Adjectives

ADJECTIVES

What is an adjective?

The simplest definition of an adjective is …

An adjective is a word used to

describe a nounIT GIVES THE READER EXTRA INFORMATION ABOUT IT

Activity 1. Match adjectives with nouns

When you write the noun "dog" you give the reader basic information. When you add an adjective, you give the reader information that they can use to create a more detailed picture of the dog. In this way, adjectives transform the general idea of a dog into the more specific idea of a "muddy old sheep dog".

Adjectives transform the man into the ”elderly man”or the ”fragile elderly man” 

And the cake into the ”ornate wedding cake”

What is an adjective?

Find the adjectives

Add adjectives

Activity 2. Can you recognize an adjective when you see one?

Underline the adjectives in the following sentences.

1. He is an honest man.

2. The wretched girl sat in the back row.

1. The racing boat zoomed over the calm surface of the lake.

2. Our adventurous tour guide led us up he rocky, mountainous path.

3. The tall, creamy, delicious milkshake melted on the counter while the inattentive waiter flirted with the pretty cashier.

4. Jeanne's two fat Siamese cats hog the electric blanket on cold winter evenings.

Sometimes we use more than one adjective in front of a noun.

• We often have 2 adjectives in front of a noun:

• We sometimes have 3 adjectives in front of a noun, but this is unusual.

• It is very unusual to have more than 3 adjectives.

It’s a nice comfortable car.

It’s a nice comfortable

convertible car

How many adjectives before a noun?

Some adjectives give a general opinion.

BIG

Some adjectives give a specific opinion.

COMFORTABLE

Order of Adjectives

Place general opinion adjectives

before specific opinion adjectives

Use a comma when writing similar adjectives. “It was a dark, gloomy night”.

However, if the adjectives

have different meanings, skip the comma.

“It was a dark sad night”

A big comfortable car

Adjectives cannot be written in any order. There are rules. When you list several adjectives in a row, you have to put them in the right order,

Types of adjectives

NUMBER A number adjective gives information about how many of the noun. Five, several

OPINION An opinion adjective explains what you think about something (other people may not agree with you). Silly, beautiful, horrible, difficult, interesting, stupid

SIZE A size adjective, of course, tells you how big or small something is. Large, tiny, enormous, little, big, thin

AGE An age adjective tells you how young or old something or someone is.Ancient, new, young, old, modern

SHAPE A shape adjective describes the shape of something.Square, round, flat, rectangular

COLOUR A colour adjective, of course, describes the colour of something.Blue, pink, reddish, grey

ORIGIN An origin adjective describes where something comes from.French, lunar, American, eastern, Greek, beach

MATERIAL

A material adjective describes what something is made from.Wooden, metal, cotton, paper, plastic

PURPOSE A purpose adjective describes what something is used for. These adjectives often end with “-ing”. Sleeping (as in “sleeping bag”), roasting (as in “roasting tin”)

Types of adjective

opinion

size age shape colour origin material

ACTIVITY 4. What type of adjectives are these? Can you make a sentence?

ACTIVITY 3. Classify the adjectives according to their type.

It’s a box.

BEAUTIFUL - BIG - BROWN - INDIAN - NEW - SQUARE - WOODEN

It’s a table.

opinion

size age shape colour origin material

purpose

Adjectives describing the noun CAR

It's a convertible car

It's a black car   

It's a new car 

It's an expensive car  

It's a beautiful car.

It’s a comfortable car

It’s a big car

It’s a German car

It’s an elegant car

It’s a sports car

Can you describe the car using sentences with more than one adjective?

Continue with these exercises

Adjective Order 1. Choose the correct answer for each sentence.(University of Victoria’s English Language Centre)

The order of adjectives. Are these adjectives in the natural order?. (Better English Lessons)

Quiz. Order of adjectives. (UsingEnglish.com)