The Adjective

The Adjective Lesson 14

Lesson 14 – The Adjective

What is an adjective?

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Adjectives are describing words. Large, grey, and friendly are all examples of

adjectives. In the examples below, these adjectives are used to describe an

elephant. • Large elephant

• Gray elephant

• Friendly elephant

Adjectives are added to nouns or pronouns to state what kind, what color,

which one or how many. Adjectives are said to modify nouns or pronouns

and are necessary to make the meanings of sentences clearer or more exact.

That big dog

is hungry.

My sister is

smart.

What movie

are you

watching?

Four students

failed the exam.

We need some

cheese for the

pizza.

An adjective often comes BEFORE or AFTER a noun:

I have a green car.

My car is green.

It’s a interesting story.

The story is interesting.

Adjective Form Some adjectives have particular endings, for example:

-able/-ible: washable, credible

-ish/-like: childish, childlike

-ful/-less: careful, careless

-ous: dangerous, harmonious

-y: dirty, pretty Try to give your own examples.

Note that we can often use two or more adjectives together

(a beautiful young French lady / it is black and white).

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1. Descriptive adjective /adjective of quality

Says something about the quality or the kind of the noun or pronoun.

Erika is witty. He is tired.

2. Adjectives of Number or Adjectives of Quantity

A s e s the uestio , Ho a ? o Ho u h?

The plant need more water. I can see two dolphins.

3. Demonstrative Adjectives

Points out pronouns and nouns, and always come before the words they

are referring to.

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I used to buy this kind of shirt. That is my cat.


Kinds of Adjective

4. Possessive adjective

Shows ownership or possession. Aside from that, possessive adjectives

always come before the noun.

Her dress is red. Her dress is red.

5. Articles

Is always used with and gives some information about a noun. [a, an, the]

She is reading a book.

She is reading the purple book.

6. Interrogative Adjectives

Asks questions and are always followed by a noun.

What TV show are you watching? Whose pencil is this?

Note that in other references these types might be named differently.

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Identify the adjectives in the

sentences and determine their types.

Give an appropriate adjective for

each noun.

1. Sarah has a beautiful cat.

2. Kittens and cats make fun pets.

3. The textbook for the class was heavy.

4. Jack's computer got a virus.

5. Explorers came to America from foreign lands.

6. The professor taught a fascinating class.

7. The perfume in the container is fragrant.

8. My uncle who lives in Detroit is elderly.

9. Her mother is an amazing cook!

10. I did ’t a t to sit o the et g ou d. 11. The homework in science was very difficult.

12. The brown banana was used to make bread.

13. The adorable toddler smiled at her grandmother.

14. He was afraid to talk to the beautiful woman.

15. Explorers came to America from foreign lands.

1. Mother

2. Father

3. Glass

4. Bag

5. picture

6. Students

7. Papers

8. Class

9. Phone

10. Family

11. Project

12. Camera

13. Fish

14. She

15. Food

16. Pen

17. Mouse

18. Teacher

19. Balls

20. Friend

21. Flower

22. Shoes

23. Restaurant

24. Email

25. Wine

26. Lesson

27. English

28. Skirt

29. Weather

30. Day


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Every adjective has three degrees of its own.

They are : Positive, Comparative, Superlative degrees.

1. Positive Degree

The term positive degree relates to adjectives and adverbs. An adjective

that does not make a comparison is said to be in the positive degree. In

other words, the positive degree is the normal form of an adjective.

The knife is sharp. I thought it seemed strange. The jars are empty.


Degrees of Adjective

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When we talk about two things, we can "compare" them. We can see if they

are the same or different.

Formation of Comparative Adjectives

There are two ways to make or to "form" a comparative adjective:

short adjectives: add "-er"

long adjectives: use "more"

A1 is bigger that A2. I like cats better

than dogs.

The queen is more

beautiful than the witch.

We use comparative adjectives when talking about 2 things (not 3 or 10 or

1,000,000 things, only 2 things). Often, the comparative adjective is followed

by "than".

2. Comparative Degree


Short adjectives: add -er examples

1-syllable adjectives old, fast

2-syllable adjectives ending in -y happy, easy

RULE: add "-er" old → olde

Variation: if the adjective ends in -e, just add -r late → late

Variation: if the adjective ends in consonant, vowel,

consonant, double the last consonant

ig → igge

Variation: if the adjective ends in -y, change the y to i happ → happier

Long adjectives: use more examples

2-syllable adjectives not ending in -

y

modern, pleasant

all adjectives of 3 or more syllables expensive, intellectual

RULE: use "more" ode → o e ode

e pe si e → o e e pe si e

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S

T

U

D

Y

T

H

E

T

A

B

L

E

S


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A superlative adjective expresses the extreme or highest degree of a quality.

We use a superlative adjective to describe the extreme quality of one thing in a

group of things.

Formation of Superlative Adjectives

As with superlative adjectives, there are two ways to form a superlative

adjective: short adjectives: add "-est“ long adjectives: use "most"

We also usually add 'the' at the beginning.

I like dogs best

of all.

We use a superlative adjective to describe one thing in a group of three or more

things.

Chris is the tallest. Mount Everest is the

highest mountain in

the world

2. Superlative Degree

John = 1.75M

David = 1.8M

Chris =1.85M.


Long adjectives

2-syllable adjectives not ending in -y modern, pleasant

all adjectives of 3 or more syllables expensive, intellectual

RULE: use "most" ode → the ost ode

e pe si e → the ost e pe si e

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S

T

U

D

Y

T

H

E

T

A

B

L

E

S

Short adjectives

1-syllable adjectives old, fast

2-syllable adjectives ending in -y happy, easy

RULE: add "-est" old → the oldest

Variation: if the adjective ends in -e, just add -st late → the latest

Variation: if the adjective ends in consonant, vowel,

consonant, double the last consonant

ig → the iggest

Variation: if the adjective ends in -y, change the y to i happ → the happiest


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Positive Comparative Superlative Comment

good better best

bad worse worst

much more most uncountable nouns

many more most countable nouns

little less least

little smaller smallest

Compare nouns using the following adjectives.

1. better 4. less

2. Most 5. smallest

3. Many


Irregular adjectives

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Write the Comparative forms of the

adjectives.

1. I am (tall) my sister.

2. My mum thinks that cats are (good) pets

than dogs.

3. Cycling is one of (dangerous) sports.

4. I want to have (big) car.

5. A blue whale is (heavy) twenty-five

elephants.

6. You look (thin) last month.

7. Bicycles are (slow) cars.

8. She is (nice) person I know.

9. What is (good) film you´ve seen?

10. Computers are (cheap) mobile phones.

11. Is your brother (tall) you?

12. I think Spanish is (easy) Japanese.

13. Our dog is (nice) your dog.

14. Glass bottles are (good) plastic bottles.

15. I think Rafael Nadal is (good) tennis

player in Spain.

Write the Comparative forms of the

adjectives.

1. The moon is the (close) planet to earth.

2. Jupiter is the (large) planet in our solar system.

3. Sirius is the (brilliant)star we can see from

earth.

4. Venus is the (hot) planet in our solar system.

5. Ceres is the (big) asteroid in our solar system.

6. The Energya is the (powerful) rocket.

7. Karl Henize was the (old) man in space

8. Saturn is the (beautiful) planet.

9. Venus is the (bright) planet in our solar system.

10. The Apollo project was the (expensive) space

programme.

11. Mercury is the (small) planet in our solar

system.

12. Romenko is the (experienced) man in space.

He spent over 420 days in space.

13. Pluto is the (cold) planet in our solar system.


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1. My house is (big) than yours.

2. This flower is (beautiful) than that one.

3. This is the (interesting) book I have ever read.

4. Non-smokers usually live (long) than smokers.

5. I think she is still ill. She looks even(bad) than last week.

6. Which is the (dangerous) animal in the world?

7. I chose this car as my favorite because it's (fast)all the ones I have driven.

8. There are more accidents on this road because (narrow)it's than the others.

9. A holiday by the sea is (good) than a holiday in the mountains.

10. It is strange but often a coke is (expensive) than a beer.

11. Which of the three supermarkets do you think has(wide) range of products?

12. Who is the (rich) woman on earth?

13. The people in London are the (polite) in the country.

14. Things are better organized now - we have (less) problems than before.

15. The weather this summer is even (bad) than last summer.

16. He was the (clever) thief of all.

Fill in the correct form of the words in brackets (comparative or superlative).



What is an adjective phrase? An adjective phrase (or adjectival phrase) is a phrase that tells us something

about the noun it is modifying. The head (principal) word in an adjective

phrase will be an adjective.

The nearby motel offers cheap but comfortable rooms. (In this example, the head adjective starts the adjective phrase.)

These are unbelievably expensive shoes. (In this example, the head adjective ends the adjective phrase.)

Sarah was fairly bored with you. (In this example, the head adjective is in the middle of the adjective phrase.)

Like a normal adjective, an adjective phrase can be used before the noun it is

modifying (like in the first two examples above) or after the noun it is

modifying (like in the last example).

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The extremely tired lioness is losing patience with her overly

enthusiastic cub.

The dog covered in mud looked pleased with himself.

http://www.grammar-monster.com/glossary/adjective_definition.htm


An adjective phrase can be an attributive adjective or a predicative adjective.

1. Attributive Adjective

An attributive adjective is one that sits inside the noun phrase of the noun it

modifies. Look at these two examples:

The beautifully carved frames are worth more than the painting. (This is an attributive adjective phrase. It sits inside the noun phrase The beautifully carved frames.)

The frames beautifully carved by monks are worth more than the painting. (This is also an attributive adjective phrase. It sits inside the noun phrase The frames beautifully carved

by monks.)

2. Predicative Adjective

A predicative adjective sits outside the noun phrase of the noun it

modifies. Typically, a predicative adjective is linked to the noun it

modifies with a linking verb. For example:

The curtains look far too long. (This is a predicative adjective phrase. The linking verb is look.)

The frames were beautifully carved by monks. (This is a predicative adjective phrase. The linking verb is were.)

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Ide tify the adje tive phrase i the se te es a d deter i e it’s attri utive or predicative adjective.


1. The cabin beside the lake was already

occupied when we arrived.

2. Summer, which is my favorite season,

will be here in another week.

3. He finished the dish of ice cream very

quickly.

4. Newton, Iowa, is the town where

Barbara was born.

5. Will you delay your trip to Disneyland?

6. That dog that you found belongs to the

Olsons.

7. The sign contains information about the

upcoming concert.

8. The King wore a crown made of gold.

9. He lived in a house built of stone.

10. There was a pot made of earth on the

table.

11. She wore a necklace made of diamond.

12. Much has been said about the scenery

of Switzerland.

13. The flag of Spain flew at the top of the

mast.

14. Deeds of heroism are worthy of

admiration.

15. They went by the railway running

through Siberia.

16. I have passed several nights without

sleep.

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The Adjective

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