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English > English Grammar > Parts of

Speech > Adjectives

Adjectives - Definition,
Forms, Types, Usage and
Examples

Crazy, intelligent, fun, interesting! Does it sound like

you or someone you know? Do you know what
these words mean or what part of speech they
belong to? Did you say ‘adjectives’? You guessed it
right. Let us learn more about adjectives, its
meaning, definition and types. Check out the
examples and see how they can be used in
sentences effectively.

8,406

Table of Contents
What Is an Adjective?
Definition of an Adjective

Forms of Adjectives

Types of Adjectives
How to Use Adjectives in Sentences?

Examples of Adjectives

Check Your Knowledge of Adjectives

Frequently Asked Questions on Adjectives in

English

What Is an Adjective?
An adjective is a part of speech that can be used to
describe or provide more information about a noun
or pronoun that acts as the subject in a sentence.
Adjectives are found after the verb or before the
noun it modifies.

Definition of an Adjective
According to the Cambridge Dictionary, an
adjective is defined as “a word that describes a
noun or pronoun.” The Collins Dictionary gives a
more elaborate definition. According to it, “an
adjective is a word such as ‘big’, ‘ dead’, or ‘
financial’ that describes a person or thing, or gives
extra information about them. Adjectives usually
come before nouns or after link verbs.”

The Oxford Learner’s Dictionary defines an adjective

as “a word that describes a person or thing, for
example ‘big’, ‘red’ and ‘clever’ in a big house, red
wine and a clever idea.” An adjective is “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, or to
specify a thing as distinct from something else”,
according to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary.

Forms of Adjectives – Degrees of

Comparison
Did you know that adjectives can be used to
compare similar qualities of different subjects that
perform the same action. There are three forms of
adjectives or rather three degrees of comparison.
The are:

Positive or Absolute Form

Comparative Form

Superlative Form

Positive Degree of Comparison:

The positive form or the positive degree of

comparison is the form of the adjective used in the
original form. For example: This book is interesting.
This form of adjective is used when there is no other
subject to be compared.

Comparative Degree of Comparison

The comparative form of the adjective is used when

two subjects performing the same action or
possessing the same quality are compared. For
example: The book I read yesterday was more
interesting than the one I read today.

Superlative Degree of Comparison

The superlative degree of comparison is used when

comparing the same quality of two or more
subjects and to represent that a subject is superior
to two or more subjects in performing an action. For
example: This fantasy novel is the most interesting
book that I have ever read.

Types of Adjectives
Adjectives can be divided into different categories
based on their functions when used in a sentence.
The different types of adjectives are:

Possessive Adjectives

Interrogative Adjectives

Demonstrative Adjectives

Compound Adjectives

Possessive Adjectives:

These adjectives, like possessive pronouns, are

used to show or represent possession of a quality.
For example: my, your, his, her, their, its, whose, etc.

Interrogative Adjectives:

An adjective that is used to modify a noun or a

pronoun by asking a question is called an
interrogative adjective. There are only a few
adjectives that can be termed as interrogative
adjectives. They are whose, what and which.

Demonstrative Adjectives:

Demonstrative adjectives are mainly used to

describe the position of a subject (a noun or
pronoun) in space or time. This, that, these and
those are the demonstrative adjectives in English.

Compound Adjectives:

Compound adjectives consist of two or more

adjectives that are combined together to form an
adjective that can be used to modify the subject.
Some examples of compound adjectives are
cotton-tailed, curly-haired, absent-minded, happy-
go-lucky, etc.

How to Use Adjectives in Sentences?

Adjectives are known to give your writing and
speech a very flowery look. It aids in making it
descriptive and also in giving your readers and
listeners a visual treat. However, stuffing it with too
many adjectives can make it look or sound vague
and unclear. This would only lead to
misunderstanding of your content. Knowing when,
where and how to use adjectives is a skill that you
should master.

Any piece of writing should be clear and precise.

Find out if there is a word that specifically means
whatever you are trying to convey. For example:
quick, swift, hasty, fleet, etc. are all adjectives that
mean ‘very fast’. Likewise, contented, cheerful,
merry, joyful, ecstatic, delighted, etc. are all words
that describe different degrees of happiness. There
is also another concept that you should know. There
is a particular order in which you should place
adjectives when you are using two or more
adjectives to describe the same subject or object.
Check out the order of adjectives to learn more.

Examples of Adjectives
If you are wondering what part of speech a colour
or a number belongs to, do not waste any more
time thinking about it. All colours and numbers are
classified as adjectives. Adjectives are words that
modify nouns but in most cases, they can be seen
to be doing much more than that. Given below are
the various ways in which adjectives can function
and be used.

Adjectives as Complements
Adjectives can act as complements that modify
nouns that act as subjects and objects. When the
adjective describes the object in a sentence, it is
called an object complement and when it is used to
describe the subject in a sentence, it is referred to
as a subject complement. They are seen to be
used in sentences which are seen to use the
following patterns:

SVC – Aaron is good.

In the above example, the adjective is ‘good’ and it

is used to describe the subject ‘Aaron’ and so it is
called a subject complement.

SVOC – The movie made Karthik sleepy.

Here, the adjective ‘sleepy’ describes the object

‘Karthik’ and so comes under the category of object
complements.

Adjectives as Coordinates
When two or more adjectives are used to describe
the same noun in a sentence, they are called
coordinate adjectives. Coordinate adjectives are
often separated by a comma or the conjunction
‘and’.

For example:

The mobile phone is easy to use and handy.

My cousin is tall and thin.

Multifunctional Adjectives
Adjectives can be made to function like or take the
role of nouns in a sentence, and sometimes, a noun,
when used to describe or provide more information
about another noun, can perform the role of an
adjective.

For example:

I like my English teacher.

In the above example, the word ‘English’ is generally

considered a noun as it represents a language and
it is a proper noun. But here, it is used to describe
the noun ‘teacher’ which makes it an adjective.

It is our duty to tend to the poor and the

oppressed.

In this sentence, the words ‘the poor’ and ‘the

oppressed’ pass off as nouns as it refers to ‘poor
people’ and ‘oppressed people’. So, when
adjectives are preceded by the article ‘the’, it often
refers to a category of people which makes the
adjective a noun.

In addition to these types of adjectives, there are

also phrases and clauses which act just like an
adjective. To know what they are and how they
work in a sentence, check out the articles on
adjective phrases and adjective clauses.

Check out the adjectives list for an extensive list of

adjectives that you can make use of in your daily
communication and work out exercises on
adjectives to brush up your knowledge of it.

Also explore: Adjectives for book│Adjectives for

boy│Adjectives for children│Adjectives for
dogs│Adjectives for eyes│Adjectives for
flower│Adjectives for mother│Adjectives for
music│Adjectives for trees│Difference between
adjective of quantity and adjective of number

Check Your Knowledge of

Adjectives
Identify the adjectives in the following sentences:

1. I bought a red dress for the wedding.

2. I have eight apples.

3. The food is delicious.

4. My brother is naughty.

5. The movie we watched last night was boring.

6. Pablo Picasso is a fine artist.

7. The weather in Chennai is sultry all round the

year.

8. Now is a great time to visit the United States.

9. It was a fabulous drive.

10. The Marina Beach is the longest beach in India.

You should have definitely got it all right. Check

them out.

1. I bought a red dress for the wedding.

2. I have eight apples.

3. The food is delicious.

4. My brother is naughty.

5. The movie we watched last night was boring.

6. Pablo Picasso is a fine artist.

7. The weather in Chennai is sultry all round the

year.

8. Now is a great time to visit the United States.

9. It was a fabulous drive.

10. The Marina Beach is the longest beach in India.

Frequently Asked Questions on

Adjectives in English

Q1 What is an adjective?

An adjective is a part of speech that can be

used to describe or provide more information
about the noun or pronoun that acts as the
subject in a sentence. Adjectives are found
after the verb or before the noun it modifies.

Q2 What is the definition of an adjective?

According to the Cambridge Dictionary, an

adjective is defined as “a word that describes a
noun or pronoun.” The Collins Dictionary gives a
more elaborate definition. According to them,
“an adjective is a word such as ‘ big’, ‘ dead’, or
‘ financial’ that describes a person or thing, or
gives extra information about them. Adjectives
usually come before nouns or after link verbs.”
The Oxford Learner’s Dictionary defines an
adjective as “a word that describes a person or
thing, for example ‘big’, ‘red’ and ‘clever’ in a
big house, red wine and a clever idea.” An
adjective is “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, or to
specify a thing as distinct from something
else”, according to the Merriam-Webster
Dictionary.

Q3 What are the forms of adjectives?

There are three forms of adjectives in English

grammar. They are also called the degrees of
comparison. The three forms of adjectives are:
The Positive or Absolute Form

The Comparative Form

The Superlative Form

Q4 What are the types of adjectives?

Adjectives can be divided into different

categories based on their functions when used
in a sentence. The different types of adjectives
are:
Possessive Adjectives

Interrogative Adjectives

Demonstrative Adjectives

Compound Adjectives

Q5 Give some examples of adjectives.

Happy, depressed, hardworking, successful,

skilled, sloppy, green, tampered, dilapidated,
fixed, healthy, etc. are some examples of
adjectives.

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