KINDS OF 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 it’s 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.
2.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.
3.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.
Taxes
have to be paid by every employed citizen.
4. Demonstrative Adjectives - These adjectives are used to point out or indicate a
particular noun or pronoun using the adjectives - This, That, Theseand Those.
That bag
belongs to Neil.
Try
using this paintbrush in art class.
I
really like those
shoes.
These flowers
are lovely.
5. 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.
3.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.
4.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.
5.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.
6.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.
7.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.
8. 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.
9.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.
List of Adjectives, Adjective
Examples
Abundant
|
Chubby
|
Fearless
|
Lively
|
Sharp
|
Accurate
|
Clean
|
Fertile
|
Lonely
|
Shiny
|
Addicted
|
Clever
|
Filthy
|
Loud
|
Shocking
|
Adorable
|
Clumsy
|
Foolish
|
Lovely
|
Short
|
Adventurous
|
Cold
|
Forgetful
|
Lucky
|
Shy
|
Afraid
|
Colorful
|
Friendly
|
Macho
|
Silly
|
Aggressive
|
Comfortable
|
Funny
|
Magical
|
Sincere
|
Alcoholic
|
Concerned
|
Gentle
|
Magnificent
|
Skinny
|
Alert
|
Confused
|
Glamorous
|
Massive
|
Slim
|
Aloof
|
Crowded
|
Glorious
|
Mature
|
Slow
|
Ambitious
|
Cruel
|
Gorgeous
|
Mean
|
Small
|
Ancient
|
Curious
|
Graceful
|
Messy
|
Soft
|
Angry
|
Curly
|
Grateful
|
Modern
|
Spicy
|
Animated
|
Cute
|
Great
|
Narrow
|
Spiritual
|
Annoying
|
Damaged
|
Greedy
|
Nasty
|
Splendid
|
Anxious
|
Dangerous
|
Green
|
Naughty
|
Strong
|
Arrogant
|
Dark
|
Handsome
|
Nervous
|
Successful
|
Ashamed
|
Deep
|
Happy
|
New
|
Sweet
|
Attractive
|
Defective
|
Harsh
|
Noisy
|
Talented
|
Auspicious
|
Delicate
|
Healthy
|
Nutritious
|
Tall
|
Awesome
|
Delicious
|
Heavy
|
Obedient
|
Tasty
|
Awful
|
Depressed
|
Helpful
|
Obese
|
Tense
|
Bad
|
Determined
|
Hilarious
|
Obnoxious
|
Terrible
|
Bashful
|
Different
|
Historical
|
Old
|
Terrific
|
Beautiful
|
Dirty
|
Horrible
|
Overconfident
|
Thick
|
Belligerent
|
Disgusting
|
Hot
|
Peaceful
|
Thin
|
Beneficial
|
Dry
|
Huge
|
Pink
|
Tiny
|
Best
|
Dusty
|
Humorous
|
Polite
|
Ugly
|
Big
|
Early
|
Hungry
|
Poor
|
Unique
|
Bitter
|
Educated
|
Ignorant
|
Powerful
|
Untidy
|
Bizarre
|
Efficient
|
Illegal
|
Precious
|
Upset
|
Black
|
Elderly
|
Imaginary
|
Pretty
|
Victorious
|
Blue
|
Elegant
|
Impolite
|
Proud
|
Violent
|
Boring
|
Embarrassed
|
Important
|
Quick
|
Vulgar
|
Brainy
|
Empty
|
Impossible
|
Quiet
|
Warm
|
Bright
|
Encouraging
|
Innocent
|
Rapid
|
Weak
|
Broad
|
Enthusiastic
|
Intelligent
|
Rare
|
Wealthy
|
Broken
|
Excellent
|
Interesting
|
Red
|
Wide
|
Busy
|
Exciting
|
Jealous
|
Remarkable
|
Wise
|
Calm
|
Expensive
|
Jolly
|
Responsible
|
Witty
|
Capable
|
Fabulous
|
Juicy
|
Rich
|
Wonderful
|
Careful
|
Fair
|
Juvenile
|
Romantic
|
Worried
|
Careless
|
Faithful
|
Kind
|
Royal
|
Young
|
Caring
|
Famous
|
Large
|
Rude
|
Youthful
|
Cautious
|
Fancy
|
Legal
|
Scintillating
|
Zealous
|
Charming
|
Fantastic
|
Light
|
Secretive
|
|
Cheap
|
Fast
|
Literate
|
Selfish
|
|
Cheerful
|
Fearful
|
Little
|
Serious
|
|
