Topic

1. Defining Adjectives
2. Adjectives Modifying Nouns
3. Adjectives Modifying Pronouns
4. Different Types of Adjectives
4.1 Personal Titles
4.2 Possessive Adjectives
4.3. The Articles
4.4. Demonstrative Adjectives
4.5. Indefinite Adjectives
4.6 Numbers
4.7 Interrogative Adjectives
4.8 Compound Adjectives
4.8.1 Compound Adjectives from Proper Nouns
4.8.2 Compound Adjectives with Quotation marks & Italics
4.8.3 Adverbs & Compound Adjectives
5. Forming Adjectives
5.1 Forming adjectives from Nouns
5.2 Forming adjectives from Verbs
5.3 Forming adjectives form adjectives
5.4 Forming adjectives from proper nouns
6. Degree of Adjectives
7. Comparison of Adjectives
8. Adjective Order
9. Coordinated Adjectives
Topic

1. Defining Adjectives

2. Adjectives Modifying Nouns

3. Adjectives Modifying Pronouns

4. Different Types of Adjectives

4.1 Personal Titles

4.2 Possessive Adjectives

4.3 The Articles

 Are describing words
 A word whose main role is to qualify a noun
or noun phrase giving more information
about the object signified.
 They give the reader more information about
a noun and pronoun and to make your
writing more interesting.
 Adjectives are said to modify nouns and are
necessary to make the meanings of sentences
clearer or more exact. Adjectives are added to
nouns to state what kind, what color, which
one or how many.
 Follow the yellow cab.
(In this example the adjective „yellow‟
modifies the noun „cab‟)

 The principal words should be in bold.

(In this example the adjective „principal‟
modifies the noun „words‟ and since it is not
attached to a proper noun it cannot be
capitalized.

 They gathers all the white horses.
 Although less common, adjective can also
modify pronouns

Examples
 It is a blue one.

 Only a brave few have received a

recommendation.
 Personal titles are classified as adjectives when
they are attached to a name.

Examples

Mr. or Ms. King or Queen

Uncle or Auntie Prince or Princess

Sir or Dame Dean or Professor

Count or Countess Pope

 are used to show possession, also known as
possessive determiners that modify a noun by
attributing possession.

 List of determiners are:

my, your, his, her, its, our and their

Examples
 She is my sister.

 The doctor is waiting for your laboratory results.

 Today is our duty to prepare their coffee.

 The documents are lost in his office.

 The words a, an, and the are known as articles and
are classified as adjectives too.
◦ „a‟ and „an‟ are called indefinite articles, as they
do not indicate a specific noun
◦ „the‟ is called the definite article, because it does
point to specific noun

Examples:
 A cup. (any cup)
 The cup. (specific cup)
 We need an office big enough. (any office)

 We need the office clean today. (specific office)

Topic
4. Demonstrative Adjectives
5. Indefinite Adjectives
6. Numbers
7 Interrogative Adjectives
8 Compound Adjectives

8.1 Compound Adjectives from Proper Nouns

8.2 Compound Adjectives with Quotation marks & Italics
8.3 Adverbs & Compound Adjectives
 are words to demonstrate or indicate
specific things.
 It shows whether the noun they refer to is
singular or plural, whether it is located
near to or far from the speaker or narrator.

 They always answer the question “Which

one?”
Singular Plural
This These used to point out things which
are physically close to the
speaker as well as to whomever
he or she is speaking, usually
within easy reaching distance.

That Those used to point out things which

are further away from the speaker
(but are not necessary to the
listeners), not within easy
reaching distance.
1. If I hear that parrot again, I will call the
owner.
(demonstrative adjective „that‟ refers to
specific „parrot‟)
2. The wedding was decorated by those
flowers which brighten that room.
3. Medals will only be given to those runners
who complete the marathon in less than 8
hours.
(„those‟ refers to specific people)
4. All of these blouses are expensive.
 They are formed from indefinite pronouns, they do
not point out specific things. They almost always
are placed before the noun they refer to, it
modifies a noun, pronoun or noun phrase.
 Most common indefinite adjectives are:
No Every Both
Some Certain Many
Specific Few All
None Another Several
Any Each other
Not Both
1. According to a council spokesman, there
are no wallabies left in Derbyshire.
However, over the past few months, many
walkers have reported seeing several adults
with young.
2. We can travel to any old city.
3. The singer can choose another song that
she thinks many people will like.
4. I wanted to buy a certain cloth.
 Numbers are classified as adjective too, because of the
information they give is how many of a noun.

 They can be cardinal numbers – one, 2, three, 4, five,

six….so on

 Or can be ordinal numbers – first, second, third,

fourth…so on…

Examples:
1. Four dolphins stayed with the boat until dawn.
2. The book has 200 pages left for me to read.
3. The ladder had twelve steps.
 An interrogative adjective „which‟ or „what‟
is like an interrogative pronoun, except that
it modifies a noun or noun phrase rather
than standing on its own.
 Interrogative adjectives stand for the thing
we do not know.
1. Which flowers should we used for
decorating the room?
(adjective „which‟ modifies the noun
„flowers‟)
2. What movies are you going to watch
tomorrow night?
3. Which meal do you want to order?
4. What project are you working right now?
 A compound adjective is an adjective that
comprises more than one word. They are
group of words that are not all adjectives,
but make a meaning that is just one
adjective.
 Is made of two or more words together to
show that it is one adjective. Usually,
hyphens are used to link the words
together.
 mix-up  check-in  all-too-common
 stand-in  check-out  high-end
 stand-out  part-time  up-town
 up-side-down  take-out  low-class
 down-town  low-budget  Sub-class
 first-class  fine-tune  tune-up
 build-in  look-out
1. Please request a four-foot table.
(adjective „four-foot‟ is describing the „table‟, hyphen
is used to link four and foot to show that it is one)

2. It is a 6-page document.

3. Nena worked as a part-time keeper at the safari park.

4. That is an all-too-common mistake.

5. This low-budget film got a first-class review.

6. It was a well-written report.

1. Compound Adjectives from Proper Nouns
 Often adjectives are formed from proper nouns
(the name of things) which should be written using
capital letters. In these circumstances, there is no
need to group the words together using hyphen.
 Middle Ages  National Day  New Year
 Pepsi Cola  Eiffel Tower  Ramadan Kareem
 Christian Dior  New York  National Geographic
 Hyatt Hotel  Grand Mosque  Green Peace
1. Did you manage to get a Harry Potter tickets?

2. Student is encouraged to watch the National

Geographic episodes.

3. Let us all support Green Peace activities in the

world.

4. The company is giving away free Pepsi Cola bag.

5. Once a year we visit Jose Rizal shrine in Luneta

Park area.
2. Compound Adjectives WITH
QUOTATION MARKS & ITALICS
 Although a less common practice, it is also possible to
group the words in a compound adjective using
quotation marks, italics or combination of two. (Italics
tend to be used for foreign words)

 ab initio  de jure  “Mary Celeste”

 haute couture  ceteris paribus  “do it yourself”
 de facto  “Schindler‟s List”  “Phantom of the
Opera”
1. It is an ab initio course. (i.e. for beginners)
2. The latest haute couture plays an important part in the
fashion world.
3. Steven Spielberg won his Oscar for “Schindler‟s List” film.
4. My sister was my de facto mother all these years. (by
practice)
5. They ended de jure black segregation in 1955. (by law)
6. For more than ten years, Wilma claimed to be part of the
“Mary Celeste” crew before admitting to his cousin at a
party that she is not.
7. Amber looked at the stick in the water, looked me in the
eye and then turned away, giving me a “get it yourself”
look.
3. ADVERBS & Compound Adjectives
 An adjective is often preceded by adverbs, it describes the
adjectives. There is no need to link an adverb to an adjective using
hyphen. Usually tells you when, where, how, in what manner or what
extend an action is performed.
 Some adverbs are:
Very Fast Quite almost most
More Far Well Never Often
Always Least Less there
 But some adverbs are formed by adding -y or –ly to an adjective

Beautifully extremely lovely friendly

Slowly gracefully skillfully kindly
1. Jean Joy is an extremely brave girl.
(the adverb „extremely‟ modifies the adjective „brave‟ but is
not part of it; there is no need to group it together with a
hyphen)

2. It was a beautifully painted portrait in a skillfully carved

frame.
(the adverb „beautifully‟ modifies the adjective „painted‟
and „skillfully‟ modifies „carved‟)

3. She is a very studious girl.

4. The schools always print newsletters.

5. The insurance was quite expensive plan to continue without

a regular income.
Topic
5. Forming Adjectives
5.1 Forming adjectives from Nouns
5.2 Forming adjectives from Verbs
5.3 Forming adjectives form adjectives
5.4 Forming adjectives from proper nouns
6. Degree of Adjectives
7. Comparison of Adjectives
8. Adjective Order
9. Coordinated Adjectives
Adjectives can be formed from: NOUNS, VERB, ADJECTIVES &
PROPER NOUNS
Noun Adjective Verb Adjective
Accident Accidental Enjoy Enjoyable
Danger Dangerous Help Helpful
Star Starry Obey Obedient
Wind Windy Talk talkative

Adjective Adjective Proper Noun Proper Adjectives

Comic Comical Canada Canadians

Correct Corrective Christianity Christian
Red Reddish France French
Sick Sickly Britain British
1. Positive degree – the simplest form

2. Comparative degree – comparing

two things or person

3. Superlative degree – comparing

three or more things or person
1. Add –er and –est to short adjectives of one
syllables (sometimes two syllables)
Positive Comparative Superlative

Short Shorter Shortest

Great Greater Greatest

Small Smaller Smallest

2. If the short adjective ends with consonant
and y, change the y to i and add –er and est.

Positive Comparative Superlative

Lucky Luckier Luckiest

Heavy Heavier Heaviest

Silly Sillier Silliest

3. If the short adjective ends with e add –er
and st
Positive Comparative Superlative
Fine Finer Finest
4. Put more (less) and most (least) in front of
longer adjectives (with two or more syllables)
to show comparison.
Positive Comparative Superlative
Appealing Less Least
appealing appealing
Remarkable More Most
remarkable remarkable
Beautiful More beautiful Most beautiful
Some adjectives are irregular adjectives and
don‟t follow the rules. They change form
considerably from one degree to the next.

Positive Comparative Superlative

Bad Worse Worst
Good Better Best
Many More Most
Little Less Least
well Better Best
more shorter most shortest

more older most oldest

more uglier most ugliest

more smaller most smallest

In many languages, attributive adjectives usually occur in a
specific order or the order of adjectives in a series

The categories are:

1. Quantity or number
2. Quality or opinion – observation
3. Size and Shape – adjectives subject to objective measure
4. Age – adjectives denoting age
5. Color – adjectives denoting color
6. Origin – adjective denoting source of noun (proper adjective)
7. Material – adjective denoting what something is made of
8. Qualifier or purpose – final limiter often regarded as part of
the noun
Quantity Quality Size Shape Age Color Origin Material Purpose Noun

ten smart huge young black Arabian racing Horses

several excellent tiny square old brown Chinese leather reference books

some shiny medium round antique white Indian gold arm bracelets
one pretty tall young English fashion model
hand
few made large oval red Persian wool Carpets
expensiv
some e big round white African diamond
Europea
famous grand classic brown n wooden Piano

one nice small orange Swedish brick cottage house

Examples:
 The expensive, comfortable black English leather
shoes can be found in ShoeMart.
(expensive and comfortable belong to the
same class „quality‟)

 The beautiful, expensive red Chinese silk

dress is on sale.