Adjectives
This part of speech adds colour, vividness and details
Nouns generally are the subject of a sentence, while verbs describe the action or state of being. But if used in effective and correct ways, the adjectives can enhance many sentences by adding hue, lucidity, vividness, and details of description, thereby increasing manifold interest in an otherwise mundane sentence.
An adjective is a part of speech (or word class) that modifies a noun or a pronoun.
In addition to their basic forms, most adjectives have two other forms: comparative and superlative . They many often serve as modifiers, providing additional information about another word or word group, such as a noun or noun phrase. But adjectives also sometimes act as nouns in a sentence.
Types of Adjectives
Absolute Adjectives
An absolute adjective is one with a meaning that cannot be intensified or compared. It is also known as an incomparable, ultimate, or absolute modifier. Example:
They are married. She is born.
He is dead.
In the sentences above, the words married, born, dead are absolute adjectives.
The persons are either married or they are not. The person is either born or she is not. The person is either dead or he is not.
One cannot be more married, more born or deader than someone else and also one cannot be the most married/born or deadest among a group. Absolute adjectives are always in the superlative degree except a few that can be quantified by the addition of the word almost, nearly, or virtually.
Attributive and Predicative Adjectives
An attributive adjective usually comes before the noun it modifies without a linking verb.
For example,
“In those tender years, the Common room of the hostel was full of laughing, joking, boasting, and bragging.”
The word tender is an attributive adjective because it precedes and modifies the noun years. Attributive adjectives are direct modifiers of nominals.
A predicative adjective usually comes after a linking verb rather than before a noun. It is also a subject complement.
For example,
The fox is brown.
In general, when adjectives are used after a verb such as be, become, grow, look, or seem, they’re called predicative adjectives.
Appositive Adjectives
An appositive adjective is an adjective or a series of adjectives that follows a noun and, like a nonrestrictive appositive, is set off by commas or dashes.
For example:
My friend Neetu was a pretty girl, slim, fair and hazel-eyed.
John, my class mate was a smart boy, tall, strong, and broad-shouldered.
As in these the example above, appositive adjectives often appear in pairs or groups of three, called tricolons.
Comparative and Superlative Adjectives
The comparative adjective is the form of an adjective involving the comparisons of more or less as well as greater or lesser.
Comparative adjectives are either marked by the suffix -er or identified by the word more or less .
Almost all one-syllable adjectives, along with some two-syllable adjectives, add –er to the base to form the comparative. In most of them with two or more syllables, the comparative is identified by the word more or less.
The superlative adjective, by comparison, is the form or degree of an adjective that indicates the most or the least of something.
Superlatives are either marked by the suffix -est (as in “the fastest bike”) or identified by the word most or least (“the most difficult job”). Similar to comparative adjectives, almost all one-syllable adjectives, along with some two-syllable adjectives, add -est to the base to form the superlative.
And in most of them with two or more syllables, the superlative is identified by the word most or least. Not all adjectives have superlative forms.
After a superlative, in or of along with a noun phrase can be used to indicate what is being compared.
For example: We dwelt for a year in “the tallest building in the world”. My wife and myself enjoyed “the best time of our lives here”.
Compound Adjectives
A compound adjective is made up of two or more words (such as part-time and high-speed) that act as a single idea to modify a noun (a part-time employee, a high-speed chase). Compound adjectives are also called phrasal adjectives or compound modifiers.
As a general rule, the words in a compound adjective are hyphenated when they come before a noun (a well-known actor) but not when they come after (The actor is well known). Compound adjectives formed with an adverb ending in -ly (such as rapidly changing) are usually not hyphenated.
Demonstrative Adjectives
A demonstrative adjective is a determiner that comes before and points to a particular noun. A demonstrative adjective is usually called a demonstrative determiner.
For example:
Jill my dear, lift this stick and drive that bull out of sight.
Son, take this bat and hit that ball out of the park.
There are four demonstratives in English:
Near ones: this and these
Far ones: that and those
Singular ones: this and that
Plural ones: these and those
Denominal Adjectives
A denominal adjective is formed from a noun, usually with the addition of a suffix—such as hopeless, earthen, cowardly, childish, and Picturesque.
For example:
Our new neighborhood seemed romantic somehow, and very New Yorkish, especially to a couple of young people who hailed from Sydney.
In this sentence, the proper noun New York is altered with the suffix –ish to form the denominal adjective.
These kinds of adjectives can heighten the dramatic and descriptive nature of a sentence.
For example:
“The Prime Minister Modi’s speech at Red Fort was…Gandhian in its cadences, and in some ways, was the final, impassioned, heart-felt rebuke to all those, including his opponent, who tried to portray him as somehow an NRI.“
– Subhas C Chakra, “Blog for Indians.” , Aug. 15, 2018.
Nominal Adjectives
The term nominal adjective refers to an adjective or group of adjectives that function as a noun. Nominal adjectives are generally preceded by the word the and can be found as the subject or the object of a sentence or clause. For example:
The elderly are a great source of wisdom.
The word elderly generally acts as a true adjective—an elderly gentleman—but in the previous sentence, it functions as a collective noun and as the subject of the sentence. Nominal adjectives are also known as substantive adjectives.
Possessive Adjectives
The possessive adjectives are my, your, his, her, its, our, their, and whose. A possessive adjective sits before a noun (or a pronoun) to show who or what owns it.
- The possessive adjectives or possessive determiners like my, our, your, his, her, its, their , whose and are generally used at the starting or the middle positions.
Examples of Possessive adjectives in the following sentences are in bold for easy identification. Consider the examples: Possessive adjectives in the beginning:
- My friend has showed up at last.
- Our country is on the rise.
- Your sister is missing.
- His father is a great orator.
- Her jacket is blue.
- Its fur is white.
- Their college is far away.
Possessive adjectives in the middle positions :
- This is your friend.
- Is our country on the right track?
- Which one is your sister?
- That great orator is his father.
- What is the colour of her jacket?
- I love its white fur.
- Is this their college?
Participial Adjectives
A participial adjective is an adjective that has the same form as the participle (a verb ending in -ing or -ed/-en) and usually exhibits the ordinary properties of an adjective. For example:
“What kind of a man was he to fall in love with a lying thief?”
– Janet Dailey, “The Hostage Bride”
In the sentence, the verb lie is altered by adding the ending -ing to form the participial adjective lying, which then describes the noun thief. Also, the comparative and superlative forms of participial adjectives are formed with more and most and less and least—not with the endings -er and -est.
Order of Adjectives
Compound Adjectives
Extreme Adjectives
Adjectival Observations
Not everyone is a fan of adjectives. According to the famous humorist and author Mark Twain who had some rather negative comments about this part of speech:
“When you catch an adjective, kill it. No, I don’t mean utterly, but kill most of them—then the rest will be valuable. They weaken when they are close together. They give strength when they are wide apart.”
Personal Pronoun | Possessive Adjective | Example |
---|---|---|
I | my | I do not choose that my grave should be dug while I am still alive. |
you | your | If you want peace, you don’t talk to your friends. You talk to your enemies. |
he | his | If a man could have half of his wishes, he would double his troubles. |
she | her | She got her looks from her father. He’s a plastic surgeon. |
it | its | Worry never robs tomorrow of its sorrow. It only saps today of its joy. |
we | our | How we spend our days is how we spend our lives. |
they | their | Men are like steel. When they lose their temper, they lose their worth. |
who | whose | The key is to keep company only with people whose presence calls forth your best. |
A-D List of Adjective Words
The first part of this list features commonly used adjectives from the first four letters of the alphabet.
adorable | adventurous | aggressive |
agreeable | alert | alive |
amused | angry | annoyed |
annoying | anxious | arrogant |
ashamed | attractive | average |
awful | bad | beautiful |
better | bewildered | black |
bloody | blue | blue-eyed |
blushing | bored | brainy |
brave | breakable | bright |
busy | calm | careful |
cautious | charming | cheerful |
clean | clear | clever |
cloudy | clumsy | colorful |
combative | comfortable | concerned |
condemned | confused | cooperative |
courageous | crazy | creepy |
crowded | cruel | curious |
cute | dangerous | dark |
dead | defeated | defiant |
delightful | depressed | determined |
different | difficult | disgusted |
distinct | disturbed | dizzy |
doubtful | drab | dull |
E-K Adjectives List
There are plenty more often-used adjectives that start with letters in the next part of the alphabet. Review these adjective words that begin with the letters “e” through “k.”
eager | easy | elated |
elegant | embarrassed | enchanting |
encouraging | energetic | enthusiastic |
envious | evil | excited |
expensive | exuberant | fair |
faithful | famous | fancy |
fantastic | fierce | filthy |
fine | foolish | fragile |
frail | frantic | friendly |
frightened | funny | gentle |
gifted | glamorous | gleaming |
glorious | good | gorgeous |
graceful | grieving | grotesque |
grumpy | handsome | happy |
healthy | helpful | helpless |
hilarious | homeless | homely |
horrible | hungry | hurt |
ill | important | impossible |
inexpensive | innocent | inquisitive |
itchy | jealous | jittery |
jolly | joyous | kind |
L-S Adjective Words
Moving forward in alphabetical order, there are still many more adjectives appropriate for use in everyday conversation. Explore these common words that start with the letters between “l” and “s.”
lazy | light | lively |
lonely | long | lovely |
lucky | magnificent | misty |
modern | motionless | muddy |
mushy | mysterious | nasty |
naughty | nervous | nice |
nutty | obedient | obnoxious |
odd | old-fashioned | open |
outrageous | outstanding | panicky |
perfect | plain | pleasant |
poised | poor | powerful |
precious | prickly | proud |
putrid | puzzled | quaint |
real | relieved | repulsive |
rich | scary | selfish |
shiny | shy | silly |
sleepy | smiling | smoggy |
sore | sparkling | splendid |
spotless | stormy | strange |
stupid | successful | super |
T-Z List of Adjectives
There are plenty more common adjectives throughout the remainder of the alphabet. Explore these common words that start with the letters between “t” and “z.”
talented | tame | tasty |
tender | tense | terrible |
thankful | thoughtful | thoughtless |
tired | tough | troubled |
ugliest | ugly | uninterested |
unsightly | unusual | upset |
uptight | vast | victorious |
vivacious | wandering | weary |
wicked | wide-eyed | wild |
witty | worried | worrisome |
wrong | zany | zealous |