Definition of Adjective
Adjectives are describing words. Large, grey and friendly are all examples of adjectives. In the examples below, these adjectives are used to describe an elephant.
Examples:
 Large elephant
Grey elephant
Friendly elephant
Adjectives Modify Nouns
The word elephant is a noun. Adjectives are added to nouns to state what kind, what colour, which one or how many. Adjectives are said
to modify nouns and are necessary to make the meanings of sentences clearer or more exact.
Examples:
Follow the yellow cab.
(In this example, the adjective 'yellow' modifies the noun 'cab'.)
Craig caught another large bass.
(In this example, the adjective 'large' modifies the noun 'bass'.)
It is the girl with the pale face again.
The principal
words should be in bold.
(Beware of the adjective 'principal' - see right)
The rusty nail he stood on was the cause of the infection.
Please put the old documents in the shredder.
There is an essential matter we need to discuss.
Peter guessed the right number.Adjectives Modify
Pronouns
Although less common, adjectives can also modify pronouns.
Examples:
It is a blue one.
(In this example, the adjective 'blue' modifies the pronoun 'one'.)
Only a brave few have received a recommendation.
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THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF ADJECTIVES
Adjectives are describing words. However, there are many other words that are classified as adjectives, some of which do not fall easily under this description.
PERSONAL TITLES
Personal titles such Mr, Mrs, Auntie, Uncle, Dr and Lord are classified as adjectives when they are attached to a name.
The day after tomorrow, you can visit Auntie Pauline and Uncle Joe.
The lecture on Friday will be presented by Dr Ingols and Prof. Munro.
POSSESSIVE ADJECTIVES
Possessive adjectives are used to show possession. They are my, your,
his, her, its, our and their. (They are also called possessive pronouns.)
THE ARTICLES
The words a, an and the are known as articles
and are classified as adjectives too. 'A' and 'an' are called the indefinite
articles, as they do not indicate a specific noun; whereas, 'the' is called the
definite article, because it does point to a specific noun.
A cup (< any cup)
The cup (< a specific cup)
DEMONSTRATIVE ADJECTIVES
Demonstrative adjectives are used to demonstrate or indicate specific things.
This, that, these and those are all demonstrative adjectives.
If I hear that parrot again, I will call the
RSPCA.
('That' is a demonstrative adjective. It refers to a specific parrot.)
Medals will only be given to those runners who complete the marathon in
less than 8 hours.
('Those' is a demonstrative adjective. It refers to specific people.)
INDEFINITE ADJECTIVES
Unlike demonstrative adjectives, which indicate specific items, indefinite adjectives do not point out specific things. They are formed from
indefinite pronouns. The most common indefinite adjectives are
no, any, many, few and several.
The chief has heard many people make the same promise.
(The indefinite adjective 'many' modifies the noun 'people'.)
According to a council spokesman, there are no wallabies left in Derbyshire.
However, over the past few months, many walkers have reported seeing
several adults with young.
(The indefinite adjectives in this example are no, few, many and several.)
NUMBERS
Numbers are classified as adjectives too.
Four dolphins stayed with the boat until dawn.
(The adjective 'four' modifies the noun 'dolphins'.)
All we could muster was 9 cans of beans.
(The adjective '9' modifies the noun 'cans'.) |
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Go to a harder test on adjectives
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ENUMERATION OF ADJECTIVES
It is possible to use more than one adjective to modify a noun.
Large, grey and friendly elephant
Lining up adjectives in this way is called 'enumeration of adjectives'. (See lesson
"Commas in a list".)
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PRINCIPAL AND PRINCIPLE
Writers occasionally confuse the words principal and principle. In its most common role, the word principal is an adjective with a meaning similar to
main or key.
The principal objective is to make a profit.
(The adjective 'principal' modifies the noun 'objective'.)
The word principle, on the other hand, is not an adjective. It is a noun. It can mean
'general law' or 'code of conduct'.
No! It is against my principles!
That is a great idea in principle.
The word principal can also be noun when it means head or chief. It is commonly used to denote
'head teacher' in the US.
Here comes the principal.
See the lesson on Principle
and Principal.
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CAPITAL LETTERS WITH TITLES
When a personal title is attached to a name, it is written with a capital letter.
My favourite auntie is Auntie Grace.
(Note: There is no capital letter on the first 'auntie' as it is not attached to a name. This is also covered in the lesson
Nouns.)
DR. OR DR (WITH OR WITHOUT A FULL STOP)
Words like Dr, Mr and Revd (from Doctor, Mister and Reverend) are called contractions. As a guideline, only use a full stop
 (period  )
at the end of a contraction if its last letter is different to the last letter of the whole word.
Dr Ingols and Prof. Munro
(Doctor ends in r - no full stop required.)
(Professor ends in r, but Prof ends in f - full stop required.)
See
the lesson Full
Stops in Contractions.
ITS NOT IT'S
The word its (note - no apostrophe) is a possessive adjective, just like
his, her and my.
Can you see its pale-coloured belly?
Jenkins failed the final test and its re-sit.
It's (note the apostrophe) is short for 'it is' or 'it has'. If you cannot substitute
it's with 'it is' or 'it has', then it is wrong.
See the lesson Its and It's.
AN OR A?
Sometimes, particularly with abbreviations, there is confusion about when to use
a and when to use an. The rule is: Use a when the next sound is a consonant sound and
an when it is a vowel sound.
Buy a house in an hour.
(Note: Although house and hour start with the same three letters, one attracts
a, and the other attracts an.)
See the lesson An or A.
PLURAL THESE AND THOSE
The words these and those should only be used with plurals.
I have never seen these kind of things before.
(...these kinds of things
)
Sarah is not used to those type of situations.
(...those types of situations )
EXPRESSIONS LIKE THREE-AND-A-QUARTER MILLION
Knowing that numbers are adjectives is important for expressions such as 'four-and-a-half
dozen'.
All we could muster was 9-and-a-half cans of beans.
(The adjective '9-and-a-half' modifies the noun 'cans'. It is linked together with hyphens to show that it is one adjective.
See the lesson Compound Adjectives.
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