Adjective Lesson - Definition, Forms, Types, Usage and Examples
Lesson Overview
- What Is an Adjective?
- Types of Adjective
- Forms of Adjectives
- Degrees of Adjectives
- Adjectives vs. Adverbs
- Nouns as Adjectives and Adjective as Nouns
- Examples of Adjectives
In the English language, certain words come together to create meaning. These words, known as adjectives, give us more details about everything we talk about.
Understanding how adjectives work can help make our speech and writing clearer and more detailed. By adding the right adjectives, we paint a clearer picture and make our ideas easier to understand.
What Is an Adjective?
An adjective is a word that describes or gives more information about a noun (person, place, or thing). These adjectives help us understand what something is like.
Adjectives can explain color, size, shape, age, or other qualities. They allow us to communicate more clearly and vividly, turning simple ideas into more specific ones.
Example: In the sentence "The old building looked abandoned," "old" is the adjective that describes the noun "building," telling us about its age.
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Types of Adjective
Adjectives can be categorized based on their functions in a sentence. The main types of adjectives are:
| Type of Adjective | Definition | Examples | Example Sentence |
| Possessive Adjectives | These adjectives show possession or ownership. | my, your, his, her, their, its | This is my book. |
| Interrogative Adjectives | These adjectives are used to ask questions about nouns. | what, which, whose | Which dress do you like? |
| Demonstrative Adjectives | These adjectives describe the position of a noun in space or time. | this, that, these, those | These apples are sweet. |
| Compound Adjectives | These adjectives are formed by combining two or more adjectives to describe a noun. | blue-eyed, well-known, high-pitched | She wore a well-designed dress. |
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Forms of Adjectives
Adjectives can be used to compare qualities between different subjects that are performing the same action or sharing the same characteristics. There are three degrees of comparison for adjectives:
Positive Degree of Comparison
The positive form of an adjective is used to describe a single subject without making any comparisons. This is the base form of the adjective.
Example: "This movie is exciting."
Comparative Degree of Comparison
The comparative form of an adjective is used when comparing two subjects that share the same quality. This form typically adds -er or uses more or less.
Example: "This movie is more exciting than the one we watched last week."
Superlative Degree of Comparison
The superlative form is used when comparing three or more subjects, indicating that one subject has the highest degree of a quality. This form often adds -est or uses most or least.
Example: "This is the most exciting movie I've seen this year."
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Degrees of Adjectives
Adjectives come in three distinct forms, known as degrees of adjectives: absolute, comparative, and superlative. Each degree helps to express different levels or intensities of a quality.
| Degree of Adjective | Definition | Example | Example Sentence |
| Absolute Adjectives | Express qualities in an extreme or absolute sense. | perfect | She has a perfect score. |
| Comparative Adjectives | Used to compare two things, showing which has more or less of a quality. | cheaper | This car is cheaper than that one. |
| Superlative Adjectives | Used to compare three or more things, indicating the highest degree of a quality. | fastest | He is the fastest runner. |
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Adjectives vs. Adverbs
Adjectives and adverbs are both essential parts of speech, but they have different roles.
| Feature | Adjectives | Adverbs |
| What they describe | Nouns (people, places, things) and pronouns | Verbs (actions), adjectives, or other adverbs |
| How they work | Tell us more about the noun or pronoun | Tell us how, when, where, or to what extent something happens |
| Examples | The red ball bounced. | The ball bounced quickly. |
Note: Some words can be both adjectives and adverbs.
Example: The car is fast. (adjective) The car goes fast. (adverb)
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Nouns as Adjectives and Adjective as Nouns
Sometimes, a noun can act as an adjective when it describes another noun.
- Example: I forgot my lunch box at home.
- Here, lunch is a noun, but it functions as an adjective to describe the type of box.
Similarly, adjectives can be used as nouns, especially when referring to a group of people. This often happens with the + adjective:
- Example: The brave never back down from a challenge.
- The adjective brave stands in for "brave people."
This shift also occurs with other commonly used adjective-noun pairs:
- Example: We have a big final next week.
- The noun exam is omitted, and final functions as a noun
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Examples of Adjectives
- The sleepy cat curled up on the windowsill.
(Sleepy describes the cat's state.)
- Her shiny shoes sparkled under the light.
(Shiny tells us about the shoes' appearance.)
- A curious child kept asking questions.
(Curious describes the child's nature.)
- The narrow bridge swayed in the wind.
(Narrow gives information about the bridge's width.)
- His broken watch stopped working hours ago.
(Broken describes the condition of the watch.)
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