Adjectives in English grammar
According to English grammar, adjectives are words that define nouns, pronouns, or other adjectives. In the sentence “He was fast,” the word “fast” is an adjective because it refers to and describes the pronoun “he”. For example, in many English textbooks you can find this funny sentence (it is famous for using all the letters of the English alphabet): Adjectives in English grammar with types
“The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.”
In this sentence, the words “quick”, “brown” and “lazy” are adjectives. All of them describe nouns, somehow change or supplement their meaning. Adjectives in English grammar with types
3 degrees of comparison of adjectives
Imagine you are trying to mode your air conditioner. You have a choice of different degrees of air cooling. Adjectives also have different degrees: positive, comparative and superlative .
How much comparison you use will depend on several factors:
1-The positive
is the most common adjective. It serves to describe objects, not to compare them.
For example: “This is good soup” or “You are funny”.
2-The comparative
degree of an adjective is used when you want to compare two subjects for some reason. With this degree, the word “than” is often used.
For example: “This soup is better than that salad” or “He is funnier than she is.”
3-The superlative
degree of the adjective shows that some feature is manifested in the highest degree in one of the objects.
For example: “This is the best soup in the whole world” or “He is the funniest out of all the other bloggers”.
7 types of English adjectives everyone should know
1. Descriptive
When asked to come up with an adjective, the first thing that comes to mind is a descriptive adjective. These are the most common definitions for nouns and pronouns.
Words like “beautiful”, “silly”, “tall”, “annoying”, “loud”, “nice” are descriptive adjectives. They carry additional information about the words to which they refer.
Examples:
“The flowers have a smell.” There are no adjectives here, and we do not know anything about flowers or their smell, only that they are.
“The beautiful flowers have a nice smell.”
There were two descriptive adjectives, and with them – additional information.
A descriptive adjective can be a definition, or it can be part of a predicate:
“the hungry cat” or “The cat is hungry.”
But in both cases, it gives the word “cat” some quality.
2. Quantitative
Quantitative adjectives, as you might guess, describe the amount of something. In other words, they answer the question “how much?” Or “how many?” “Many” (many), “half” (half), “five” (five), “thirty-three” (thirty-three) – all of these in English can be considered adjectives.
Examples:
“How many children do you have?” “I only have one daughter.”
“Do you plan on having more kids?” “Oh yes, I want many children!”
“I can’t believe I ate that whole cake!”
3. Demonstrative / Indicative
Demonstrative adjective – correctly, indicates objects. In the approach to English grammar, all of these words are considered pronouns:
- This – this, this, this (indicates one object that is nearby).
- That – that, that, that (indicates one object in the distance).
- These – these (indicates nearby objects).
- Those – those (indicates objects in the distance).
Demonstrative adjectives always appear before the word to which they refer.
Sometimes, when answering a question, you can use an adjective without the word to which it refers.
For example, you were asked how many cakes you want to buy.
You can say “I want to buy two cakes”, or you can just say “I want to buy two”.
Example: “Which bicycle is yours?”
“This bicycle is mine, and that one used to be mine until I sold it.”
4. Possessive
Possessive adjectives indicate that an object belongs to a person.
- My – my
- His – his
- Her – her
- Their – their
- Your – yours, yours
- Our is our
All of these words, except for the word “his”, can only be used in conjunction with the noun being defined. You can’t just say “That’s my”, just “That’s my pen”. To be used separately, they have a special form:
- Mine
- His
- Hers
- Theirs
- Yours
- Ours
Therefore, “That’s my ” is wrong, but “That’s mine ” is quite acceptable.
Examples:
“Whose dog is that?” “He’s mine. That’s my dog. ”
5. Interrogative
Interrogative adjectives are used in questions. They are always followed by the noun or pronoun they refer to. Interrogative adjectives are:
- Which – which
- What – what
- Whose – whose
Other question words like “who” or “how” are not considered adjectives because they are not nouns. For example, you might say “Whose coat is this?” But “Who coat?” is no longer possible.
“Which”, “what” and “whose” are considered adjectives only when immediately followed by a noun. In this sentence, the word “which” is an adjective: “Which color is your favorite?” And in this – no: “Which is your favorite color?” Adjectives in English grammar with types
Examples:
” Which song will you play on your wedding day?”
” What pet do you want to get?”
” Whose child is this?”
6. Distributive / Separating
Separating adjectives distinguish an object or person from a group of the same objects or persons. Some of the most common are:
- Each – each from the group
- Every – every in the sense of “everything”
- Either is one of two
- Neither – neither of the two
- Any – any
All of these adjectives must be followed by the noun or pronoun they refer to.
Examples:
” Every rose has its thorn .”
“Which of these two songs do you like?” “I like neither of them.”
7. Articles / Articles
There are two types of articles in English: indefinite (“a” or “an”) and definite (the). Those who learn English as a foreign language often have problems with articles, because in many languages they simply do not exist or they are used in a completely different way than in English.
Although articles are a separate part of speech, from a technical point of view, they can also be considered adjectives. English articles specify the noun in question. Perhaps thinking of them as adjectives will make them easier to understand and use correctly:
- A – any one item of a certain class or type
- An is the form of the article “a”, which is used before words, starting with a vowel sound.
- The – the same specific subject (or several)
Adjectives in English grammar with types
