C T I VE S

ADJ E BByy
nd
;and
M.. ;a
ejes
Dej
D a, C
esa, hrist
Chr iann M
istia
Mal
M Jaco
em,, Ja
alem R..
cobb R
We will discuss the form
s and functions of
adjectives; and point th
e adjectives in a
reading text.
 An adjective is a word that modifies a
noun or a pronoun . It provides more
information about the noun or pronoun,
such as its quality, amount, or position.
 An adjective may describe inherent
properties of the entity — for example, its
color (purple, blue), size (big, tiny),
weight (light, heavy), age (young, old), or
quality (good, awful).
CLASSES OF
ADJECTIVE
 COMPOUNDA
DJECTIVE
Formed from multiple words, which are usually connected by hyphens.

A number of these compounds combine an adjective and a word from any of

various parts of speech, as exemplified below.
grayish-blue → adjective + adjective
big-name → adjective + noun
street-smart → noun + adjective

Adjective compounds are also formed with past participles (clean-shaven) and
present participle (best-selling).
 DEMONSTRATIVE ADJECTIVE
A demonstrative adjective is a word that points out a noun.
In English, the words this, that, these, and those, are classified as
demonstrative adjectives because they point out which person or
thing is being talked about.
A demonstrative adjective can:
- tell whether the noun it modifies is singular or plural.
- tell whether the noun it modifies is near or far from the speaker,
the person speaking the sentence, as well as point out a fact about
the noun it modifies.
 DISTRIBUTIVE
ADJECTIVE
A distributive adjective is a describing word that refers
to separate things.
Distributive adjectives such as, “each,” “every,”
“either,” “neither,” and “any,” are describing words
that refer to specific things out of a group.
For Example:
Every student is asked to bring a jotter.
 POSSESIVE
ADJECTIVE
Possessive adjectives are words (such as “my,” “your,” “his,” “its”, etc.) quite
identical or similar to a possessive pronoun; but are used as an adjective to modify
a noun or a noun phrase

- The bakery sold his favorite type of bread.

In this example, the possessive adjective his modifies the noun phrase favorite type
of bread and the entire noun phrase his favorite type of bread is the direct object of
the verb sold.

There are seven main possessive pronouns that are used as adjectives: my, your,
her, his, its, our, and their.
 INTERROGATIVE ADJECTIVE
An interrogative adjective is a word that asks for information about
a noun.

For Example:
- Which book do you want?

In this sentence, the word which is an interrogative adjective; it

asks information about the noun book
In English, the words which, what, and whose are interrogatives
adjectives when they come in front of a noun and are used to ask a
question about that noun.
PROPER ADJECTIVES
Proper adjectives are adjectives formed from proper
nouns. In general, proper adjectives are commonly
used to say that something is related to a specific
person or place
Proper adjective examples:
- He was reading a Russian newspaper.
- I think Haitian food is tasty.
 PARTICIPICIAL
ADJECTIVE
es that are based on
Participial adjectives are adjectiv
participles, which are words that usually end in -ed or -
ing and derive from verbs.

Participial adjective examples:

- Travis was late for his swimming lessons
- The silly clown cheered up the bored children.
 DESCRIPTIVE ADJECTIVE
Descriptive adjectives are words that describe a quality of a noun
or a pronoun; they show the kind of quality of a person or thing.
For Example:
Shakespeare wrote an interesting poem.
(interesting is a descriptive adjective describing the noun poem)
It is pretty.
(pretty describes the pronoun it)

They describe the nouns positioned in their front, giving more

details about their action, quality, or state. They are also known as
adjectives of quality
Types of Descriptive Adjectives

Descriptive adjectives are divided into two

groups depending on how they are connected
to the noun they describe.
The two groups are:
1.Attributive adjectives, and
2.Predicate adjectives.
 Attributive Adjective

An attributive adjective is connected directly to the

noun it describes and always precedes it.

For Example:
The skillful athletes came prepared.
(skillful is an attributive adjective; it describes the
noun athletes
 Predicate Adjective

A predicate adjective is an adjective that comes

after a linking verb and describes the subject of
the sentence.

For Example:
- The mission was interesting.
- Roses are red.
 POSITION
OF
ADJECTIVE
 Position of
ADJECTIVE
Adjective usually go before the
noun they modify.

e.g. “He is a handsome boy”

“She is a sad girl”
 Position of ADJECTIVES

When two or more adjectives comes

before a noun, they are usually
separated by commas.

e.g. “A small, shiny diamond”

 Position of
ADJECTIVE
last two are adjectives of
When the
color, they are usually separated by
and.

e.g. “A red and black car” (NOT a

red black car)
PROPERTIES
OF
ADJECTIVE
 Adjectives are stackable
ac te ri st ics o f ad jecti v es is that
One of the char occur one
cu r in a st ri n g — th ey ca n
they can oc
an o th er. T h is is k n o w n as stacking.
after

r, st ack in g ad ject iv es su ccessively

Howev e
a ra ri ty. T h u s, it is essential to
beyond three is
a d ject iv es ar e u su al ly st acked in a
note that
preferred order.
 Adjectives are stackable
ntence:
Consider the following se e.
ug ly, ol d, ye llo w tin bu cket stood beside the stov
-An
ive sequence begins
In this sentence, the adject or evaluation (ugly);
su bj ec tiv e ju dg m en t
-with an adjective of m ea surement (old), an adject
ive
by an ad je ct iv e of
-then it is followed
of color (yellow), and
tin g as an ad ject iv e th at describes the material (tin)
-finally, a noun ac un (bucket) is made.
out of which the head no e
or de r of th e di ffe re nt ty pes of adjectives, (as in th
Changing this th at na tiv e English speakers are
uc es ph ra se s
sentences below), prod gr ea te r or lesser degree.
uncom fo rta bl e w ith to a
Adjectives are Grad b
a le jesa
deje
de andd
sa an
ct iv es ar e g ra dable—they can m em bu
alem
mal burg er
rger
A numbe r o f ad je
perty. sh op
shop
express degrees of a pro
je ct iv es h av e co m pa rative (–er)
Most gradable ad h ile a number of
at iv e (– es t) form s, w
and superl m os t to express
ad v er b s m o re an d
others use the
varying degrees.
je ct iv es ta ke th e –e r/ –est) inflections
Also, some ad st.
as well as more and mo
er s ta k e on ly m o re /m ost, while a few
Many ot h
th e – er /– es t en d in gs to express
allow only
gradability.
 Adjectives are Gradable
a.Negative Gradability ss in g d im in is h in g d egrees of deje
de and
sa an
jesa
When it comes to expre co m es into play. mal
m em bu
alem r
burg
tiv e g ra d a b ility
a property, the nega n g le ss an d least before
op
shop
sh
ate d b y p la ci
This is indic p erlative forms.
c o m p a ra tiv e a n d su
adjectives to create the in g sentences:
O b se rv e th e fo ll o w
less su cc es sf u l th a n anticipated.
- The result was t su cc es sful of all his
n w a s th e le as
- His third campaig
attempts.
 Adjectives are Gradable
ab ility o f A b so lu te A d jectives
b. Grad d je ct iv es , su ch as absolute,
The large majori ty o f a andd
sa an
, p e rf e ct, pregnant, de jesa
deje
nti a l, im p o ss ib le er
rger
burg
complete, correct, esse ca lle d absolute
em bu
alem
mal
m
op
iq u e , h a v e b e en shop
sh
ultimate, and un g is su p p o se d ly not gradable
m e an in
adjectives because their n o t b e in cr e as ed or
ty th a t c an
as they express a quali
decreased. iq u e , as a ca se study, it
Using the adjec ti v e u n
e n ce it se e m s b o th il lo gical and
;h
means “one of a kind”
ample,
incorrect to say, for ex
p a in tin g is v er y /s o m ewhat unique.
- Th at
 Adjectives are Gradable
G rad ab ility o f P a rtic ipial Adjectives
c.
d e riv ed fr o m p re se n t or past
Most adjectives are
participle of verbs. ct iv es in te re st in g a nd bored
For examples, the a d je
a re fo rm e d fr o m th e p resent de jesa
deje andd
sa an
elow,
used in the sentences b n d p a st p ar tic ip le o f the verb em bu
alem
mal
m er
rger
burg
terest , a
participle of the verb in op
shop
sh
bore, respectively. n o w n as p a rt ic ip ia l adjectives.
In English, these ar e k
, li k e m o st ad je ct iv es , have
Participial adjectives
a n d su p e rlativ e fo rm s only
comparativ e
an d m o st an d w ith less and least.
with more
 Adjectives are modifiable
st ic s o f a dje c ti v e s is th a t
The final characteri rb s.
a n b e m o d if ie d b y a d v e
they c
This is shown below:
- Th e se sh ri m p s a re u n usually

[adv] large [adj]
h e y a p p e a r to b e re m a rk ably
- T
[adv] happy [adj].
COMPARISON
OF ADJECTIVE
 Comparison
is the act of finding out the
differences and similarities
between two or more people
of things.
 Equal Comparison
used to compare that two things share a
quality in the same amount, usually the
form used as adjective/adverb as.
You sent

e.g. Mylene is as lazy as you

Comparative Adjectives

Used to compare two things, usually in

combination with than.

e.g. My sister is taller than me

Superlative Adjectives

d to co m pare th re e or m or e things,
Use
e.
usually in combination with th

D r. K if y is th e sm ar test of th em all.
e.g.
 RULES
Adjectives ending with one vowel Two syllables ending in y - drop
One Syllable - add er and est - double the ending consonant the y and add ier and iest
and add er and est
e.g. clear, clearer, clearest
e.g. thin, thinner, thinnest e.g. busy, busier, busiest

Three or more syllables - before

the adjective add more and I
love you bebe, i miss you and
most

e.g. creative, more creative,

most creative e,g, good, better, best
NUMERALS
OF
ADJECTIVE
 NUMERALS
are adjectival words which are used to express the relation of
number and quantity. They are useful in denoting
the number of nouns (people or things) or the order in which they
stand and maintain clarity by giving exact information.

Because they are adjectival words, numerals are usually classed

with adjectives. As a result, they are called numeral adjectives.
 As with pronouns, numeral
adjectives can be divided, according to
ADJECTIVE
their signification and form, into:

1.substantive (e.g., a hundred),

2.adjective (e.g., ten men), and
3.adverbial numerals (e.g., tenthly).
 Classification of
Numerals
Numerals are sub–divided into various
forms. The most common are the two forms:
Cardinal numerals (also called cardinals),
and
Ordinal numerals (or Ordinals).
 Cardinal Numerals
The Cardinal numerals (such as one, two, three, etc.)
express number in its simplest form, and answer the
question “how many?” as, one, two, three, four, and so on
indefinitely.

The word one is naturally singular. So, the rest are

naturally plural. Cardinals are properly attributive; we may
use them to express the repetition of a substance in space.
 1. Ordinal Numerals
Also known as ordinals, the ordinal numerals indicate a series of entities, and
answer the question “which one in the series?” as— first, second, third, fourth etc.
a.The Ordinal first is a superlative form derived from the root fore.
b.The word second, however, is derived from the Latin word secundus.
The remainder of the ordinals are derived from the cardinal numerals by
the addition of the sound of th, subject to slight variations.
c.In third, th becomes d.
d.In fifth the vowel is shortened. However, in the third there is the transposition of
the letter r.
 For the most part, adverbs of order are derived from the
preceding, by means of the adverbial affix ly; as— firstly, or,
better put, first, secondly, thirdly, etc. and lastly.
In the higher numbers it is appropriate to use an
adverbial phrase as, “In the eleventh place”, “in the twelfth
place.”
 2. Multiplicative Numerals

Also known as multiplicatives, the multiplicative

numerals indicate the number of parts of which a
whole is composed, and answer the
question “how many fold?” as— single, double,
triple, or four-fold or quadruple.
 3. Partitive Numerals

The Partitives include half, a third, a

quarter, or fourth part. They are mostly
used as Subtantives.
 4. In definite Numerals

Indefinite numerals include many, few, some, all,

much, less, several, whole, enough, other,
another, only, alone, more, any, none, aught,
naught, something, nothing, somewhat, etc.
 5. Indefinite Quantitative
The Indefinite Quantitatives include great, little, some, all.
For the most part, they are taken from the indefinite numerals:

e. sometimes by different words such

as great and little, or large and small (comp. many and few);
f. sometimes by a different construction such as — some water (comp. some
men); all the house (comp. all houses).

The indefinite numerals and quantitatives form antitheses; as— many opposed to few;
great to little; large to small; all to some.
 6. Compound Numerals

In compound numerals of the ordinal series, it is only the last

number that takes the ordinal termination.

For Example:
-the thirty-third year
-the five hundred and twenty-fifth year.
 7.Plural Forms
The cardinal numerals take the plural form, though all
cardinals except one are naturally plural.
ARTICLES OF
ADJECTIVE
 The vs. A/An
- The two articles “the” and “a” are not
interchangeable.

- They each have specific situations where

they must be used.
 The vs. A/An
Use “the” when you want to specify one
specific noun out of all the same nouns.

e.g. Can you pass me THE green apple?

 A vs. An
The articles “a” and “an” are actually two
forms of the same article. However, we have
two different forms of this article because
each form is used in a different situation.
 Rules for using the correct form of
the article are as follows:

Use “a” when the first sound heard after the article is a
consonant.

e.g. a teacher, a boy, a deck,

Use “an” when the first sound heard after the article is a vowel.

e.g. an umbrella, an icon, an eye

 a n k y o u
Th BSE
B Eng
SEdd -- E 1A
ng 1A