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Adjective

Explanation

What are adjectives?

Adjectives are words that describe or modify a noun in the sentence. They can both describe the qualities and quantity of nouns.

 

Example:

Describing qualities	Big, red, cute, slow, smart……
Describing quantity	Many, thousands, twenty, few……

 

How are adjectives formed?

Adjectives can be formed by adding some particular suffix (added at the end of a word). Common examples are:

Suffix	Example
-able	Reasonable -     I do not think her decisions are reasonable.
-al	Regional -     She wins a regional competition. Historical -     He enjoys reading the historical background of literatures.
-ic	Dramatic -     He has a dramatic personality.
-ous	Dangerous -     Hiking alone can be very dangerous. Nervous - I always feel nervous when making a speech.
-ive	Creative -     This drawing is very creative.
-ish	Selfish - I didn’t know he is that selfish at first.
-less	Useless -     Your suggestions are completely useless. Worthless - This vase has been broken, it is now worthless.
-ful	Colourful -     The classroom is filled with colourful decorations. Meaningful - I believe that helping others is meaningful.

 

Adjectives with -ed and -ing

-ed	-ing
Excited	Exciting
Interested	Interesting
Bored	Boring
Tired	Tiring

 

We use adjectives with -ed to describe feelings.

Example:

• I am excited about tomorrow’s activities.
• Amy is interested in the new movie.
• Running makes me tired.

 

We use adjectives with -ing to describe something that causes our feelings.

Example:

• Tomorrow’s activities must be interesting.
• Amy thinks that the new movie is interesting.
• To me, running is very tiring.

 

Sentence structure with adjectives

 

Before noun

We can use adjectives before noun.

Example:

• This is a red dress.
• She is a beautiful girl.

 

We can use more than one adjectives before a noun. There are some general rules when arranging the order of adjectives:

 1. We put opinion adjectives before other adjectives.

Example:

• This is a beautiful red dress.
• She is a cheerful tall girl.
• I have an expensive vase.

 2. We put nationality adjectives after most other adjectives.

Example:

• She is a cheerful Russian girl.
• I have an expensive Japanese vase.

 

3. We put material adjectives after other adjectives.

Example:

• This is a red silk dress.
• I have an expensive china vase.

 

After noun

We can also use adjectives after noun.

Example:

• This cat is cute.
• The new park looks beautiful.
• She seems quite happy today.

 

If we use two adjectives in a sentence after the noun, we can link them with ‘and’.

Example:

• The model is tall and slim.
• My computer is new and expensive.

 

Degrees of Comparison

There are three forms of adjectives: absolute, comparative, and superlative.

Absolute	Comparative	Superlative
Big	Bigger	Biggest
Easy	Easier	Easiest
Heavy	Heavier	Heaviest
Old	Older	Oldest
Pretty	Prettier	Prettiest
Important	More important	Most important
Late	Later	Last
Good	Better	Best

 

Absolute form

Absolute adjectives are used to describe something itself.

Example:

• The apple is big.
• The exam is easy.
• The flowers in the shop are pretty.

 

Comparative form

Comparative adjectives are used when comparing two or more things.

Example:

• There are two apples on the desk. The one on the left is bigger than the other.
• To me, the English exam is easier than the Chinese exam.
• The flowers in this shop are prettier than those in the market.

 

Superlative form

Superlative adjectives are used when something has the highest degree of a certain quality.

Example:

• This apple is the biggest apple that I have ever seen.
• The English exam of our form is the easiest one among all forms.
• This shop is very famous. It sells the prettiest flowers in the world.