A Closer Look at
Adjectives
In grammar, an adjective is a word which modifies a noun or a pronoun. An adjective is a word which provides more information about another word.
Check out this Schoolhouse Rock grammar video!
Basically, you use adjectives to describe things! Take for example - your father. A dad is considered a noun. How would you describe your dad? He's tall, old, funny, wrinkly, humorous and smart. These are all adjectives to describe your dad.
How do you describe the weather? The weather can be cold, hot, sunny, pleasant or beautiful. These adjectives describe what the weather is like!
Types of adjectives
You can usually classify adjectives in four different ways:
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Attributive adjectives These are part of a noun phrase which usually precede the noun they modify. For example, "happy" is an attributive adjective of "happy children". Predicative adjectives These adjectives are linked to another noun or pronoun they modify. For example "sad" is a predicate in "They are sad" of "that made me sad". Absolute adjectives These adjective usually modify the subject of a sentence, of whatever noun/pronoun they are closest to. For example, "The girl, sad at her dog's death, started to cry." Here, "sad" is an absolutely adjective |
Substantive adjectives
These adjectives act almost like nouns. In the sentence, "I
watched two movies. I preferred the happy to the sad." Here,
"happy" is short-form for "the happy one".
Other examples of phrases with substantive adjectives:
"Out with the old, in with the new", "the meek shall inherit the
earth".
Comparable
adjectives
When you're describing something, you can often describe it in the following way:
| Form | Example |
| positive | happy |
| comparative | happier (more happy) |
| superlative | happiest (the most happy) |
My right hand is happier than
my left!
Adjectives vs. Adverbs -
Beware!
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In English, some adjectives and adverbs use the same
word. How do you know whether a word is an adverb or an adjective? Look at their function in the sentence."He has a fast car." In this sentence, "fast" is further describing the noun, the "car". Therefore it is an adjective. |
The sentence indicates that the car has a
quality that is fast.
"He drove the car fast."
In this sentence, however, "fast" is an adverb. Why? He is
describing how he drove the car. He drove the
car in a fast manner. The word "fast" describes
the verb "drove".
Basically, an adjective will describe a noun and an adverb will
describe a verb.
Adjectives vs.
Pronouns
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Adjectives are pretty easy to understand. You will find that words you have not considered adjectives can actually be considered adjectives in certain sentences. There are 4 types:possessive,demonstrative, interrogative, and indefinite adjectives. Check out this lesson on the Parts of Speech (part 2) in order to learn these types and how they are used. |
These types can be a bit confusing because they are the same as types of pronouns - it all depends on the subject or object of the sentence, and whether the word is being used as a pronoun (to replace) or as an adjective (to further describe an object).
Check this table out to learn how to distinguish adjectives from pronouns in various types of sentences.
| Type of Adjective | Example |
| Possessive Adjectives |
Identical to possessive pronouns - my, your,
his, her, its, our, thei "This is my desk." |
| Demonstrative Adjectives |
Identical to demonstrative pronouns - this,
these, that, those, what "Those flowers were much prettier than the ones they were selling last week." |
| Interrogative Adjectives |
Similar to interrogative pronouns - Which,
what "Which drawings are by Georgia O'Keefe?" |
| Indefinite Adjectives |
Similar to an indefinite pronoun - all,
another, any, anybody, anyone, anything, each, everybody,
everyone, everything, few, many, nobody, none, one, several,
some, somebody, someone. "We found a few books on the shelf." |
Thanks for learning about adjectives with me!
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