3.

ADJECTIVES

Adjectives are words that describe or modify another person or thing in the sentence. If you
can put a word between the and a noun, than that word is an adjective.
Examples:
1. the brilliant boy
2. the embarrassed boy
3. the blonde boy
4. the hungry boy
5. the delightful boy
What do adjectives actually do? Adjectives always tell us something about noun. Another
way of saying this is that they modify a noun. In the phrases we’ve just looked at, the
underlined adjectives tell us something about, or modify, the noun boy.

Exercise 3.1
Which of the following words are adjectives? See if they sound right when you put them here:
the ............ thing.
1. yellow _____ 6. is _____
2. wonderful _____ 7. pure _____
3. these _____ 8. on _____
4. quickly _____ 9. creative _____
5. unreliable _____ 10. almost _____

Exercise 3.2 (HOMEWORK)

Underline the adjectives in the sentences below. In each case, the adjective will be between
the and a noun. A sentence may have more than one adjective.
1. The strange robots marched towards 6. She received the exciting news in
the city. the noisy restaurant.
2. It was the last day of school. 7. The blind beggar was sitting at the
3. We tugged at the enormous gate. busy corner.
4. The billowing smoke alerted us to the 8. Jeremy did not get the subtle humor
fire. of the play.
5. The sudden sandstorm forced the 9. The poor people of the world
surprised bathers to flee the beach. outnumber the rich ones.
10. Keep your hands off the hot stove!

As we’ve said, a good way to decide if a word is an adjective is to see if it can be placed
between the and a noun. But that doesn’t mean that that’s the only place where an adjective
can occur; it’s just a way to test a word to see if it’s an adjective.
Here are some sentences where the adjective is in a different place. In each case, the adjective
is underlined.
6. He is a tall boy.
7. My best friend loves chocolate cake.
8. The house had a low roof.
9. Large cars are harder to drive than small cars.
Let’s make sure that each of the underlined words above passes the adjective test, that is, that
it can appear between the and a noun.
10. tall: the tall boy
11. best: the best movie
12. chocolate: the chocolate bar
13. low: the low ceiling
14. large: the large window
15. small: the small window.
As you can see, each of these words passes the adjective test.Notice also that each of these
words describes a characteristic of a noun.
What do you notice about the underlined adjectives in the phrases below?
16. the delicious rich cake
17. my tall, red-haired, entertaining friend
18. a bright, colorful, blue, striped pattern
As you can see, a noun can have more than one adjective modifying it. In fact, there is no
limit to the number of adjectives that can modify a noun.

Exercise 3.3
Underline the adjectives in each of the sentences below. Some of the nouns will be modified
by more than one adjective.
1. They went off to see an old, gloomy, 6. You should heed the advice of the
historic mansion in southern England. wise men and women.
2. She had anticipated his sudden arrival. 7. Wild animals can be dangerous.
3. Angela ignored his annoying, 8. The lovely young lady read one of
persistent questions. her favorite novels on her
4. I must get rid of my decrepit, banged- comfortable sofa.
up, little old car. 9. Why did yo buy this outdated
5. We wouldn’t want to cross this wide, computer in the first place?
busy street, would we? 10. The Dodgers’ frustrated manager
benched his brash young pitcher.
Remember that sometimes a word can function as one word category, or part of speech, in
one sentence, and as another word category in another sentence. For example, let’s look at the
word cream. In the sentence I brought the cream, cream is a noun. But in the sentence That’s
a cream cake, cream is an adjective, telling us more about the noun cake.

Exercise 3.4
In each of the sentences below, decide if the underlined words are functioning as nouns or
adjectives.
1. The window ledge is too narrow for a plant. ............................
2. That window is stuck shut. ............................
3. This has been a chilly spring. ............................
4. I’m enjoying this spring weather. ............................
5. The morning hours are not my best. ............................
6. I drink two cups of coffee each morning. ............................
7. In most public restaurants, it is forbidden to smoke a cigarette. ............................
8. Cigarette smokers must go for X-ray tests regularly. ............................
9. My nephew was looking for travel companions. ............................
10. Foreign travel can be both exhausting and exhilarating. ............................

If a group of words containing a subject and verb acts as an adjective, it is called an Adjective
Clause. My sister, who is much older than I am, is an engineer. If an adjective clause is
stripped of its subject and verb, the resulting modifier becomes an Adjective Phrase: He is the
man who is keeping my family in the poorhouse.

Position of Adjectives
Adjectives nearly always appear immediately before the noun or noun phrase that they
modify. Sometimes they appear in a string of adjectives, and when they do, they appear in a
set order according to category. When indefinite pronouns — such as something, someone,
anybody — are modified by an adjective, the adjective comes after the pronoun:
Anyone capable of doing something horrible to someone nice should be punished.
Something wicked this way comes.
Degrees of Adjectives
Adjectives can express degrees of modification:
 Gladys is a rich woman, but Josie is richer than Gladys, and Sadie is the richest
woman in town.
The degrees of comparison are known as the positive, the comparative, and the superlative.
(Actually, only the comparative and superlative show degrees.) We use the comparative for
comparing two things and the superlative for comparing three or more things. Notice that the
word than frequently accompanies the comparative and the word the precedes the superlative.
There are a few simple rules need to be remembered to form most comparatives and
superlatives. Exceptions? Of course, as always in English, but even these are nothing much to
worry about.
a. Adjectives of one syllable take –er in the comparative and –est in the superlative.
Example:
high low long short old new slow fast, and so on.
These become: higher lowest longer shortest, etc.
b. Adjectives of two syllables ending in –y, -ly, -le, and -ow, take –er in the comparative and
–est in the superlative.
Example:
lazy – lazier lovely – loveliest noble – nobler narrow – narrowest, and so on.
c. Adjectives ending in –ant, -ent, -al, -ful, -ive, -less, and -ous as well as adjectives of three
or more syllables take more in the comparative and most in the superlative.
Example:
more gallant more cordial more useful most positive more callous
most resourceful more inquisitive, and so on.
d. Other adjectives of two syllables take –er and –est or more and most, depending on
length or harmony of sound.
This is the only rule that can create occasional difficulties, as it is not always easy to
decide about euphony, harmony of sound. Let’s look at a few words.
Valid? ‘Valider’ does not seem right, so it must be more valid. Awkward? Awkwardest
sounds awkward, so let’s take most awkward. Afraid? ‘Afraider’ can’t be right. We stick
to more afraid.
Some words can take –er/–est or more/most:
commonest or most common
handsomer or more handsome.
When in doubt, use more and most. They usually fit. Take a word like profound. Profoundest
is all right, but if you are not sure, try most profound. Nothing wrong with it.
In addition, there are a few irregular comparisons, examples:
good – better – best bad – worse – worst far – farther – fartherst
far – further – furtherst little – smaller – smallest much/many – more - most
A few words can have no comparative or superlative, because this elevation would make no
sense. These are called absolutes. A few typical adjectives in this group:
round square empty dead unique infinite perfect universal
perpetual true, and many more.
A fairly common mistake is using the superlative when comparing only two things. It is not
correct to say
I learned German and Dutch. Dutch is by far the easiest.
You need the comparative when talking about two things: by far the easier (of the two).
Easiest is one of more than two things.