The Adjectives

An adjective is a word to add something to the meaning of a noun.Adjectives add colour to

the language.
Eg.She is a bold girl.

Kinds of Adjectives:

1) Adjectives of quality(Desriptive adjectives)-denotes the kind or quality of a person

or thing.
Eg. Bombay is a large city.
He has a perspicuous expression.
French wines are liked by all.
French wines is called a proper adjective since it is formed from proper noun but is generally
taken as a kind of adjectives of quality.

2)Adjectives of quantity:denotes how much of a thing is meant.

Eg. I had some money.
He has little patience.
He has sufficient.

3)Adjectives of number: denotes how many persons or things are meant or in what order
a.
Eg. We have two hands and two feet.
Few animals can swin.

There are three kinds of adjectives of number:

a)Definite numeral adjectives denote an exact number.

Eg.one,two,three etc are cardinals.first,second and third etc are ordinals.
b)Indefinite numeral adjectives do not denotes an exact number.
Eg.many,few,certain etc.
c)Distributive numeral adjectives refer to each one of a number.
Eg.each,every,either.

The same adjective may be classed as of quantity or number according to its use:

Adjectives of quantity Adjectives of number

1)You have no wisdom . There are no boys in this class.

2)He did not take any money. Are there any five-rupee-notes in
your pocket.

4) Demonstrative adjectives: show which person or thing is being described.

Eg.a)This girl is more beautiful than her sister.
b)That politician is a scoundrel.

which? is the question for identifying demonstrative adjectives.

5)Interrogative adjectives: are what,which,and whose when they are used with nouns to
ask questions.
Eg1.what kind of book is this?
2.Which way lies the happiness?
3 .Whose supporter is he?

6) Emphasising adjectives: are the words own and very when they are used for emphasis.
Eg.I was insulted at my own place.
This is the vey rose we want.

7) What is sometimes used as an exclaimatory adjective.

Eg.what a piece of art is man!
usually this and these denote something near.that,those denote more distant objects.

Formation of adjectives:
1)From nouns Eg.boy-boyish,dirt-dirty,courage-courageousetc

2)From verbs:tire-tireless,move-moveable,divide-divisible

3)From other adjectives:black-blackish,whole-wholesome.etc

Adjectives:Formation of comparative and superlative

1)The comparative and superlative of most adjectives of one syllable and some of more than
one are formed by adding er or est respectively to the positive.

Eg.1.tall,taller,tallest
2.clever,cleverer,cleverest

2)only r and st are added when the positive ends in e.

Eg. Able,abler,ablest.

3)The y is changed into I before adding er or est.

Eg. Easy,easier,easiest.
merry-merrier-merriest.

4)If the positive is a word of one syllable and ends in a singles consonant following a short
vowel,this consonant is doubled before adding er or est.
Eg.thin,thinner,thinnest
Fat,fatter-fattest

5)The comparative and superlative respectively are formed by using the adverb more and
most with the positive to the adjectives of more than two syllables and many of those with
two.
Eg. Difficult,more difficult,most difficult
Proper,more proper,most proper.

6)The compararative in er is not used when we compare two qualities in the same person or
thing.
Eg.The bjp-shivsena combine in Maharashtra is more bold than discreet.

7)while comparing two objects with each other,the latter term of comparison must exclude
the former.
Eg.iron is more useful than any other metal
Some adjectives are compared irregularly. Their comparative and superlative are not formed
from the positive.
Eg.little-less, Lesser-least,much-more-most(quantity)
The double forms of the comparative and superlative of the adjectives:

1)Later,latter;latest,last-Later and latest refer to time.latter and last refer to position.

Eg.1)The train is later than expected.
2)What is the latest news?
3)The latter pages are not interesting.
4)The last house in the street belongs to him.

2)Elder,older;eldest,oldest-elder and eldest are used only of persons,not of animal or

things,and confined to members of the same family.elder is not used with than
following.older and oldest are used of both persons and things.
Eg.ram is eldest son.
Suresh is elder to me.
It is the oldest temple.
He is older than his brother.

3)Farther,further farther denotes more distant or advanced, further means additional.

Eg. No further delay will be tolerated
Bombay is farther than baroda.

4)Nearest,next-nearest means distance,next means position.

Eg.Perfidy is nearest to corruption
My brother lives in the next house.

Adjectives : correct usage

1)It is correctly used with a verb when some quality of the verb rather than action is to be
expressed.
Eg. That declaration sounds queer.
It tastes bitter.(not bitterly)

The adverb should be used:

Eg.she spoke angrily.
She looked angry.
He feels warmly on the subject.
He feels warm.

2)These and those are often used with the singular nouns kind and sort.
Eg.These kind of things.

3)The words superior,inferior,senior,junior,prior,anterior and posterior take to instead of

than.
Eg.Chavan is senior to Pawan in national politics.
Prior to the announcement, the shops closed down.

4)In comparing two things or classes,the comparative should be used.

Eg. Which is the better(not best) of the two?
He is the taller of the two.
Of two revils,choose the less(not least).
5)while comparing by superlative,the latter form should include the former.
Eg.The amazon is the largest of all rivers.(not all other rivers)

6)of any is often wrongly used with a superlative.

Eg. Dilip has the lightest touch of any blacksmith(wrong).

Dilip has the lightest touch of any other blacksmith.

7)Double comparatives and superlatives are to be avoided.

8) the word preferable has the force of a comparative and is accompanied by to;more
preferable is wrong.
Eg.American hegemony is preferable to the threat of a nuclear war.

9)The word less should not be used instead of fewer,as less refers to quantity but fewer
expresses number.
Eg. I had given him no fewer(not less) than fifty books.
He doesnot sell less than ten kgs of sugar.

10)certain adjectives do not allow comparison so they already carry a superlative meaning.
Eg.universal,entire,ideal,round,square,complete
Thus, saying thatThis is the most perfectis wrong.

11) Two first is wrong,rather The first twois the right expression

12) Few is negative and equivalent to not many,hardly any.A few is positive and equivalent to
some.
Eg. Few persons keep their promise.
A few words in sympathy are enough for consolation.
Note: little=not much,a little=some

13) verbal= of or pertaining to words

Oral=delivered by word of mouth,not written
Eg.oral tests require verbal skills

14) our mutual friend is a wrong expression.our common friend is correct.

Adjective clause:

It is a group of words which consist of a subject and a predicate of its own and does the work
of an adjective.
Eg.The pen with a broken cap is his.
(which pen?-an adjective phrase)

The pen which has broken cap is his.(which pen?-an adjective clause as it has a subject
and a predicate)

1) An adjective clause in a complex sentence is a subordinate clause and qualifies

some noun and pronoun in the main clause.it is introduced by a relative pronoun or
by a relative adverb.
Eg.she is the girl whom we all admire.
The street where the accident occurred is not far.
Sometimes a relative pronoun introduces a coordinate clause.
Eg.1) I met ramesh who gave me your pen.(here who gave me your pen is not an adjective
clause)
2) The relative pronoun or the relative adverb introducing an adjective clause is
sometimes not expressed.
Eg. There was not a man in the room.(who)
Take all you can. (what)
Wheres the pen? (which)

3) But is equivalent to a relative pronoun followed by not and introduces an adjective

clause.
Eg.there was a boy present but was sad over the result.(who was not sad over such a result)

4) Than is something used as a preposition before a relative pronoun in the adjective

clause.
Eg. They chosre ramesh than whom no better captain was there.
We went to a place than which I have seldom seen a greener.

5)The infinitives with to is used as the equivalent of an adjective clause.

Eg. a)He has no pen which he can use.
He has no pen to use.
b)He has a task which he has to accomplish.
He has a task to accomplish.

correct usage of adjectives:

1) Each,every,either and neither are always followed by singular noun.hence,no
plural noun should follow these adjectives.
2) only contable nouns follow much,little,some ,enough,sufficient and
whole.hence only abstract and material nouns should be used after these
adjectives.
3) Elder,junior,inferior,senior and superior are never followed bythan.it is wrong
to write-he is elder than his sister.The correct sentence is-he is older than his
sister.In case of comparison junior,senior,inferior and superior may be
followed by to(never by than).He is senior to me.I am his junior.These
adjectives can also be used even if no comparison is required to be
expressed.
4) The following comparative forms of adjectives are never used for the sake of
comparison major,minor,exterior,interior,elder,former,utter etc.These are
used as adjective in the positive degree eg.The inner meaning of this poem
is quite clear.My elder brother is professor.He is a utter fool.
5) In case of comparison,the comparative form of an adjective is generally
followed by than but when the comparative form is used to express
selection from two of the same kind or class,it is followed byto and
proceded by the.Ramesh is the stronger of the two boys.kamini is the more
beautiful of the two girls.
note:comparative forms may also be used alone i.e without using of after
it,if selection is meant to be expressed.eg.The younger of the two girls is the
 prettier.which of the watches is the better?
6) when two qualities belonging to the same person or thing are
compared,comparative form ending in er are never used,more+positive
form is used,even if the adjective is of one syllable.eg.she is more wise than
old(never write-she is wiser than old.He is more strong than tall.
7) When one of the two qualities belonging to the same person or thing is
compared,the other qualities that is,the other adjective must be
compared.That is to say both the adjectives will be used
comparative/superlative form eg.this is the safest and the shortest of all the
routes.(never write safest and short).she is one of the most beautiful and
best singers in this town(never write,more beautiful and good singers).
8) comparative form +than+any must always be followed by other+singular
noun.eg She writes more clearly than any other girl; in her class.Ram is
wiser than any other boy in his class.
9) comparative form+than+all/most must always be followed by other+plural
noun.eg.she writes more clearly than all/most other girls in her class.Ram is
wiser than all/most other boys in the class
Note:The insertion of the words other is necessary in such sentances.
10)Each,every,either,neither are called distributive adjectives.remember to use
only singular noun after them.
EXERCISE

Exercise1:

Pick out the adjectives in the following sentances and specify their
kind:
1. He was hit several times.(several-indefinate numeral adj)
2. He has been absent for a week.(absent-descriptive adj)
3. one should exercise everyday.(every-distributive numeral adj)
4. what a long day!(long-adj of quality)
5. It is too good to be true.(good-descriptive adj)
6. He is crooked by nature.(crooked-adj of quality)
7. What the hell are you doing?(what-interrogative adj)
8. Yonder resides the master.(yonder-demonstrative adj)
9. Such beauty with so much intelligence.(such-demonstrative,much-
quantity)
10. Either he dies or i.(either-distributive numeral adj)
11.There are sundry accounts in the books.(sundry-numeral indefinite
adj)
12.Not all the human,few are.(all and few-indefinate numeral adj)
13.Which of you will show any strength.(which-interrogative,any-
quantity)
14.That man is no angel.(that-demonstrative adj,no-adj of quantity)
15.some of those students cheat.(some-numeral indef. Adj,those-
demonstrative adj)
16.I love these paintings.(these-demonstrative adj)
17.There is not enough to eat.(enough-adj of quantity)
18.Neither of you is competent.(neither-distributive numeral adj)
19.Thats a large bird.(that-demonstrative adj,large-adj of quality)
20.He is half as smart as you are.(half-adj of quantity)

Exercise2:
Form adjectives from verbs
1.hope-hopeful
2.think-thoughtful
3.cease-ceaseless
4.fire-fiery
5.dramatise-dramatic
6.justify-justified
7.tutor-tutored
8.strain-strained
9.talk-talkative
10.move-movable

Exercise3:
Form adjectives from these adjectives:
1.blue-bluish
2.sick-sickly
3.fresh-freshly
4.tragic-tragical
5.whole-wholesome
6.three-threefold

Exercise:4:
Form adjectives from following nouns:
1.health- healthy
2.wealth-wealthy

3.ridicule-rediculous
4.picture-picturesque
5.labour-laborious
6.progress-progressive
7.contempt-contemptous
8.quarrel-quarrelsome
9.friend-friendly
10.wonder-wonderful
11.doubt-doubtful
12.cost-costly
13.pain-painful
14.prince-pricely
15.mountain-mountainous
16.tempest-tempestuous
 17.pomp-pompous
18.artist-artistic
19.peace-peaceful
20.hill-hilly

Exercise5:
Fill in the blanks suitably:
a) With later or latter.
1. The. Part of movie was slow.(later)
2. I prefer thehouse.(latter)
3. He asked me to meet him(later)

b)with elder or older.

1.This corpse isthan that.(older)
2.He is.my brother.(elder)
3.They both are..than him.( older)
c)with oldest oreldest
1.He is the..among us.(eldest)
2.This is theknown tool.(oldest)
3.He is the man in the world.(oldest)
d)with nearest or next
1.Thehospital is thirty min away.(nearest)
2.The asylum is to my house.(next)

3.He is mycousin(nearest
4.He is my..door neighbor.(next)
e)with latest or last.
1.The.news from bosnia is horrified.(latest)
2.The..news from bosnia was horrified.(last)
3.They are the.survivours.(last)
4.This is the .invention.(latest)