LET’S
THINK!
tetryp pretty
altl tall
rgnay angry
buybch chubby
ADJECTIVE
WHAT IS AN ADJECTIVE?
are words that describe or modify other words, making your
writing and speaking much more specific, and a whole lot more
interesting.
For example:
In the sentence
“he was fast,”
the word “fast” is an adjective that describes the
pronoun “he.”
Examples:
The tree is tall.
Ella is pretty.
The dog eats too fast.
My teacher is intelligent.
TYPES OF ENGLISH
ADJECTIVES
•A descriptive adjective is
probably what you think of when
Descriptive you hear the word “adjective.”
Descriptive adjectives are used to
describe nouns and pronouns.
Words like beautiful, cute, silly, tall, annoying,
loud and nice are all descriptive adjectives.
These adjectives add information and qualities
to the words they’re modifying.
Shenna is beautiful.
Carlo’s voice is so annoying.
My baby brother is so silly.
•Quantitative adjectives describe the
quantity of something.
•In other words, they answer the
Quantitative question “how much?” or “how
many?” Numbers
like one and thirty are this type of
adjective. So are more general words
like many, half and a lot.
Examples:
“How many dogs do you have?” “I only have one dog.”
“Do you plan on having more dogs?” “Oh yes, I
want many dogs!”
“I can’t believe I ate that whole cake!”
•A demonstrative
Demonstrative adjective describes “which”
noun or pronoun you’re referring
to. These adjectives include the
words:
This — Used to refer to a singular noun close to you.
That — Used to refer to a singular noun far from you.
These — Used to refer to a plural noun close to you.
Those — Used to refer to a plural noun far from you.
Demonstrative adjectives always come before the word they’re modifying.
Sometimes, like when you’re responding to a question, you can leave off the noun
being described and only use the adjective. For example, if someone asks you how
many cakes you want to buy you can respond: “I want to buy two cakes,” or you can
just say: “I want to buy two.”
“Which bicycle is
yours?” “This bicycle is
Examples:
mine, and that one used
to be mine until I sold it.”
Possessive
•Possessive adjectives show possession. They
describe to whom a thing belongs. Some of the
most common possessive adjectives include:
My — Belonging to me
His — Belonging to him
Her — Belonging to her
Their — Belonging to them
Your — Belonging to you
Our — Belonging to us
•All these adjectives,
except the word his, can
only be used before a
noun. You can’t just say
“That’s my,” you have to
say “That’s my pen.”
When you want to leave
off the noun or pronoun
being modified, use these
possessive adjectives
instead:
My — Belonging to me Mine
His — Belonging to him His
Her — Belonging to her Hers
Their — Belonging to them Theirs
Your — Belonging to you Yours
Our — Belonging to us Ours
For example, even though saying
“That’s my” is incorrect, saying
“That’s mine” is perfectly fine.
Examples:
“Whose dog is that?”
“He’s mine. That’s my dog.”
•Interrogative adjectives interrogate,
meaning that they ask a question. These
adjectives are always followed by a noun
or a pronoun, and are used to form
questions. The interrogative adjectives are:
Interrogative
Which — Asks to make a choice between options.
What — Asks to make a choice (in general).
Whose — Asks who something belongs to.
Other question words, like “who” or “how,” aren’t adjectives
since they don’t modify nouns. For example, you can say
“whose coat is this?” but you can’t say “who coat?”
Which, what and whose are only considered adjectives if
they’re immediately followed by a noun. The word which is
an adjective in this sentence: “Which color is your favorite?”
But not in this one: “Which is your favorite color?”
“Which song
“What pet do
will you play on
Examples: you want to
your wedding
get?”
day?”
“Whose child is
this?”
•Distributive
adjectives describe
specific members out of a
group. These adjectives
are used to single out one
Distributive or more individual items
or people. Some of the
most common
distributive adjectives
include:
Each — Every single one of a group (used to speak about group members
individually).
Every — Every single one of a group (used to make generalizations).
Either — One between a choice of two.
Neither — Not one or the other between a choice of two.
Any — One or some things out of any number of choices. This is also used when
the choice is irrelevant, like: “it doesn’t matter, I’ll take any of them.”
These adjectives are always followed by
the noun or pronoun they’re modifying.
Examples:
“Every rose has its thorn.”
“Which of these two songs do you
like?” “I don’t like either song.”
Identify the adjective on following sentences.
1. Small children skipped.
2. Silly puppies tugged.
3. The round ball bounced.
4. Pretty flowers bloomed.
5. Special people won.
6. The worried parent waited.
7. The hot volcano erupted.
8. Wet ducks swam.
9. The bright light glowed.
10. Fast cars raced.
