Adjective Definition and Examples:
Adjectives are words that modify nouns, pronouns, and other adjectives. A word or noun which adds meaning to noun or pronoun is called as an adjective.
It is also called as noun-helper. Adjectives answer questions like what kind, how many, and which one?. The adjective words are every, small, blue, sharp, the, my.
E.g.He is going fast.
Adjectives examples in sentences:
- The quick white dog jumps over the lazy person.
- He is an honest person
- A boy present in the class
- An umbrella
- The people
What are the Different Kinds of Adjectives:
The adjective is one of the 8 parts of speech. I am going to cover, 13 kinds of adjectives in English. Different types of the adjectives are described below with definition and examples.
Here are the different types of adjectives. Let’s see one by one,
Note: Click on show/hide button to show index of the content.
1. Article Adjective
2. Proper Adjective
3. Distributive Adjective
4. Demonstrative Adjective
5. Possessive Adjectives
6. Interrogative Adjectives
7. Adjective of Quality or Descriptive Adjective
8. Attributive Adjectives
9. Definite Adjectives
10. Indefinite Adjectives
11. Coordinate Adjective
12. Non-Coordinate Adjective
13. Adjective of Number or Numeral Adjective
Nouns with Examples
1. Article Adjective:
Articles are used to describe which noun you’re referring to. Maybe thinking of them as adjectives will help you learn which one to use and there are three articles in the English language a, an, and the.
Articles are their own part of speech, they’re technically also adjectives.
The word the is called the definite article. It’s the only definite article, and it is used to indicate very specific people or things.
- A — It is used singular, general item.
- An — It is used singular, general item. Use this before words that start with a vowel.
- The — It is used for singular or plural, specific item.
- The elephants left huge footprints in the sand.
- An elephant can weigh over 6,000 pounds!
- The days are getting longer.
- An apple a day keeps the doctor away.
- You must consult a doctor for the checkup.
2. Proper Adjective:
An adjective that is formed from a proper noun is called proper Adjective.
E.g.- I want to talk about American culture and tourists.
- He is an Australian citizen.
- I like Pakistani dishes.
3. Distributive Adjective:
This Adjective expresses the distributive state of nouns or Distributive adjectives describe specific members out of a group.
Distributive adjective common words are Each, Every, Either, Neither, and Any.
- Each — Every single one of a group.
- Every — Every single one of a group (used to make generalizations).
- Either — One between choices of two.
- Neither — Not one or the other between choices of two.
- Any — One or anything, any number, any choices.
- The answers are worth 20 points each.
- Every day is a good day if you think of positive changes.
- You can park on either side of the street.
- Every rose has its thorn.
- I don’t like either song.
4. Demonstrative Adjectives:
Demonstrative adjectives answer the question which one? They point out particular nouns. It is used for a different purpose. Demonstrative adjective words come before the modifying word.
Demonstrative adjectives are used to indicate or demonstrate specific things, animals, or peoples.
The demonstrative adjective words are this, that, those, and what.
- 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. It away from you.
- That is my bag.
- He bought that book
- I like this food very much.
- I really like playing with these
- Those flowers are looking very beautiful.
- I think you’ll find these more comfortable than those.
- How long have you been living in this country?
- Is that your bag?
- Take this job and shove it.
- I love that new dress.
- Who are those people?
- This dog had no tail.
- That pig has a curly tail.
- These trousers are now too tight for me.
- Those monkeys are noisy.
- This house is mine, and that one used to be mine until I sold it.
- These books belong on that
- This movie is my favorite.
- Please put those cookies on the blue plate.
5. Possessive Adjectives:
Possessive adjectives, which we use to point out the noun, belong to someone. This Adjective expresses the state of possession of nouns is known as a possessive adjective. Possessive adjectives show possession or ownership.
Possessive adjectives are like possessive pronouns but act as adjectives.
Possessive adjectives never use an apostrophe. We use an apostrophe. But when we use the possessive adjective in place of a noun there is a tendency to want to use the apostrophe.
A possessive adjective also called a possessive determiner Expresses possession of a noun by someone or something by modifying the noun. Possessive adjectives also function as possessive pronouns.
Possessive adjectives singular words are my, your, his, her, its.
Possessive adjectives plural words are our, your, their, their, their.
As the name indicates, possessive adjectives are used to indicate possession. They are My, Your, His, Her, Its, Our, Their, Mine, His, Hers, Theirs, Yours, Ours.
Let’s see meaning of possession words.
- My — Belonging to me
- His — Belonging to him
- Her — Belonging to her
- their — Belonging to them
- Your — Belonging to you
- Our — Belonging to us
- This is our school.
- It is her.
- Your dog is very kind.
- Where’s my passport?
- The cat is sitting on its tail.
- Please concentrate on your mistakes.
- We are going to her home.
- I am playing his computer game.
- I spent my afternoon painting the toilet.
- This must be your missing pencil.
- His arms have a few tattoos.
- Its skin is dry and rough.
- Our grandmothers were classmates.
Saying that’s my is incorrect
saying that’s mine is perfectly fine.
Note: Word comes with noun then it is called adjective. A word replaces noun then it is called pronoun.
6. Interrogative Adjectives:
It is placed before the noun in the sentence. Interrogative adjectives are followed by a noun or a pronoun. It is used to form questions.
Interrogative adjectives ask questions and are always followed by a noun.
Another type of adjective is the interrogative adjective. Interrogative adjectives include the words which and what. Which, what and whose are only considered adjectives if they’re immediately followed by a noun.
Interrogative question words are who or how aren’t adjectives. Since they don’t modify the nouns.
Interrogative adjective words are where, which, what, and whose.
The interrogative adjective meanings are,
- Which — Asks to make a choice between options?
- What — Asks to make a choice (in general).
- Whose — Asks whom something belongs to.
- Where did I say I was going?
- What assignment did you miss out?
- Which is your favorite game?
- Whose lunch box is this?
- Which of the applicants has got the job?
- It’s the house whose door is painted red.
- What is your name?
- Which company do you want to invest in?
- What bank do you trust with your money?
- What movie are you watching?
- Which plants should be placed over here?
- You can say whose coat is this?
- But you can’t say who coat?
- Which song will you play on your wedding day?
- What pet do you want to get?
- Whose child is this?
7. Adjective of Quality or Descriptive Adjective:
Adjective of quality is also known as the descriptive adjective. It describes the nature and attribute of nouns or pronouns.
Adjective showing the kind or quality of nouns or pronouns are called Adjective of Quality.
Descriptive adjectives give the quite better idea to understand the characteristics of noun or pronoun by answering the question. The most common type of adjective is the descriptive adjective.
These adjectives add information and qualities to the words they’re modifying.
Descriptive adjective words are red, round, friendly, and salty, bulky, thin, large, kind, fat, honest, ugly, smart, careless, black, small, long, fat, beautiful, dangerous, excited, sad, black, white, big, beautiful, silly, tall, annoying, loud and nice.
E.g.- The large, yellow house is on the corner.
- Dangerous chemicals
- Green vegetables
- A cold morning
- A powerful motorbike
- We had a wonderful time last night.
- You look very smart in that suit.
- Did you have a nice time?
Note: Remember that adjectives modify or describe nouns only and not verbs.
8. Attributive Adjectives:
Size and shape adjectives tell us about objective qualities, measurable.
Attributive Adjective words are square, round, slow, small, large, poor, and wealthy.
Color adjective words are pink, yellow, blue, and green.
Material adjective words are cotton, gold, wool.
Qualifier adjective words are the log cabin, luxury car, and pillow cover.
9. Definite Adjective:
An adjective which is definite is known as the definite adjective>. Why definite? Because it is clear and showing how many or who are they. It gives us an exact number.
E.g.- He stood seventh in his class.
- There is a college holiday on the second August.
10. Indefinite Adjectives:
An adjective which is not definite is known as the indefinite adjective. Why indefinite? Because it is not clear how many or who are they.
The indefinite adjective words are few, several, no, many, and any.
E.g.- Some of the players were tired after the match.
- A few people wanted to get the tickets.
- Many people feel that the law should be changed.
- Some people wanted to buy stocks.
- Many people wanted to buy bonds.
- A few people wanted to buy gold.
- Do we have any peanut butter?
- Grandfather has been retired for many
- I usually read the first few pages of a book before I buy it.
11. Coordinate Adjective:
Coordinate adjectives are separated with commas. If and works, then the adjectives are coordinate and need to be separated by a comma.
Coordinate adjective words are dull, nice, rainy day, dark, bright, sunny day and long, dark night and stormy night.
E.g.- The sign had big, bold, and bright letters.
- They can be rearranged in a series.
- She was a very honest, smart, loving human being.
12 Non-coordinate Adjective:
Non-coordinate adjectives, which do not make any sense after inserting commas or and in between. Non-coordinate adjectives do not use commas.
E.g.- I have three healthy active children. (This sentence makes a sense and is grammatically correct)
- I have active three healthy children. (This sentence does not make sense and grammatically incorrect)
- I have active and healthy and three children. (This sentence does not make sense and grammatically incorrect)
13. Adjective of Number/ Numeral Adjective:
Numerical adjectives are two types,
- Definite numerical adjective.
- Indefinite numerical adjective
Quantitative adjectives describe the quantity of something. Adjective of number is also known as the numeral adjective.
The adjective which shows the quantity of noun or pronoun is called the Adjective of Quantity.
E.g.- There are five boys in her class. (In this case, five is a numeral adjective that describes the number of boys.)
- I have seen few people eating rice.
- Many people come every year to visit the fair.
- I didn’t have enough clothes to last a week.
- There’s still some wine in the bottle.
- I have got hardly any money.
- I can’t believe I ate that whole cake!
- Students must enter in twos or threes.
- She’s having a party on her twenty-first.
- He has eaten three apples.
- I don't have enough pocket money.
- They brought along a few sandwiches.
- There is a little dust on the bookshelf.
- There are some birds in the tree.
- We have much wine for the guests.
- This long, thin centipede has many legs.
- Twenty-one students failed the exam.
- The plants need more water.
i) Definite Numeral Adjective:
As the name suggests, this kind of adjective answers the question, How many ? or How much ?
Definite numeral adjectives are quantitative adjectives that give exact number amounts
Definite numeral adjective words are two, seven, thirty, first, and ninth.
Definite numerical adjectives are two types,
1. Cardinals – 1, 2, 3 (how many)
One, two, three, four, five, six, etc numbers are known as cardinals.
We can ask the question how many ? To noun and get definite numeral adjectives in cardinal form.
Definite adjective examples in the cardinal form:
- There are three books on the table.
- There is only one solution to this problem.
- He shared his experience with four persons.
- Priya ate two bananas.
- Ten chairs are kept in a row.
- I purchased three dresses for my daughter.
- The teacher asked us to bring six notebooks on tomorrow.
- I saw two people playing football.
2. Ordinals – 1st, 2nd (in which row)
First, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, etc are known as ordinals.
These definite adjectives also express an exact number in the ordinal form that is first, second, third, fourth etc.
Definite adjective examples in the ordinal form:
- Always take the second opinion.
- He stood fourth in his class.
- Today is their seventh marriage anniversary.
- Children day is celebrated on fourteenth November.
- There is a bank holiday on twentieth October .
- It was the tenth football match in the city.
ii) Indefinite Numeral Adjective:
It only gives a general idea of that number. An indefinite numeral adjective does not show the exact numerical number.
Indefinite numeral adjective words are Several, all, few, any, some, many, some none, any, many, each, every, little, few, enough, all, half, no, great, all, no, few, many, and littleetc
E.g.- Little hope of his recovery (not much but some)
- A little hope of his recovery (some but not much)
- The little hope of his recovery (not much but everything)
- Few hope of his recovery (some members)
- A few hope of his recovery (no members)
- The few hope of his recovery (Not many but some)
iii) Distributive Numeral Adjective:
Distributive numeral adjectives are followed by a singular noun and a singular verb. Sometimes we use the plural noun and a singular verb by using either of, every one of, and each of, either of.
Distributive numeral adjective words are each, either, neither, every, another, other etc.
E.g.- Each leg has four fingers and one toe.
- Every child needs care and love.
- Either method is wrong.
- Neither method is correct.
- Either of the methods is wrong.
- Neither of the methods is correct.
Compound Nouns
- Orange juice (Adj) - the compound noun
- Sports car (adj) - the compound noun
- Italian coffee shop (adj) - the compound noun
Note: Some adjectives are acting like compound nouns:
Questions Related to Adjectives:
Let’s see some basic question and answers related to adjective. This article is also answering the basic questions and defining the related terms with various examples.
- What is an adjective?
- What are the functions of adjectives?
- What are the degrees of adjectives?
- What are the different kinds of adjectives?
What is an Adjective?
An adjective is a word that describes and modifies a noun, making your writing and speaking much more specific, and a whole lot more interesting.
Adjectives are used before the noun or pronoun to describe or modify. Some sentences contain multiple adjectives.
Adjective words are sweet, red, or technical.
E.g.
- Your English is good enough.
- Sorry, my English is not very good.
- Brazil is the world’s largest producer of coffee.
What are the Functions of Adjectives:
Adjectives are words, which provides specialty to the noun or pronoun. An adjective is a part of speech which describes, identifies or quantifies a noun or a pronoun.
Adjective words are red, smart, fair, white, beautiful, cute, bold, green, pretty, more, fierce, much, many, blue, few, tall, majestic, small.
E.g.
- She is prettier than you.
- There is a tall man.
- He was eating healthy food.
- There are six persons in the house.
Adjectives Degrees or Degrees of Adjectives:
There are only three degrees of adjectives or levels of adjectives or degrees of comparison are positive, comparative, and superlative. All the degrees of adjectives are described below with proper examples.i) Positive Degree:
A positive adjective is a normal adjective that’s used to describe, not compare.
The positive degree adjectives are used to talk about or describe only a single person, place, or thing.
E.g.
- He is a smart boy.
- It is a nice pen.
- This is a good soup
- I am funny
- She is a beautiful lady.
- It was a memorable trip.
ii) Comparative Degree:
Comparative degrees of adjectives are used when we compare two persons, places, or things. It is used to compare two things.
Comparative Degree Examples
- Lovely - Lovelier
- Happy - Happier
- Pretty - Prettier
- Tasty - Tastier
- Lucky - Luckier
- This swimming pool is smaller than the last one.
- You are more intelligent than your brother.
- This soup is better than that salad
- I am funnier than her
- This swimming pool is bigger than that one.
- Priya is more intelligent than Akhil.
Note: You can change the adjective to the comparative degree by replacing y with ier.
iii) Superlative Degree:
Superlative degrees are used to compare more than two things, persons or places to state that something is the most.
Superlative form of the word should be added before the adjective.
Superlative Degree Word Examples
- Lovely - Loveliest
- Pretty - Prettiest
- Tasty - Tastiest
- I wear the clothes from the biggest store.
- This is the most important moment of my life.
- This is the best soup in the whole world
- That is by far, the tallest tree I have ever seen in my entire life.
- This is the most crucial match of the season.
Note: If the word is ending with y, then you should replace letter y with i, and then add the suffix -est.
Rules of Ordering Adjectives:
Generally, we can make a sentence by putting only one adjective in the sentence to know more details about the noun and pronoun.
We can place more than one adjective in the sentence. Now we have to think about the adjective order. You can arrange proper order by using rules of ordering adjectives. Here are the rules of ordering the adjectives.
Adjective order Structure:
Determines > Opinion > Size > Age > Shape > Color > Material > Origin > Purpose
E.g.It is a small, nice, old, Italian, coffee, shop
Correct order: It is small, old, nice, coffe, shop.
1. Determiners:
We should first place the adjectives like article, possessive, demonstrative, numerical, quantifier, or distributive adjectives into the sentence. An example is given below using a numerical adjective first
E.g.- I have two good. (Correct.)
- I have good two. (A sentence making no sense and grammatically incorrect.)
- I have two good friends. (Good is quality or opinion adjective which follows after the numerical adjective.)
2. Opinion:
It describes an opinion of the noun. Opinion words are beautiful, unusual, lovely.
E.g.She is beautiful.
3. Size:
It is describing the size of the noun. Size words are small, big, and tiny.
E.g.I have two good little birds. (Little is the adjective describing the size of the noun.)
4. Age:
It describes the age of noun. Age words are new, old.
E.g.I have a new car.
5. Shape:
In order to describe the shape of the noun, we can use a variety of object shapes.
Shape words are circle, square, triangle, rectangle etc.
E.g.Whiteboard is the rectangle in shape.
6. Color:
We can add color adjective to the sentence after shape adjective.
E.g.I have two soft big new circular red mats. (This sentence is long, so we can write creatively and add some attributes of the noun in the separate sentence.)
7. Material:
It is the description of material or about the material. Materials words are rubber, wood, and plastic.
E.g.I have two soft little rubbers.
8. Origin:
The place, where the item is purchased or manufactured by the use of adjectives.
E.g.I have two soft big new circular red balls from the North. (This sentence is unclear, just showing the place of purchase.)
9. Purpose:
Purpose words are cleaning, hammering, cooking
E.g.She is cooking
Ordering Adjective Words
- Determines: a, an, the
- Opinion: beautiful, unusual, lovely,
- Size: small, big, and tiny.
- Age: new, old, vintage, archaic, ancestral
- Shape: round, rectangle, oval, square etc
- Color: black, red, pink etc.
- Material: wooden, golden, mural
- Origin: Italian, Indian, southern, northern etc
- Purpose: cleaning, hammering, cooking
Types of Adjectives - English Language Quiz
RajashekarKankanala
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