Lesson 6 Adjectives: Adjective Examples
Lesson 6 Adjectives: Adjective Examples
Lesson 6 Adjectives: Adjective Examples
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
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:
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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:
We use possessive determiners before nouns to show who owns the noun we are talking about.
Example;
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
Singular Plural
This These
That Those
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.
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.
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Please put those cookies on the blue plate.
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.
A few is used appreciatively with countable nouns to show that the quantity involved
though barely adequate is available.
Some is used with both countable and uncountable nouns to an unspecified amount or
a limited quantity.
Any is used with uncountables or plural nouns in questions and negative sentences.
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How many goats do you have?
A lot is used with both countable and uncountable nouns to show a large quantity.
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.
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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?”
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.
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:
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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.
Sometimes when adding these endings changes have to be made. Here are some rules
for forming adjectives and their exceptions:
Nature Natural
-al If ending with an ‘e‘, drop it
Function Functional
Ice Icy
-y If ending with an ‘e‘, drop it
Oil Oily
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Add Exceptions Word Adjective
History Historic
-ic If ending with a ‘y‘, drop it
Rust Rustic
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
Adjectiv
Adjective
e
Comic Comical
Correct corrective
Elder Elderly
Red Reddish
Sick Sickly
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Look out, that plant is poison. → Look out for that poisonous plant.
As well as serving as modifying words like beautiful and big, adjectives are also used for
indicating the position on a scale of comparison.
This book is long. This book is longer than that book. This is the longest book.
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:
For example:
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She is more beautiful than her sister.
Here are the rules for choosing and forming the right form:
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‘
When comparing two things, the word than is positioned between the adjective and the
thing being compared. For example:
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:
Here are the rules for choosing and forming the right form:
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‘
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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:
Certain adjectives have irregular forms in the comparative and superlative degrees:
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I lost my most comfortable shoes.
My job is worse than yours.
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:
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.
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.
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……A mathematical puzzles…. (a puzzle based on mathematics)
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.
or:
……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.
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:
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:
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:
deliciou clever
comfortable
s intelligent
uncomfortable
tasty friendly
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.
EXAMPLES
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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.
They may also be linked to the subject of the sentence by a linking verb such as to
be or to feel.
Verbs
Adjectives
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(bored describes the noun students)
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