Adjectives

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What are adjectives?
1.    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 

2.    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 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.
 

 MORE THAN ONE ADJECTIVE 

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".)
 


 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.

3.    Although rarer, 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.
       (The adjective "brave" modifies the pronoun "few".)

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The different types of adjectives:

1.    As covered in Section 1 above, 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.

Examples:

 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.

 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 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.)

This is also covered in the lesson "Abbreviations". 

 Possessive Adjectives
Possessive adjectives are used to show possession.  They are "my", "your", "his", "her", "its", "our" and "their".


 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!
  [picture 1]   [picture 2]  [picture 3]

This is covered more in the lesson "Apostrophes".  


 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)
  [picture]
 

 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".)

This is also covered in the lesson "An or A". 
 


 A LOT NOT ALOT

The words "a lot" are sometimes written "alot".  This is a mistake.
Mark has alot of ideas; some of them are good.
       (...a lot of ideas )

 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.) 


 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  )

An adjective must agree with its noun.  The incorrect examples above are similar to the one below, in which there is no agreement between the adjective and the noun.
There is a cows in the field.
       Note: A native English speaker would never make this
       mistake. It is only included to help explain "agreement" between
       adjective (here: "a") and noun (here: "cows").

 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 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") 

 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.  This is
       covered more in Section 3 below, which is about "compound
       adjectives".) 

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What are compound adjectives?
 

1.    A compound adjective is an adjective which comprises more than one word.  Hyphens are used to link the words together to show that it is one adjective.

Examples:
Please request a four-foot table.
      ("Four-foot" is an adjective describing the table.  A hyphen is used to link "four"
       and "foot" to show that it is one adjective.)
It is a 6-page document.
Claire worked as a part-time keeper at the safari park.
That is an all-too-common mistake.

2.    Often adjectives are formed from proper nouns (i.e. the names of things), which should be written using capital letters.  In these circumstances, there is no need to group the words together using hyphens.

Examples:
Did you manage to get the Billy Elliot tickets?
      (The words "Billy Elliot" are one adjective describing the tickets.  As the capital
       letters group the words, there is no need to use a hyphen.)
  [picture]
 


 WATCH THOSE CAPITAL LETTERS

The noun does not get a capital letter unless it is part of the title.
Did you manage to get the Billy Elliot Tickets?

3.    Although a less common practice, it is also possible to group the words in a compound adjective using quotation marks, italics or a combination of the two.  (Italics tend to be used for foreign words.)

Examples:
It is an ab initio course (i.e. for beginners).
      (italics used to group the adjective)
Amber looked at the stick in the water, looked me in the eye and then turned
       away, giving me a "get it yourself" look.
      (quotation marks used to group the adjective)
For more than ten years, Jack claimed to be part of the "Mary Celeste" crew
       before admitting to his cousin at a party that he was not.
      (capital letters, italics and quotation marks used to group the adjective)

4.    As covered in the lesson "Adverbs", adjectives are often preceded by a word like "very", "well", "beautifully", "extremely" etc.  (These are adverbs.)  Usually, there is no need to link an adverb to an adjective using a hyphen. 

Examples:
Young Tracey is an extremely brave girl. 
       (The adverb "extremely" modifies the adjective "brave" but is not part of it.
        There is no need to group it and "brave" together.)
It was a beautifully painted portrait in a skillfully carved frame. 
      (The adverb "beautifully" adds to the adjective "painted" but is not part of it. 
        It is the same with "skillfully" and "carved".  There is no need for hyphens.)

5.    However, with words like "well" and "fast" (which are both adjectives and adverbs), a hyphen can be used to avoid ambiguity. 

Example:
Jacob took the well-fatted calf to the riverside. 
      ("well-fatted calf" as in a very plump calf)
Jacob took the well fatted calf to the riverside.
      ("well fatted calf" could be construed as a "well" (i.e. healthy) and "fatted" calf. 
       In the first example, the "well-fatted calf" could be ill!)
 

 USE A HYPHEN WITH "WELL" 

 The following rule will suffice in practically every situation: When preceding an adjective with the adverb "well", use a hyphen.
well-known actor (< hyphen with "well")
widely known actor (< no hyphen with any other adverb)

6.    This point is covered in more detail in Sections 1 and 2 of the lesson "Hyphens".

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