ADJECTIVES IN ENGLISHprepared by Joanna Wilczyńska

Multidisciplinary Flipped Learning with ICTErasmus+ KA2 Project

FLwICT(2015 – 2017)

‘This project has been funded with support from the European Commission.This publication [communication] reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained

therein.’

What is an adjective?The simplest definition of an adjective is …

An adjective is

a word used to describe a noun

IT GIVES THE READER EXTRA INFORMATION ABOUT IT

Activity 1. Match adjectives with nouns

Activity 1. Match adjectives with nouns

When you write the noun "dog" you give the reader basic information.

What is an adjective?

When you add an adjective, you give the reader information that

they can use to create a more detailed picture of

the dog.

In this way, adjectives transform the general idea of a dog

into the more specific idea of a "muddy old sheep dog".

Activity 2. Find the adjectives

Answers:

Add adjectives

Add adjectives

scaredfrightened

smalltemporary

curiousbrave

crazyfast

electricold-fashioned

porcelainnew

bigsleezy

dangerouswild

happyrelaxed

satisfiedexcited

modernhuge

Activity 2. Can you recognize an adjective when you see one?

Underline the adjectives in the following sentences.

1.He is an honest man.

2. The wretched girl sat in the back row.

2.The racing boat zoomed over the calm surface of the lake.

3.Our adventurous tour guide led us up the rocky, mountainous path.

4.The tall, creamy, delicious milkshake melted on the counter while the inattentive waiter flirted with the pretty cashier.

5.Jeanne's two fat Siamese cats hog the electric blanket on cold winter evenings.

1.He is an honest man.

2. The wretched girl sat in the back row.

2.The racing boat zoomed over the calm surface of the lake.

3.Our adventurous tour guide led us up the rocky, mountainous path.

4.The tall, creamy, delicious milkshake melted on the counter while the inattentive waiter flirted with the pretty cashier.

5.Jeanne's two fat Siamese cats hog the electric blanket on cold winter evenings.

Answers:

Sometimes we use more than one adjective in front of a noun.• We often have 2 adjectives in front of a noun:

• We sometimes have 3 adjectives in front of a noun, but this is unusual.

• It is very unusual to have more than 3 adjectives.

It’s a nice comfortable car.

It’s a nice comfortable

convertible car

How many adjectives before a noun?

Some adjectives give a general opinion.

BIG

Some adjectives give a specific opinion.

COMFORTABLE

Order of Adjectives

Place general opinion adjectives

before specific opinion adjectives

Use a comma when writing similar adjectives. “It was a dark, gloomy night”.

However, if the adjectives

have different meanings, skip the comma.

“It was a dark sad night”

A big comfortable car

Adjectives cannot be written in any order. There are rules. When you list several adjectives in a row, you have to put them in the

right order.

Types of adjectivesNUMBER A number adjective gives information about how many of the noun.

Five, several

OPINION An opinion adjective explains what you think about something (other people may not agree with you). Silly, beautiful, horrible, difficult, interesting, stupid

SIZE A size adjective, of course, tells you how big or small something is. Large, tiny, enormous, little, big, thin

AGE An age adjective tells you how young or old something or someone is.Ancient, new, young, old, modern

SHAPE A shape adjective describes the shape of something.Square, round, flat, rectangular

COLOUR A colour adjective, of course, describes the colour of something.Blue, pink, reddish, grey

ORIGIN An origin adjective describes where something comes from.French, lunar, American, eastern, Greek, beach

MATERIAL A material adjective describes what something is made from.Wooden, metal, cotton, paper, plastic

PURPOSE A purpose adjective describes what something is used for. These adjectives often end with “-ing”. Sleeping (as in “sleeping bag”), roasting (as in “roasting tin”)

Types of adjective

opinion size age shape colour origin material

Activity 4. What type of adjectives are these? Can you make a sentence?

Activity 3. Classify the adjectives according to their type.

It’s a beautiful big new square brown Indian wooden box.

BEAUTIFUL - BIG - BROWN - INDIAN - NEW - SQUARE - WOODEN

It’s a table.

opinion size age shape colour origin material purpose

lovely big old round brown English wooden

coffee

Adjectives describing the noun CAR

    

It's a convertible car

It's a black car   It's a new car 

It's an expensive car  

It's a beautiful car.

It’s a comfortable car

It’s a big car

It’s a German car

It’s an elegant car

It’s a sports car

Can you describe the car using sentences with more than one adjective?

    

Answers:

It’s an expensive new car.It’s a modern fast German car.

It’s a convertible sports big black car.

Thanks to Maria Vidal