Adjectives in English – Definition, Types, Forms, Usage and Examples

Hey there! Ever met someone who’s a bit crazy, super intelligent, loads of fun, or just downright interesting? These words might describe you or someone you know. And guess what? They’re called adjectives!

Now, what exactly are adjectives, or what parts of speech do they belong to? Well, they’re descriptive words that give more details about nouns or pronouns. Imagine them as the colorful paint that adds life to a picture and adds depth and specificity to communication.

So, let’s dive in and discover more about adjectives. We’ll explore what they mean, their definition, forms, different types, and their usage. Plus, I’ll throw in some cool examples to show you how they bring sentences to life. Ready for the adjective adventure? Let’s go!

What is an adjective?

An adjective is a word used to describe or provide more accurate information about a noun or pronoun that acts as the subject in a sentence. Adjectives are positioned either after the verb or before the noun they modify. In simple terms, it adds a more descriptive quality to a sentence.

For instance, when describing a house, saying “It is a house” provides basic information. However, including an adjective enhances the description, as in “It is a big house” or “It is a big, comfortable house.” Adjectives, highlighted in bold, provide clarity and offer a more detailed understanding of the object under discussion.

Definition of an Adjective | Cambridge, Collins, Oxford Dictionary & Merriam Webster Dictionary

Cambridge Dictionary defines an adjective as it is a word that describes a noun or pronoun. The Collins Dictionary provides a more detailed definition, stating that an adjective is a word such as ‘big,’ ‘dead,’ or ‘financial’ that describes a person or thing or gives extra information about them.

The Oxford Learner’s Dictionary defines an adjective as it is a word that describes a person or thing, for example, ‘big,’ ‘red,’ and ‘clever’ in a big house, red wine, and a clever idea. According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, an adjective is a word belonging to one of the major form classes in any of multiple languages.

It commonly functions as a modifier of a noun, serving to express the quality of the named thing. It indicates its quantity or extent or specifies the thing as distinct from something else.

Types of Adjectives in English With Examples

Adjectives perform different functions in a sentence. Various types of adjectives include:

Descriptive Adjectives

Descriptive adjectives are used to compare the qualities or attributes of two nouns. They’re commonly used to vividly describe and offer additional details about a noun.

Formatting Rules

Word Ending	Formation Rule
-er	Add the suffix “-er”
-e	Add the suffix “-r”
-y	Replace “y” with “-ier” for two syllables

Examples:

• Flavor: sweet, savory, spicy
• Sound: loud, softy, melodic
• Color: green, red, blue
• Texture: soft, gritty, silky
• Size: small, large, narrow
• Shape: round, square, round
• Touch: rough, smooth, spiky

Sentence Example:

• The vibrant sunset painted the sky with warm hues.
• The cozy cottage nestled among the tall, swaying trees.

Demonstrative Adjectives

Demonstrative adjectives, such as this, that, these, and those, are used before a noun to identify and explain which particular one is being referred to.

Examples:

• This textbook is interesting.
• Those cottages are expensive.

Interrogative Adjectives

Interrogative adjectives such as what, which, and whose, are used before a noun to form questions and seek information.

Examples:

• Which car do you prefer?
• Whose jacket is this?

Possessive Adjectives

Possessive adjectives are used to indicate ownership or possession of something and are used before a noun. Some common possessive adjectives include words such as my, your, his, her, its, our, and their.

Examples:

• His skills are impressive.
• Their house is beautiful.

Quantitative Adjectives

Quantitative adjectives describe the quantity of a noun or pronoun and can be precise with specific numbers or approximate with words like few, many, several, etc.

Examples:

• She has three apples.
• He has many friends.

Proper Adjectives

Proper adjectives, derived from proper nouns, are capitalized and commonly describe nationalities, languages, ethnicities, or words originating from individual names.

Examples:

• The Mozartian melody captivated the audience.
• The Shakespearean play remains a timeless classic.

Adjective Order

In the English language, there is a specific order for arranging adjectives before a noun, providing natural and clear sentences. The correct sequence for adjectives in English is as follows:

 Opinion

It reflects a speaker’s perspective or belief about a noun and usually comes first.

Examples

• Beautiful
• Delicious
• Incredible

Size

This adjective describes the dimensions or proportions of a noun and often follows opinion adjectives.

Examples

• Small
• Large
• Tiny

Age

Age adjective indicates the relative age or newness of a noun and comes after size adjectives.

Examples

• Old
• New
• Ancient

Shape

The shape adjective describes the geometric form or outline of a noun and comes after size adjectives.

Examples

• Round
• Square
• Triangular

Color

It describes the hue or shade of a noun and is placed after shape adjectives.

Examples

• Red
• Blue
• Yellow

Origin

The origin adjective describes where the noun is made or comes from.

Examples

• Japanese
• Asian
• European

Material

It indicates what a noun is made of and follows color adjectives.

Examples

• Wooden
• Metal
• Plastic

When using multiple adjectives before a noun, it’s important to arrange them correctly for clarity and natural sentence structure. For example:

Incorrect: They found a wooden new beautiful table.

Correct: They found a beautiful new wooden table.

In this case, the correct order is material (wooden), age (new), and opinion (beautiful).

Apart from the order of adjectives, it’s important to differentiate between attributive and predicative adjectives. Attributive adjectives come directly before the noun they modify, while predicative adjectives are found after a linking verb (e.g., “to be”).

Attributive: The red car is parked outside.
Predicative: The car outside is red.

Observing the proper adjective order and recognizing the difference between attributive and predicative functions contributes to clear and natural language use in English.

What importance do adjectives hold in language?

Adjectives play an essential role in language by conveying various aspects of a noun or pronoun, including color, size, condition, sense, quantity, appearance, time, or personality. They are versatile tools capable of expressing comparisons by degrees.

Beyond describing tangible objects, adjectives extend to talk about someone’s personality. For example, one might say, “My father is an intelligent man.”

Adjectives serve as a means to evoke sensory experiences, describing visual aspects, taste, smell, sound, and emotional or non-physical attributes.

In essence, adjectives are universal parts of speech, employed almost instinctively in both spoken and written language. Their importance lies in their ability to enhance communication by providing a nuanced and detailed portrayal of the subjects they modify.

Adjectives vs. adverbs

Adverbs can describe how actions happen, how things are, or even how other adverbs work. On the other hand, adjectives mainly describe and change nouns or pronouns. So, adverbs are more versatile because they can do more jobs in a sentence! When employed to modify a verb, an adverb elucidates how an action is executed (e.g., Brandon runs slowly).

Although adverbs are frequently created by appending the suffix “-ly” to adjectives, it’s essential to note that not all words ending in “-ly” function as adverbs (e.g., “ugly” is an adjective).

Adverbs can undergo formation from adjectives through various methods, contingent on the original ending.

Original Ending	Adverbial Ending	Example
-y	-ily	easy; easily
-le	-y	gentle; gently
-ic	-ally	tragic; tragically

Example

• Adjective: The cake looks delicious.
• Adverb: She baked the cake deliciously with precise measurements.

In the first example, the cake is being modified. In the second, the cake’s moves are being addressed.

Detailed Examples of Adjectives

The most general adjectives are often descriptive. They contribute to clarity and precision in writing. Descriptive adjectives achieve this by modifying a pronoun or noun with an attribute. Consequently, this type of adjective precedes a noun or pronoun.

Examples:

• I saw The fast brown fox jump over the lazy dog.
• The mysterious package arrived at the doorstep.
• The energetic child played in the park.

Distributive Adjectives Examples

Distributive adjectives can be used to indicate a specific noun. Typically appearing before the noun they modify. Moreover, they commonly associate with singular nouns. Examples of distributive adjectives include any, each, every, neither, and either.

Examples

• Neither of the options is appealing.
• Any book on the shelf is available for borrowing.
• Each student must submit their assignment.

Possessive Adjectives Examples

Possessive adjectives can be used to suggest ownership. Examples include his, her, your, their, whose, its, our, and my.

Examples

• I admired her painting.
• We appreciate your effort.
• They valued our opinion.

Interrogative Adjectives Examples

Interrogative adjectives are the ones that ask questions. Common ones are what, which, and whose.

Examples

• Whose lunchbox is this?
• Which movie do you want to watch?
• What color is your car?

Indefinite Adjectives Examples

Not all adjectives make nouns more specific. Indefinite adjectives are non-specific. Examples of indefinite adjectives include no, few, any, several, and many.

Examples

• I observed numerous stars during the clear night.
• I have a few friends.
• I have no family.

Indefinite Adjectives Examples

Not every adjective narrows down nouns. Some, called indefinite adjectives are broad and nonspecific. Examples of indefinite adjectives include no, few, many, several, and many.

Examples

• I saw several old college friends over the holiday season.
• I have a few friends.
• I have no family.

Sequence Adjectives Examples

Sequence adjectives assign numbers to nouns, but they don’t indicate order with ordinal numbers.

Examples

• I took the initial step in the project.
• She’s the fourth member to join the team.
• We are in the fifth inning of the game.

Proper Adjectives Examples

Proper adjectives originate from proper nouns and maintain the capitalization of their source.

Examples

• I visited a Parisian cafe.
• She fan of Bollywood films.
• The Italian cuisine is renowned worldwide.

Quantitative Adjectives Examples

Quantitative adjectives provide numerical information to pronouns and nouns, addressing questions about how much or how many.

Examples

• He owns five cars.
• We planted seven trees in the garden.
• There are ten students in the classroom.

Examples of Adjectival Nouns

When one noun modifies another, it transforms into a functioning adjective. These modified nouns are termed adjectival nouns or noun modifiers.

Examples:

• Ocean Breeze
• Mountain view

More Examples of Descriptive Adjectives

 

Adjectives serve to describe various aspects, including appearance, scent, or size. Let’s explore some examples of adjectives describing different things or qualities:

Taste	Touch	Sound
Delicious	Soft	Noisy
Bland	Windy	Whispery
Bitter	Oily	Shrill
Sweet	Smooth	Silent
Tasty	Cold	Hissing

Size	Shape	Time
Gigantic	Narrow	Late
Huge	Hollow	Old
Minute	Straight	Slow
Tiny	Rotund	Speedy
Wee	Crooked	Daily

Amount	Emotion	Personality
Lots	Excited	Generous
Many	Amused	Happy
Ample	Angry	Smart
Sparse	Grumpy	Sassy
Enough	Bored	Jaunty

Appearance	Situation
Attractive	Nasty
Fat	Aromatic
Spotless	Illegal
Confident	Rainy
Plain	Worse

Forms of Adjectives

Adjectives have different forms including comparative, superlative, and absolute adjectives. This section will briefly explore these forms with examples to illustrate their use.

Comparative Adjectives

Comparative adjectives come into play when comparing two things or people, highlighting a greater or lesser degree of a specific quality. To create a comparative adjective, consider the following guidelines:

• One-syllable adjectives: add -er

Example: Tall becomes taller.

• Two-syllable adjectives ending in -ful, -ing, -y, or -y preceded by a consonant: change -y to -i- and add -er

E.g.: Happy becomes happier.

• Adjectives with two or more syllables: use more or less before the adjective

Example: Beautiful becomes more beautiful.

Formation of comparative adjectives 

Positive	Comparative
fast	faster
big	bigger
smart	smarter
warm	warmer
busy	busier

Superlative Adjectives

Superlative adjectives come into play when comparing three or more things or people, signifying the highest or lowest degree of a specific quality. To create a superlative adjective, follow these rules:

• One-syllable adjectives: add -est

Example: Tall becomes tallest.

• Two-syllable adjectives ending in -ful, -ing, -y, or -y preceded by a consonant: change -y to -i- and add -est

E.g.: Happy becomes happiest.

• Adjectives with two or more syllables: use most or least before the adjective

Example: Beautiful becomes most beautiful.

Formation of Superlative adjectives 

Positive	Superlative
fast	fastest
big	biggest
smart	smartest
warm	warmest
busy	busiest

Absolute Adjectives

Absolute adjectives can be used to describe a quality that cannot be compared or intensified. They express a state or condition that is either present or absent, lacking degrees in between. Here are some common examples:

Absolute Adjective	Example
Complete	The task is complete.
Perfect	She is perfect in her role.
Unique	Each snowflake is unique.
Eternal	Their love is eternal.
Dead	The plant is dead.

Adjective Placement

Placement of an Adjective in a Sentence

Attributive adjectives come before the noun they modify. For instance, a clear day exemplifies this type.

Predicate adjectives are the second type following a linking verb such as seemed, are, am, is, was, were, and looked. An example is “The movie seems captivating.”

Postpositive adjectives come right after a pronoun or noun in a sentence. An illustration is the phrase “rooms available.”

Detailed Illustration of Adjective Position in Sentences

Ensuring proper adjective position is crucial for grammatically correct and authentic-sounding sentences. We will explore where adjectives should be positioned within a sentence:

Attributive Adjectives (Place before noun):

• She is a cute girl.
• This is my green dress.
• Today, we will have heavy rain.
• Ants have tiny legs.
• It is a hot day.

Predicative Adjectives (Place after noun):

• This sandwich is tasty.
• The boy is tall.
• My cat’s eyes are yellow.
• The cake is not healthy.
• My daughter is beautiful.

Adjective Placement after Certain Verbs:

• I feel amazing after my spa day.
• The dog appears aggressive.

Adjective Placement with Specific Verbs (to smell, to taste, to sound, to look):

• That pizza tastes fantastic.
• The music sounds good.
• It looks stunning.
• That smells awful

Adjectives Without a Noun

Adjectives can function independently without a noun. In the sentence “He is rich,” the adjective is used with the pronoun “he,” but it can also stand alone to describe something as simply “rich.” Additionally, adjectives can be used on their own in sentences like “The largest must go at the back.”

Adjectives in Pairs

To enhance descriptive richness, using pairs of adjectives is common. For instance, you might say, “This is a big, comfortable house,” or “I am a smart, thoughtful person.” Combining adjectives in pairs adds depth and specificity to your descriptions.

Adjective Placement in Noun Phrases:

In English grammar, adjectives especially modify nouns and are positioned before the noun they modify. Specific rules govern adjective placement within noun phrases:

Opinion Adjectives before Fact Adjectives:

• A captivating historical novel (captivating = opinion, historical = fact)
• An exciting science experiment (exciting = opinion, science = fact)

General Adjectives before Specific or Identifying Adjectives:

• A sleek silver laptop (sleek = general, silver = specific)
• An old wooden chest (old = general, wooden = specific)

Adhering to these rules enhances clarity and precision in expressing characteristics within noun phrases.

Adjectives in Appositives

In appositives, which are noun phrases offering supplementary details about another noun, adjectives should precede the noun they modify. Reflecting the structure of a typical noun phrase. Examples include:

• My cousin, an experienced chef, prepared an exquisite meal.
• We admired the remarkable achievement, her groundbreaking invention.

Attributive Nouns as Adjectives:

Attributive nouns serve as adjectives, modifying another noun directly. The attributive noun precedes the noun it modifies. Examples include:

• Mountain view (mountain = attributive noun, view = noun)
• Ocean breeze (ocean = attributive noun, breeze = noun)

Multipart Adjectives

In describing a noun, we employ two types of adjectives, utilizing both coordinate and cumulative structures for smooth writing.

Coordinate Adjectives:

• Two adjectives of equal weight, separated by a comma.
• Example: The garden displayed a colorful, fragrant array.

Cumulative Adjectives:

• Two adjectives that build upon each other, with a specific order for meaning.
• Example: The bitterly cold wind numbed my face.

Compound Adjectives:

• Comprising at least two hyphenated words for a combined descriptor.
• Example: He wore a well-worn, leather jacket.

Adjective-Verb Relationship

Linking Verbs

Linking verbs like (be, seem, and feel) connect the subject to a descriptive word.

Example: The coffee tastes bitter.

Predicate Adjectives

Follow linking verbs, describing or providing more information about the subject’s qualities, attributes, and states.

Example: The morning feels refreshing.

Attributive Adjectives

Directly modify a noun, typically positioned before it.

Example: The cat chased a playful butterfly.

Participles

Verb forms (ending in ‑ing, -ed, or -en) can act as adjectives.

Example (Past Participle): The shattered dreams haunted her.

Example (Present Participle): A sparkling river flowed nearby.

Participle Type	Example Verb	Example as Adjective
Present	Laugh	The laughing child
Past	Broken	The broken glass

Common English Adjectives

In this section, we focus on some common English adjectives because they are essential and are frequently used in everyday conversations and writing.

List of adjectives:

Gorgeous	Cheerful	Glorious
Beautiful	Pleasant	Magnificent
Happy	Delightful	Splendid
Great	Wonderful	Glorious
Lovely	Fantastic	Gorgeous
Charming	Amazing	Attractive
Angry	Outstanding	Enchanting
Arrogant	Magnificent	Calm
Cold	Splendid	Lively

FAQs on Adjectives

What are adjectives in English?

Adjectives are words describing qualities of nouns, e.g., size, color, and emotions. Improve sentence detail and interest.

How do we place adjectives in sentences?

Typically before nouns or after linking verbs like “be” or “seem.” Examples are provided for clarity.

How do comparative adjectives differ from superlative adjectives?

Comparative compares two things; superlative describes the highest quality among three or more. Suffixes or “more” and “most” used.

Can adjectives describe or modify other adjectives?

Yes, adjectives can modify other adjectives, providing precision in describing the noun, as illustrated.

Are there prescribed rules for the order of adjectives in a sentence?

Yes, follow a specific order: Determiners, Opinion, Size, Age, Shape, Condition, Color, Origin, Material, Purpose/Qualifier. Example: “She wore an old red Italian silk dress.”

Related:

• Types of Adjectives
• Adjectives Ending in -ED and -ING
• Compound Adjectives
• Adjectives & Prepositions
• Adjective Suffixes
• Adjective Phrase
• Adjective Clause