Adjectives

words that modify, or describe, a noun or a pronoun

Adjectives play a colorful role.

• Adjectives change the pictures of the mind.

• Adjectives help you see, feel, taste, hear, and smell the experiences you read about.

• A heavy rainstorm ruined parts of Washington, DC.

• Why did ancient dinosaurs become an extinct species?

• Our ship was hit by a weaker beam.

The job of the ADJECTIVE

Adjectives make comparisons.

They separate one noun from another by making direct or indirect comparisons.

Close your eyes and imagine a car.

Think about the type of car it is?Think about the color of the car.

Think about the sound that it makes.How does it feel when you are riding in it?

What type of car did you imagine?

(Don’t write, just imagine.)

Is this the car that you imagined?

What if I had said,

“Imagine a damaged car.”

When you add an adjective to a sentence, you are distinguishing

one item from another.

Many common adjectives are formed from common nouns.

NOUNS ADJECTIVES

rain rainy

scene scenic

beauty beautiful

rock rocky

Proper Nouns make Proper Adjectives.

Proper Nouns

Proper Adjectives

China ChineseMars Martian

America American

ArticlesThe articles a, an, and the are adjectives.

• An anaconda can swallow its prey whole.

• The dinosaur walked the earth a long time ago.

Are...

• formed from proper nouns

• always capitalized

Example of a proper noun functioning as a proper adjective

A Chicago museum is home to the skeleton of one of these ancient beasts.

Common Adjectives

• A common adjective is any adjective that is not proper.

• The common adjective is never capitalized, unless it is at the beginning of a sentence.

Examples common adjectives:

Max was carrying a new backpack.

The loud music was hurting my ears.

Adjectives answer questionsWhat kind?

heavy backpack

sturdy tent

spicy stew

Which one?

last hamburger

third hike

every lantern

How many?

two flashlights

many insects

little moonlight

Craig carried the heavy, torn backpack.

Use a comma to separate two or more adjectives that answer the question, “What kind?”

about the same noun.

Do not use a comma to separate adjectives when they each answer a

different question.

Craig carried the heavy green backpack.

I want to pick up those two orange shoes.

Comma Test for Adjectives

• Reverse the order of the adjectives

The trashed, messy apartment needed cleaning.

The messy, trashed apartment needed cleaning.

Another Comma Test for Adjectives

Insert “and” between the adjectives

The trashed, messy apartment needed cleaning.

The trashed and messy apartment needed cleaning.

Check your work:

1. Does the sentence still make sense? YES

2. Does changing the adjectives around affect the meaning or coherence of the sentence? NO

If you answered both questions correctly, insert a comma.

Special Kinds of Adjectives

A demonstrative adjective points out a particular noun.

Demonstrative adjectives answer the question, “Which one(s)?”

This and these point out something nearby.

That and those point out something far.

This and that are singular. These and those are plural.

One thing to remember…

When a noun does not follow this, these, that, or those it is functioning as a pronoun, not as an adjective in the sentence.

This dog is cute, but that dog is cuter.

This is cute. That is cuter.pronouns

adjectives

Indefinite adjectives give the appropriate information, but they do not tell exactly

how many or how much

Some mammoths were heavier than today’s elephant.

Some does not tell you exactly how many mammoths.

Indefinite = not sure

adjectives that follow linking verbs and describe the subject

Buffalo abundant, but now they extinct.

Linking verbs the subject to the predicate.

• Compound adjectives are made up of two or more words.

• Sometimes compound adjectives are hyphenated.

Example: snow-covered mountain

Forms of Adjectives

Base Form

Comparative

Superlative

Forms of Adjectives

Base Form Comparative Superlative

brave braver bravest

fast faster fastest

awful more awful most awful

dangerous more dangerous most dangerous

thin thinner thinnest

Base Form

describes a noun or pronoun without comparing it to anyone or anything else.

The rhino is large.

Comparative

(-er or more) compares two nouns

or pronouns

The elephant is larger than the rhino.

Superlative

(-est or most)

compares three or

more nouns or pronouns.

The dinosaur is the

largest of them all.

Nouns are sometimes used as adjectives.

Rock climbers practice indoors.(“Rock” modifies climbers.)

There was a rock wall separating the two countries.

(“rock” modifies wall.)

There is a rock separating the two countries.

(“rock” is a noun)

Good vs. Well

GoodGoodGood is an adjective.

That was a goodgood lesson on adjectives.

WellWell WellWell is nearly always an adverb.

The girl presented the dance wellwell.

When used in writing about health,, wellwell is an adjectiveadjective..

The pilots did not feel wellwell after the flight.