Short descriptive words

List of Descriptive Words: Adjectives, Adverbs, & Participles

Which is more intriguing — a dark, spooky night or a pitch-black, starless, ominous night? Would you rather eat a delicious cake or a mouthwatering, sugar-sweet chocolate cake? Using descriptive words makes readers feel like they’re in your scene instead of just reading it. When you’ve got the proper list of descriptive words, you can easily turn handsome into chiseled or pretty into dazzling.

lists of descriptive adjectives, adverbs, and participles

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Adjectives as Descriptive Words

Adjectives are descriptive words that modify nouns. They’re what you need to tell the difference between an acrobatic cat, a delirious cat, and a precious cat (or maybe a cat that’s all three).  

Adverbs as Descriptive Words

Use an adverb to describe an action rather than a noun, or if you want to add even more detail to an adjective. Most adverbs end in -ly (though not all of them), and they’re helpful ways to strengthen your writing.

Participles as Descriptive Words

You can even use verbs as describing words — although they’re called participles in that context. Past participles end in -ed or -en, present participles end in -ing, and they all look like descriptive words that you probably use all the time.

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Using Descriptive Words in Your Writing

Descriptive words help paint a picture in the reader's mind. The sentence "It was windy," might give the reader information, but it's not very descriptive. Consider how much imagery you can add with the words gusty, torrential, breezy, or windswept in front of your nouns.

Using descriptive words can:

• bring characters to life in a novel or short story
• sell an item in a product advertisement
• convince an audience in a persuasive writing piece
• explain the setting of a news story
• provide instructions for a DIY project

Using illustrative descriptors makes your writing impossible to put down. Whether you're using descriptive words in poetry or informational writing, there are always opportunities to make sentences more vivid.

Describing Our World With Words

When it comes to using descriptive words, variety is key. Go beyond the list of adjectives, adverbs, and participles above to help you set the scene with just the right imagery.

• Appeal to your readers' senses with a list of strong sensory words.
• Use descriptive words for scents to describe pleasant (or unpleasant) smells.
• Describe an aquatic scene with water words for descriptive writing.
• Learn to describe a person’s (or character’s) physical appearance.
• Choose the right descriptive words to describe someone’s personality.
• Paint a delicious picture with descriptive language for food.

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700+ Describing Words in English (with Useful Examples) • 7ESL

When speaking or writing in the English language you are going to need to use descriptive words. But what are these types of describing words and how can we use them? We will look at the answers to these questions and look at examples of the different types of descriptive words.

You may be tired of always using the same adjectives and are in desperate need to add some new ones to your vocabulary. If that’s the case, then you’re in the right place! Here we will be sharing with you, the most common descriptive words and describing words. As well as, how to use gerunds, verbs, and nouns as descriptive words.

Table of Contents

Descriptive Words,

A descriptive word is a word that is used to describe something, that something could be a person, a place, a situation, or an item amongst other things. These words enable you to better explain the condition of something, for example, if you were talking about a person, you might use descriptive words to explain how that person looks. If you were talking about a country, you would use descriptive words to talk about the size of the country for example.

A descriptive word can also help you to intensify the meaning of a word or phrase.

Learn 250 Useful Descriptive Words to Improve Your General Fluency in English

Types of Describing Words

What types of descriptive words are there? There are two main types of descriptive words. Adjectives and adverbs. Adjectives are extremely important and useful in the English language. They have been around for many years, largely influential people like Shakespeare invented many during his time on Earth. They provide us with the access to describe the things around us, which comes in handy in many situations. For example, if you’re going to see a doctor about a specific issue, you’ll need to be able to describe it. If you’re writing a story, adjectives will help your audience to visualize your story more vividly. If you looking to complement or describe someone, adjectives are crucial.

Gerunds, verbs, and nouns can also be used as descriptive words. Let’s look at each of these types of descriptive words in a little more detail.

Descriptive Adjectives

An adjective is used to modify or describe a noun. The adjective can give more information about a noun such as things like its size, shape, texture, or color.

An adjective is useful when there is a selection of the same objects which have subtle differences, for example, if there were a group of fish, each one a different color. You are asked ‘which fish do you like?’ You can reply to this question by simply using the adjective, and you could say ‘the blue one.’

Here are a few examples of adjectives in use:

• The woman is tall.
• That car is rather large.
• There is a red card on the table.
• I prefer the hot weather.
• It is a bit damp in the garden shed.
• The man is American.
• We like to go to the pretty forest.
• The beach is clean.
• Our hotel was luxurious.
• I found the subject to be tiresome.
• The Harry Potter books were magical.
• The bird is beautiful.
• There will be a solar eclipse next week.

It is worth noting that an adjective is likely end with the following letters:

• -al-typical, maniacal
• -an-Australian, urban
• -ar-popular, clear, lunar
• -ent-decent, magnificent
• -ful-beautiful, blissful
• -ic-athletic, majestic
• -ical-magical, fantastical
• -ine-feminine, ovine
• -ile-immobile, juvenile
• -ive-aggressive, adaptive
• -less-colourless, thoughtless
• -ous-ginormous, luminous
• -some-awesome, boresome

However, as with many grammar rules there are exceptions and so sometimes an adjective might not fall into one of these categories. Some of the less common endings for adjectives can be -ing, -er, -y, -ary, -ate.

These types of descriptive words can appear anywhere in a sentence.

Descriptive Adverbs

An adverb is the other type of descriptive word that we are going to look at. An adverb is a word which can further explain an adjective or many other types of words such as verbs, phrases, sentences or even other adverbs. This type of descriptive word is more often than not, placed directly before or after the verb in the sentence you are creating. Usually, you will find that an adverb ends in the letters -ly, but as with the adjectives, this rule can waiver from time to time and not all adverbs will end in these letters.

Here are some examples of adverbs in a sentence:

• The supercar drives quickly.
• My cat mewed hungrily.
• The girls sang happily.
• Parrots speak noisily.
• Farmers work messily.
• He rapidly swam across the ocean.
• My daughter dutifully brings me my slippers every night.
• The girl sang the opera beautifully.
• I find that he draws terribly.
• The cow is enormously heavy.
• She always drives her car carefully.

You can also use two adverbs together to form an adverb phrase, here are some examples of this.

• I saw a dog walking very carefully along a beam.
• I find language learning incredibly easy.

The words many, much, very, and more can also be used as adverbs, in an example like one of the following;

• Many people will visit the park today.
• I find it very annoying.
• Much of the food was eaten.
• I like to have more time to sleep.

An adverb is used to intensify the meaning of a word, quite often an adjective, and to add more information about it.

Gerunds, Verbs, Nouns Used As Descriptive Words

Gerunds Used As Descriptive Words

Encase you’re unfamiliar with gerunds; a gerund is verb ending in -ing, which acts as a noun. Some examples of gerunds are: asking and running. If used correctly, these words can be used as adjectives by modifying adverbs.

Here are some examples of how to use gerunds as descriptive words:

– “Many countries still do not have access to running water”

– “I love Autumn because of all the falling leaves”

– “Do you have any interesting book suggestions”

– “My family is buying a swimming pool for the Summer”

– “The food at school is disgusting“

Verbs Used As Descriptive Words

Verbs are used to describe actions, states and occurrences. Commonly used verbs include: achieve, limit and receive. Verbs ending in -ed and -ing used to describe, can be disguised as adjectives. Another way would be to use a verb to modify a noun or a pronoun.

Here are some examples of how to use verbs as descriptive words:

– “Her story was extremely puzzling“

– “I am so satisfied with my work”

– “I’m just always bored for some reason”

– “Never go near a smiling crocodile”

– “My dad is going to repair our broken porch”

Nouns Used As Descriptive Words

A noun is a word which is used to identify specific things, this could be a place or an animal, even an object. To use a noun as a descriptive word, you will have to use it to modify another noun. This is called an adjectival noun or noun modifying.

Here are some examples of how to use nouns as descriptive words:

– “I love race cars”

– “I bought my son a bed in the shape of a sports car”

– “Good always wins and bad always loses”

– “The ugly is on its way”

– “The rich should help the poor“

Most Common Descriptive Words/Describing Words From A-Z

Descriptive Words that Start with A

• Abandoned
• Abnormal
• Abundant
• Abusive
• Academic
• Acceptable
• Accomplished
• Achy
• Active
• Adaptable
• Adorable
• Adventurous
• Affordable
• Alert
• Ambitious
• Amused
• Arrogant

Descriptive Words that Start with B

• Babyish
• Baffling
• Baggy
• Balanced
• Basic
• Beaming
• Beautified
• Beneficial
• Bewildered
• Blue-Eyed
• Blushing
• Boisterous
• Bookish
• Brainy
• Brash
• Brilliant
• Brittle

Descriptive Words that Start with C

• Calculating
• Calm
• Captivating
• Carefree
• Casual
• Cautious
• Cerulean
• Charismatic
• Charming
• Cheerful
• Clever
• Combative
• Comfortable
• Courageous
• Creative
• Crisp
• Cyan

Descriptive Words that Start with D

• Damaged
• Dangerous
• Dark
• Decent
• Deep
• Defeated
• Delicious
• Delighted
• Deluxe
• Depressed
• Determined
• Different
• Discreet
• Diverse
• Divine
• Dominant
• Dynamic

Descriptive Words that Start with E

• Eager
• Earthly
• Easy-Going
• Efficacious
• Effortless
• Elegant
• Emotional
• Empty
• Enchanting
• Enraged
• Enthusiastic
• Equable
• Evanescent
• Exciting
• Exemplary
• Exuberant
• Eye-catching

Descriptive Words that Start with F

• Fabulous
• Factual
• Faithful
• Fake
• Famous
• Fancy
• Fascinating
• Fashionable
• Fearless
• Feisty
• Fierce
• Fine
• Flawless
• Flustered
• Foreign
• Free
• Frightened

Descriptive Words that Start with G

• Gaping
• Generic
• Generous
• Gentle
• Giant
• Gifted
• Glamorous
• Gleaming
• Gloomy
• Glowing
• Glum
• Goal-oriented
• Good-looking
• Graceful
• Grieving
• Grumpy
• Guarded

Descriptive Words that Start with H

• Handed
• Handsome
• Harmful
• Harmonious
• Hasty
• Hated
• Hazel
• Headstrong
• Healthy
• Heavenly
• Helpful
• Heroic
• Hideous
• High-spirited
• Hilarious
• Homely
• Humongous

Descriptive Words that Start with I

• Iconic
• Icy
• Ideal
• Idealistic
• Idolised
• Illegal
• Immortal
• Immune
• Impervious
• Impossible
• Improper
• Inclined
• Inexpensive
• Inquisitive
• Intense
• Intriguing
• Introverted

Descriptive Words that Start with J

• Jaded
• Jagged
• Jam-packed
• Jangling
• Jarring
• Jaunty
• Jealous
• Jeering
• Jesting
• Jewelled
• Jittery
• Jolly
• Joyful
• Joyous
• Jubilant
• Jumpy
• Juvenile

Descriptive Words that Start with K

• Kaleidoscopic
• Kaput
• Keeled
• Keen
• Keyless
• Kind
• Kindhearted
• Kindly
• Kindred
• Kinetic
• Kingly
• Kissable
• Klutzy
• Knockout
• Knotted
• Knowledgeable
• Known

Descriptive Words that Start with L

• Ladylike
• Lame
• Lanky
• Lawful
• Lazy
• Legendary
• Lesser
• Liberated
• Licit
• Lively
• Livid
• Lonely
• Loud
• Lovable
• Lucky
• Luxurious
• Lyrical

Descriptive Words that Start with M

• Macabre
• Machiavellian
• Mad
• Magical
• Magnanimous
• Maladapted
• Malefic
• Malleable
• Marvellous
• Memorable
• Mindful
• Modern
• Motionless
• Motivated
• Motivational
• Musical
• Mysterious

Descriptive Words that Start with N

• Naive
• Narcissistic
• Narrow
• Nasty
• Native
• Natural
• Naughty
• Nauseated
• Nauseating
• Nauseous
• Neat
• Necessary
• Needed
• Needy
• Nervous
• New
• Nice

Descriptive Words that Start with O

• Obedient
• Obnoxious
• Obscure
• Observant
• Odd
• Odorous
• Official
• Old-fashioned
• Openhearted
• Open-minded
• Original
• Outgoing
• Out-of-this-world
• Outrageous
• Overjoyed
• Overprotective
• Overthinker

Descriptive Words that Start with P

• Panicky
• Participant
• Passionate
• Patient
• Peaceful
• Perceptive
• Perfect
• Persistent
• Personable
• Petty
• Placid
• Playful
• Powerful
• Precious
• Pretty
• Professional
• Proud

Descriptive Words that Start with Q

• Quaint
• Qualified
• Quality
• Quarrelsome
• Queasy
• Queer
• Quenched
• Querulous
• Questionable
• Questioning
• Quick
• Quiet
• Quirky
• Quiver
• Quixotic
• Quotable

Descriptive Words that Start with R

• Rabid
• Racy
• Radiant
• Radical
• Radioactive
• Rakish
• Rampant
• Rare
• Raspy
• Rational
• Reachable
• Real
• Relieved
• Repulsive
• Respectable
• Responsible
• Romantic

Descriptive Words that Start with S

• Sad
• Safe
• Salty
• Sanctimonious
• Sanguine
• Sarcastic
• Sassy
• Scented
• Scintillating
• Sedentary
• Self-assertive
• Selfless
• Sensitive
• Silky
• Sparkling
• Splendid
• Strange

Descriptive Words that Start with T

• Talented
• Talkative
• Tall
• Tantalising
• Tasteful
• Tasty
• Tempting
• Tenacious
• Tender
• Terrible
• Thankful
• Thoughtless
• Tinted
• Tolerant
• Tremendous
• Trustful
• Trustworthy

Descriptive Words that Start with U

• Uber
• Ugly
• Ulterior
• Ultimate
• Unaffected
• Unbelievable
• Unbroken
• Uninterested
• Universal
• Unlucky
• Unpleasant
• Unused
• Unusual
• Up-front
• Uptight
• Useful
• Utter

Descriptive Words that Start with V

• Vainglorious
• Valiant
• Valid
• Validatory
• Valorous
• Valuable
• Vast
• Vaulting
• Versatile
• Vibrant
• Victorious
• Vigilant
• Vigorous
• Vivacious
• Vivid
• Vociferous

Descriptive Words that Start with W

• Wacky
• Wanted
• Warm
• Warmhearted
• Wasteful
• Weak
• Wealthy
• Well-behaved
• Whole
• Wicked
• Wide-awake
• Wild
• Witty
• Wordy
• Worrisome
• Worshipful
• Wrong

Descriptive Words that Start with X

• Xanthospermous
• Xanthous
• Xebec
• Xeme
• Xenial
• Xenodochial
• Xenogeneic
• Xeric
• Xerothermic
• Xylographic
• Xystus

Descriptive Words that Start with Y

• Yappy
• Yawning
• Yearly
• Yeasty
• Yellow
• Yellowish
• Yern
• Yiddish
• Yodelling
• Young
• Young-at-heart
• Youthful
• Yummy

Descriptive Words that Start with Z

• Zaftig
• Zany
• Zazzy
• Zealand
• Zealful
• Zealous
• Zenithal
• Zestful
• Zesty
• Zigzag
• Zingy
• Zionist
• Zippy
• Zoological
• Zootrophic
• Zymotic

Here is a comprehensive list of descriptive adjectives.

• abandoned
• able
• academic
• active
• admirable
• adorable
• adventurous
• acclaimed
• accomplished
• acrobatic
• afraid
• aggresive
• agile
• alarmed
• ample
• amused
• ancient
• angelic
• angry
• babyish
• bad
• baggy
• beloved
• bewitched
• bitter
• blank
• bleak
• blind
• boring
• bouncy
• brave
• bright
• brilliant
• buoyant
• burly
• busy
• buttery
• buzzing
• calm
• carefree
• careful
• cautious
• cavernous
• chubby
• classic
• clean
• clear
• clever
• cloudy
• cluttered
• coarse
• clumsy
• cold
• colourful
• comfortable
• common
• composed
• concerned
• conventional
• crowded
• cuddly
• curly
• damaged
• dangerous
• dark
• dazzling
• dear
• decent
• deep
• defiant
• delicious
• delirious
• demanding
• dense
• devoted
• dim
• dirty
• disfigured
• early
• easy
• adible
• elastic
• elderly
• electric
• elementary
• embellished
• emotional
• empty
• enchanted
• energetic
• ethical
• euphoric
• everlasting
• evil
• exotic
• fashionable
• faithful
• famous
• fancy
• fatal
• fearful
• female
• filthy
• firm
• flat
• flawed
• flustered
• focused
• foolhardy
• gregarious
• grim
• handsome
• handy
• intelligent
• intrepid
• joyful
• jubilant
• keen
• kooky
• lanky
• lazy
• limp
• luxurious
• mediocre
• mellow
• miserable
• nocturnal
• naive
• nasty
• nautical
• neat
• needy
• negative
• nervous
• nice
• organic
• ornate
• ordinary
• powerless
• practical
• precious
• puzzled
• questionable
• quirky
• ragged
• rapid
• ready
• recent
• red
• regal
• reliable
• sad
• sandy
• sane
• scarce
• scented
• scornful
• secret
• selfish

Now we have a list of adverbs.

• accidentally
• awkwardly
• always
• anxiously
• angrily
• apathetically
• amusingly
• assertively
• badly
• blindly
• boastfully
• boldly
• bravely
• brightly
• begrudgingly
• blissfully
• cheerfully
• coyly
• cooly
• crazily
• defiantly
• deftly
• deliberately
• devotedly
• doubtfully
• dramatically
• dutifully
• eagerly
• elegantly
• enormously
• evenly
• eventually
• exactly
• faithfully
• finally
• foolishly
• faintly
• frequently
• frivolously
• gleefully
• gracefully
• greedily
• happily
• hastily
• honestly
• hopelessly
• hourly
• hungrily
• innocently
• inquisitively
• irritably
• intelligently
• jealously
• justly
• kindly
• lazily
• loosely
• madly
• merrily
• mortally
• mysteriously
• meagerly
• methodically
• neglectfully
• nervously
• never
• normally
• obediently
• obnoxiously
• occasionally
• often
• only
• perfectly
• politely
• poorly
• powerfully
• promptly
• pointlessly
• quickly
• rapidly
• rarely
• regularly
• rashly
• rudely
• safely
• seldom
• selfishly
• seriously
• shakily
• sharply
• silently
• slowly
• solemnly
• sometimes
• speedily
• sternly
• tactfully
• tragically
• technically
• tediously
• unexpectedly
• usually
• vacantly
• victoriously
• vivaciously
• vividly
• warmly
• wearily
• weekly
• wildly
• weirdly
• yearly
• youthfully
• zealously

Synonyms for Common Descriptive Words

INTERESTING

• Absorbing
• Amusing
• Captivating
• Compelling
• Diverting
• Engaging
• Engrossing
• Entertaining
• Enthralling
• Fascinating
• Gripping
• Intriguing
• Riveting
• Striking

AMAZING

• Astonishing
• Awesome
• Breathtaking
• Brilliant
• Extraordinary
• Fabulous
• Fantastic
• Incredible
• Marvelous
• Overwhelming
• Phenomenal
• Prodigious
• Remarkable
• Significant
• Spectacular
• Staggering
• Stunning
• Stupendous
• Tremendous
• Unbelievable
• Unexpected
• Unimaginable
• Wonderful

NICE

• Admirable
• Amiable
• Charming
• Congenial
• Considerate
• Courteous
• Delightful
• Enjoyable
• Gracious
• Kind
• Lovely
• Pleasant
• Pleasing
• Pleasurable

GREAT

• Awesome
• Excellent
• Exceptional
• Extraordinary
• Incredible
• Magnificent
• Marvelous
• Outstanding
• Phenomenal
• Spectacular
• Superb
• Superior
• Terrific
• Wonderful

HAPPY

• Amused
• Blissful
• Bright
• Charmed
• Cheerful
• Contented
• Delighted
• Eager
• Ecstatic
• Elated
• Enthusiastic
• Excited
• Exultant
• Glad
• Gleeful
• Hopeful
• Joyful
• Loving
• Marvelous
• Merry
• Optimistic
• Overjoyed
• Pleased
• Positive
• Satisfied
• Thrilled

GOOD

• Amazing
• Excellent
• Exceptional
• Fantastic
• Marvelous
• Outstanding
• Pleasant
• Splendid
• Stupendous
• Super
• Terrific
• Wonderful

FUNNY

• Amusing
• Comical
• Droll
• Entertaining
• Farcical
• Gleeful
• Goofy
• Hilarious
• Humorous
• Hysterical
• Jocular
• Laughable
• Ludicrous
• Nonsensical
• Sidesplitting
• Whimsical

BAD

• Awful
• Crummy
• Despicable
• Disagreeable
• Disgraceful
• Dreadful
• Horrible
• Lousy
• Nasty
• Naughty
• Outrageous
• Rotten
• Terrible
• Unpleasant
• Wicked
• Wretched

SMALL

• Diminutive
• Little
• Mini
• Miniature
• Minute
• Petite
• Skimpy
• Slight
• Teeny-weeny
• Tiny
• Wee

IMPORTANT

• Consequential
• Critical
• Crucial
• Decisive
• Essential
• Eventful
• Extensive
• Far-reaching
• Fundamental
• Great
• Imperative
• Key
• Major
• Paramount
• Serious
• Significant
• Substantial
• Urgent
• Vital

RICH

• Affluent
• Deep-pocketed
• Fat cat
• Flush
• In the money
• Loaded (Slang)
• Moneyed
• Opulent
• Prosperous
• Wealthy
• Well-fixed
• Well-heeled
• Well-off/better off (informal)
• Well-to-do

SAD

• Blue
• Cheerless
• Dejected
• Depressed
• Desperate
• Discouraged
• Disgusted
• Downcast
• Forlorn
• Frustrated
• Gloomy
• Hateful
• Heartbroken
• Heavy
• Melancholy
• Miserable
• Mournful
• Somber
• Sorrowful
• Tearful
• Unhappy
• Upset
• Weepy
• Woeful
• Wretched

KIND

• Amiable
• Attentive
• Avuncular
• Benevolent
• Benign (formal)
• Caring
• Compassionate
• Congenial
• Considerate
• Friendly
• Generous
• Gentle
• Gracious
• Kindhearted
• Nice
• Sympathetic
• Thoughtful

ATTRACTIVE

• Alluring
• Beautiful
• Cute
• Glamorous
• Good-looking
• Gorgeous
• Handsome
• Lovely
• Pretty
• Stunning

REALLY

• Certainly
• Easily
• Genuinely
• Honestly
• Positively
• Precisely
• Truly
• Undoubtedly
• Unmistakably
• Unquestionably
• Verily

VERY

• Absolutely
• Acutely
• Awfully (informal)
• Decidedly
• Deeply
• Eminently
• Exceedingly
• Excessively
• Greatly
• Highly
• Jolly (Br. E)
• Noticeably
• Particularly
• Profoundly

EXTREMELY

• Really
• Remarkably
• Seriously
• Significantly
• Singularly
• Supremely
• Terribly
• Terrifically
• Thoroughly
• Tremendously
• Truly
• Uncommonly
• Unusually

NORMALLY

• Almost always
• As a general rule
• As a rule
• By and large
• Commonly
• For the most part
• Generally
• In general
• In the general run of things
• Mainly
• Most of the time
• Mostly
• Ordinarily
• Usually

QUICKLY

• Swiftly
• Rapidly
• Hurriedly
• Speedily
• Fast
• Quick
• Hastily
• Briskly
• At high speed
• Apace (literary)
• At full speed

SERIOUSLY

• All joking aside
• Honestly
• In earnest
• No joking (informal)
• Sincerely
• To be serious
• Truly
• Truthfully

KINDLY

• Affectionately
• Agreeably
• Cordially
• Generously
• Graciously
• Helpfully
• Lovingly
• Obligingly
• Politely
• Tenderly
• Thoughtfully

FINALLY

• At last
• At length
• At long last
• At the end of the day
• At the last
• At the last moment
• Eventually
• In the end
• In the long run
• Ultimately
• In conclusion

ONLY

• At a push
• At most
• But
• Just
• Merely
• No more than
• Nothing but
• Purely
• Simply

Descriptive Words Infographic 1

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Descriptive Words Infographic 2

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150 basic English adjectives

After listing popular English verbs and nouns, we're moving on to commonly used adjectives! Now you have a whole set to build simple English sentences on your own.

The new list consists of 150 adjectives that I propose to master first. I remind you that I choose words using official sources, for example: Oxford Dictionaries, Macmillan Dictionary.

Remember that there is no grammatical gender in English, so the same adjective is suitable for any person, animal, or object.

Listen to the sound of each word and repeat it aloud. If you don’t remember the adjective well or the word is completely new to you, write it down in a notebook and make up your own phrases.

		word	translation0004 Like this article? Support our project and share with your friends! English adjectives An adjective in English is called 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 By their meaning adjectives are divided into relative and qualitative. 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 into 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 consisting 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 as a cook. 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, the degrees of comparison of which 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 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). The place of adjectives in the sentence The adjective as a definition is placed before the 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. If the adjective refers to a component of the predicate, then it is placed after the auxiliary verb to be. Our grandparents are wise. Learn more Follow directions quickly Reading and spelling games Free printable list of adjectives Jack from the beanstalk Three bears and goldilocks song Things start letter t Crafts for 3 year olds boys Teach first graders 1St grade literacy activities Spelling games for adults Learn phonics for toddlers