Adjective

ADJECTIVE Definition

A word used with a noun to describe or point out, the person, animal, places or thing which the noun names or to tell the number or quantity is called an Adjective.

Or we can say, a word used with a noun to add something for its meaning is called Adjective.

Adjectives as Part of Speech

Adjectives are words that describe or modify a noun or a pronoun in the sentence. The adjectives are easy to spot because they come immediately before the nouns they modify.

They are used to identify or quantify individual people and unique things and are usually positioned before the noun or pronoun that they modify. Some sentences also contain multiple adjectives.

Example

  • John is a clever boy (Girl of what kind ?)
  • I don’t like that this game. (Which game ?)
  • He gave me six mangoes. (How many mangoes ?)
  • There is little time for discussion. (How much time ?)
  • In above sentence ‘clever’ shows what kind of boy John is.
  • ‘this’ points out which game is meant.
  • ‘six’ shows how many mangoes he gave me.
  • ‘little’ shows how much time there is for discussion.

Kinds of adjectives

  1. Descriptive adjectives or adjectives of quality
  2. Quantitative adjectives or adjectives of quantity
  3. Numeral adjectives or adjectives of number
    • Definite numeral adjectives
    • Indefinite numeral adjectives
    • Distributive numeral adjectives
  4. Demonstrative adjectives
  5. Interrogative adjectives
  6. Possessive adjective
  7. Exclamatory adjectives
  8. Emphasizing adjectives

Descriptive adjectives or adjectives of quality

They describe the kind, quality or characteristic of a noun or a pronoun they are  referring to.

OR

It shows the kind of quality a person or thing has

Example

  1. Delhi is a big city.
  2. You are a lazy guy.
  3. This kid is so clever.
  4. Jigisha is a voracious reader.
  5. Mitali’s gestures are amazing.

Quantitative adjectives or adjectives of quantity

They indicate how much of a thing is meant in indefinite terms, or it answers the question How much? These adjectives are mostly used with uncountable nouns.

Some of these adjectives are many, much, some, little, great, any, enough, etc.

Example

  1. I get some rice
  2. He showed much patience.
  3. Take great care of your health.
  4. He lost all his wealth
  5. you have had enough rest.
  6. Can I have some water?
  7. I had enough rest for the day.

Numeral adjectives or adjectives of number

They indicate how many people or things are meant and it answers the question How many? It can also demonstrate a noun’s position or place in a certain order.

Adjectives of number are used with countable nouns. The adjective of numbers are of three types:

Example

  1. Our hand has five fingers.
  2. There are no student in the classroom.
  3. He has many cows in his farm.
  4. Today’s first day of the month.
  5. Most Indians like Cricket.

i. Definite numeral adjectives

It denotes the exact number of nouns or their exact position like one, two, three, first, second, third, etc.

Example

The class consists of forty- five students.

ii. Indefinite numeral adjectives

These adjectives indicate an approximate amount like several, few, many, some, etc.

Example

Several books are torn.

iii. Distributive numeral adjectives

Refers to individual nouns within the whole amount like each, every, either, neither, etc.

Example

Every student is required to participate.

Demonstrative adjectives

These adjectives point out at pronouns and nouns and always come before the words that they are referring to: these, that, those.

Example

  1. You are stronger than me.
  2. I love such places.
  3. This tree is so big.
  4. Those buildings were built by her grandfather.
  5. I used to wear these type of trousers.
  6. Those are the bangles you were looking for.

Interrogative adjectives

The Interrogative adjectives are used to ask questions and are always followed by a noun: which, what, who etc.

Example

  1. Whose pen is this.
  2. Which book are you reading.
  3. What time it is?
  4. Which song should I sing?
  5. What date is it?

Possessive adjective

My, your, his, her, its, our, your, their etc They show ownership or possession and always come before the noun.

Example

  1. I missed my train.
  2. She is my wife.
  3. This is our house.
  4. You forgot your purse at home.
  5. The building on the corner is my office.
  6. I will use my pencil.
  7. This is her camera.

Exclamatory adjectives:

The word what is sometimes called exclamatory adjectives when used as:

Example

  1. What a genius!
  2. What an idea!
  3. What a beautiful flower!
  4. What a game!

Emphasizing adjectives

Word used to emphasize a noun is called emphasizing adjectives.

Example

  1. She had seen him by her own eyes.
  2. Mind your own business.
  3. He is his own master.
  4. I arranged it by my own effort.

Degree of Adjectives

There are three degrees of adjectives, also known as degrees of comparison, namely, positive, comparative, and superlative.

Positive Degree – When you talk about or describe only a single person, place, or thing, you should use the positive degree.

Examples

  1. Sudha is an elegant lady.
  2. The indoor game was interesting.

Comparative Degree – When two persons, places, or things are compared, the comparative degree of the word is used.

Normally, -er is added at the end of the word to transform the word into its comparative form. Some words do not take “-er” as a suffix.

So, the word “more” is put before them. Also, the word “than” should be added after the adjective in the comparative degree.

Examples

  • Priya is more intelligent than Meera.
  • Medha runs faster than Divya.

Superlative Degree – When two or more things are compared, the superlative form of the adjectives should be used and the word “the” should be added before the adjective.

In order to transform the adjective into its superlative form, the suffix “-est” or the word “most” should be added before the word.

Examples

  1. I think this is the best movie that I ever watched in my life.
  2. This is the most expensive bicycle available.