank or a position in a series)

Ex. first wife second prize third honor

Kinds of AdjectivesO Noun Adjective

noun used to modify another noun

Proper Noun AdjectiveEx. Spanish era, American pie, Japanese

cuisine, Vietnamese language

Common Noun AdjectiveEx. hand bag, apple green, leather shoes

Kinds of AdjectivesO Quantitative Adjective

tells how much of something is spoken about

Ex. much interest, little improvement, sufficient courage, some attractions

O Demonstrative Adjective points out an object or objects

Ex. this, that, these, those

Kinds of AdjectivesO Possessive Adjective

shows ownership

Ex. The students’ council received an award.

O Interrogative Adjective used in asking questions

Ex. Which dress will you wear tonight?

Comparison of Adjectives

Positive/Base

Comparative

Superlative

pretty prettier prettiest

good better best

handsome more handsome

most handsome

big bigger biggest

far farther farthest

Comparison of Adjectives

Positive/Base

Comparative

Superlative

beautiful more beautiful

most beautiful

bad worse worst

cheap cheaper cheapest

funny funnier funniest

sad sadder saddest

Rules for forming comparisons

O One syllable adjective: add -er (c) / -est (s)small – smaller - smallest

O One syllable adjective ending in e: add –r (c) / -st

large – larger - largestO One-syllable adjective ending with a single

consonant with a vowel before it: double the consonant and add –er (c) / double the consonant and add –est (s)

thin – thinner - thinnest

Rules for forming comparisons

O Two-syllable adjective: add more (c) / most (s) before the adjective or less (c) / least (s)

careful – more careful – most carefulcareful – less careful – least careful

O Two-syllable adjective ending with –y: change the y to i and add –er (c) / change the y to i and add –est.

pretty – prettier - prettiestO Two-syllable adjectives ending in -er, -le or –ow:

add –r or–er (c) / add –st or –est (s)clever – cleverer – cleverestgentle – gentler – gentlestnarrow – narrower -narrowest

Rules for forming comparisons

O Adjectives with three syllables or more: add more (c) / most (s) before the adjective beautiful – more beautiful – most beautiful

SourcesO http://

grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/adjectives.htm

O http://www.eflnet.com/tutorials/adjcompsup.php

O http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ib_qLipylis