Adjectives

Adjectives are words that are used to describe (what kind of?) nouns and pronouns
and to quantify (how much of?) and identify (which one?) them. In a nutshell,
Adjectives are what define nouns and give them characteristics to differentiate them
from other nouns. For example:
- He was wearing a blue shirt.
Here blue is an adjective as it is describing the noun shirt by answering the question
what kind of shirt?
- There are seven rooms in the house.
Here Seven is also an adjective as its telling the quantity/the number of the noun
rooms, answering the question how many rooms?.
There are different types of adjectives based upon their effect on a noun and what do
they tell about the noun. There are five categories of adjectives
1 Adjectives of Quality - These adjectives are used to describe the nature of a
noun. They give an idea about the characteristics of the noun by answering the
question what kind.
- Honest, Kind, Large, Bulky, Beautiful, Ugly etc.
- New Delhi is a large city with many historical monuments.
Sheila is a beautiful woman.
1 Adjectives of Quantity - These adjectives help to show the amount or the
approximate amount of the noun or pronoun. These adjectives do not provide
exact numbers; rather they tell us the amount of the noun in relative or whole
terms.
All, Half, Many, Few, Little, No, Enough, Great etc.
- They have finished most of the rice.
- Many people came to visit the fair.
1 Adjectives of Number - These adjectives are used to show the number of nouns
and their place in an order. There are three different sections within adjectives of
number; they are -

Definite Numeral Adjective - Those which clearly denote an exact number

of nouns or the order of the noun.
One, Two, Twenty, Thirty-Three etc. also known as Cardinals.
First, Second, Third, Seventh etc. also known as Ordinals.
Indefinite Numeral Adjective - Those adjectives that do not give an exact
numerical amount but just give a general idea of the amount.
Some, Many, Few, Any, Several, All etc.
E.g.: There were many people present at the meeting.
Distributive Numeral Adjective -Those adjectives that are used to refer to
individual nouns within the whole amount.
Either, Neither, Each, Another, Other etc.
E.g: Taxes have to be paid by every employed citizen.
1 Demonstrative Adjectives - These adjectives are used to point out or indicate a
particular noun or pronoun using the adjectives - This, That,These and Those.
- That bag belongs to Neil.
- Try using this paintbrush in art class.
- I really like those shoes.
- These flowers are lovely.
1 Interrogative Adjectives - These adjectives are used to ask questions about
nouns or in relation to nouns, they are - Where, What, Which and Whose.
Where did he say he was going?
- What assignment did I miss out on?
- Which is your favorite author?
- Whose pen is this?
In some instances, we find that we need to use more than one adjective to describe a
noun in a satisfactory manner. In these cases, commas are used to separate the
adjectives but some series of adjectives do not require a comma. Therefore, we need
to know the difference between Coordinate and Non-coordinate Adjectives Coordinate Adjectives - Are those words which can be re-arranged in the series
easily and are still grammatically sound. This kind of series makes use of commas.
This series can also insert and between them and still be correct.
- She was a kind, generous, loving human being.
- She was a generous, loving, kind human being.
- She was a loving, kind and generous human being.
Here we can see that all three sentences are grammatically correct. In this case, the
adjectives only need to be separated by commas.

Non-coordinate Adjectives - These are those adjectives which cannot be rearranged

in the series. These do not use commas to separate the adjectives. Also, this kind of
series do not make sense if we insert and between them.
She has two energetic playful dogs.
She has playful two energetic dogs.
She has energetic and playful and two dogs.
Here we see that only the first sentence makes sense and is grammatically correct.
The second and third ones are incorrect. Hence, the sentence uses non-coordinate
adjectives and does not need commas.
There are certain rules regarding the placement of different kinds of adjectives in a
sentence. The general order followed is 1 Determiners These are the various articles (the, a, an), demonstratives (this,
that, these, those), possessives (my, mine, your, yours, -s), quantifiers (all, many
etc.), numerals (one, twenty, thirty-seven etc.) and distributives (each, every,
neither, either)
2 Observations/Quantity and Opinion - Then come the adjectives that give a
quantity (also known as post-determiners) and subjective opinion to the noun,
telling how much and how was the noun.
Few, Most, One, Three/ Beautiful, Ugly, Difficult etc.
.- The beautiful house.
1 Size - The position after Observations is for the adjectives that tell about the size
of the noun, they can be used for an object as well as living thing.
Huge, Little, Bulky, Thin, Vast, Tiny, Lean etc
- The beautiful little house.
1 Age -Then is the turn of the Adjectives that tell about the age of a noun either by
itself or in relation to another noun.
Young, Old, Teenage, Mature, Recent, Bygone etc.
- The beautiful little old house.
1 Shape - Next are the adjectives that tell about the shape or appearance of the
noun.
Circular, Crooked, Triangular, Oval, Wavy, Straights etc.
- The beautiful little old square house.

1 Colour - After that are the adjectives that tell the shade and hue of a noun.
Pastel, Red, Blue, Metallic, Colourless, Translucent etc.
- The beautiful square blue coloured house.
1 Origin - Next are the adjectives that show the different geographical locations
associated with a noun.
Southern, Northern, Lunar, Mexican, French etc.
- The beautiful blue coloured Mexican house.
1 Material - Next are the adjectives that talk about the raw material or texture of the
objects or the behaviour of the living nouns.
Wooden, Plastic, Steely, Metallic, Cottony etc.
- The beautiful Mexican limestone house.
1 Qualifier Lastly, the qualifier or the grammatical modifier comes, which is an
additional word or phrase provided to change the meaning of the noun in a
sentence.
Pink + eye, Royal + treatment, Hot + fudge etc.
- The beautiful Mexican limestone doll house.

Comparison of Adjectives
When we want to compare two or more nouns using adjectives, we use the
comparative and superlative forms of the adjective to show the comparison between
the nouns. E.g. Honey is sweet, sugar is sweeter but victory is the sweetest.
In this sentence, we are comparing the three nouns using the positive, comparative
and superlative forms of the word sweet.
Positive Form These are the simple adjectives that simply describe the noun without comparing it to
another - big, sweet, clean, etc.
She has a big black dog.
He is a sweet boy.
The cupboard is clean.

Comparative Form These are used when we are comparing two nouns and need to show which noun
possesses the adjective or character in a greater or lesser amount, when compared
with the other. - bigger, sweeter, cleaner, etc.
I have a big dog but hers is bigger.
He is sweeter than the other boys.
The cupboard is cleaner than before.
Superlative Form This form is used when three or more nouns are being compared and we need to show
that one or more of the nouns posses the adjective or characteristic to the highest
amount possible. We usually add the before the superlative form. - biggest, sweetest,
cleanest, etc.
She has the biggest dog in the colony.
He is the sweetest boy in his class.
The cupboard is the cleanest thing in the house.
Making Comparatives and Superlatives
There are certain rules that must be followed in the making of the comparatives and
superlatives of the adjectives. Not all adjectives form their comparatives and
superlatives in the same way and there are also some irregular adjectives that form
completely different comparative and superlative forms.
Single Syllable Words and Double Syllable Words ending with -y, -er, -ow, -le We use -er to make the comparative and -est to make the superlative.

Positive

Comparative

Black

Blacker

Fair

Fairer

Clever

Cleverer

When there is a silent e at the end of the positive form, we remove that and add -er
and -est

Positive

Comparative

Nice

Nicer

Late

Later

When the adjective ends with a y, we convert the y into i before adding -er and est

Positive

Comparative

Pretty

Prettier

Lazy

Lazier

If the adjective is a small one with little stress on the vowel, we double the last
consonant.

Positive

Comparative

Hot

Hotter

Wet

Wetter

Other Words with Two or More Syllables For other double syllable words that do not end with -y, -er, -ow, -le, and for adjectives
with more than two syllables we use more and most to form the comparatives and
superlatives.

Positive

Comparative

Difficult

More Difficult

Careful

More Careful

Handsome

More Handsome

Interesting

More Interesting

Special Adjectives There a few adjectives that can use both -er and -est and more and most to form
their comparative and superlative forms. The distinction between these is that -er and
-est are used when we are comparing the noun to another noun and more and most
is used when we are comparing characteristics within the noun.

Positive

Comparative

Superlative

Examp

He is c
Clever

Cleverer/ More Clever

Cleverest/Most Clever

He is m

This is
Quiet

Quieter/ More Quiet

Quietest/ Most Quiet

This is

She is
Brave

Braver/ More Brave

Bravest/ Most Brave

She wa

He was
Sure

Surer/ More Sure

Surest/ Most Sure

Youll b

read th
Irregular Comparisons These adjectives do not make their comparative and superlative forms using the rules
above. Their comparative and superlative forms are different words altogether.

Positive

Comparative

Superlative

Bad

Worse

Worst

Good

Better

Best

Far (place & time)

Further

Furthest

Far (place)

Farther

Farthest

Old (people)

Elder

Eldest

Little (amount)

Less

Least

Late (order)

Latter

Last

Order of Adjectives
Many a times we use more than one adjective with a noun. In such situation, it is
important to arrange the adjectives in the correct order according to their types. This

systematic arrangement of adjectives and the rationale behind it is called the order of
adjectives.
Some of the rules that need to be kept in mind while ordering the adjectives are:
- Determiners like articles (a, an, the), possessives (my, your, etc.), demonstratives
(this, that, etc.), quantifiers (some, any, few, many, etc.) and numbers (one, two, three,
etc.) always appear before anything else.
- The general order is OPINION before FACTS. This means that opinions should
always come before facts while arranging the adjectives before noun. For example: in
the clause a beautiful ancient house, a being a determiner should come first,
beautiful, i.e., the opinion should come next before the fact, i.e., ancient. Finally,
house should come which is the main noun.
- Therefore, the normal order that is followed is: Determiner/Opinion Adjectives/Fact
Adjectives/Nouns.
- Fact adjectives can be further broken down and arranged into: other / size, shape,
age, colour / origin / material / purpose.
For example:

Adjectives

Main
Nou

Determine Opinion
r

Fact Adjectives

Adjectiv
e

other

size,

origin

materi

Purpose

shape,
age,
colour

Two

tall

white

beautifu
l

well-

15th

know

centur

al

(often a
noun
used as
an
adjective
)

America

men

Italian

coffee

table

Prepositions after Adjectives

Specific prepositions are used after certain adjectives. There is no definite rule to
ascertain which preposition should be used with which adjective. We simply need to
learn them. But theres no need to fret on the thought of learning without knowing the
rule as people do manage to memorise them through constant usage and with a little
time.
Here is a list of some commonly used adjectives and the prepositions that are normally
used with them to help you get started:
ADJECTIVE

PREPOSITIO
N

exposed

to

accustomed

to

envious

of

afraid

of

faithful

to

accused

of

familiar

with

acquainted

with

famous

for

addicted

to

fed up

with

annoyed

about/with/a free
t

of/from

allergic

to

frightened

of

amazed

at/by

friendly

with

anxious

about

fond

of

appreciated

for

furious

about

ashamed

of

furnished

with

associated

with

full

of

astonished

at/by

generous

with/about

aware

of

guilty

of/about

angry

with

gentle

with

afraid

of

good

at

attached

to

grateful

to

bad

at

happy

about

based

on

hopeful

of/about

beneficial

to

identical

with/to

boastful

for

immune

to

bored

with

impressed

with

brilliant

at

inferior

to

busy

with

indifferent

to

capable

of

innocent

of

careful

with/about/o interested
f

in

certain

about

involved

with

characterist
ic

of

incapable

of

clever

at

jealous

of

connected

with

kind

to

conscious

of

keen

on

content

with

late

for

crazy

about

limited

to

crowded

with

lucky

at

curious

about

nervous

of/about

dissatisfied

with

notorious

for

doubtful

about

opposed

to

delighted

at/about

patient

with

derived

from

pessimistic

about

different

from

pleased

with

disappointe
d

with

polite

to

eager

for

popular

with

eligible

for

presented

with

enthusiastic

about

proud

of

excellent

in/at

punished

for

excited

about

puzzled

by/about

experienced in

qualified

for

ready

for

slow

at

related

to

sorry

for/about

relevant

to

successful

in

respectful

for

suitable

for

responsible

for

sure

of/about

rid

of

superior

to

sad

about

surprised

at

safe

from

suspicious

of

satisfied

with

sympathetic

with

scared

of

terrible

at

sensitive

to

terrified

of

serious

about

tired

of

sick

of

thankful

to/for