Types of Adjectives

Beautiful, pretty, bold, fierce, majestic, many, few, small, blue, much, green, tall, cute, red, smart, two, any-and the list just
goes on. These words might look random but they are all describing words, aka adjectives. Adjectives cannot stand on their
own as they are supposed to describe nouns or pronoun and modify them. Adjectives are used to bring color to your sentence
by making the noun look something special and the sentence sound more complete. The many types of adjectives make it
even more convenient to know where which type of adjective is to be used. The types of adjectives available for use are
governed by a number of rules. And it is these rules that need to be understood in order to be able to use these parts of speech
to your advantage. For better understanding, know and learn all the kinds of adjectives and the ways in which each type can
be used to describe words and/or phrases.

Kinds of Adjectives

 Descriptive Adjectives or adjective of quality

 Adjective of quantity
 Predicative Adjectives
 Personal Titles
 Possessive Adjectives
 Demonstrative Adjectives
 Indefinite Adjectives
 Interrogative adjectives
 Comparative Adjectives
 Superlative Adjectives

Descriptive Adjectives Or Adjective Of Quality

Descriptive adjectives are those adjectives which describe nouns or the noun phrases. For example: 'A beautiful day'. In this
case, 'beautiful' is the adjective which qualifies or describes the noun 'day'. Descriptive adjectives have several forms as
discussed below.

 Colors as adjectives: Black, Blue, White, Green, etc.

 Touch as adjective: Slippery, Sticky, etc.
 Feelings as adjectives: Happy, Sad, Angry, etc.
 Sizes as adjectives: Big, Small, Thin, Thick, etc.
 Origin as adjectives: European, Latin, Greek, etc.
 Shapes as adjectives: Triangular, Rectangular, Square, Circular, etc.
 Qualities as adjectives: Good, Bad, Average, etc.
 Time as adjective: Yearly, Monthly, etc.
 Age as adjectives: Young, Ancient, Old, etc.
 Material as adjectives: Wood, Cotton, Gold, etc.
 Opinions as adjectives: Pretty, hot, expensive, etc.

Adjective Of Quantity Or Numeric Adjective

Adjective of quantity talks about the quantity of the noun being talked about and provides answer to the question of 'how
much'. It shows the quantity or the numbers present in the sentence. For example: 'there were three boys playing in the
ground'. Here the word 'three' signifies the quantity or the number of boys playing. Other examples are:

 He has little intelligence.

 Sunday is the first day of the week.

Predicative Adjectives

Predicative adjectives are those which follow a linking verb and not placed before a noun. Predicative adjective does not act
as a part of the noun it modifies but serves as a complement of a linking verb which connects it to the noun of the sentence.
Take for instance 'The bag is heavy'. Here the predicative adjective 'heavy' is associated with the verb 'is' and links to the
noun 'bag'. Other examples are:

 The weather will be cool and dry.

 That child is young.
Personal Titles

Personal titles are adjectives where the titles such as, Mr., Master, Miss, Mrs., Uncle, Auntie, Lord, Dr, Prof. and so on, are
used as adjectives to describe the position of the noun. These titles could be placed in the front or even at the end. For
example:

 The day after tomorrow, you can visit Auntie Pauline and Uncle John.
 The classes on Monday will be presented by Dr. Mary and Prof. Kate.

Possessive Adjectives

Possessive adjective is used where the sentence shows possession or belongingness. They are similar to possessive pronouns
and, in this case, are used as adjectives which modify a noun or a noun phrase. Here words such as, our, my, your, his, her,
it's and their/s, are used. For example:

 Have you seen their house?

 This is his room.

Demonstrative Adjectives

Demonstrative adjectives are used when there is a need to point specific things. The adjectives function as a way to
demonstrate something and are similar to demonstrative pronouns. Here words such as this, that, these, those and what are
used. Take, for instance, the sentence: 'If I hear that sound again, I will call the Police'. Here 'that' refers to a specific sound.
Other examples are as follows:

 Whose is this bag?

 These mangoes are sour.

Indefinite Adjectives

Indefinite adjectives are used when the sentence has nothing to point out or specify. These adjectives are formed from
indefinite pronouns and do not indicate anything in particular. It uses words such as, any, many, few and several, etc. Here is
an example explained in detail: 'The chief has heard many people make the same promise'. The word 'Many' is an indefinite
adjective which does not specify the quantity of people and modifies the noun 'people' without pointing out exactly who all
have made the said same promise. Other examples:

 Many children like dinosaurs.

 Is there any water in the bottle?

Interrogative Adjectives

An Interrogative adjective modifies a noun or a noun phrase and is similar to the interrogative pronoun. It does not stand on
its own and includes words such as, which, what, who, whose, whom, where and so on. For example: 'What dress are you
wearing?' Here, 'what' modifies the noun 'dress' and is the object of the compound verb 'are wearing'. Other examples:

 Which leaves turn color first?

 Whose son is he?

Comparative Adjectives

Comparative adjectives are those which imply increase or decrease of the quality or quantity of the nouns. It is used to
compare two things in a clause. Adjectives are generally made comparative by adding 'er' to the original work like nicer,
taller, smarter, etc; there are some exceptions also. Other examples are:

 The detective is younger than the thief

 Science is more important than math in these days.
 This school is better than the last one I attended.

Superlative Adjectives

Superlative adjectives express the greatest increase or decrease of the quality; it conveys the supreme value of the noun in
question. For instance, 'He is the richest man in this town'. Here, the word 'richest' is the superlative adjective which shows a
comparison individually.

 Mary is the tallest of all the students.

 I am in the smallest class in the school.
 This is the most interesting subject for me.
What is an Adjective and its Functions?

An adjective is a part of speech which describes, identifies, or quantifies a noun or a pronoun. So basically, the main function
of an adjective is to modify a noun or a pronoun so that it will become more specific and interesting. Instead of just one
word, a group of words with a subject and a verb, can also function as an adjective. When this happens, the group of words is
called an adjective clause.

For example:

 My brother, who is much older than I am, is an astronaut.

In the example above, the underlined clause modifies the noun ”brother.” But what if the group of words doesn’t have a
subject and a verb? What do you think the resulting group of words will be called?

If you think it’s called an adjective phrase, you are right. As you might recall, phrases and clauses are both groups of words
and the main difference is that clauses have subjects and verbs, while phrases don’t.

For example: She is prettier than you.

What are the Different Kinds of Adjectives?

Adjective

Now that you already know the answer to the question, “What is an adjective?” you should know that not all adjectives are
the same. They modify nouns and pronouns differently, and just like the other parts of speech, there are different kinds of
adjectives. These are:

1. Descriptive Adjectives

Among the different kinds of adjectives, descriptive adjectives are probably the most common ones. They simply say
something about the quality or the kind of the noun or pronoun they’re referring to.

Examples:

 Erika is witty.
 She is tired.
 Adrian’s reflexes are amazing.

2. Adjectives of Number or Adjectives of Quantity

As the name suggests, this kind of adjective answers the question, “How many?” or “How much?”

Examples:

 Twenty-one students failed the exam.

 The plants need more water.

3. Demonstrative Adjectives

Demonstrative adjectives point out pronouns and nouns, and always come before the words they are referring to.

Examples:

 I used to buy this kind of shirts.

 When the old man tripped over that wire, he dropped a whole bag of groceries.

4. Possessive Adjectives

Obviously, this kind of adjectives shows ownership or possession. Aside from that, possessive adjectives always come before
the noun.

Examples:

 I can’t answer my seatwork because I don’t have a calculator.

 Trisha sold his dog.
5. Interrogative Adjectives

Interrogative adjectives ask questions and are always followed by a noun.

Examples:

 What movie are you watching?

 Which plants should be placed over here?

What are the Degrees of Adjectives?

There are only three degrees or levels of adjectives (also known as degrees of comparison) namely, positive, comparative,
and superlative. When you talk about or describe only a single person, place, or thing, you should use the positive degree.

Examples:

 She is a beautiful lady.

 It was a memorable trip.

If on the other hand, you are comparing two persons, places, or things, it is appropriate to use the comparative degree of the
word. Normally, you will need to add “-er” to transform the word into its comparative form or add the word “more.” Also,
the word “than” should be added after the adjective in the comparative degree.

Examples:

 This swimming pool is bigger than that one.

 Ashley is more intelligent than Aldrin.

*Note: For words ending in “y,” you should first change the “y” into “i,” and then add “-er” (e.g., lovely-lovelier; pretty-
prettier; tasty- tastier)

Lastly, if you are comparing more than two things, the superlative form of the adjectives should be used and the word “the”
should be added before the adjective. In order to transform the adjective into its superlative form, you just have to add the
suffix “-est” or the word “most.”

Examples:

 That is by far, the tallest tree I have ever seen in my entire life.
 This is the most crucial match of the season.