Adjective

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Features and Examples of Adjectives

The numeral adjectives have three forms; Cardinal, Ordinal, and Multiplicative.

1. The Cardinals

   The CardinalsOpens in new window show how many; as, nineteen, sixty.

2. The Ordinals

   The OrdinalsOpens in new window show order; as, ninth, sixtieth.

3. The Multiplacatives

   The MultiplicativesOpens in new window show how many fold; as, single, double or twofold, triple or threefold.

Characteristics of Adjectives

Adjectives typically serve to describe the qualities of an entity that a noun represents.

The different characteristics of adjectives are briefly summarized below:

1. Characteristic #1

   Adjectives modify nouns by describing the inherent property of the entity or thing identified by the noun. Survey the following:

   • Please hand me that golden bracelet, will you?
   • That old man had many nice things to say.

2. Characteristic #2

   Adjectives can occur in a string, usually of no more than three, and in a preferred order, survey:

   • The Samantha’s decided to buy a nice, fancy, old house.
   • He married a beautiful attractive young lady.

3. Characteristic #3

   A number of adjectives are gradable and have comparative and superlative forms, –er/–est and/or more/most, as well as less/least for negative gradability.

   Some native speakers of English treat absolute adjectives (e.g., absolute, unique) as gradable. See examples below:

   • Speaking of the two athletes, Atkinson is faster.
   • She’s the happiest woman I’ve ever known.
   • He was the least successful of all.

4. Characteristic #4

   Participial adjectives are formed from present (–ing) and past (–ed) verb forms. They have comparative and superlative forms only with more/most and less/least. Examples include:

   • That movie was amazing.
   • She had a bored countenance.
   • He became even more disturbed.

5. Characteristic #5

   Adjectives can be modified by adverbs:

   • His performance was extremely lively.
   • She is attractively beautiful.

Types of Adjectives

Adjectives consist in various types. The most common ones are discussed below:

1. Adjective of Degree

   Adjectives of degree indicate the degree of the property meant by the head noun. For example, in the sentence, The show was an utter disaster, the adjective utter describes the degree of the disaster.

   The degree indicated by such an adjective is usually absolute, as shown below:

   • An absolute hero.
   • A complete team–player.
   • A sheer victory.

2. Adjective of Quality

   Adjectives of quality indicate quality of a person or thing.

   The sentences below contain adjective of quality:

   • Gretchen is an intelligent student.
   • Politics is a sensitive topic.
   • Muhammed Ali was a brave boxer.
   • Dubai is a renowned city for tourism.

Adjective of Quantity

Adjectives of quantity tells us how much of a thing is talked about, as the following examples illustrate:

• John did not come to school with any writing material.
• I need some money.
• Andy has had several appointments cancelled already.
• According to him, he has only offered few items for sale.

Important Hint!
Note that adjectives of quantity are sometimes referred as indefinite adjectives.

3. Adjective of Number

   Adjectives of number simply indicate how many persons or things are meant or in what order they stand. Consider the following sentences:

   • All the board members were present.
   • The basket contains seven mangoes.
   • Today is the first day of the month.

   Important Hint!  

   Note that Adjectives that state the exact number of the noun are called cardinalsOpens in new window. For example:

   • nine rulers.
   • three pencils.

   Those which indicate in what order things stand are called ordinalsOpens in new window. For example:

   • The first month.
   • The third round of fixtures.

   All, many, few, several and some are adjectives that do not indicate the exact number. Consider these examples:

   • All men are mortal.
   • Several instructions were given.

   The adjectives such as, each, every, either and neither are used when the persons or things are taken one at a time. For example:

   • Every student is expected to use the Ifioque.com website.

Demonstrative Adjective

The words this, that, these, and those, point to nouns. They are classified as demonstrative adjectives because they are used to demonstrate or indicate which specific thing or person is meant, as the following examples show:

• That car can run as fast as this.
• These bananas are ripe.
• Those books are excellent.

Important Hint
You should not confuse demonstrative adjectives with demonstrative pronounsOpens in new window. They are identical, but a demonstrative pronoun stands alone, while a demonstrative adjective is followed by a noun. See example below:
That sounds beautiful. (demonstrative pronoun) That house is beautiful. (demonstrative adjective + noun)

4. Possessive Adjective

   The words my, your, his, her, its, and their are classified possessive adjectives.

   A possessive adjective shows ownership or possession. It answers the question whose ? Note the following examples:

   • The dog is coiling its tail.
   • His name is Mathew.
   • The couples moved to their house.
   • Can you lend me your story book?

   Important Hint!
   You should not confuse possessive adjectives with possessive pronounsOpens in new window. A possessive adjective is placed before a noun while a possessive pronoun is used in place of a noun. See example below:
   That is my car. (possessive adjective + noun) That car is mine. (possessive pronoun)

5. Interrogative Adjective

   The words which, what and whose are classified as interrogative adjective.

   An interrogative adjective is used with a nounOpens in new window to ask questions, as follows:

   • Whose house is that?
   • Which car do you want to buy?
   • What pet do you want to have?

   Important Hint!
   Note that interrogative adjectives differ from interrogative pronounsOpens in new window in the manner that the former is followed by a noun in a sentence. See example below:
   What time is the meeting? (interrogative adjective + noun) What is that? (interrogative pronoun)