2.8: Grammar: Descriptive Adjectives

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This lesson includes slides for classroom presentation.

What is an Adjective?

An adjective modifies a noun. In other words, it gives more information about the noun, such as what kind, how many, or which one. Look at the phrases below and identify the adjective and noun...

Rolling hills
Majestic mountains
Sparkling lakes

Answers

The adjective was "rolling," the noun was "hills"
The adjective was "majestic," the noun was mountains
The adjective was "sparkling," the noun was "lakes"

Descriptive Adjectives

Descriptive adjectives can appear in two places in the sentence. Find the adjectives in these sentences...

San Diego has sandy beaches
The beaches in Sand Diego are sandy

Answers

The descriptive adjective (sandy) comes before the noun (beaches)
The descriptive adjective (sandy) comes after the linking verb (are)

Recognizing and Creating Adjectives

There are many adjectives in English. Adjectives make your writing more interesting, vivid, and rich. Add adjectives to your vocabulary by using them as you learn them. You can also sometimes recognize adjectives by their endings...

-able/ible; incredible, doable, readable
-ful; helpful, restful, doubtful
-less; restless, helpless, doubtless
-ic; alcoholic, realistic
-ive; creative, active
-al; natural, practical
-ous; suspicious, decorous
-ish; childish, impish

Adjectives can also be created from verbs. Some past participles and present participles can be used as adjectives...

Verb	Past participle adjective	Present participle adjective
Interest	Interested	Interesting
Tire	Tired	Tiring
Amaze	Amazed	Amazing
Fascinate	Fascinated	Fascinating
Bore	Bored	Boring

Past and Present Participle Adjectives

Past participle adjectives such as "bored," "amazed," and "interested" show that someone experiences that situation

EX: She felt excited (she experienced excitement)

Present participle adjectives such as "boring," "amazing," and "interesting" show that the noun causes that verb

EX: The movie was amazing (the movie caused excitement

Examples

Verb: Frighten
- EX: The mask is frightening. I feel frightened when I look at the mask
Verb: Interest
- EX: I am interested in the history of Iraq. Iraq has an interesting history
Verb: Confuse
- EX: The homework is confusing. All of the students felt confused by the homework
Verb: Excite
- EX: Disneyland is exciting. My kids are so excited about going to Disneyland

Adjective Order

Adjectives usually follow a specific order in English. The order is below...

Determiner: A/an/the, this/that/these/those, my/your/his/her/our/their, many/both/some... etc.
Opinion: Beautiful, ugly, hard-working, useful... etc.
Size: Large, small, tiny, huge... etc.
Age: Old, vintage, new, brand-new... etc.
Shape: Round, long, thin, square... etc.
Color: Blue, yellow, gray... etc.
Origin: Italian, Mexican, Chinese... etc.
Material: Woolen, cotton, wooden... etc.
Purpose: Wedding, sleeping, swimming... etc.

It's unusual to use more than two or three adjectives before a noun

Try describing a dress, a car, and a mountain. Use at least two adjectives in the correct order. You can use adjectives from below or write your own...

A ___________ ____________ dress
A ___________ ____________ car
A ___________ ____________ mountain

Adjectives To Choose From

Blue
Huge
Beautiful
Vintage
Italian
Gray
New
Small
Square
Ugly
Hard-working
Brand-new
Yellow
Useful
Fast
Tiny
Long
Mexican
Large
Wedding
Majestic
Lace
Chinese
Old

Comparative Adjectives

Compare two nouns using a comparative adjective. Which two nouns are compared in these sentences? What is the comparative adjective?

San Diego, CA is larger than El Cajon, CA
Black Mountain is higher than Mount Helix

Answers

The two nouns are "San Diego, CA" and "El Cajon, CA" and the comparative adjective is "larger"
The two nouns are "Black Mountain" and "Mount Helix" and the comparative adjective is "higher"

Did you notice what word follows the comparative adjective?

Answer

Than

How Do We Make Comparative Adjectives?

One-syllable adjectives	Two-syllable adjectives ending with -y	Two-or-more-syllable adjectives	Irregular adjectives
Larger	Easier	More diverse	Good-better
Richer	Happier	More difficult	Far-farther/further
Deeper	Hungrier	More majestic	Little-less
Higher	Curlier	More populated	Many-more
Smaller			Bad-worse
Bigger

If the word is one syllable, add -er to the end of the word
If the word ends with -e, add -r
If the word is one syllable and ends with CVC (consonant-vowel-consonant), double the final consonant
If the word is two syllables, use "more" + adjective
If the word is two syllables and ends with -y, drop the -y and add -ier
Comparative adjectives are followed by "than"

Videos

Watch this video for a clear definition of adjectives...
Watch this video for more details about adjectives...