Lesson 6 Adjectives: Adjective Examples

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Lesson 6

ADJECTIVES
Outline
1.1 Definition
1.2 Types of Adjectives
1.3 Formation of Adjectives
1.4 Comparing Adjectives
1.5 Compound Adjectives
1.6 De-nominal Adjectives
1.7 Position of Adjectives
1.8 Order of Adjectives

1.1 What is an adjective?


An a word belonging to one of the major form classes in any of numerous languages
and typically serving as a modifier of a noun to denote:
 A quality of the thing named,
 To indicate its quantity or extent,
 To specify a thing as distinct from something else

Adjectives are words that describe or modify other words, making your writing and speaking
much more specific, and a whole lot more interesting. Words like small, blue, and sharp are
descriptive, and they are all examples of adjectives. Because adjectives are used to identify or
quantify individual people and unique things, they are usually positioned before
the noun or pronoun that they modify. Some sentences contain multiple adjectives.

Adjective Examples
In the following examples, the highlighted words are adjectives:

1. They live in a big, beautiful mansion.


2. Since it’s a hot day, Lisa is wearing a sleeveless blouse.
3. The mountaintops are covered in sparkling snow.
4. On her birthday, Brenda received an antique vase filled with fragrant perfume.

1.2 Types of Adjectives


Remember that adjectives can modify as well as describe other words, and you’ll find it much easier
to identify different types of adjectives when you see them. Therefore, any word that modifies
especially nouns can be classified as adjectives.

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1. DETERMINERS
The determiners are important noun modifiers which provide context to noun; often in terms
of quantity or possession.

Determiners usually precede; that is they come before a noun or a noun phrase.
They simply make clear the reference of nouns.
Their four kinds of determiners;
i. Articles [ The, a, an]
ii. Demonstratives [ this, that ,these, those]
iii. Quantifiers [ few, little, any, some,]
iv. Possessive [ theirs, mine, my, yours]

I. Articles
There are only three articles, and all of them are adjectives: a, an, and the. Because they are used to
discuss non-specific things and people, a and an are called indefinite articles. For example:

 I’d like a
 Let’s go on an
Neither one of these sentences names a specific banana or a certain adventure. Without more
clarification, any banana or adventure will do.

The word the is called the definite article. It’s the only definite article, and it is used to indicate
very specific people or things:

 Please give me a banana. I’d like the one with the green stem.


 Let’s go on an adventure. The Grand Canyon mule ride sounds perfect!

II. Possessive Determiners


Possessive determiners tell us who owns something. They are sometimes referred as
possessive adjectives.

We use possessive determiners before nouns to show who owns the noun we are talking about.

Example;

 Hana gave me your book

‘Your’ is a possessive determiner. It tells us that you own the book.

Types of Possessive Determiners

We use different possessive determiners depending on who owns the thing we are talking about.

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Subject. Possessive Adjective
I My
We Our
You Your
They Their
He His
She Her
It Its
Examples;
That is my pen.[ talking about a pen. I own the pen]
Their house is in New Hargeisa. [talking about a house. They own the house]

NB

We use possessive determiners before nouns.


Possessive determiner + Noun
III. Demonstratives
There are two types of demonstratives which resemble whereby we use the same pronouns
in both cases.
 Demonstrative pronouns
 Demonstrative adjectives

Singular Plural
This These
That Those

The difference is that;

a. Demonstrative pronouns stand for the nouns, just as personal pronouns stand in
place of nouns.
b. Demonstrative adjectives are always followed by a noun.

Demonstrative Pronouns Demonstrative adjectives


This is yours This book is yours
Do you need these? Do you need these shirts?

Like the article the, demonstrative adjectives are used to indicate or demonstrate specific people,
animals, or things. These, those, this and that are demonstrative adjectives.

 These books belong on that


 This movie is my favorite.

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 Please put those cookies on the blue plate.

IV. Adjectival Quantifiers.


Adjectival quantifiers are used to show quantity and one’s attitude towards it. They
always come before a noun too.

Little, a little, few , a


few

Little is used negatively with uncountable nouns to show that the quantity involved is
small, neglible, not enough.
 Hani gave me very little tea.
 This chocolate is little to share.

A little is used appreciatively with uncountable nouns to show that the quantity involved
though small is available.
 Hani gave me a little tea.
 We will share a little of the chocolate.

Few is used negatively with countable nouns to show that the quantity involved is small,
inadequate and negligible.

 She gave me few slices of bread.


 We have few mangoes today.

A few is used appreciatively with countable nouns to show that the quantity involved
though barely adequate is available.

 She gave me a few slices of bread.


 We have a few mangoes today.

Other Adjectival Quantifiers {indefinite}

Some is used with both countable and uncountable nouns to an unspecified amount or
a limited quantity.

 She gave me some fruits.


 The teacher offered some good advice.

Any is used with uncountables or plural nouns in questions and negative sentences.

 Are there any new books in the library?


 Did the police give you any assistance?

Many is used with plural countable nouns to show large quantities.

 Abdirashid has many friends in America.

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 How many goats do you have?

Much is used with uncountable nouns to indicate large quantities.

 How much money does Huda owe you?


 We don’t have much time left?

A lot is used with both countable and uncountable nouns to show a large quantity.

 It takes a lot of courage to speak for the oppressed.


 There were a lot of people at the wedding party.

2. Coordinate Adjectives

Coordinate adjectives are separated with commas or the word and, and appear one after another to
modify the same noun.
The adjectives in the phrase bright, sunny day and long and dark night are coordinate
adjectives. In phrases with more than two coordinate adjectives, the word and always appears before
the last one; for example:
 The sign had big, bold, and bright letters.
Be careful, because some adjectives that appear in a series are not coordinate. These are known as
cumulative adjectives, they come in a specific determined order. In the phrase green delivery
truck, the words green and delivery are not separated by a comma because green modifies the
phrase delivery truck. To avoid the confusion: when determining whether a pair or group of
adjectives is coordinate, just insert the word and between them. If and works, then the adjectives are
coordinate and need to be separated with a comma.

More examples to identify between cumulative and coordinate adjective:

 Bright blue dress

 Old, torn shirt

 Ambitious, intelligent person

 Cozy, crowded room

 New striped shirt

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3. Numbers Adjectives

When they’re used in sentences, numbers are almost always adjectives. You can tell that a number is
an adjective when it answers the question “How many?”

 The stagecoach was pulled by a team of six


 He ate 23 hotdogs during the contest, and was sick afterwards.

4. Interrogative Adjectives

There are three interrogative adjectives: which, what, and whose. Like all other types of adjectives,
interrogative adjectives modify nouns. As you probably know, all three of these words are used to ask
questions.

 Which option sounds best to you?


 What time should we go?
 Whose socks are those?

5.  Indefinite Adjectives

Like the articles a and an, indefinite adjectives are used to discuss non-specific things. You might
recognize them, since they’re formed from indefinite pronouns. The most common indefinite
adjectives are any, many, no, several, and few.

 Do we have any peanut butter?
 Grandfather has been retired for many
 There are no bananas in the fruit bowl.
 I usually read the first few pages of a book before I buy it.
 We looked at several cars before deciding on the best one for our family.

6. Attributive Adjectives

Attributive adjectives talk about specific traits, qualities, or features – in other words, they are used
to discuss attributes. There are different kinds of attributive adjectives:

 Observation adjectives such as real, perfect, best, interesting,


beautiful or cheapest can indicate value or talk about subjective measures.
 Size and shape adjectives talk about measurable, objective qualities including
specific physical properties. Some examples include small, large, square, round, poor,
wealthy, slow 

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 Age adjectives denote specific ages in numbers, as well as general
ages. Examples are old, young, new, five-year-old.
 Color adjectives are exactly what they sound like – they’re adjectives that
indicate color. Examples include pink, yellow, blue.
 Origin adjectives indicate the source of the noun, whether it’s a person, place,
animal or thing. Examples include American, Canadian, Mexican, French.
 Material adjectives denote what something is made of. Some examples
include cotton, gold, wool.
 Qualifier or Purpose adjectives are often regarded as part of a noun. They
make nouns more specific; examples include log cabin, luxury car, and pillow cover.

Please note these are the cumulative adjectives mentioned earlier and the come with a specific
determined order when used along one another. This we shall discuss later under Order of
Adjectives.

1.3 Formation of Adjectives


Typical adjective endings
Some adjectives can be identified by their endings. Typical adjective endings include:

a) -able/-ible understandable, capable, readable, incredible


b) -al mathematical, functional, influential, chemical
c) -ful beautiful, bashful, helpful, harmful
d) -ic artistic, manic, rustic, terrific
e) -ive submissive, intuitive, inventive, attractive
f) -less sleeveless, hopeless, groundless, restless
g) -ous gorgeous, dangerous, adventurous, fabulous

Sometimes when adding these endings changes have to be made. Here are some rules
for forming adjectives and their exceptions:

Add Exceptions Word Adjective

Nature Natural
-al If ending with an ‘e‘, drop it
Function Functional

Ice Icy
-y If ending with an ‘e‘, drop it
Oil Oily

-ful If ending with a ‘y‘, replace with an Beauty Beautiful

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Add Exceptions Word Adjective

‘i‘ Peace Peaceful

-ous/- Mystery Mysterious


If ending with a ‘y‘, drop it
ious Danger Dangerous

History Historic
-ic If ending with a ‘y‘, drop it
Rust Rustic

Forming adjectives from nouns and verbs

Adjectives can be formed from different words.

They can be formed from nouns:

Noun Adjective

acciden
accidental
t

Danger dangerous

Length Long

Star Starry

Wind Windy

From verbs:

Verb Adjective

Enjo
enjoyable
y

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Verb Adjective

Help helpful

Obey Obedient

Play Playful

Talk Talkative

Or even from other adjectives:

Adjectiv
Adjective
e

Comic Comical

Correct corrective

Elder Elderly

Red Reddish

Sick Sickly

Examples of forming adjectives

Our house color is a kind of yellow. → We live in a yellowish house.

He often acts like a child. → He often acts in a childish way.

The event was a big success. → We enjoyed a successful event.

We enjoyed the sound of the drum’s rhythm. → We enjoyed the


drum’s rhythmic sound.

She adopted a dog without a home. → She adopted a homeless dog.

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Look out, that plant is poison. → Look out for that poisonous plant.

It looks like it will rain today. → It looks like we’ll have rainy weather today.

She always acts with courtesy. → She always behaves in a courteous manner.

Her hair is pretty. → She has the prettiest hair.

We go for a walk each day. → We go for a daily walk.

1.4 Comparing Adjectives

Forming comparative adjectives

As well as serving as modifying words like beautiful and big, adjectives are also used for
indicating the position on a scale of comparison.

 The lowest point on the scale is known as the absolute form.


 The middle point is known as the comparative form.
 The highest point is known as the superlative form.

Here are some examples:

Absolute Comparative Superlative

This book is long. This book is longer than that book. This is the longest book.

The airport is farther than the train This is the farthest


The airport is far.
station. airport.

My mom is a good My mom is a better cook than your My mom is the best


cook. mom. cook.

The comparative form

When two objects or persons are being compared, the comparative form of the adjective
is used. The comparative adjective can be formed in two ways:

a. Adding –er to the absolute form of the adjective.


b. Adding the word more before the adjective.

For example:

My essay is longer than yours.

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She is more beautiful than her sister.

Here are the rules for choosing and forming the right form:

Add When Example Forming and Exceptions

Words ending with ‘e‘, add ‘r‘ to the end


of the word (e.g., lame → lamer).

Words with one vowel and one


consonant at the end, double the
Words of one This is a consonant and add –er to the end of the
–er
syllable longer book. word (e.g., big → bigger).

Words with more than one vowel or


more than one consonant at the end,
add –er to the end of the word (e.g.,
hard → harder).

Words of two
This doll is Change ‘y‘ to ‘i‘, and add –er to the end
–er syllables
prettier. of the word.
ending with ‘y‘

Words of two He is more


More syllables not charming than Insert more before the adjective
ending with ‘y‘ his friend.

Three syllable This is a more


More words or powerful Insert more before the adjective
longer cable.

When comparing two things, the word than is positioned between the adjective and the
thing being compared. For example:

 Apples are tastier than oranges.


 This painting is more interesting than that painting.

Superlatives

The superlative is used to say what thing or person has the most of a particular quality
within a group or of its kind. The superlative can be formed in two ways:

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a. Adding –est to the absolute form of the adjective.
b. Adding the word most before the adjective.

For example:

 This is the most beautiful dress I have ever seen.


 The biggest table in the room is mine.

Here are the rules for choosing and forming the right form:

Add When Example Forming and Exceptions

Words ending with ‘e‘, add ‘st‘ to the


end of the word (e.g., large → largest).

Words with one vowel and one


consonant at the end, double the
Words of one This is the consonant and add –est to the end of
–est
syllable longest book. the word (e.g., big → biggest).

Words with more than one vowel or


more than one consonant at the end,
add –est to the end of the word (e.g.,
blue → bluest).

Words of two
This doll is the Change ‘y‘ to ‘i‘, and add –est to the end
–est syllables
prettiest. of the word.
ending with ‘y‘

Words of two He is the most


Mos
syllables not charming boy Insert most before the adjective
t
ending with ‘y‘ at school.

Three syllable This is


Mos
words or the most Insert most before the adjective
t
longer powerful story.

Superlatives are usually preceded by the word the.

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Positive form

The positive form is used in cases where there are no differences between the two
compared things or persons. To form the positive, we use the word as before and
after the absolute form of the adjective. For example:

 Danny is as smart as Phillip.
 She is as beautiful as her older sister.

This can also be applied in a negative context to indicate that the compared objects
are not similar:

 Danny is not as smart as Phillip.


 She is not as beautiful as her older sister.

Exceptions (irregular forms)

Certain adjectives have irregular forms in the comparative and superlative degrees:

Absolute Comparative Superlative

Good Better Best

Bad Worse Worst

Little Less Least

Much/many/some More Most

Examples of comparing adjectives

 This house is bigger than that one.


 This flower is more beautiful than that.
 He is taller than Mr. Hulas.
 He is more intelligent than this boy.
 Jonathan is the most handsome man on campus.
 This is the prettiest dress in the window.

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 I lost my most comfortable shoes.
 My job is worse than yours.

1.5 Compound Adjectives


What are compound adjectives?

A compound adjective is formed when two or more adjectives are joined together to


modify the same noun. These terms should be hyphenated to avoid confusion or
ambiguity. For example:

 Diana submitted a 6-page document.


 She adopted a two-year-old cat.

Compound adjectives – Exceptions

Note that combining an adverb and an adjective does not create a compound adjective.
No hyphen is required because it is already clear that the adverb modifies the adjective
rather than the subsequent noun. For example:

 It was a terribly hot day.


 It is an amazingly good idea.

In addition, you should not place a hyphen in a compound adjective if the adjectives are
capitalized, such as when they are part of a title.

Examples of compound adjectives

 This is a four-foot table.
 Daniella is a part-time worker.
 This is an all-too-common error.
 Beware of the green-eyed monster.
 He is a cold-blooded man.
 I love this brightly-lit room!
 Danny’s dog is well-behaved.
 You have to be open-minded about things.

1.6 De-nominal Adjectives

What are de-nominal adjectives?

De-nominal adjectives (sometimes called de-nominal adjectives) are adjectives derived


from nouns. For example:

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……A mathematical puzzles…. (a puzzle based on mathematics)

…..A biological experiment…… (an experiment in biology)

……A wooden boat…… (a boat made of wood)

Proper adjectives are derived from proper nouns. They commonly describe something in
terms of nationality, religious affiliation, or culture. Like proper nouns, proper
adjectives have their first letter capitalized. For example:

 I married a Russian woman.
 The Yemeni community in Gabiley is very large.

Adjectives of this type should be carefully distinguished from adjectives denoting


nationalities (nominal adjectives). For example:

 De-nominal Adjective: The French people are noted for their wines.


 Nominal Adjective: The French are noted for their wines.

or:

 De-nominal Adjective: The poor people are more vulnerable.


 Nominal Adjective: The poor are getting poorer.

Examples of de-nominal adjectives

 ……A mathematical puzzles…..
 ……A biological experiment…..
 …….A wooden boat…..
 I married an American woman.
 The Yemeni community in Gabiley is very big.
 Mary has a collection of expensive Russian dolls.
 In the winter you must wear heavy woolen clothes.

1.7 Position of Adjectives

Where to Position an Adjective?

Normally, adjectives are positioned before the noun that they describe: *

 The yellow ribbon.
 The heavy box.

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These adjectives are said to be attributive, meaning they qualify the nouns.
However, if a linking verb such as ‘to be’ or ‘copulas verb’ is used, the adjective
becomes predicative and can be placed after the noun:

 The ribbon is yellow.


  The box seems heavy.

Attributive adjectives are used like this:

 Poor, sick Robert won’t be coming to work today, he has a bad cold.


 It takes longer to get there on the two-lane bumpy road than on
the new fast highway.

Predicative adjectives are used like this:

 Robert seems sick.
 The road is bumpy.

In some cases, adjectives can be said to be postpositive, coming after the noun: There
are plenty of rooms available. Postpositive adjectives are not used as often as attributive
or predicative adjectives:

 The blue boat sailed on the rough seas (attributive)


 The teddy-bear is soft and fluffy (predicative)
 The firemen found the buildings ablaze, with the damage
catastrophic (postpositive)

Sometimes these different adjective positions can be combined in a sentence:

 The soft (attributive) teddy-bear is also fluffy (predicative)


 The tired (attributive) firemen found the buildings ablaze
(postpositive). The damage was catastrophic (predicative).

1.8 Order of Adjectives


Two adjectives

We often have two adjectives in front of a noun:

 a handsome young man
 a big black car
 that horrible big dog
 Some adjectives give a general opinion. We can use these adjectives to describe
almost any noun:

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good
nice awful
bad
beautiful important
lovely
brilliant wonderful
strang
excellent nasty
e

 He’s a good / wonderful / brilliant / bad / dreadful teacher.
 That’s a good / wonderful / brilliant / bad / dreadful book.
 Some adjectives give a specific opinion. We only use these adjectives to describe
particular kinds of noun, for example:

Food Furniture, buildings People, animals

deliciou clever
comfortable
s intelligent
uncomfortable
tasty friendly

 We usually put a general opinion in front of a specific opinion:


 nice tasty soup.
 a nasty uncomfortable armchair
 a lovely intelligent animal
 We usually put an opinion adjective in front of a descriptive adjective:
 a nice red dress
 a silly old man
 those horrible yellow curtains

Three or more adjectives


 Sometimes we have three adjectives in front of a noun, but this is unusual:
 a nice handsome young man     
 a big black American car     
 that horrible big fierce dog
 It is very unusual to have more than three adjectives.
 Adjectives usually come in this order:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
General Specific Size Shape Age Colour Origin material Purpose
opinion opinion

Hint: OPSSHACOMP

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Note that the determiners and quantity comes before all the other aspects.

What the adjective Examples


expresses

Quantity four, ten, a few, several

Value/Opinion delicious, charming, beautiful

Size tall, tiny, huge

Temperature hot, cold

Age old, young, new, 14-year-old

Shape square, round

Color red, purple, green

Origin Swedish, Victorian, Chinese

Material glass, silver, wooden

EXAMPLES

 They have a lovely old red post-box.


 The playroom has six small round plastic playing tables.

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 I bought some charming Victorian silver ornaments at the flea
market.
 She is selling her flashy 3-year-old Italian sports car.
 It was a beautiful cold day.

Participle adjectives
Present and past participle

 Both present and past participles are used with the verbs to be and to have to
create common verb tenses, but they can also be used as adjectives.

 Since there is a slight difference in meaning between the present and the past
participles when they are used as adjectives, it is very important to identify the
appropriate form.

Formation of participle adjectives

 The formation is similar to a typical participle but functions independent of any


verb in a sentence; they describe nouns and pronouns.

 Participles adjectives generally come before the noun they modify.

 They may also be linked to the subject of the sentence by a linking verb such as to
be or to feel.

Distinguishing an adjective and a verb

 Verbs

 The teacher is boring the students.


 The teacher was boring the students

 Adjectives

 When the boring teacher entered class Ali sneaked out.

(boring describes the noun, teacher)

 The bored students rarely pay attention in class.

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(bored describes the noun students)

Present participle Adjectives

i. I don’t understand chess. The rules are very confusing.

ii. My little brother makes too much noise. He is annoying

iii. I like my new chair. It’s quite relaxing.

iv. Moving to a new home is hard work. It’s tiring.

v. Our company isn’t making any money. It’s very worrying.

vi. Ridwan thinks that roller coasters are terrifying.

vii. I think that physics is fascinating. I love to study it

viii. It was such a short amazing movie.

ix. I met a really interesting girl yesterday.

x. The thug had the most frightening face.

xi. Barking dogs seldom bites.

 Past participle adjectives.

i. Why do you look so bored?

ii. She is very interested in music.

iii. I feel quite confused.

iv. We were quite amazed to see her.

v. The audience became annoyed.

vi. We are so excited!

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