List of adjectives second grade


Excellent Adjectives for Kids- A Comprehensive List

Young children start learning about people and their surroundings from an early age, which is why teaching them adjectives is the perfect way to give them a solid foundation from which they can experience the world and build their vocabulary. In addition, by learning how to use descriptive adjectives to describe these experiences, kids start to feel more in control of their own world. The value of adjectives for kids comes from their ability to characterise a noun, giving more detailed and imaginative information about the object of discussion. 

By adding the ability to visualise something more clearly, a reader can learn to convey feelings with more emotion and to describe exactly what you want using precise language. Do you want your child to expand their vocabulary by learning age-appropriate adjectives for kids for just 20 minutes every day? Then you should get the KidSmart app. KidSmart is more than just being one of those writing apps for kids, but a tried and tested educational tool geared towards critical thinking and self-learning through games and interactive activities.  

Here’s a list of common adjectives for kids that you can start teaching based on their reading and interaction levels:

Contents

Adjectives for Kids by Grade (US) or Year (UK)

Grade

1

The following list of describing words are commonly used.

Colours: blue, green, purple, orange, black, white, pink, red, yellow

Size: big, small, short, tall, fat, thin

Sounds: loud, quiet

Shapes: round, square, oval, triangular

Numbers: one, two, few, many

Touch/Texture: rough, smooth, soft, hard

Weather: sunny, rainy, windy, dark, light, cloudy

Grade

2 – 3

Alphabetising the common adjectives for kids can help them learn the describing words and their respective meanings more quickly and organise their learning process. This will also allow them to find adjectives that start with a specific letter more conveniently and explore other options more easily.

Letters A-C: angry, bumpy, busy, brave,  crispy, cruel, cheerful, chilly

Letters D-H: dangerous, deep, dirty, dry, empty, equal, easy freezing, funny, fat, fluffy, furry, fuzzy, huge

Letters I-N: itchy, icy, juicy, kind, lazy, long, lumpy, left, large, mean, messy, naughty, new, nice

Letters O-R: oily, old, plump, pretty, proud, quick, ready, ripe, right

Letters S-Z: short, simple, slimy, sloppy, slow, spiky, spoiled, sticky, stiff, still, stinky, strong, swollen, thin, tiny, tricky, ugly, weak, wise, wrong, wet

Download practice worksheet packs

Download Adjectives for Grade 3 Kids Pack 1

Grade

4 – 6

Letters A-C: able, adventurous, absurd,  apologetic, aware, alert, amusing, ancient, annoyed, anxious, bitter, brilliant, bashful, beautiful, bulky, capable, cautious, creative, creepy, cruel, curly, challenging, charming, clever, compassionate, cosy, cranky
You can learn many more adjectives for kids that start with a or start with b.

Letters D – H: damp, daring, delicate, delicious, disrespectful, dreadful, dull, ecstatic, endless, enormous, entertaining, exhausted, fantastic, foolish, frightened, furious, fussy, gentle, gigantic, gorgeous, graceful
Take a deep dive into many more adjectives that begin with e.

Letters I – N: innocent, icky, intelligent, infinite, jaded, joyful, jolly, jumpy, kind-hearted, kindly, knowledgeable, likely, lousy, loyal, lucky, marvellous, naive, nervous, nimble
Familiarise yourself with many excellent adjectives for kids that start with j, with m and with n.

Letters O – S: optimistic, oval, petite, pleasant, polite, precise, prickly, salty, shocking, slick, slippery, sour, sparkling, straight, stubborn, stunning
Jump to the list of excellent adjectives for kids that start with r and that start with s.

Letters T – Z: temporary, terrified, timid, tricky, truthful, whimsical, young, yummy

Classifying Adjectives: Grammar for Kids

There are different kinds of descriptive adjectives in the English language, all of which will at some point or the other be a solid stepping stone towards improving grammar for kids as they get older and advance through the school system. After organising the words in alphabetical order, these descriptive adjectives have been further sorted into categories for greater understanding and can be quite useful when preparing for promotional exams, such as the CEM and 11+.  

Proper Adjectives 

These adjectives are derived from proper nouns and are used to describe something in terms of culture, nationality, or religious affiliation. 

Some examples of proper adjectives include: African, Asian, British, French, Japanese, Latino, American, Australian, Catholic, Lutheran, Jewish

Food Adjectives

There are many words that can be used to conjure tasteful images when discussing food choices. With the proper adjective definition for kids, they can understand the difference between a “ tasty, cheesy, homemade, spaghetti with meatballs” and a “regular mass-produced fast food pasta,” Some examples include: 

Sweets: sugary, chocolatey, syrupy, minty, 

Fruits: ripe, sour, juicy, tart, acidic

Dairy: Cheesy, buttery, creamy

Beef: Chewy, peppery, spicy, marinated, lean, dry

Cereal: crunchy, soggy, flakey, nutty

Adjectives for Describing a Person

There are many terms that can be used to describe people in terms of their physical appearance and personality traits. It is important for your child to have these words in their written and spoken vocabulary because as they grow older, they will at some point, face a situation that requires them to describe someone. Some examples include: 

Characteristics and Traits: clever, creative, kind, generous, considerate, flexible, mysterious

Personality traits: calm, humble, arrogant, proud, charismatic, mean

Physical Appearance: straight hair, cropped hair, blonde, brunette, lanky, dwarfish, plump, skinny 

Learn many more adjectives to describe a person.

Happy Adjectives

These words are great for describing jubilant situations, helping children create strong descriptions for a party or celebration scenes like their last birthday or playdate. 

Examples include: beaming, joyous, blissful, joyful, delightful, pleased, cheerful, jovial, jolly, glad, thrilled, elated, gleeful, sunny

Peaceful Adjectives

These words are used to describe a state of serenity. Some examples include: serene, calm, harmonious, peaceful, nonviolent, quiet, undisturbed, still, soothing, tranquil, relaxing, restful

Sporty Adjectives

Many school curricula include a variety of sporting events as part of their physical education activities, so your children have most likely come across these types of adjectives. 

Examples include: accurate, active, agile, athletic, frenetic, skilful, speedy, swift, slick, 

Adjectives to Describe a Place

These descriptive words can serve as a springboard for the new territory that your child visits or reads about. By learning the right adjectives to describe a location, they become even more interested in learning more about the world outside of their immediate surroundings. 

Some examples include: gigantic, grassy, exotic near, far, tidy, spacious, spooky, smelly, lively

How KidSmart Can Help Writing for Kids

Because descriptive adjectives are so common in everyday conversations and learning materials, learning more about them is vital to creating and speaking grammatically correct sentences. KidSmart can help achieve this through its array of gamification strategies and activities that are designed for 

  • Progressive Grammar – The app follows progressive development methodology and introduces new concepts based on the level of understanding specific to your child.
  • Spelling – Since KidSmart is geared towards the UK curriculum, it presents words that are relevant for the child’s year and tests them multiple times to assess their confidence level. It then adjusts the difficulty level automatically based on the responses.
  • Vocabulary Building – As your kids progress, new words are introduced with meaning and usage examples. They also have access to the Oxford Dictionary at any time. 

Download Practice Packs

Download Adjectives for Grade 3 Kids Pack 1

More Reading

Adjectives with S
What’s an adjective?
BBC: What are adjectives for year 2-3?

Browse 2nd Grade Adjective Educational Resources

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Grammar 1

Guided Lesson

Grammar 1

Grammar is an essential part of the second grade language arts curriculum. This guided lesson teaches second graders how to properly use collective nouns, additonal nouns and verbs, and provides plenty of opportunities to practice these grammar rules in context. For more important practice with nouns and verbs, download and print the grammar worksheets that we suggest alongside this lesson.

2nd grade

Reading & Writing

Guided Lesson

Vocabulary 1

Guided Lesson

Vocabulary 1

Vocabulary development helps second graders advance their reading and writing skills. This guided lesson uses exercises and techniques targeted to building vocabulary. Kids will be tasked with using descriptive adjectives, distinguishing between similar verbs and adjectives, and using context clues to determine the meaning of a word phrase. For more vocabulary boosters, check out the worksheets that align with this lesson.

2nd grade

Reading & Writing

Guided Lesson

Search 2nd Grade Adjective Educational Resources

Adjectives are responsible for coating language with mood and emotion. Second graders begin to focus on adding more detail, and therefore more interest, to their vocabulary with lessons on adjectives. These adjective resources introduce second graders to this creative component of grammar.

Emotive Adjective Resources for Second Graders

Students in second grade are introduced to adjectives, a form of creative expression through language. They learn how adjectives differ from adverbs and how to recognize them in a sentence. There are many resources provided by Education.com that center on second grade adjective practice. The lesson plan STRETCH: Adding Details to Simple Sentences encourages kids to be more specific with language because utilizing descriptive words makes writing more interesting and storytelling more energetic. Mad, Sad, Happy, Glad: Character Feelings is a lesson plan that teaches kids new adjective vocabulary words that relate to human emotions.

There are a few games that help with adjective recognition, too. Adjectives are nouns' partners in crime, so the game Word Transporter: Adjectives and Nouns teaches what adjectives are appropriate to use with certain nouns. Imagine Life on a Cloud is a hands-on activity that encourages kids to get outside and look to the sky. They will spot clouds and come up with fantastic, imaginative descriptors for what they see.

Second graders' language abilities bloom with the adjective resources supplied in the Learning Library.

Compound adjectives in English ? (Compound adjectives)

There is a place for creativity in English! It is universal in every sense. You yourself are able to come up with something new and unique in English. To express your thought vividly and in an original way, you can compose words yourself, knowing the rules for their formation. Many English writers replenished the lexical fund of the language when they invented author's words of an unusual form. Such grammatical units are not one, but several words. They add precise details to the statement, bring specificity, make the speech rich and colorful. This is achieved in different ways. Consider how complex adjectives (compound adjectives) are composed and used.

What are compound adjectives

This is one word that includes two or more words. They are usually written with a hyphen. The meaning of each of them individually may differ from the meaning that they are endowed with together. The composition of such complex word forms includes not only adjectives. They can consist of different parts of speech, but at the same time together they always denote a sign of an object.

  • Adjective + participle.

Long- lasting. / Durable.

  • Adjective + noun.

Grey- haired. / Gray-haired.

  • Adjective + adverb.

Low- paid. / Underpaid.

Rules for the formation of compound adjectives

There are patterns in English that form compound adjectives. They are written differently in writing. They can be written separately, together or with a hyphen. In this regard, there are some difficulties in writing and using complex words. Let's try to overcome them. Often a hyphen is used if the adjective is in front of the object that it extends. If after, then the hyphen is no longer needed. Compare:

  • The well-known actor. / Famous actor .
    The actor is well known. / Actor
    good known .
  • An angry-sounding message. / angrily sounding message .
    Message is sounding angry. / Message
    sounds angry .
  • The ill-conceived plan. / Ill-conceived plan .
    The plan is ill conceived. / Plan
    bad well thought out .

However, this rule does not apply to all compound words. For example, " convert the day-trip trade " cannot be replaced with " the trade is day trip ". In order not to make mistakes in spelling, adhere to the norms established in the language. In English, hyphens are always used only in a few cases.

  1. If a compound adjective has a prefix first. It must be separated by a hyphen from the rest of the word.

Semi- skilled. / Semi-qualified.

Post- war. / Postwar.

  1. If there are numbers in the compound word. However, they should only be in the singular. In the plural, such words are not used, even if it means not one object, but a lot of something.

Thirty-two-year-old pianist. / Thirty-two year old pianist .

Second-class ticket. / Second class ticket.

  1. If you want to delimit the meaning and remove ambiguity. There are cases when, without a hyphen, such words acquire a completely different meaning in the same sentence.

We encountered a man-eating bear. / We encountered a bear eating people.

We encountered a man eating bear. / We encountered a man devouring a bear.

Sometimes in writing, parts of one compound adjective are separated by commas. In this case, there will be not one complex, but two simple definitions. To decide which punctuation mark to use, first read the entire sentence aloud. With the same value, both use cases are possible. And with a different shade and a changed meaning of the combination, it is better not to put a comma.

He was a good looking man. / He was a good, handsome man.

He was a good-looking man. / He was an attractive man.

Compound adjectives containing adverbs beginning with "ly" are never hyphenated. Such words are always used separately from each other, although they form an integral phrase, denote a single attribute of one subject.

Newly free country. / Again a free country.

Internationally recognized singer. / Internationally recognized singer .

If the adverb that is part of the word does not end with “ly”, but the compound adjective also comes before the object that it illustrates, then a hyphen will be needed.

Types of compound adjectives

They can mean a qualitative characteristic, distinctive feature, color scheme and other signs of an object or an animated person. Depending on this, thematic groups of compound adjectives are distinguished:

  1. Colors .

Snow white. / Snow white .

Flesh-coloured. / Nude .

Blue-black. / Blue-black.

  1. Classifications .

Full scale. / Full scale .

Ready-made. / Finished .

Interest-free. / Interest-free.

  1. Quality .

Kind-hearted. / Kind .

Narrow-minded. / Narrow-browed .

Short-tempered. / Hot-tempered.

  1. Quantities .

Twenty-story building. / Twenty-storey building.

Six-month-old baby. / Half year old baby .

Hundred dollar bill. / Hundred dollar bill .

Compound adjectives are distinguished according to different characteristics. Due to the fact that this group of words is quite mobile, it is difficult to single out a strict framework for each definition. After all, its constituent elements can be easily changed to other parts, which will lead to a change in the meaning of the whole combination, and hence its appearance.

Compound adjectives are actively used by native speakers both in speech and in writing. These words noticeably "enliven" communication, add bright colors to it. The most interesting thing is that there is no stable base for them. The lexical fund is constantly replenished with new grammatical units, which people themselves invent. Try it too! We advise you to write down compound adjectives that you will meet and actively use them in dialogues and in writing. Once you have mastered the basic patterns of their education, you will be able to create such combinations yourself and make your monologues individual. They not only increase your vocabulary, but also give a complete picture of the structure of the language. Wall Street English courses will help you learn them better, where we analyze all topics in detail and work out the material covered in detail in practice.

English adjectives

An adjective in English is called an adjective. As in Russian, English adjectives answer the questions “what?”, “what?”, “what?” and indicate the characteristics of objects.

In English, adjectives do not decline for cases, genders, numbers, do not have short forms, but play an important role in making speech and texts more colorful, understandable and detailed.

Let's start with the classification of English adjectives.

Classification of adjectives

Adjectives are classified according to their meaning into relative and qualitative adjectives.

Relative adjectives denote signs of objects or phenomena that cannot be expressed to a greater or lesser extent, that is, they do not have degrees of comparison. Also, relative adjectives do not combine with words such as very (very), enough (quite).

Adjectives of this type include adjectives that mean:

  • location. For example: southern (southern), top (upper), middle (central).
  • materials, composition. For example: gold (gold), glass (glass), iron (iron).
  • origin. For example: Russian (Russian), American (American).
  • timing. For example: daily (daily), monthly (monthly).
  • industry affiliation. For example: political (political), economic (economic).

Qualitative adjectives describe a certain attribute of an object. Sometimes they are also called descriptive adjectives.

Qualitative adjectives refer to:

  • color Red (red), white (white), yellow (yellow).
  • size and shape. Small (small), big (large), huge (huge), long (long), round (round).
  • opinion and evaluation. Beautiful (beautiful), excellent (excellent), nice (beautiful), terrible (terrible).
  • sensations and emotions. Cold (cold), tasty (tasty), awful (terrible), happy (happy), sad (sad).

Please note that depending on the context and meaning, the same adjective can fall under different categories of adjectives at the same time.

In addition, English adjectives can be divided into 3 groups according to word composition.

  • simple adjectives that consist only of the root. For example: short (short), long (long), young (young), nice (pleasant), cold (cold).
  • derivative adjectives that have a prefix and / or suffix in the word. For example: useful (useful), interesting (interesting), unhappy (unhappy), dangerous (dangerous), impossible (impossible).
  • Compound or compound adjectives consisting of several words that can be separated by a hyphen. For example, hard-working (hard-working), good-looking (pretty), well-educated (well-educated), short-tempered (unrestrained).

As we have already noted, qualitative adjectives can have degrees of comparison. Let's consider this in more detail.

Degrees of comparison of adjectives

Adjectives can have 2 degrees of comparison: comparative, when two or more objects, persons or phenomena are compared with each other, and superlative, when one or more objects are distinguished from a group of similar ones on some basis.

Let's give examples of the comparative degree in Russian.

This boy in the gray cap is older than the guys he is currently playing with.

Red maples usually cost more than regular green maples.

The living room in our house is larger than the bedroom.

The comparative degree of adjectives in English is formed using:

  • adding the suffix er to words of 1 or 2 syllables.
  • use of the word more before an adjective in a neutral degree, if the word consists of more than two syllables.

The word than is usually used with a comparative degree.

Let's analyze comparative English adjectives with translation.

My sister is younger me. My sister is younger than me.

It's harder than you think. It's harder than you think.

My daughter says that Math is more interesting than other subjects. My daughter says that mathematics is more interesting than other subjects.

The red dress is more expensive than the black one. The red dress is more expensive than the black one.

The second degree of comparison of adjectives is superlative. It is used in the case when some feature is expressed to the greatest extent. Then the adjective, as a rule, is translated with the addition of the word "most". Examples in Russian:

This boy is the smartest in the class.

Lunch prepared by the best chef.

The most delicious watermelons in September.

The superlative degree is formed by adding the suffix est and the definite article the before the word when talking about adjectives consisting of 1-2 syllables.

Adjectives with more syllables are preceded by the most (and the form of the adjective itself remains unchanged).

Let's analyze adjectives in superlative form in English with translation:

I work in the largest business center in my town. I work in the largest business center in my city.

My grandmother was the youngest child among fifteen children in her family. My grandmother was the youngest of fifteen children in her family.

Yesterday I finished reading the most interesting book in my life. Yesterday I finished reading the most interesting book of my life.

Birthday is the happiest celebration of the year for many people. Birthday is the happiest holiday of the year for many people.

Separately, we want to draw your attention to some features of the word formation of short adjectives consisting of 1-2 syllables.

  • if the word ends with the letter e, then only -r is added in the comparative degree, and -st in the superlative degree.

large - larger - the largest

nice - nicer - the nicest

  • if a word ends in a consonant preceded by a vowel, the consonant is doubled.

big - bigger - the biggest

hot - hotter - the hottest (hot - hot - hottest)

  • in words ending in y, adding -er and -est changes it to i. Happy - happier - the happiest (happier - happier - the happiest), easy - easier - the easiest (simple - easier - the easiest), tasty - tastier - the tastiest (tasty - tastier - the most delicious).

In addition, there are exception words whose degrees of comparison are not formed according to the rules. Here is a list of such adjectives in English with translation.

  • good - better - the best (good - better - the best)
  • bad - worse - the worst (bad - worse - worst)
  • little - less - the least (small - less - smallest)
  • far - farther / further - the farthest / the furthest (far - further - the farthest)

Farther, "further", implies a physical distance, eg go farther down the road.

Further is used figuratively. For example, read further (read on).

  • much - more - the most (many - more - most)
  • old - elder / older - the eldest / the oldest (old - older - oldest / oldest)

Older is used when referring to age in a general sense. For example: This picture is the oldest thing in our house. This painting is the oldest thing in our house.

Elder is used when talking about age relationships in the family. For example: My elder brother always helps me. My older brother always helps me.

For a number of adjectives, comparative and superlative degrees can be formed both with the help of the suffixes er, est, and with the help of more, the most.

simple - simpler / more simple - the simplest / the most simple (simple - easier - the simplest)

clever - cleverer / more clever - the cleverest / the most cleverest

As well as adjectives: polite (polite), narrow (narrow), gentle (gentle), quiet (quiet), stupid (stupid), friendly (friendly).

Place of adjectives in a sentence
  1. An adjective as a definition is placed before a noun, the sign of which it denotes.

I like my red dress. I like my red dress.

I will never forget that wonderful sunny day in Paris. I will never forget that beautiful sunny day in Paris.

  1. If the adjective refers to a component of the predicate, then it is placed after the auxiliary verb to be.

Our grandparents are wise. Our grandparents are wise.

This building is new. This building is new.

  1. If there are several adjectives in a sentence that refer to one noun, then the word order is determined based on the following sequence:
  • evaluation or opinion
  • size
  • age
  • form
  • color
  • origin (country)
  • material, composition
  • purpose, purpose

I bought a nice little silver steel kitchen knife. Yesterday I bought a nice, small, silver steel kitchen knife.

He is my good old American friend. He is a good old American friend of mine.

So, we have considered the main points related to the use of adjectives in English.


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