Adjectives
What Are Adjectives? (with Examples)
An adjective is a word that describes or modifies a noun or a pronoun by providing additional information about its attributes, such as color, size, shape, quantity, or condition. Adjectives often answer questions like "what kind?", "how many?", or "which one?" and can be used before the noun they modify (attributive position) or after a linking verb, such as "be" (predicative position). Examples include "red," "happy," "large," and "clever."Examples of Adjectives in Sentences
- The tall tree casts a long shadow in the evening.
- She wore a beautiful dress to the party.
- The old bookshelf creaked under the weight of the books.
- He adopted a small puppy from the shelter.
- The delicious aroma of the pizza wafted through the room.
Positioning Adjectives
Adjectives help us describe and give more detail about nouns (people, places, things). Adjectives can be position before or after nouns.Adjectives Before Nouns: Attributive Position
When adjectives are placed right before the nouns they describe, they are in the "attributive" position. They give direct and clear details about the noun.In these examples, the adjectives are highlighted and the nouns they modified are in bold:
- The blue sky made her smile. (In this case, "blue" is an adjective that tells us more about the "sky.")
- The red balloon floated away.
- A curious cat peered at us from behind the wall.
- The young athlete trained rigorously for the competition.
- A beautiful flower blossomed in the vibrant garden.
- The busy bee buzzed around the pink blossoms.
Adjectives After Verbs: Predicative Position
Sometimes, adjectives come after verbs, especially verbs like "is," "was," "becomes," etc. This placing is known as the "predicative" position. The adjective provides more info about the subject of the sentence, not directly, but after a verb.In these examples, the adjectives are highlighted and the nouns they modified are in bold:
- The cake is delicious.
- (Here, "delicious" describes "cake" but comes after the verb "is.")
- Her jokes were hilarious.
- The soup tasted salty.
- The path ahead seems treacherous.
- The movie was entertaining.
- The sky became dark.
Compound Adjectives
Compound adjectives are formed when two or more words come together to jointly describe a noun. A compound adjective is often hyphenated to avoid confusion or ambiguity. For example, in the phrase "a well-known actor," "well-known" is a compound adjective.- The well-known author signed autographs for her fans.
- She adopted a three-legged cat from the shelter.
- The broken-hearted man wrote a poignant song.
- We spent the day at a crystal-clear lake.
- The tight-knit community gathered for a picnic.
Adjective Phrases
An adjective phrase is a group of words headed by an adjective that describes a noun. Most often, adjectives are accompanied by modifiers like adverbs (e.g., "very," "extremely") and prepositional phrases (e.g., "...with me," "...about the dog").In these examples, the head adjectives are underlined, the adjective phrases are highlighted, and the nouns they modified are in bold:
- I know an extremely naughty dog.
- The hauntingly beautiful mansion attracted many tourists. (The two examples above are in the attributive position.)
- The artist seemed lost for words.
- My mother was very excited about the holiday. (The two examples above are in the predicative position.)
Adjective Clauses
An adjective clause is a multi-word adjective that includes a subject and a verb. Adjective clauses come after the nouns they describe. An adjective clause is headed by a relative pronoun (e.g., "who," "which," "that").In these examples, the adjective clauses are highlighted and the nouns they modified are in bold:
- The girl who won the prize is my cousin.
- I have a book that belongs to your brother.
- The movie that we watched last night was thrilling.
- The restaurant where we had dinner was fantastic.
- My friend who lives in Italy is visiting me next month.
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