Describe the word adjective

An adjective (abbreviated adj.) is a word that describes a noun or noun phrase. Its semantic role is to change information given by the noun.

Traditionally, adjectives were considered one of the main parts of speech of the English language, although historically they were classed together with nouns.^[1] Nowadays, certain words that usually had been classified as adjectives, including the, this, my, etc., typically are classed separately, as determiners.

Here are some examples:

• That’s a funny idea. (attributive)
• That idea is funny. (predicative)
• Tell me something funny. (postpositive)
• The good, the bad, and the funny. (substantive)

Etymology[edit]

Adjective comes from Latin nōmen adjectīvum,^[2] a calque of Ancient Greek: ἐπίθετον ὄνομα, romanized: epítheton ónoma, lit. ‘additional noun’ (whence also English epithet).^[3][4] In the grammatical tradition of Latin and Greek, because adjectives were inflected for gender, number, and case like nouns (a process called declension), they were considered a type of noun. The words that are today typically called nouns were then called substantive nouns (nōmen substantīvum).^[5] The terms noun substantive and noun adjective were formerly used in English but are now obsolete.^[1]

Types of use[edit]

Depending on the language, an adjective can precede a corresponding noun on a prepositive basis or it can follow a corresponding noun on a postpositive basis. Structural, contextual, and style considerations can impinge on the pre-or post-position of an adjective in a given instance of its occurrence. In English, occurrences of adjectives generally can be classified into one of three categories:

1. Prepositive adjectives, which are also known as «attributive adjectives», occur on an antecedent basis within a noun phrase.^[6] For example: «I put my happy kids into the car», wherein happy occurs on an antecedent basis within the my happy kids noun phrase, and therefore functions in a prepositive adjective.
2. Postpositive adjectives can occur: (a) immediately subsequent to a noun within a noun phrase, e.g. «The only room available cost twice what we expected»; (b) as linked via a copula or other linking mechanism subsequent to a corresponding noun or pronoun; for example: «My kids are happy«, wherein happy is a predicate adjective^[6] (see also: Predicative expression, Subject complement); or (c) as an appositive adjective within a noun phrase, e.g. «My kids, [who are] happy to go for a drive, are in the back seat.»
3. Nominalized adjectives, which function as nouns. One way this happens is by eliding a noun from an adjective-noun noun phrase, whose remnant thus is a nominalization. In the sentence, «I read two books to them; he preferred the sad book, but she preferred the happy», happy is a nominalized adjective, short for «happy one» or «happy book». Another way this happens is in phrases like «out with the old, in with the new», where «the old» means «that which is old» or «all that is old», and similarly with «the new». In such cases, the adjective may function as a mass noun (as in the preceding example). In English, it may also function as a plural count noun denoting a collective group, as in «The meek shall inherit the Earth», where «the meek» means «those who are meek» or «all who are meek».

Distribution[edit]

Adjectives feature as a part of speech (word class) in most languages. In some languages, the words that serve the semantic function of adjectives are categorized together with some other class, such as nouns or verbs. In the phrase «a Ford car», «Ford» is unquestionably a noun but its function is adjectival: to modify «car». In some languages adjectives can function as nouns: for example, the Spanish phrase «un rojo» means «a red [one]».

As for «confusion» with verbs, rather than an adjective meaning «big», a language might have a verb that means «to be big» and could then use an attributive verb construction analogous to «big-being house» to express what in English is called a «big house». Such an analysis is possible for the grammar of Standard Chinese, for example.

Different languages do not use adjectives in exactly the same situations. For example, where English uses «to be hungry» (hungry being an adjective), Dutch, French, and Spanish use «honger hebben«, «avoir faim«, and «tener hambre» respectively (literally «to have hunger», the words for «hunger» being nouns). Similarly, where Hebrew uses the adjective זקוק‎ (zaqūq, roughly «in need of»), English uses the verb «to need».

In languages that have adjectives as a word class, it is usually an open class; that is, it is relatively common for new adjectives to be formed via such processes as derivation. However, Bantu languages are well known for having only a small closed class of adjectives, and new adjectives are not easily derived. Similarly, native Japanese adjectives (i-adjectives) are considered a closed class (as are native verbs), although nouns (an open class) may be used in the genitive to convey some adjectival meanings, and there is also the separate open class of adjectival nouns (na-adjectives).

Adverbs[edit]

Many languages (including English) distinguish between adjectives, which qualify nouns and pronouns, and adverbs, which mainly modify verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs. Not all languages make this exact distinction; many (including English) have words that can function as either. For example, in English, fast is an adjective in «a fast car» (where it qualifies the noun car) but an adverb in «he drove fast» (where it modifies the verb drove).

In Dutch and German, adjectives and adverbs are usually identical in form and many grammarians do not make the distinction, but patterns of inflection can suggest a difference:

Eine kluge neue Idee.

A clever new idea.

Eine klug ausgereifte Idee.

A cleverly developed idea.

A German word like klug («clever(ly)») takes endings when used as an attributive adjective but not when used adverbially. (It also takes no endings when used as a predicative adjective: er ist klug, «he is clever».) Whether these are distinct parts of speech or distinct usages of the same part of speech is a question of analysis. It can be noted that, while German linguistic terminology distinguishes adverbiale from adjektivische Formen, German refers to both as Eigenschaftswörter («property words»).

Determiners[edit]

Linguists today distinguish determiners from adjectives, considering them to be two separate parts of speech (or lexical categories). Determiners formerly were considered to be adjectives in some of their uses.^[a] Determiners function neither as nouns nor pronouns but instead characterize a nominal element within a particular context. They generally do this by indicating definiteness (a vs. the), quantity (one vs. some vs. many), or another such property.

Adjective phrases[edit]

An adjective acts as the head of an adjective phrase or adjectival phrase (AP). In the simplest case, an adjective phrase consists solely of the adjective; more complex adjective phrases may contain one or more adverbs modifying the adjective («very strong»), or one or more complements (such as «worth several dollars«, «full of toys«, or «eager to please«). In English, attributive adjective phrases that include complements typically follow the noun that they qualify («an evildoer devoid of redeeming qualities«).

Other modifiers of nouns[edit]

In many languages (including English) it is possible for nouns to modify other nouns. Unlike adjectives, nouns acting as modifiers (called attributive nouns or noun adjuncts) usually are not predicative; a beautiful park is beautiful, but a car park is not «car». The modifier often indicates origin («Virginia reel»), purpose («work clothes»), semantic patient («man eater») or semantic subject («child actor»); however, it may generally indicate almost any semantic relationship. It is also common for adjectives to be derived from nouns, as in boyish, birdlike, behavioral (behavioural), famous, manly, angelic, and so on.

In Australian Aboriginal languages, the distinction between adjectives and nouns is typically thought weak, and many of the languages only use nouns—or nouns with a limited set of adjective-deriving affixes—to modify other nouns. In languages that have a subtle adjective-noun distinction, one way to tell them apart is that a modifying adjective can come to stand in for an entire elided noun phrase, while a modifying noun cannot. For example, in Bardi, the adjective moorrooloo ‘little’ in the phrase moorrooloo baawa ‘little child’ can stand on its own to mean ‘the little one,’ while the attributive noun aamba ‘man’ in the phrase aamba baawa ‘male child’ cannot stand for the whole phrase to mean ‘the male one.’^[7] In other languages, like Warlpiri, nouns and adjectives are lumped together beneath the nominal umbrella because of their shared syntactic distribution as arguments of predicates. The only thing distinguishing them is that some nominals seem to semantically denote entities (typically nouns in English) and some nominals seem to denote attributes (typically adjectives in English).^[8]

Many languages have participle forms that can act as noun modifiers either alone or as the head of a phrase. Sometimes participles develop into functional usage as adjectives. Examples in English include relieved (the past participle of relieve), used as an adjective in passive voice constructs such as «I am so relieved to see you». Other examples include spoken (the past participle of speak) and going (the present participle of go), which function as attribute adjectives in such phrases as «the spoken word» and «the going rate».

Other constructs that often modify nouns include prepositional phrases (as in «a rebel without a cause«), relative clauses (as in «the man who wasn’t there«), and infinitive phrases (as in «a cake to die for«). Some nouns can also take complements such as content clauses (as in «the idea that I would do that«), but these are not commonly considered modifiers. For more information about possible modifiers and dependents of nouns, see Components of noun phrases.

Order[edit]

In many languages, attributive adjectives usually occur in a specific order. In general, the adjective order in English can be summarised as: opinion, size, age or shape, colour, origin, material, purpose.^[9][10][11] Other language authorities, like the Cambridge Dictionary, state that shape precedes rather than follows age.^[9][12][13]

Determiners and postdeterminers—articles, numerals, and other limiters (e.g. three blind mice)—come before attributive adjectives in English. Although certain combinations of determiners can appear before a noun, they are far more circumscribed than adjectives in their use—typically, only a single determiner would appear before a noun or noun phrase (including any attributive adjectives).

1. Opinion – limiter adjectives (e.g. a real hero, a perfect idiot) and adjectives of subjective measure (e.g. beautiful, interesting) or value (e.g. good, bad, costly)
2. Size – adjectives denoting physical size (e.g. tiny, big, extensive)
3. Shape or physical quality – adjectives describing more detailed physical attributes than overall size (e.g. round, sharp, swollen, thin)
4. Age – adjectives denoting age (e.g. young, old, new, ancient, six-year-old)
5. Colour – adjectives denoting colour or pattern (e.g. white, black, pale, spotted)
6. Origin – denominal adjectives denoting source (e.g. Japanese, volcanic, extraterrestrial)
7. Material – denominal adjectives denoting what something is made of (e.g., woollen, metallic, wooden)
8. Qualifier/purpose – final limiter, which sometimes forms part of the (compound) noun (e.g., rocking chair, hunting cabin, passenger car, book cover)

This means that, in English, adjectives pertaining to size precede adjectives pertaining to age («little old», not «old little»), which in turn generally precede adjectives pertaining to colour («old white», not «white old»). So, one would say «One (quantity) nice (opinion) little (size) old (age) round (shape) [or round old] white (colour) brick (material) house.» When several adjectives of the same type are used together, they are ordered from general to specific, like «lovely intelligent person» or «old medieval castle».^[9]

This order may be more rigid in some languages than others; in some, like Spanish, it may only be a default (unmarked) word order, with other orders being permissible. Other languages, such as Tagalog, follow their adjectival orders as rigidly as English.

The normal adjectival order of English may be overridden in certain circumstances, especially when one adjective is being fronted. For example, the usual order of adjectives in English would result in the phrase «the bad big wolf» (opinion before size), but instead, the usual phrase is «the big bad wolf».

Owing partially to borrowings from French, English has some adjectives that follow the noun as postmodifiers, called postpositive adjectives, as in time immemorial and attorney general. Adjectives may even change meaning depending on whether they precede or follow, as in proper: They live in a proper town (a real town, not a village) vs. They live in the town proper (in the town itself, not in the suburbs). All adjectives can follow nouns in certain constructions, such as tell me something new.

Comparison (degrees)[edit]

In many languages, some adjectives are comparable and the measure of comparison is called degree. For example, a person may be «polite», but another person may be «more polite», and a third person may be the «most polite» of the three. The word «more» here modifies the adjective «polite» to indicate a comparison is being made, and «most» modifies the adjective to indicate an absolute comparison (a superlative).

Among languages that allow adjectives to be compared, different means are used to indicate comparison. Some languages do not distinguish between comparative and superlative forms. Other languages allow adjectives to be compared but do not have a special comparative form of the adjective. In such cases, as in some Australian Aboriginal languages, case-marking, such as the ablative case may be used to indicate one entity has more of an adjectival quality than (i.e. from—hence ABL) another. Take the following example in Bardi:^[7]

In English, many adjectives can be inflected to comparative and superlative forms by taking the suffixes «-er» and «-est» (sometimes requiring additional letters before the suffix; see forms for far below), respectively:

«great», «greater», «greatest»

«deep», «deeper», «deepest»

Some adjectives are irregular in this sense:

«good», «better», «best»

«bad», «worse», «worst»

«many», «more», «most» (sometimes regarded as an adverb or determiner)

«little», «less», «least»

Some adjectives can have both regular and irregular variations:

«old», «older», «oldest»

«far», «farther», «farthest»

also

«old», «elder», «eldest»

«far», «further», «furthest»

Another way to convey comparison is by incorporating the words «more» and «most». There is no simple rule to decide which means is correct for any given adjective, however. The general tendency is for simpler adjectives and those from Anglo-Saxon to take the suffixes, while longer adjectives and those from French, Latin, or Greek do not—but sometimes sound of the word is the deciding factor.

Many adjectives do not naturally lend themselves to comparison. For example, some English speakers would argue that it does not make sense to say that one thing is «more ultimate» than another, or that something is «most ultimate», since the word «ultimate» is already absolute in its semantics. Such adjectives are called non-comparable or absolute. Nevertheless, native speakers will frequently play with the raised forms of adjectives of this sort. Although «pregnant» is logically non-comparable (either one is pregnant or not), one may hear a sentence like «She looks more and more pregnant each day». Likewise «extinct» and «equal» appear to be non-comparable, but one might say that a language about which nothing is known is «more extinct» than a well-documented language with surviving literature but no speakers, while George Orwell wrote, «All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others». These cases may be viewed as evidence that the base forms of these adjectives are not as absolute in their semantics as is usually thought.

Comparative and superlative forms are also occasionally used for other purposes than comparison. In English comparatives can be used to suggest that a statement is only tentative or tendential: one might say «John is more the shy-and-retiring type,» where the comparative «more» is not really comparing him with other people or with other impressions of him, but rather, could be substituting for «on the whole» or «more so than not». In Italian, superlatives are frequently used to put strong emphasis on an adjective: bellissimo means «most beautiful», but is in fact more commonly heard in the sense «extremely beautiful».

Restrictiveness[edit]

Attributive adjectives and other noun modifiers may be used either restrictively (helping to identify the noun’s referent, hence «restricting» its reference) or non-restrictively (helping to describe a noun). For example:

He was a lazy sort, who would avoid a difficult task and fill his working hours with easy ones.

Here «difficult» is restrictive – it tells which tasks he avoids, distinguishing these from the easy ones: «Only those tasks that are difficult».

She had the job of sorting out the mess left by her predecessor, and she performed this difficult task with great acumen.

Here «difficult» is non-restrictive – it is already known which task it was, but the adjective describes it more fully: «The aforementioned task, which (by the way) is difficult»

In some languages, such as Spanish, restrictiveness is consistently marked; for example, in Spanish la tarea difícil means «the difficult task» in the sense of «the task that is difficult» (restrictive), whereas la difícil tarea means «the difficult task» in the sense of «the task, which is difficult» (non-restrictive). In English, restrictiveness is not marked on adjectives but is marked on relative clauses (the difference between «the man who recognized me was there» and «the man, who recognized me, was there» being one of restrictiveness).

Agreement[edit]

In some languages, adjectives alter their form to reflect the gender, case and number of the noun that they describe. This is called agreement or concord. Usually it takes the form of inflections at the end of the word, as in Latin:

puella bona		(good girl, feminine singular nominative)
puellam bonam	(good girl, feminine singular accusative/object case)
puer bonus	(good boy, masculine singular nominative)
pueri boni	(good boys, masculine plural nominative)

In Celtic languages, however, initial consonant lenition marks the adjective with a feminine singular noun, as in Irish:

buachaill maith		(good boy, masculine)
girseach mhaith	(good girl, feminine)

Here, a distinction may be made between attributive and predicative usage. In English, adjectives never agree, whereas in French, they always agree. In German, they agree only when they are used attributively, and in Hungarian, they agree only when they are used predicatively:

The good (Ø) boys.		The boys are good (Ø).
Les bons garçons.	Les garçons sont bons.
Die braven Jungen.	Die Jungen sind brav (Ø).
A jó (Ø) fiúk.	A fiúk jók.

Semantics[edit]

This section needs expansion with: other aspects of adjective semantics. You can help by adding to it. (talk) (August 2022)

Semanticist Barbara Partee classifies adjectives semantically as intersective, subsective, or nonsubsective, with nonsubsective adjectives being plain nonsubsective or privative.^[14]

• An adjective is intersective if and only if the extension of its combination with a noun is equal to the intersection of its extension and that of the noun its modifying. For example, the adjective carnivorous is intersective, given the extension of carnivorous mammal is the intersection of the extensions of carnivorous and mammal (i.e., the set of all mammals who are carnivorous).
• An adjective is subsective if and only if the extension of its combination with a noun is a subset of the extension of the noun. For example, the extension of skillful surgeon is a subset of the extension of surgeon, but it is not the intersection of that and the extension of skillful, as that would include (for example) incompetent surgeons who are skilled violinists. All subsective adjectives are intersective, but the term ‘subsective’ is sometimes used to refer to only those subsective adjectives which are not intersective.
• An adjective is privative if and only if the extension of its combination with a noun is disjoint from the extension of the noun. For example, fake is privative because a fake cat is not a cat.
• A plain nonsubsective adjective is an adjective that is not subsective or privative. For example, the word possible is this kind of adjective, as the extension of possible murderer overlaps with, but is not included in the extension of murderer (as some, but not all, possible murderers are murderers).

See also[edit]

• Attributive verb
• Flat adverb
• Grammatical modifier
• Intersective modifier
• List of eponymous adjectives in English
• Noun adjunct
• Part of speech
• Predication (philosophy)
• Privative adjective
• Proper adjective
• Subsective modifier

Explanatory notes[edit]

References[edit]

Further reading[edit]

• Dixon, R. M. W. (1977). «Where Have All the Adjectives Gone?». Studies in Language. 1: 19–80. doi:10.1075/sl.1.1.04dix.
• Dixon, R. M. W. (1993). R. E. Asher (ed.). The Encyclopedia of Language and Linguistics (1st ed.). Pergamon Press Inc. pp. 29–35. ISBN 0-08-035943-4.
• Dixon, R. M. W. (1999). «Adjectives». In K. Brown & T. Miller (eds.), Concise Encyclopedia of Grammatical Categories. Amsterdam: Elsevier. ISBN 0-08-043164-X. pp. 1–8.
• Rießler, Michael (2016). Adjective Attribution. Language Science Press. ISBN 9783944675657.
• Warren, Beatrice (1984). Classifying adjectives. Gothenburg studies in English No. 56. Göteborg: Acta Universitatis Gothoburgensis. ISBN 91-7346-133-4.
• Wierzbicka, Anna (1986). «What’s in a Noun? (Or: How Do Nouns Differ in Meaning from Adjectives?)». Studies in Language. 10 (2): 353–389. doi:10.1075/sl.10.2.05wie.

External links[edit]

• List of English collateral adjectives at Wiktionary

Adjectives describe or modify—that is, they limit or restrict the meaning of—nouns and pronouns. They may name qualities of all kinds: huge, red, angry, tremendous, unique, rare, etc.

An adjective usually comes right before a noun: «a red dress,» «fifteen people.» When an adjective follows a linking verb such as be or seem, it is called a predicate adjective: «That building is huge,» «The workers seem happy.» Most adjectives can be used as predicate adjectives, although some are always used before a noun. Similarly, a few adjectives can only be used as predicate adjectives and are never used before a noun.

Some adjectives describe qualities that can exist in different amounts or degrees. To do this, the adjective will either change in form (usually by adding -er or -est) or will be used with words like more, most, very, slightly, etc.: «the older girls,» «the longest day of the year,» «a very strong feeling,» «more expensive than that one.» Other adjectives describe qualities that do not vary—»nuclear energy,» «a medical doctor»—and do not change form.

The four demonstrative adjectives—this, that, these, and those—are identical to the demonstrative pronouns. They are used to distinguish the person or thing being described from others of the same category or class. This and these describe people or things that are nearby, or in the present. That and those are used to describe people or things that are not here, not nearby, or in the past or future. These adjectives, like the definite and indefinite articles (a, an, and the), always come before any other adjectives that modify a noun.

An indefinite adjective describes a whole group or class of people or things, or a person or thing that is not identified or familiar. The most common indefinite adjectives are: all, another, any, both, each, either, enough, every, few, half, least, less, little, many, more, most, much, neither, one (and two, three, etc.), other, several, some, such, whole.

The interrogative adjectives—primarily which, what, and whose—are used to begin questions. They can also be used as interrogative pronouns.

Which horse did you bet on? = Which did you bet on?

What songs did they sing? = What did they sing?

Whose coat is this? = Whose is this?

The possessive adjectives—my, your, his, her, its, our, their—tell you who has, owns, or has experienced something, as in «I admired her candor, «Our cat is 14 years old,» and «They said their trip was wonderful.»

Nouns often function like adjectives. When they do, they are called attributive nouns.

When two or more adjectives are used before a noun, they should be put in proper order. Any article (a, an, the), demonstrative adjective (that, these, etc.), indefinite adjective (another, both, etc.), or possessive adjective (her, our, etc.) always comes first. If there is a number, it comes first or second. True adjectives always come before attributive nouns. The ordering of true adjectives will vary, but the following order is the most common:

opinion word→ size→ age→ shape→ color→ nationality→ material.

Participles are often used like ordinary adjectives. They may come before a noun or after a linking verb. A present participle (an -ing word) describes the person or thing that causes something; for example, a boring conversation is one that bores you. A past participle (usually an -ed word) describes the person or thing who has been affected by something; for example, a bored person is one who has been affected by boredom.

They had just watched an exciting soccer game.

The instructions were confusing.

She’s excited about the trip to North Africa.

Several confused students were asking questions about the test.

The lake was frozen.

Main Adjectives Takeaways:

• An adjective is a word that describes or modifies nouns or pronouns.
• They can describe quantity, color, size, condition, origin, appearance, personality, and time.
• They can provide degrees of comparison.
• Attributive adjectives precede the noun they’re describing.
• Predicate adjectives follow verbs such as become, look, or seem.
• In certain situations, adjectives can become nouns, and vice versa.
• Don’t rely on adjectives just to make prose prettier or shore up weak nouns.

Adjectives are words that describe, identify, or quantify nouns and pronouns. They provide details and answer questions such aswhose, how many, what type, and which one.

Understanding when and how to use this part of speech gives you an effective way to add color and clarity to your writing. And, to avoid using them incorrectly.

What Are Adjectives?

Adjectives describe, or modify, nouns and pronouns. Essentially, they provide the details that make nouns and pronouns more specific. An adjective describes the quality or state of being of a noun. This part of speech also describe the quantity or number.

Each of these descriptive words typically fall into one of the following categories:

• General appearance (pretty, bold, unattractive)
• Shape and size (circular, narrow, deep)
• Color (auburn, inky, clear)
• Condition (damaged, pristine, frozen)
• Quantity (plentiful, countless, few)
• Personality (quirky, funny, heroic)
• Time (yearly, prehistoric, concurrent)
• Sense (ear-splitting, tasty, prickly)

What Are 10 Adjectives Examples ?

As words that provide details about a noun or program, there are almost limitless examples of adjectives. They often answer questions such as whose, how many, what type, and which one.

What Are the 8 Types Of Adjectives?

There are eight types of adjectives. And, each adjective falls into one of these categories.

Which category depends on its placement and relation with other parts of speech in a sentence.

For instance, these types include descriptive, distributive, interrogative, possessive, proper, quantitative, sequence, or indefinite.

1. Descriptive

Descriptive adjectives are usually the first kind that come to mind when think about this part of speech.

However, these words assign a quality or attribute to a noun or pronoun. This helps you define your subject clearly and exactly.

2. Distributive

Distributive adjectives point out or draw attention to a particular noun in a crowd. Place these before the noun they’re modifying. The noun they modify is usually singular.

Distributive adjectives: Any, Each, Every, Either, Neither

3. Interrogative

These are descriptive words that ask a question when paired with a noun or pronoun.

Interrogative adjectives: Whose, Which, What

4. Possessive

This kind of descriptive word shows ownership.

Possessive Adjectives: his, her, its, their, our, my, your, whose

5. Proper

We derive proper adjectives from proper nouns. This means that they stand for proper nouns. As a result, you need to capitalize the first letter of these descriptive words.

They identify a specific place, person, or thing. They may be hyphenated.

6. Quantitative

On the other hand, Quantitative adjectives describe how much or how many noun or pronoun they’re modifying.

7. Sequence

Although sequence adjectives are similar to quantitative in that they assign numbers to a noun or pronoun, there’s one significant difference. The former use ordinal numbers to imply order.

8. Indefinite

Adjectives generally add specificity to nouns or pronouns. But, they can also point out nonspecific items.

Indefinite adjectives: few, any, no, several, many

What Are Positive Adjectives?

Positive adjectives are words that you use to describe emotions about people, events, places, ideas, or objects that made you feel good. By using positive adjectives, you’ll be able to express your happy thoughts effectively, helping people better understand your feelings or disposition. Here are some examples:

As you may have noticed, the adjectives we used let you have a mental image of the positive emotions we’ve described.

What Are Negative Adjectives?

Besides positive adjectives, there are also negative adjectives. In contrast, negative adjectives describe bad emotions. And although these two function the same way, it’s important that you choose your negative adjectives carefully. Otherwise, you might end up offending someone or evoking unintended feelings from others. The following are examples of negative adjectives.

Unlike positive adjectives, negative adjectives are often used by people in arguments to insult or berate others. Again, try to use these words sparingly to avoid conflict or upsetting others.

What Are the Degrees Of Comparison Of Adjectives?

You can also use adjectives to define something to a certain degree. They come in three-degree levels: positive, comparative, and superlative.

1. Positive

Also known as absolute, you may use the positive degree when you’re referring to a single noun.

2. Comparative

This is your go-to adjective type when you’re comparing two of something.

• Typically, adding -er to an adjective creates the comparative form (e.g., smarter, taller, narrower).
• Other descriptive words become comparatives by adding the word more in front of them (e.g., more beautiful).
• All comparatives should be paired with the word than.
• If the adjective ends in “y,” the “y” should be changed to an “i” before adding -er (e.g., pretty becomes prettier).

3. Superlative

When comparing three or more things, the superlative degree is the one to use.

• It’s typically created by adding -est to the adjective (smartest, tallest, narrowest) or pairing the adjective with the word most (most beautiful).
• If the adjective ends in “y,” the “y” should be changed to an “i” before adding -est (e.g., pretty becomes prettiest).

The Three Cs of Multipart Adjectives: Coordinate, Cumulative, and Compound

Sometimes you just need a second adjective to complete the job.

This is where coordinate and cumulative adjectives come into play. They are words that you can combine to provide additional meaning to a single noun or pronoun.

1. Coordinate Adjectives

Both words in a coordinate adjective are equally important. But, a comma should separate them.

2. Cumulative Adjectives

Next, Cumulative adjectives are multiple words that build on one another to create meaning. However, they must maintain a particular order to make sense. They’re easy to recognize because they can’t be reversed and won’t make sense if you use and between them.

3. Compound Adjectives

Finally, Compound adjectives contain more than one word. They are typically linked together by a hyphen.

The Placement of Adjectives

Adjectives may be broken down into types based on their placement in a sentence and their relationship to other parts of speech.

1. Attributive

These are words that are placed immediately before the noun that they’re describing.

2. Predicate

These descriptive words typically appear after a linking verb.

Predicate adjectives: is, are, am, was, were, seemed, looked

3. Postpositive

Postpositive adjectives are descriptors that immediately follow a noun or pronoun.

What Are Gradable and Non Gradable Adjectives?

Almost all adjectives are gradable, letting their meaning be altered by strategic placement of adverbs such as:

• fairly
• rather
• very
• extremely
• dreadfully
• slightly
• reasonably

By pairing gradable adjectives with these adverbs, their meaning can increase or decrease in intensity.

What Is the Difference Between Adjectives And Adverbs With Examples?

Due to their similar sound and appearance, these two parts of speech often get mixed up. Thankfully, there are easy ways to distinguish between the two.

It’s all in the Name

To distinguish between adjectives and adverbs, all you have to do is look at the name: adverbs. As its name implies, adverbs are used to modify verbs, whereas adjectives are used to modify nouns or pronouns.

Look for the -LY

Many adverbs end in -ly, making them easy to identify.

I Feel Bad vs. I Feel Badly: A Brief Comparison

It’s helpful to examine individual sentences when trying to understand the difference between adjectives and adverbs.

For example, in the sentence, “Bob feels bad,” bad is an adjective. Essentially, in this sentence, Bob feels under the weather.

On the other hand, in the sentence, “Bob feels badly,” badly is an adverb (note the -ly!). In this case, feeling badly refers to a poor sense of touch and Bob’s inability to experience tactile sensations.

Abracadabra! When Nouns Become Adjectives and Vice Versa

Here’s where things get tricky: sometimes the parts of speech can masquerade as other parts of speech.

In certain circumstances, nouns modify or clarify other nouns. This effectively turns them into adjectives.

These converted nouns are known as noun modifiers or adjectival nouns.

On the flip side, adjectives can also function as nouns.

This happens when they describe groups of people. In these circumstances, the noun being modified drops away. As a result, the adjective takes the place of the noun.

Note: These adjectives-turned-nouns must always be placed immediately after the definite the.

From Clunky to Clear: Choosing Good Adjectives

Adjectives can add specificity. But unfortunately, they can also be clunky and contribute to flowery, overwritten prose, and an unsavory concoction known commonly as adjective soup.

Descriptive words are also one of the most overused parts of speech, particularly in creative writing. That’s why it’s so important to choose the right ones for your sentences—if you need any at all.

Ultimately, a good adjective is one that adds meaning to your sentence. It should quantify, clarify, and enhance. What it shouldn’t do is shore up a weak noun or exist solely to add prettiness to your prose.

After all, that big house may really be an estate—and that loud, booming shout? Well, it’s really just a shout after all, plain and simple.

List of Common Adjectives

Just a Quick Adjectives Quiz to Help You Master Your new Skills

Read More: Adjectives Starting With A

Definition of Adjective

An adjective is a part of speech that describes and modifies a noun, to make a writing or conversation more specific, relevant, and coherent. The word “adjective” has been derived from the Latin word adjectīvum, which means “additional.”

An adjective modifies, quantifies, and even transforms the things, ideas, places, and even incidents referred to in the sentence, making them unique and individual. It generally appears before a noun or a pronoun, modifying it to shed more light on its specific characteristics. For instance, “This isn’t a romance. You’re not a damsel in distress and I’m not the handsome prince come to save you” (Captive in the Dark, by C.J Roberts). Here, the adjective “handsome” has modified the noun “prince,” making it clear which prince the writer is referring to.

Types of Adjective

There are eight basic types of in modern writing:

1. Descriptive adjective – refers to or describes a noun or a pronoun. For instance, “Adrian is a witty“
2. Demonstrative adjective – is an adjective that points towards a specific person, place, or thing within a sentence. It is similar to a demonstrative pronoun. For instance, “These bananas are tasty.”
3. Possessive adjective – also known as a “possessive determiner,” the possessive adjective refers to the words that modify nouns by showing a sense of possession of, or belonging to, a person or thing. This type is similar to a possessive pronoun. For instance, “She has sold her.”
4. Interrogative adjective – poses a question, and comes before a noun. The interrogative adjective is similar to interrogative pronoun. For instance, “Which game are you playing?”
5. Predictive adjective – follows a linking verb, and modifies its subject. For instance, “That girl is beautiful.”
6. Superlative adjective – expresses a greater increase or decrease in quality. The superlative adjective gives readers the supreme values of a noun. For instance, “David is the smallest of all the students.”
7. Comparative adjective – compares two objects, things, or persons in a sentence. For instance, “The son is taller than the father.”
8. Personal title adjective – uses a title, such as Master, Mr. ,Miss, Uncle, Grandmother, Lord, Professor, Doctor, and so on. For instance, “You can visit Dr. John tonight.”

Examples of Adjectives in Literature

Example #1: The Wapshot (by John Cheever)

“He was a tall man with an astonishing and somehow elegant curvature of the spine, formed by an enlarged lower abdomen, which he carried in a stately and contented way, as if it contained money and securities.”

This example is showing descriptive adjectives, referring to the quality of the pronoun, “a man,” who is tall, and his “spine,” which is elegant. Additional descriptive adjectives describe other features of the man’s body parts.

Example #2: Song (by John Donne)

“Sweetest Love! I do not go
For weariness of thee,
Nor in hope the world can shew
A fitter love for me …”

Donne has used the superlative adjective “sweetest” to describe the affection of a lover for his beloved. This adjective shows a unique quality of love.

Example #3: Thank You, Jeeves (by P.G. Wodehouse)

“I had scarcely reached the stairs when I observed a hideous form. A little, short, broad, bow-legged individual with long arms and a short, wizened face.”

This example of descriptive adjective illustrates qualities of a person who is “little, short, broad, and bow-legged.”

Example #4: In the Seven Woods: Being Poems Chiefly of the Irish Heroic Age (by W.B. Yeats)

“O Never give the heart outright,
For they, for all smooth lips can say,
Have given their hearts up to the play.”

In this example, Yeats has used the descriptive adjective “smooth” to describe the noun “lips.” It has appeared before the noun and modified it.

Example #5: Where the Sidewalk Ends (by Shel Silverstein)

“My skin is kind of sort of brownish pinkish yellowish white. My eyes are greyish blueish green, but I’m told they look orange in the night. My hair is reddish blondish brown, but it’s silver when it’s wet, and all the colors I am inside have not been invented yet.”

This excerpt presents a perfect example of predictive adjectives, which follow linking verbs: is, look, are, and again is.

Function

An adjective describes a noun or a pronoun. It adds further meaning, or gives additional information about them. The adjective also performs the functions of adjective phrase head, noun phrase modifier, subject complement, object complement, and apposite. In fact, by specifying certain nouns and pronouns, adjectives make them clear, prominent, and distinct within a text. In addition, an effective use of adjectives can strengthen a written work by making it coherent and well-organized.