What is a adjectives words

What Is an Adjective? | Definition, Types & Examples

Published on August 21, 2022 by Eoghan Ryan. Revised on November 28, 2022.

An adjective is a word that modifies or describes a noun or pronoun. Adjectives can be used to describe the qualities of someone or something independently or in comparison to something else.

The boy is tall and skinny.

Jane is smarter than her brother.

Table of contents

1. How are adjectives used in sentences?
2. Comparative and superlative adjectives
3. Coordinate adjectives
4. Adjectives vs. adverbs
5. How to order adjectives
6. Other types of adjectives
7. Other interesting language articles
8. Frequently asked questions about adjectives

How are adjectives used in sentences?

Adjectives modify or describe nouns and pronouns. They can be attributive (occurring before the noun) or predicative (occurring after the noun). Predicative adjectives typically follow a linking verb (such as forms of the verb “to be”) that connects the subject of the sentence to the adjective.

The soldier is proud.

The dedicated employee starts early.

The employee is dedicated.

• The main reason is that …
• The reason is main.

• The man is asleep.
• The asleep man is …

Comparative and superlative adjectives

Comparative adjectives are used to compare two things. They’re usually formed by adding the suffix “-er” (or “-r” if the word ends in the letter “e”). For two-syllable words that end in “y,” the “y” is replaced with “-ier.”

Comparative adjectives can also be formed by adding “more” or “less” before an adjective that has not been modified. The “more” form is typically used for words with two or more syllables, while the “less” form is used for all adjectives.

The room is cozier with the fire lit and less cozy without it.

I have never met a more honorable person.

Superlative adjectives are used to indicate that something has the most or least of a specific quality. They’re typically preceded by the definite article “the” and usually formed by adding the suffix “-est” (or “-st” if the word ends in the letter “e”). For two-syllable words that end in “y,” the “y” is replaced with “-iest.”

Superlative adjectives can also be formed by adding “most” or “least” before an adjective that has not been modified. The “most” form is typically used for words with two or more syllables, while the “least” form is used for all adjectives.

All the courses were delicious, but the dessert was the tastiest.

Alicia is the most charming person at the party, but her partner is the least charming.

Absolute adjectives

An absolute adjective is an adjective describing an absolute state that cannot be compared. For example, the word “dead” is often considered to be an absolute adjective because it’s not possible to be “deader” than someone else.

However, actual usage varies, and absolute adjectives are often modified by words such as “almost.”

Coordinate adjectives

Coordinate adjectives are two or more adjectives that modify the same noun in a sentence. Coordinate adjectives can be separated by commas or by the conjunction “and. ”

Aaron wrote a heartbreaking, inspiring novel.

Adjectives vs. adverbs

Adverbs can be used to modify verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs, whereas adjectives only modify nouns and pronouns. When used to modify a verb, an adverb describes how an action is being performed (e.g., Brandon runs slowly).

Adverbs are often formed from adjectives by adding the suffix “-ly.” However, not all words ending in “-ly” are adverbs (e.g., “ugly” is an adjective).

Adverbs can be formed from adjectives in numerous other ways, depending on the ending.

Some words can be used as either an adjective or adverb without being changed (e. g., “fast,” “late,” “early”).

For example, in the sentence “the man left early,” the word “early” is an adverb because it’s modifying the verb “left.”

In the clause “an early dinner,” the word “early” is an adjective because it’s describing the noun “dinner.”

Adjectives with linking verbs

Adjectives are often confused with adverbs when they are used as complements for linking verbs (e.g., “the wife is devoted”). In these instances, a common mistake is to use an adverb in place of an adjective.

While adverbs describe how an action is performed, linking verbs (e.g., “be,” “seem,” “become,” “feel”) often refer to a state rather than an act and therefore take an adjective. In the example below, an adjective is needed because “feel” is a linking verb.

• Jesse feels badly when he doesn’t finish his homework.
• Jesse feels bad when he doesn’t finish his homework.

How to order adjectives

Attributive adjectives and determiners are typically given in a specific order according to their function. This isn’t an order that English speakers learn as a set of rules, but rather one that people pick up intuitively and usually follow without thinking about it:

• Determiner (e.g., a, the, one)
• Opinion (e.g., beautiful, valuable, indecent)
• Size (e.g., big, small, tiny)
• Shape or age (e.g., round, square, hundred-year-old)
• Color (e.g., white, brown, red)
• Origin (e.g., Dutch, aquatic, lunar)
• Material (e. g., wooden, metal, glass)

A beautiful, small, Dutch windmill.

Other types of adjectives

There are many types of adjectives in English. Some other important types of adjectives are:

• Appositive adjectives
• Compound adjectives
• Participial adjectives
• Proper adjectives
• Denominal adjectives
• Nominal adjectives

Appositive adjectives

An appositive adjective is an adjective (or series of adjectives) that occurs after the noun it modifies. It is typically set off by commas or dashes. It works similarly to an appositive noun.

Compound adjectives

A compound adjective is an adjective that is formed using two or more words that express a single idea (e. g., in-depth). When a compound adjective occurs before the noun it modifies (attributive), the individual words are typically connected by a hyphen. Frequently, no hyphen is needed when the compound adjective is placed after the noun (predicative).

Mark is well known.

• A highly-respected public official.
• A highly respected public official.

Participial adjectives

A participial adjective is an adjective that is identical to the participle form of a verb (typically ending in “-ing,” “-ed,” or “-en”).

Examples: Participial adjectives in a sentenceIt is a very annoying song.

Eva was pretty confused.

NoteA noun formed from a present participle is called a gerund.

Proper adjectives

A proper adjective is an adjective formed from a proper noun and used to indicate origin. Like proper nouns, proper adjectives are always capitalized.

Examples: Proper adjectives in a sentenceThere is a popular Indian restaurant nearby.

Liza is not a fan of Shakespearean drama.

Denominal adjectives

A denominal adjective is an adjective formed from a noun, often with the addition of a suffix (e.g., “-ish,” “-ly,” “-esque”).

Example: Denominal adjective in a sentenceAmira thinks Han is childish, but at least he’s friendly.

Nominal adjectives

A nominal adjective (also called a substantive adjective) is an adjective that functions as a noun. Nominal adjectives are typically preceded by the definite article “the.”

Nominal adjectives in a sentenceThe candidate appealed to both the rich and the poor.

It’s important to take care of the elderly.

Other interesting language articles

If you want to know more about nouns, pronouns, verbs, and other parts of speech, make sure to check out some of our other language articles with explanations and examples.

Frequently asked questions about adjectives

Are numbers adjectives?

Cardinal numbers (e.g., one, two, three) can be placed before a noun to indicate quantity (e.g., one apple). While these are sometimes referred to as “numeral adjectives,” they are more accurately categorized as determiners or quantifiers.

What is a proper adjective?

A proper adjective is an adjective that was derived from a proper noun and is therefore capitalized.

Proper adjectives include words for nationalities, languages, and ethnicities (e.g., “Japanese,” “Inuit,” “French”) and words derived from people’s names (e.g., “Bayesian,” “Orwellian”).

Sources in this article

We strongly encourage students to use sources in their work. You can cite our article (APA Style) or take a deep dive into the articles below.

This Scribbr article

Ryan, E. (2022, November 28). What Is an Adjective? | Definition, Types & Examples. Scribbr. Retrieved January 23, 2023, from https://www.scribbr.com/parts-of-speech/adjectives/

Cite this article

Sources

Aarts, B. (2011). Oxford modern English grammar. Oxford University Press.

Butterfield, J. (Ed.). (2015). Fowler’s dictionary of modern English usage (4th ed.). Oxford University Press.

Show all sources (3)

Garner, B. A. (2016). Garner’s modern English usage (4th ed.). Oxford University Press.

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Eoghan has a lot of experience with theses and dissertations at bachelor's, MA, and PhD level. He has taught university English courses, helping students to improve their research and writing.

Adjective Definition & Meaning - Merriam-Webster

Adjectives describe or modify—that is, they limit or restrict the meaning of—nouns and pronouns. They may name qualities of all kinds: huge, red, angry, tremendous, unique, rare, etc.

An adjective usually comes right before a noun: "a red dress," "fifteen people." When an adjective follows a linking verb such as be or seem, it is called a predicate adjective: "That building is huge," "The workers seem happy." Most adjectives can be used as predicate adjectives, although some are always used before a noun. Similarly, a few adjectives can only be used as predicate adjectives and are never used before a noun.

Some adjectives describe qualities that can exist in different amounts or degrees. To do this, the adjective will either change in form (usually by adding -er or -est) or will be used with words like more, most, very, slightly, etc.: "the older girls," "the longest day of the year," "a very strong feeling," "more expensive than that one." Other adjectives describe qualities that do not vary—"nuclear energy," "a medical doctor"—and do not change form.

The four demonstrative adjectives—this, that, these, and those—are identical to the demonstrative pronouns. They are used to distinguish the person or thing being described from others of the same category or class. This and these describe people or things that are nearby, or in the present. That and those are used to describe people or things that are not here, not nearby, or in the past or future. These adjectives, like the definite and indefinite articles (a, an, and the), always come before any other adjectives that modify a noun.

An indefinite adjective describes a whole group or class of people or things, or a person or thing that is not identified or familiar. The most common indefinite adjectives are: all, another, any, both, each, either, enough, every, few, half, least, less, little, many, more, most, much, neither, one (and two, three, etc.), other, several, some, such, whole.

The interrogative adjectives—primarily which, what, and whose—are used to begin questions. They can also be used as interrogative pronouns.

Which horse did you bet on? = Which did you bet on?

What songs did they sing? = What did they sing?

Whose coat is this? = Whose is this?

The possessive adjectives—my, your, his, her, its, our, their—tell you who has, owns, or has experienced something, as in "I admired her candor, "Our cat is 14 years old," and "They said their trip was wonderful. "

Nouns often function like adjectives. When they do, they are called attributive nouns.

When two or more adjectives are used before a noun, they should be put in proper order. Any article (a, an, the), demonstrative adjective (that, these, etc.), indefinite adjective (another, both, etc.), or possessive adjective (her, our, etc.) always comes first. If there is a number, it comes first or second. True adjectives always come before attributive nouns. The ordering of true adjectives will vary, but the following order is the most common:

opinion word→ size→ age→ shape→ color→ nationality→ material.

Participles are often used like ordinary adjectives. They may come before a noun or after a linking verb. A present participle (an -ing word) describes the person or thing that causes something; for example, a boring conversation is one that bores you. A past participle (usually an -ed word) describes the person or thing who has been affected by something; for example, a bored person is one who has been affected by boredom.

They had just watched an exciting soccer game.

The instructions were confusing.

She's excited about the trip to North Africa.

Several confused students were asking questions about the test.

The lake was frozen.

Morphology of the Russian language 1: nouns, adjectives, pronouns

The adjective is an inflected part of speech that usually denotes a sign (of an object, person, thing), and is also semantically and grammatically related to a noun or pronoun, the meaning or characteristics of which it clarifies:

• HouseØ – new , large , wooden , spacious , beautiful , cozy , blue . ..
• Room – light , large , spacious , children , small , blue ...
• Sea – warm , salty , huge , deep , Black , beautiful , blue

Because the word house is masculine, adjectives get the endings -y/-y/-oy , since the word room is feminine, adjectives get the endings -y/-yy , i.e. to. word sea neuter, adjectives get endings -oe/-ee .

Usually, adjectives form phrases like with nouns or pronouns, agreement , i.e. one word in such a phrase is the main one and determines the grammatical categories of the second word, therefore all grammatical categories of adjectives depend on the grammatical categories of nouns or pronouns. Adjectives can be defined grammatical gender (masculine, feminine, neuter), number (singular, plural) , case , as well as degree of comparison - a category that is typical for adjectives and adverbs (for more see 8 Degrees of comparison of adjectives) Degrees of comparison can only have adjectives that denote a non-permanent, changing feature, as well as a feature that can be measured, for example. large , thick , tall , dark , long ..

The grammatical dependence of adjectives on nouns is complete (see examples above), which means that adjectives agree with nouns in gender, number and case, but in the plural gender differences are erased and only two endings are possible for all adjectives : new houses / rooms / sea , large houses / rooms / sea , blue houses / rooms / sea .

In modern Russian, in addition to inflected adjectives, there are also non-inflected adjectives (or in other words, adjectives without a morphological characteristic), which include words like burgundy , khaki , beige , flash (we are talking about, in mostly about borrowed words).

Examples from the Russian National Corpus:

• In England's war with them, uniform khaki was first used. [Intellectual games "Z-S" // "Knowledge is power", 2003]
• Sewn with a trapezoid, to the floor, with large sleeves raglan , he greatly enlarged the stage silhouette. [Sati Spivakova. Not everything (2002)]
• But now he has an exceptional apartment, simply a general's, suite . [Yuri Trifonov. Exchange (1969)]

Adjectives are most often formed using the suffix method ( Glass Yann th , Trees Yann th , Rain Liv th , Children for Polar , Pre Red ) or suffix-preservation ( Slarly , Under Mor SK , on 9000 N Ny

009 ). New adjectives are also formed by adding (

railway , Russian-Czech , light brown ), a non-morphological compound of two words: undersigned persons = undersigned , above address = or so-called. adjectivation (transition of participles into adjectives), for example. outstanding successes , laughing eyes .

From a syntactical point of view, adjectives usually perform the function of defining or the nominal part of the predicate. nine0005

6.1 Lexico-grammatical groups (categories) of adjectives

According to their meaning, adjectives in Russian are divided into three lexical and grammatical categories:

• quality adjectives ( cheerful , smart , big , small ),
• relative adjectives ( iron , stone , rustic ),
• possessive adjectives

High -quality adjectives indicate

008 Narrow

- wide ), characteristics ( strong - Weak , Cold - hot , Sweet - Gorky ), character traits ( Evil - Good Trouble -free – suspicious ), physiological and intellectual characteristics ( sick – healthy , young – old , smart – stupid ).

Due to the fact that qualitative adjectives denote a changing, non-permanent feature, these adjectives have degrees of comparison , for example. high - above ( over / less high ) - highest ( highest / above all , above all ). Other for degrees of comparison, see 8.

Qualitative adjectives can have short and long form , ex. sick - sick , young - young , smart - smart , other. for short and long forms, see 7.

High -quality adjectives can form phrases with words Very , Very , much , Preightly , not at all , by no means , etc.: very large , very smart , is much stronger nine0009 , extremely interesting , is by no means stupid .

Relative adjectives , in contrast to qualitative ones, designate a constant, unchanging attribute , therefore these adjectives do not have degrees of comparison. Relative adjectives designate a sign through the relation of a given object (person) to other objects, signs, states, for example. student residence (= "dormitory for students"), reading room (= "reading room / where one can read"), morning newspaper (= "newspaper that came out / comes out in the morning").

Most relative adjectives are formed from nouns, hence the meaning of relative adjectives - "the designation of a feature through the relationship of a given object (person) to other objects, features, states": -sk-), eye doctor , wooden table , silverware , plastic window .

Relative adjectives can only have a full form, i.e. marine , eye , wooden etc.

Relative adjectives include adjectives denoting materials, colors, etc.: glass , leather , blue , lilac , black , green .

Possessive adjectives designate an individual or generic affiliation, an individual or generic attribute, for example. Petin suit , fox hole , mother's bag . Usually these adjectives answer the question whose ? (cf .: qualitative and relative adjectives answer the question which one?) and have their own special indicators:

• special suffixes -ov- , -in- , -ij- (-j-) : fathers , sisters , foxes ,
• In the nominative case of the only and multiple number of possessive adjectives, the end of short forms appears: Fathers , Sisters , Foxes - Father , Sister , Fox , Ottsovo , Sister -9000, lice nine0009 - fathers , sisters , foxes .

Russian surnames with Formant -, -/ - In their origin are the attractive adjectives ( Petrov , Kozlov , Vdovin , Kuritsyn ).

Forms ending in -ov- , -in- in Russian compete with genitive forms : father's shoes - father's shoes , mother's bag - mother's bag , Natasha's coat - Natasha's coat . In modern Russian, possessive constructions with the genitive case are used much more often than forms of possessive adjectives, i.e. father's shoes , mother's bag , Natasha's coat .

Czech type combinations Gorkého ulice , Puškinův institut ruského jazyka , Masarykova univerzita are translated into Russian either using the possessive construction with the genitive case , or using a special construction with the word named after : Gorkogo street , Pushkin Russian Language Institute , Masaryk University Avšak Karlova univerzita = Charles University . . Constructions with the word named after are often written in abbreviated form: Pushkin , University. Masaryk .

Examples from the Russian National Corpus:

• But such glare all around, so non-fussy unrestored, homely, district Gogol street , so good that you can do it without coffee. [Tatyana Solomatina. My Odessa language (2011)]
• After reconstruction, the library named after May 1 was opened on Gagarin Square in Moscow. [Vyacheslav Surikov. Culture // Expert, 2015]

The boundaries between the lexico-grammatical categories of adjectives are mobile , which means that as a result of semantic development or polysemy, adjectives can move from one lexical-grammatical category to another. Most often, relative adjectives go into the category of qualitative ones, for example. golden ring (= gold ring, relative adjective), golden hands (= skilled hands, figurative, qualitative adjective), heart of gold (= kind, quality adjective), golden words (= clever words, quality adjective).

Next, we give an example from the textbook of the modern Russian language (Modern Russian language 2016, 60):

attraction adj.	Rel. adj.	Quality adj.
bear paw ( lair )	bear coat ( cap )	bear walk , bear service , fox character , fish blood , hare courage etc.
(= “Belongs to the Bear” )	(= “Not belongs to the bear, A made from the bear ”)
9000 ( fox collar )

Tasks

1

Form possessive adjectives from the following phrases.

2

Divide the following adjectives into qualitative and relative, justify your answer.

3

Complete the adjective endings.

4*

Write down a fragment from a text of any genre (volume - at least 150 words), find all adjectives in this text. Write down the found adjectives and determine their lexical and grammatical categories. Determine the initial form of all found adjectives (nominative case, singular). nine0005

5*

Work with the National Corpus of the Russian Language. Find 10-15 indeclinable adjectives in the corpus. Find their equivalents in your native language.

6*

Work with the "Grammar Dictionary of New Russian Words". Find indeclinable adjectives there (grammatical mark 0 p ). Find examples of these adjectives in the Russian National Corpus and translate these adjectives into your native language. nine0005

Adjective

The meaning and grammatical features of the adjective.

Adjective is a part of speech that denotes a sign of an object and answers the questions what? which? which? whose?

Note. Under the attribute in grammar, it is customary to understand the properties, belonging, quantities, etc., characterizing objects.

According to the meaning and form, the categories of adjectives are distinguished: qualitative, relative and possessive. nine0670 Adjectives, depending on nouns, agree with them, i.e. are put in the same case, number, gender as the nouns to which they refer. The initial form of adjectives is the nominative case in the singular masculine. Adjectives come in full and short (only qualitative ones). In a sentence, adjectives in full form, as a rule, are agreed definitions, sometimes they are the nominal part of the compound predicate. Short form adjectives are used only as predicates. Qualitative adjectives have a comparative and a superlative degree. nine0005

Qualitative adjectives.

Qualitative adjectives denote such a sign (quality) of an object that can be in this object to a greater or lesser extent.

Qualitative adjectives designate an attribute of an object according to:

• shape (straight, angled)
• size (narrow, low)
• color (red, lemon)
• property (tough, tough)
• to taste (bitter, salty)
• weight (heavy, weightless)
• smell (odorous, fragrant)
• temperature (warm, cool)
• sound (loud, quiet)
• general assessment (important, harmful)
• etc.

Most quality adjectives have full and short forms. Full form changes by cases, numbers and gender. Adjectives in short form change by number and gender. Short adjectives are not declined; in a sentence are used as predicates. Some adjectives are used only in short form: much, glad, must, need . Some qualitative adjectives do not have a corresponding short form: adjectives with suffixes denoting a high degree of attribute, and an adjective that is part of terminological names (fast train, deep rear).

Qualitative adjectives can be combined with an adverb is very , have antonyms. Qualitative adjectives have comparative and superlative degrees of comparison . In form, each degree can be simple (consists of one word) and compound (consists of two words): harder, quietest.

Comparative degree. Comparative degree shows that in one or another object a feature appears to a greater or lesser extent than in another.

nine0669 Superlatives. Superlative degree shows that one or another object is superior to other objects in some way.

Relative adjectives.

Relative adjectives denote such a feature of an object that cannot be in the object to a greater or lesser extent. Relative adjectives do not have a short form, degrees of comparison, do not combine with the adverb very , do not have antonyms. Relative adjectives change by case, number and gender (singular). nine0005

Relative adjectives indicate :

• material (wooden spoon, clay pot)
• number (five-year-old daughter, two-story house)
• location (river port, steppe wind)
• time (last year's plan, January frosts)
• appointment (washing machine, passenger train)
• weight, length, measure (meter stick, quarter plan)
• etc.

Possessive adjectives.



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