Adjectives

Definition :

 

An adjective is regarded as a word that: describes/ modifies a noun or a pronoun by providing (or offering, or granting) more/ additional information about the: quantity, quality, size, shape, color, or condition.

Adjectives add depth to sentences and make descriptions more vivid.

Types of Adjectives:

Adjectives are divided into different types, most common of which:

 

1.       Demonstrative Adjectives:
These are adjectives (parts of speech) that point to specific nouns like: this, that, these, those
Ex: This novel is interesting.

 

2.       Possessive Adjectives:
They are parts of speech that show possession or ownership of a particular item/thing.
Examples include words like: my, your, his, their…etc
Ex: This is his apartment.

 

3.       Interrogative Adjectives:
They are used in sentences meant for asking questions.
Examples include: which, what, whose
Ex: Which TV show do you prefer?

 

4.      Compound Adjectives:

They are formed by combining two or more words. Examples include words like: double-faced, ill-structured, six-year-old… etc

Ex: He is a well-known athlete

 

Rules for the Use of Adjectives

1. Order of Adjectives:

When many adjectives that describe a noun are used together in a sentence, they follow a particular order:

 

1Opinion → 2Size →3Age → 4Shape → 5Color → 6Origin → 7Material → 8Purpose → Noun
 

Example: he purchased a (1)wonderful/ (2)big /(3)antique /(4)rectangular/(5) brown /(6)Spanish /(7)wooden/ (8)dining/ table.

2.       Placement:

·         Most of the time placed before the noun.
Example: she bought a speedy car.

·         They can also come after the verb
Example: The car is speedy.

 

3.       No Change in Form:

Adjectives do not change based on the noun's number or gender.

Example: He is a tall boy. / They are tall girls.

In the example above, the adjective did not change when a singular masculine (boy) was replaced by plural feminine (girls).

 

Adjectives can be found in a sentence as complements modifying nouns that act as subjects and objects:

1.      Adjectives as Subject Complements

A subject complement is an adjective (or noun) that comes after a linking verb and which describes the subject in a given sentence. Linking verbs’ role is to connect the subject to its complement rather than the act of expressing action.

Common Linking Verbs may include:

Be, Seem, appear, become, feel, look, smell, taste, sound, remain

Ex:

She is happy. He looks tired
(Happy/ tired  describe the subject she/ he .)

The dish tastes delicious.
(Delicious here describes the dish.)

 

 

2.       Adjectives as Object Complements

An adjective as an object complement is an adjective that comes after and modifies or describes the direct object of a verb. It mainly completes the meaning of the object.

Common Verbs Followed by Object Complements:

• Make, consider, find, paint, name, think, call,, keep

Ex :

• The students found the assignment difficult.
  (Difficult here describes the direct object assignment.)
• They painted the walls blue.
  (Blue here describes the object walls.)

 

3.      (NON) Coordinate Adjectives

Coordinate adjectives are two or more adjectives that equally modify the same noun. These adjectives are mostly separated by a comma (,) or the conjunction (and.)

How to Identify Coordinate Adjectives:

• We can reverse their order, and the meaning remains the same.
• We can use/insert the conjunction (and) between them without impacting the meaning .

ex

• My mother has a bright, cheerful smile.
  (Bright and cheerful in this example are coordinate adjectives that equally describe smile.)
• Yesterday was cold and windy.
  (Cold and windy in this example are coordinate adjectives that describe day.)

Non-Coordinate Adjectives:

When adjectives do not have equal importance, they are not coordinate and follow a specific order (e.g., size before color). They do not need commas.

They would follow this order (mentioned earlier in the lecture)

1Opinion → 2Size →3Age → 4Shape → 5Color → 6Origin → 7Material → 8Purpose → Noun
 Ex:

• She wore a (1) beautiful (5)red dress.
  (Beautiful and red in this example are not coordinate; they follow the adjective order because they do not EQUALLY describe the noun.)

 

 

Regarding comparison, adjectives have three degrees: positive, comparative, and superlative.

A.     Positive Degree

• It is the description of a single noun or pronoun without comparison.
  Ex: They are kind.

B.     Comparative Degree

• It is the comparison of two nouns or pronouns.
• It is usually formed by adding -er to short adjectives or more/less with longer adjectives.
  Ex:

Ø  Short Adjective: He is bigger than his sibling.

Ø  Long Adjective: This book is more interesting than the previous one.

 

C.     Superlative Degree

• Used for the comparison of more than two nouns or pronouns.
• It is mostly formed by adding -est to short adjectives or most/least with the longer ones.
  Ex:

Ø  Short Adjective: He is the biggest athlete in the gym.

Ø  Long Adjective: This is the most interesting site I have seen.

 

 

Rules for the Comparative and Superlative Forms:

The following rules apply when we want to use the comparative/ superlative forms

1. One-Syllable Adjectives:

·         Add -er for comparative and -est for superlative.
Examples:

·         Positive: tall

·         Comparative: taller

·         Superlative: tallest

 

2. Two-Syllable Adjectives Ending in -y:
• We change -y to -i and add -er for the comparative or –est for the superlative
  Examples:

·         Positive: Merry

·         Comparative: Merrier

·         Superlative: Merriest

 

3. Adjectives with Two or More Syllables:
• Use more for comparative and most for superlative.
  Examples:

·         Positive: Interesting

·         Comparative: more interesting

·         Superlative: most interesting

 

4. One syllable adjectives following the order CVC (consonant vowel consonant)

Ø  We double the last consonant and add +er for the comparative and +est for the superlative

·         Positive: Big

·         Comparative: Bigger

·         Superlative: Biggest

5. Irregular Adjectives:
• They are considered irregular because they do not follow standard rules.
  Ex:

·         Positive: good, bad, far

·         Comparative: better, worse, farther/further

·         Superlative: best, worst, farthest/furthest

One must take into consideration that exceptions exist

 We can regard some situations in the following table:

Summary Table:

Exception Type	Examples
Irregular forms	good → better → best
Absolute adjectives	perfect, dead, unique (it remains the same because it is the extreme adjective, you can’t go beyond it)
Adjectives with dual forms	clever → cleverer/more clever ( both forms are correct)
Adjectives with fixed meaning	infinite, eternal, supreme (do not change, and also because they stand for the extreme)
Contextual variations	older vs. elder