What is ADJECTIVES??
An adjective modifies a noun or a pronoun by describing, identifying, or quantifying words. An adjective usually precedes the noun or the pronoun which it modifies.
In the following examples, the highlighted words are adjectives:
- The truck-shaped balloon floated over the treetops.
- Mrs. Morrison papered her kitchen walls with hideous wall paper.
- The small boat foundered on the wine dark sea.
- The coal mines are dark and dank.
- Many stores have already begun to play irritating Christmasmusic.
- A battered music box sat on the mahogany sideboard.
- The back room was filled with large, yellow rain boots.
- My husband knits intricately patterned mittens.
Some nouns, many pronouns, and many participle phrases can also act as adjectives. In the sentence
- Eleanor listened to the muffled sounds of the radio hiddenunder her pillow.
Grammarians also consider articles ("the," "a," "an") to be adjectives.
Position of Adjectives
Unlike Adverbs, which often seem capable of popping up almost anywhere in a sentence, adjectives nearly always appear immediately before the noun or noun phrase that they modify. Sometimes they appear in a string of adjectives, and when they do, they appear in a set order according to category. (See Below.) When indefinite pronouns — such as something, someone, anybody — are modified by an adjective, the adjective comes after the pronoun:
Anyone capable of doing something horrible to someone nice should be punished.
Something wicked this way comes.
And there are certain adjectives that, in combination with certain words, are always "postpositive" (coming after the thing they modify):
The president elect, heir apparent to the Glitzy fortune, lives in New York proper.
See, also, the note on a- adjectives, below, for the position of such words as "ablaze, aloof, aghast."
Possessive Adjectives
A possessive adjective ("my," "your," "his," "her," "its," "our," "their") is similar or identical to a possessive pronoun; however, it is used as an adjective and modifies a noun or a noun phrase, as in the following sentences:
- I can't complete my assignment because I don't have the textbook.
In this sentence, the possessive adjective "my" modifies "assignment" and the noun phrase "my assignment" functions as anobject. Note that the possessive pronoun form "mine" is not used to modify a noun or noun phrase.
- What is your phone number.
Here the possessive adjective "your" is used to modify the noun phrase "phone number"; the entire noun phrase "your phone number" is a subject complement. Note that the possessive pronoun form "yours" is not used to modify a noun or a noun phrase.
- The bakery sold his favourite type of bread.
In this example, the possessive adjective "his" modifies the noun phrase "favourite type of bread" and the entire noun phrase "his favourite type of bread" is the direct object of the verb "sold."
- After many years, she returned to her homeland.
Here the possessive adjective "her" modifies the noun "homeland" and the noun phrase "her homeland" is the object of the preposition"to." Note also that the form "hers" is not used to modify nouns or noun phrases.
- We have lost our way in this wood.
In this sentence, the possessive adjective "our" modifies "way" and the noun phrase "our way" is the direct object of the compound verb"have lost". Note that the possessive pronoun form "ours" is not used to modify nouns or noun phrases.
- In many fairy tales, children are neglected by their parents.
Here the possessive adjective "their" modifies "parents" and the noun phrase "their parents" is the object of the preposition "by." Note that the possessive pronoun form "theirs" is not used to modify nouns or noun phrases.
- The cat chased its ball down the stairs and into the backyard.
In this sentence, the possessive adjective "its" modifies "ball" and the noun phrase "its ball" is the object of the verb "chased." Note that "its" is the possessive adjective and "it's" is a contraction for "it is."
Demonstrative Adjectives
The demonstrative adjectives "this," "these," "that," "those," and "what" are identical to the demonstrative pronouns, but are used as adjectives to modify nouns or noun phrases, as in the following sentences:
- When the librarian tripped over that cord, she dropped a pile of books.
In this sentence, the demonstrative adjective "that" modifies the noun "cord" and the noun phrase "that cord" is the object of the preposition "over."
- This apartment needs to be fumigated.
Here "this" modifies "apartment" and the noun phrase "this apartment" is the subject of the sentence.
- Even though my friend preferred those plates, I bought these.
In the subordinate clause, "those" modifies "plates" and the noun phrase "those plates" is the object of the verb "preferred." In theindependent clause, "these" is the direct object of the verb "bought."
Note that the relationship between a demonstrative adjective and a demonstrative pronoun is similar to the relationship between a possessive adjective and a possessive pronoun, or to that between a interrogative adjective and an interrogative pronoun.
Interrogative Adjectives
An interrogative adjective ("which" or "what") is like an interrogative pronoun, except that it modifies a noun or noun phrase rather than standing on its own (see also demonstrative adjectives and possessive adjectives):
- Which plants should be watered twice a week?
Like other adjectives, "which" can be used to modify a noun or a noun phrase. In this example, "which" modifies "plants" and the noun phrase "which plants" is the subject of the compound verb "should be watered":
- What book are you reading?
In this sentence, "what" modifies "book" and the noun phrase "what book" is the direct object of the compound verb "are reading."
Indefinite Adjectives
An indefinite adjective is similar to an indefinite pronoun, except that it modifies a noun, pronoun, or noun phrase, as in the following sentences:
- Many people believe that corporations are under-taxed.
The indefinite adjective "many" modifies the noun "people" and the noun phrase "many people" is the subject of the sentence.
- I will send you any mail that arrives after you have moved to Sudbury.
The indefinite adjective "any" modifies the noun "mail" and the noun phrase "any mail" is the direct object of the compound verb "will send."
- They found a few goldfish floating belly up in the swan pound.
In this example the indefinite adjective modifies the noun "goldfish" and the noun phrase is the direct object of the verb "found":
- The title of Kelly's favourite game is "All dogs go to heaven."
Here the indefinite pronoun "all" modifies "dogs" and the full title is a subject complement.
The following List of Adjectives are in common use in the English language:
| List of Adjectives | |||||
| A - D List of Adjectives afraid agreeable amused ancient angry annoyed anxious arrogant ashamed average awful bad beautiful better big bitter black blue boiling brave breezy brief bright broad broken bumpy calm charming cheerful chilly clumsy cold colossal combative comfortable confused cooing cool cooperative courageous crazy creepy cruel cuddly curly curved damp dangerous deafening deep A - D List of Adjectives | D - G List of Adjectivesdefeated defiant delicious delightful depressed determined dirty disgusted disturbed dizzy dry dull dusty eager early elated embarrassed empty encouraging energetic enthusiastic envious evil excited exuberant faint fair faithful fantastic fast fat few fierce filthy fine flaky flat fluffy foolish frail frantic fresh friendly frightened funny fuzzy gentle giant gigantic good D - G List of Adjectives | G - M List of Adjectivesgorgeous greasy great green grieving grubby grumpy handsome happy hard harsh healthy heavy helpful helpless high hilarious hissing hollow homeless horrible hot huge hungry hurt hushed husky icy ill immense itchy jealous jittery jolly juicy kind large late lazy light little lively lonely long loose loud lovely low lucky magnificentG - M List of Adjectives | M - R List of Adjectivesmammoth many massive melodic melted mighty miniature moaning modern mute mysterious narrow nasty naughty nervous new nice nosy numerous nutty obedient obnoxious odd old orange ordinary outrageous panicky perfect petite plastic pleasant precious pretty prickly proud puny purple purring quaint quick quickest quiet rainy rapid rare raspy ratty red relieved M - R List of Adjectives | R - S List of Adjectivesrepulsive resonant ripe roasted robust rotten rough round sad salty scary scattered scrawny screeching selfish shaggy shaky shallow sharp shivering short shrill silent silky silly skinny slimy slippery slow small smiling smooth soft solid sore sour spicy splendid spotty square squealing stale steady steep sticky stingy straight strange striped strong R - S List of Adjectives | S - Z List of Adjectivessuccessful sweet swift tall tame tan tart tasteless tasty tender tender tense terrible testy thirsty thoughtful thoughtless thundering tight tiny tired tough tricky troubled ugliest ugly uneven upset uptight vast victorious vivacious voiceless wasteful watery weak weary wet whispering wicked wide wide-eyed witty wonderful wooden worried yellow young yummy zany S - Z List of Adjectives |
| List of Adjectives | |||||
ADVERB...
What is ADVERB???
Basically, most adverbs tell you how, where, or when something is done. In other words, they describe the manner, place, or time of an action. Here are some examples:
| Type | Adverb | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Manner | slowly | Jane drives slowly. |
| Place | here | The party is going to take place here. |
| Time | yesterday | I called him yesterday. |
How to recognize an adverb
Many adverbs end with the suffix -LY. Most of these are created by adding -LY to the end of an adjective, like this:
However, this is NOT a reliable way to find out whether a word is an adverb or not, for two reasons: many adverbs do NOT end in -LY (some are the same as the adjective form), and many words which are NOT adverbs DO end in -LY (such as kindly, friendly, elderly and lonely, which are adjectives). Here are some examples of adverbs which are the same as adjectives:
The best way to tell if a word is an adverb is to try making a question, for which the answer is the word. If the question uses how, where or when, then the word is probably an adverb. Here is an example:
| Adjective | Adverb |
|---|---|
| slow | slowly |
| delightful | delightfully |
| hopeless | hopelessly |
| aggressive | aggressively |
| Adjective | Adverb |
|---|---|
| fast | fast |
| late | late |
| early | early |
| Word in context | Question | Adverb? |
|---|---|---|
| Junko plays tennis aggressively. | How does Junko play tennis? | Yes — uses HOW. |
| They have a small house. | What kind of house do they have? | No — uses WHAT KIND OF, so this is an adjective. |
| Matthew called the policeimmediately. | When did Matthew call the police? | Yes — uses WHEN. |
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