Read the following sentences:
1. Sanvi is a nice girl.
2. Mrs. Goyal gave some milk to her neighbour.
3. Give me ten rupees please.
4 Whose towel is lying there?
5. That boy has stolen the pencil.
As you notice in the above sentences, the highlighted words are describing some qualities
of nouns or pronoun. These describing words are known as Adjectives.
Adjectives are describing words, i.e they add something to the meanings of nouns or pronouns. They tell the qualities of nouns and pronouns.
Kinds of Adjectives
Again observe the above sentences:
• Sentence1, Nice tells the quality of the girl. (noun)
• In sentence 2, some tells the quantity of milk (material noun)
• In sentence 3, ten tells the number of rupees (countable noun)
• In sentence 4, whose asks the question about towel. (noun)
• In sentence 5, that points out the thing pencil. (noun).You must have observed that the person or thing can be described differently.
On this basis, adjectives are classified as follows:
1. Adjectives of Quality.
2. Adjectives of Quantity.
3. Adjectives of Number.
4. Interrogative Adjectives.
5. Demonstrative Adjectives.
6. Possessive Adjectives.
7. Distributive Adjectives.
8. Emphasising Adjectives.
1. Adjectives of Quality:
Some adjectives describe the quality like the shape, colour, size, manner etc. of nouns or pronouns. These are called the Adjectives of quality.
For example:
1. The fat lady walked on the road.
2. The roses beautiful flowers.
3. The elephant is a strong animal.
Words like fat, thin, tall, big, small, beautiful, ugly, strong, weak, good, bad are examples of adjectives of quality.
Adjectives of quality answer the questions, ‘of what kind’.
2. Adjectives of Quantity:
Some adjectives indicate how much of things (uncountables) are meant to be. These a
called the Adjectives of Quantity.
For example;
1. He had much money.
2. Give me some water.
Words like some, no, much few enough, all are examples of
Adjectives of quantity answer the questions, ‘how much’.
3. Adjectives of Number:
Some adjectives show how many persons or things there are or in what order they stand.
These are called the Adjectives of Number.
For example;
1. Many people were not there.
2. He Had five rupees.
3. All men are mortal.
Words like five, several, first, some, most, many are examples of adjective of number.
Adjectives of number answer the questions, ‘how many‘ or ‘in what order‘.
4. Interrogative Adjectives
Some adjectives are used to ask questions about nouns or pronouns. These are called
Interrogative Adjectives.
For example;
1. What is the colour of your hair?
2. Which place does he belong to?
3. Whose bag is this?
Words like what, which, whose are examples of interrogative adjectives.
Interrogative adjectives are used with nouns to ask questions. But, when followed by a
verb an interrogative adjective becomes an interrogative pronoun.
For example;
Which is your book? (Here, ‘which’ is a pronoun.)
5. Demonstrative Adjective:
Some adjectives point out the thing or the person that is spoken about. These are called the Demonstrative Adjectives.
For example;
1. This house is mine
2. I hate such people.
Words like this, these, that, those, such are examples of demonstrative adjectives.Adjectives of number answers the questions ‘how many ‘or ‘in what order’.
6. Possessive Adjective:
Some adjectives are used to indicate belongingness or possession of nouns or pronouns.
These are called the Possessive Adjectives.
For example;
1. This is her notebook.
2. They are our friends.
Words like my, his, our your, their are examples of possessive adjectives.
7. Distributive Adjectives:
Some adjectives refer to one/my/all of a group of things or persons. These are called Distributive Adjectives.
For example:
1. Each person of the seminar agreed with the Chairperson’s suggestion.
2. Each boy of the class had brought a gift for the teacher.
3. All members of the association contributed for the relief fund.
Words like each, every, all, either, neither are examples of distributive adjectives.
Note: When group is not mentioned in the sentence, then these words
are said to adjectives of distributive adjective of number.
For example;
- Each soldiers of the Indian Army fought bravely. (Adjective of number)
- Each soldier fought bravely. (Distributive adjective)
8. Emphasising Adjectives:
Some adjectives are used to emphasis on nouns or pronouns. These are called the Emphasizing Adjectives.
For example;
1. This is her own car.
2. It is totally his fault.
Words like own, self, totally, sheer, absolute are examples of emphasising adjectives.
Position of Adjectives
Adjectives come before their nouns.
For example:
This hat red is pretty. (Incorrect)
This red hat is pretty. (Correct)
Adjectives in this position are called attributive adjectives.
Adjectives of quality can come either before their nouns or after a verb.
For example;
1. Mamta is a bright child. (Adjectives used before the noun)
2. His body is feeling cold. (Adjectives used after the verb)
Adjectives in this position are called predicative adjectives.
Order of Adjectives
Sometimes, we use more than one adjective before a noun. In such situations, the order of adjectives takes place according to their meanings. Usually adjectives that say ‘how
good’ and ‘how big’ come first. Most adjectives come next if they do not belong to another
group.
For example;
1. A big white cat. (size, colour)
2.A beautiful, cotton dress. (opinion, material)
3. A big soft red dressing gown. (size, quality, colour, purpose)
Formation of Adjectives
Many adjectives can be formed by adding suffixes to nouns, verbs and other adjectives.
Let’s Read some examples:
Formation of Adjectives from nouns:
beauty + ful=beautiful
taste + less = tasteless
Formation of Adjectives from verbs:
help + ful = helpful
Talk + ive = talkative
Formation of Adjectives from adjectives:
red + ish = reddish
fool + ish = foolish
Opposite Adjectives
Read the following pair of opposite adjectives:
first – last
narrow – broad
light – heavy
slow – fast
Comparison of Adjectives
Read the following sentences:
Shradha, Shrishti and Shivani sing well.
Shradha is a good singer.
Srishti is a better singer than Sarada.
Shivani is a better singer than Shristhi.
Shivani is the best singer of the three.
We see in the above sentences that adjectives change in forms (good, better, best) show comparison. They are called the three Degrees of Comparison.
The basic form of the adjective (good) describing a noun or pronoun is called the Positive
degree. It is used when no comparison is made.
When we compare two nouns or pronouns having the same quality, the adjective (better) is said to be in the Comparative degree.
When we compare more than two nouns or pronouns of the same class, the adjective
(best) is said to be in the Superlative degree.
Note: The comparative degree is generally followed by the conjunction ‘than‘. The superlative degree is preceded by ‘the’ and followed by ‘of‘.
Formation of Degrees of Adjectives
Most adjectives of one syllable and some of two syllables for the comparative and. •
superlative degree by adding er and est respectively to the positive degree.
| Positive | Comparative | Superlative |
|
strong
bold
high
thick
rich
|
stronger
bolder
higher
thicker
richer
|
strongest
boldest
highest
thickest
richest
|
• When the positive degree ends in e, only r and st are added to form the comparative and superlative degrees.
|
brave
wise
able
fine
|
braver
wiser
abler
finer
|
bravest
wisest
ablest
finest
|
- If the positive degree ends in y and it is preceded by a consonant, then the ‘y’ changed Into i first and er and est are added to form the comparative and superlative degrees.
|
heavy
happy
pretty
|
heavier
happier
prettier
|
heaviest
happiest
prettiest
|
Note:If the ‘y is preceded by a vowel, then simply er and est are added.
- When the positive degree ends in a consonant preceded by a short vowel, the final consonant is doubled and ‘er’ and ‘est’ are added to form the comparative and superlative degrees.
|
sad
big
hot
|
sadder
bigger
hotter
|
saddest
biggest
hottest
|
• All adjectives of more than two syllables and many adjectives of two syllables form the comparative degree by adding the word more to the positive degree and the superlative by adding the word most to the positive degree.
|
beautiful
intelligent
interesting
|
more beautiful
more intelligent
more interesting
|
most beautiful
most intelligent
most interesting
|
• Some adjectives form their comparatives and superlatives in an irregular way.
|
bad
old
much/many
little
good
far
|
worse
older/elder
more
less
better
farther
|
worst
oldest/eldest
most
least
best
farthest
|
Interchange of the Degrees of Comparison
We can change one degree of an adjective in a sentence into another degree, without
changing the meaning.
For example:
1. Superlative degree : Lead is the heaviest of all metals.
Comparative degree : Lead is heavier than any other metal.
Positive degree: No other metal is as heavy as lead.
2. Superlative degree : Bill Gates is the richest person in the world.
Comparative degree : Bill Gates is richer than any other person in the world.
Positive degree : No other person in the world is as rich as Bill Gates.
Important Note:
• Adjectives are describing words, i.e. they add something to the meanings of nouns or pronoun. They tell the qualities of nouns and pronouns.
• The kinds of adjectives are: Adjectives of Quality. Adjectives of Quantity Adjectives of Number. Interrogative Adjectives, Demonstrative Adjectives Possessive Adjectives, Distributive Adjectives and Emphasis
• ing Adjectives. • The basic form of the adjective (good) describing a noun or pronoun is called the positive degree. It is used when no comparison is made.
• When we compare two nouns or pronouns having the same quality, the adjective (better) is said to be in the Comparative degree.