ADJECTIVES

A Presentation for 6th grade English classes

AN ADJECTIVE MODIFIES A NOUN OR PRONOUN.

I

t was a snowy, bitter-

cold, winter’s day. W

hat kind of day?s

nowyb

itter-coldw

inter’s

AN ADJECTIVE TELLS WHAT KIND

It was a peaceful

garden.

W

hat kind of a garden?

p

eaceful

AN ADJECTIVE TELLS WHICH ONE

T

he waves crashed below

the Golden Gate bridge.

W

hich bridge?

G

olden Gate

AN ADJECTIVE TELLS HOW MANY

I

n the clear water of the

lake, a fisherman caught

three fish.

H

ow many fish?

t

hree

ARTICLE ADJECTIVES, ALSO CALLED “NOUN MARKERS”,

POINT OUT A NOUN NEARBY.

There are three articles

• a• an• the

A and an are indefinite articles. They point out one of many.

The is called a definite article because it points out only one.

PROPER ADJECTIVES ARE A SPECIAL FORM OF ADJECTIVE

CREATED BY CHANGING A PROPER NOUN.

For example:

America could change to American

We saluted

the American flag.

OTHER PARTS OF SPEECH MAY BE USED AS AN ADJECTIVE IF THEY

DESCRIBE A NOUN.F

or example baby is normally thought of as a noun.

H

owever, if it is used to describe a bottle, it becomes an adjective.

T

he baby bottle amused the infant for hours.

OTHER PARTS OF SPEECH MAY BE USED AS AN ADJECTIVE IF

THEY DESCRIBE A NOUN.F

or example that is normally thought of as a

demonstrative pronoun.

H

owever, if it is used to describe a gift, it becomes

an adjective.

T

hat gift was my favorite.

ADJECTIVES CAN BE USED TO COMPARE.

T

here are three degrees of

comparison.

1

. Positive

No comparison is made.

A

lice is a talented athlete.

ADJECTIVES CAN BE USED TO COMPARE.

T

here are three degrees of comparison.

2

.Comparative

Compares two.

A

lice is a talented athlete, but Sherri is

more talented.

ADJECTIVES CAN BE USED TO COMPARE.

T

here are three degrees of

comparison.

3

. Superlative

Compares three or more.

A

lice is a talented athlete, Sherri is

more talented, but John is the most

talented.

USE THIS CHART TO

FORM

COMPARATIVE AND

SUPERLATIVE.

Positive Comparative Superlative

Small Smaller (to regular words add er or est )

Smallest

Big Bigger (double the consonant)

Biggest

Happy Happier (change the "y" to an "i")

Happiest

Difficult More difficult (when you have more than 2syllables, add a word in front ratherthan an ending)

Most difficult

SOME ADJECTIVES

ARE IRREGULAR.

Positive Comparative SuperlativeGood Better BestBad Worse WorstFar(additional)

Further Furthest

Far(distance)

Farther Farthest

Little(quantity

Less Least

Well(health)

Better Best

Much/many More Most

A PREDICATE ADJECTIVE FOLLOWS A LINKING VERB AND

DESCRIBES A SUBJECT.

T

he waterfall is beautiful.

B

eautiful describes the

waterfall.

A PREDICATE ADJECTIVE SHOULD NOT BE CONFUSED WITH A PREDICATE

NOMINATIVE.R

emember, an adjective describes, and a nominative

renames.

T

he Eiffel Tower is a monument. (renames)

T

he Eiffel Tower is fantastic. (describes)