ADJECTIVES:

An ‘Adjective’ is a word that qualifies or adds something to the meaning of a noun.

For eg: (a) He is a “clever” boy. (b) The dog is “greedy”.

TYPES OF ADJECTIVES:

(1) Adjective of Quality (Descriptive adjectives): It shows the kind or quality of a person or thing.

e.g: (a) Mumbai is a beautiful city. (b) He is a smart man.

It should be noted here that the adjectives of quality answer the question: of what kind?

(2) Adjective of Quantity: It shows how much of a thing is meant.

e.g: (a) I ate some bananas. (b) He has little generosity.

(3) Adjectives of Number (Numeral Adjectives): It shows how many person or things are meant , or in what order a
person or thing stands.

e.g: (a) There is no example in this book. (b) The week has seven days.

(4) Demonstrative Adjectives: It denotes which person or thing is meant.

e.g: (a) This boy is taller than Sam. (b) These students are a courageous lot.

(5) Interrogative adjectives: ‘What’, ‘Which’ and ‘Whose’ are used with nouns to ask questions and are called
‘interrogative adjectives’. e.g: (a) Which way shall I go?

(6) Emphasizing Adjectives: In the following sentences, the words ‘own’ and ‘very’ are used as “emphasizing
adjectives”. e.g: I saw it with my own eyes.

(7) Exclamatory Adjectives: The word ‘what’ is sometimes used as an “exclamatory adjectives”.

e.g: (a) What a car! (b) What a game!

COMPARISION OF ADJECTIVES.
Adjectives haves three degrees of comparison:
Positive Degree: It expresses the common form of an adjective.
e.g: No other student in the class is as smart as Mohan.
In the above sentence ‘smart is an adjective and expresses the common form.
Note: The usage of “as…………as” and “so ……………as” appears in positive degree.
Comparative Degree: It expresses more of the same form.
e.g: Mohan is smarter than Jimmy.

In the above sentence ‘smarter’ is an adjective that expresses a higher degree of the quality than the positive,
and is used when two things are compared.
 Note: The usage of “adjective + er ……………….. than” appears in comparative degree.

Superlative Degree: It expresses most of the common form of the adjective.

e.g: Rebecca is the smartest student of this class.
The superlative degree of an adjective denotes the highest degree of the quality, and is used when more than two
things are compared.
Note: The usage of “The + adjective” appears in superlative degree.
Personal Comparison: The comparative ‘er’ is used is not used when we compare two qualities in the same person
or thing.
If we wish to say the height of Rahul is more than that of Hemant, we say, ‘Rahul is taller than Hemant’.

But if we wish to say the height of Rahul is more than his prudence, we must say, ‘Rahul is more tall than prudent’.

‘Of the two rule’: Before the adjectives in the comparative degree, when the selection of only two persons, places
or things is meant, ‘the’ is used before it.
e.g: Radha is more beautiful out of the two girls sitting on the front row.

Formaton of Adjectives:

It is very important to know the formation of Adjectives. The adjectives can be formed from the nouns, the verbs and
other adjectives by adding prefixes and suffixes.

A suffix is a letter or group of letters added at the end of a word to make a new word. Suffix changes a word from one
part of speech to another like a noun to an adjective.

Common suffixes used to form adjectives:

Suffix Adjectives
-able solvable, comfortable, readable, believable, reliable, agreeable, passable, expandable, remarkable,
laughable, payable
-ible accessible, incredible, invisible, accessible, flexible, forcible, permissible, sensible,
-al, -ial professional, structural, national, legal, normal, industrial, presidential
-ical comical, musical, political, aeronautical, alphabetical
-ant important, relevant, pleasant, resistant, reliant, vacant, ignorant, compliant
-ent dependent, excellent, urgent, dependent, different, confident, equivalent
-ed bored, interested, fascinated, amused, relaxed, excited, surprised, confused, overwhelmed
-ic generic, archaic, idealistic, historic, classic, economic, heroic, romantic
-ing boring, interesting, fascinating
-ish newish, reddish, childish, foolish, British, Irish
-ful helpful, colorful, useful, beautiful, harmful, peaceful, wonderful
-less endless, priceless, timeless, worthless, careless, useless, hopeless
-eous/-ious/ - spontaneous, hideous, ambitious, anxious, dangerous, adventurous, courageous, advantageous,
ous famous, judicious, melodious
-ive active, alternative, creative, talkative, festive, cooperative, sensitive
-y angry, busy, healthy, windy, hairy, imaginary, glossy
-ly earthly, endearingly, kindly, timely, maturely
-ory introductory, advisory, anticipatory, compensatory
A prefix is a letter or group of letters placed at the beginning of a word to modify or change its meaning.

Common prefixes used to form adjectives:

Prefix Adjectives
im- imperfect, impolite, imbalance, impossible
ir- irrelevant, irrational, irresponsible, irregular, irreducible
il- illegal, illegible, illogical
in- inconvenient, inactive, incomplete, inappropriate,
un- unfair, unsure, unusual, unhappy, uninterested, unpleasant
dis- dishonest, disloyal, dissimilar, disabled
ultra-, super-, hyper- ultra-compact, ultrasound, hyperactive
inter- international, interdisciplinary
trans- transatlantic, transmarine
Forming adjectives from Nouns:
Noun Adjective Noun Adjective Noun Adjective
Distress Distressed Hero Heroic Vision Visionary
Spite Spiteful Wind Windy Inability Unable
Provision Provisional Child Childish Testimony Testimonial
Hazard Hazardous Beauty Beautiful Difficulty Difficult
Truth Truthful Efficiency Efficient Tribe Tribal
Effort Effortless Effusion Effusive Hostility Hostile
Man Manly Human Humanly Subordination Subordinate
Courage Courageous Sense Senseless Attitude Attitudinal
Storm Stormy Laugh Laughable Truism Truistic
Envy Envious King Kingly Recreation Recreational
Advise Advisory Access Accessible Imagery Imaginative
Girl Girlish Danger Dangerous Tragedy Tragic
Gold Golden Length Lengthy Creation Creative
Forming Adjectives from Verbs:
Verb Adjective Verb Adjective
Absorb Absorbed Read Readable
Bereave Bereaved Talk Talkative
Captivated Captivating Use Useful
Care Careless Like Likeable
Fascinate Fascinated Manipulative Manipulative
Grieve Grievous Thank Thankful
Enjoy Enjoyable Hate Hateful
Help Helpful Laugh Laughable
Tickle Ticklish Adjust Adjustable
Tire Tireless Annoy Annoying
Judge Judgemental Differ Different
Forget Forgetful See Scenic
Shake Shakeable Speed Speedy
Formation of Adjectives from Adjectives:
Adjective Adjective Adjective Adjective
Three Threesome Easy Easier
Green Greenish Funny Funnier
Weak Weakly Gentle Gentlest
Red Redden Fine Finest
Legal Illegal Logical Illogical
Patient Impatient Mature Immature
Regular Irregular Responsible Irresponsible
Honest Dishonest Comfortable Uncomfortable

Point to focus:
Sometimes we get confused with: -“ing adjectives” and –“ed adjectives”.
-ing adjectives- They describe the effect.
-ed adjectives- they describe how a person feels.

e.g: 1. His speech bored the audience, so they started clapping before it finished.
His speech was very boring.
2. I am very much interested in his speech.
His speech was very interesting.
3. We were shocked to hear the news.
It was very shocking news.

CONFUSING ADJECTIVES:

Rule 1: Use of ‘some’ and ‘any’

To express quantity or degree ‘some’ is used in affirmative sentences, any in negative or interrogative sentences.
e.g: (a) I shall buy some bananas. (b) Have you bought any banana? (c) I haven’t bought any bananas.

Rule 2: Use of ‘each’ and ‘every’:

‘Each’ and ‘Every’ are similar in meaning, but every is stronger word than each; each without exception.
Each is used in speaking of two or more; every is used only in speaking of more than two.
Each directs attention to the individuals forming any group, every to the total group.
Each is used only when the number in the group is limited or definite; every when number is indefinite.
e.g: (a) Every pen was distributed. (b) Each pen was distributed (c) World Cup comes in every fourth year.
(d) Each country has to qualify for the final stage of World Cup.

Rule 3: Use of ‘Little’, ‘a little’, ‘the little’:

(i)Little: not much (i.e., hardly any). Thus, the adjective has little meaning.
e.g: She has little influence on her old followers.
(ii) A little: Some, though not much. A little has a positive meaning.
e.g: She has a little money to spend.
(iii) The Little: not much, but all there is.
e.g: The little data she had was not enough.
Rule 4: Use of ‘few’, ‘A few’, ‘The Few’:
Few: not many, hardly any. A Few: Though some, but not many.
Few has a negative meaning. A few has a positive meaning.
e.g: Few people are honest. e.g: A few people participated in this function
The Few: Not many, but all there is. (The few has positive meaning; it is particular in meaning)
e.g: The few things she possessed were sufficient.

Rule 5: Use of ‘enough’:

As an adjective ‘enough’ will always precede the noun.
e.g: She has enough money to spend.

Rule 6: Use of ‘Later’, ‘Latter’, ‘Latest’, ’Last’:

‘Later’ amd ‘latest’ refer to time while ‘latter’ and ‘last’ refer to position.
e.g: (a) She is later than I expected. (b) Have you read the latest review of this movie?
(c) The latter part is lacking in interest. (d) This is the last unoccupied seat in the bus.

Rule 7: Use of ‘Elder’, ‘Older’, ‘Eldest’, ‘Oldest’:

Elder an eldest are used for persons, not for animal or things; and are confined to the members of the same family.
Elder is not used with ‘than’ following it. Older and oldest are used both for persons and things.
e.g: Ram is elder than me. (Incorrect) Ram is my elder brother. (Correct)
Shyam is my older son. (Incorrect) Shyam is my eldest son. (Correct)
Riya is elder than her brother. (Incorrect) Riya is older than her brother. (Correct)
Raj is the eldest boy among the five. (Incorrect) Raj is the oldest boy among the five. (Correct)

Rule 8: Use of ‘Farther’ and ‘Further’:

(i) Farther denotes more distant in space.
e.g: Punjab is farther from the sea than Mumbai.
(ii) Further means additional or more.
e.g: After this he made no further remarks.

Rule 9: Use of Fewer and Less.

Both Fewer and Less means ‘of small quantity or numbers). But, ‘fewer’ is used for countable nouns while ‘less’ is used
for uncountable nouns.
e.g: No fewer than 20 people died in the plane crash.
No less than half of the work has been completed.

Rule 10: Certain English comparatives have lost their comparative meaning and are used as positive.
They can’t be followed by than, e.g. former, latter, elder, neither, outer, utter etc.
e.g: My elder son is a doctor. This man is an utter fool.
He is a former President. The outer layer of the tire has come off.

Rule11: Adjectives that end in ‘ior’ are followed by ‘to’ not ‘than’.
e.g: Superior, inferior, senior, junior, prior, anterior, posterior.
He is senior than me. (Incorrect) He is senior to me. (Correct)
Rule 12: Adjectives like ‘interior’, ‘exterior’, ‘ulterior’, ‘major’, ‘minor’, ‘empty’, ‘excellent’, ‘circular’, ‘extreme’, ‘chief’,
‘entire’, ‘complete’, ‘perfect’, ‘final’, ‘last’, ‘unique’, ‘universal’, ‘round’, ‘square’, ‘triangular’, ‘eternal’, ‘everlasting’,
‘ideal’, ‘absolute’, ‘impossible’, ‘supreme’, ‘free’, and ‘vacant’ are not used in comparative or superlative degree.
e.g: This is more inferior to that. (Incorrect) This is inferior to that. (Correct)
Good deeds are more everlasting. (Incorrect) Good deeds are everlasting. (Correct)

Rule 13: Some adjectives are used in only positive and Superlative degree and not in comparative degree.
Positive Superlative
Top Topmost
Northern Northernmost
Southern Southernmost
Western Westernmost
Eastern Easternmost

Rule14: If two adjectives are used for a single noun or pronoun and if both adjectives are connected by a conjunction,
both the adjectives must be in the same degree.
e.g: Gandhiji was noblest and wiser of all the leaders. (Incorrect)
Gandhiji was the noblest and wisest of all the leaders. (Correct)

Rule 15: Possessive case comes after ‘All’ and ‘Both’ and before them.
e.g: My all friends have got selected. (Incorrect) All my friends have got selected. (Correct)
My both children are doctors. (Incorrect) Both my children are doctors. (Correct)

Rule 16: If adjectives of size, colour, age etc come together in a sentence, they should be used in the following order.
Opinion ₁ →Size ₂ →Age ₃ →Shape ₄ → Colour ₅→ Origin ₆→ Material ₇→Purpose ₈ + Noun
e.g: I bought a tiny, heart-shaped, purple, American, diamond wedding ring.