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Adjectives
Adjectives modify nouns or
pronouns.
The red car, the old house, the
very beginning, he was tall
Great writers warn us that the
overuse of adjectives or adverbs
can make sentences wordy.
Modify is truer than describe. To modify
is to change.
Imagine a frozen mountain summit.
Imagine a green mountain summit.
Adjectives must have nouns or pronouns
to modify. Hence, they are part of a
binary system. A noun can exist without
an adjective, but an adjective must have
a noun or pronoun in order to function.
The three degrees of adjectives
• Adjectives can change degree. A fire can be
hot, hotter, or hottest. Ice can be cold, colder,
or coldest. A book can be good, better, or
best. These three degrees are known as
positive (good), comparative (better), and
superlative (best). They allow for us to make
clear comparisons between similar nouns.
Positive
Comparative Superlative
Good
Better
Best
Proper adjectives
• Proper adjectives are made out of proper
nouns. England makes English. Rome makes
Roman. When we convert the proper noun
Spain to the proper adjective Spanish, we
retain the capitalization.
• In south Florida Spanish moss hangs from the
trees.
Verbal adjectives
• Sometimes we use verb forms to modify
nouns or pronouns.
• Participial form: the running water
• Infinitive form: the team to beat
The articles
• Articles are a type of adjective just as
indefinite pronouns are a type of pronoun.
• A, an, and, and the are adjectives.
• Articles are definite (the) and indefinite (a,
an).
Number adjectives
• If the number is between one and ten, the
number should be written out instead of using
a numeral.
• Two dogs, not 2 dogs
• Seven rocks, not 7 rocks
Good or well?
• The word good is a good adjective that may
be used to modify nouns or pronouns well;
the word well is usually an adverb that
modifies verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs.
• The good athlete runs well.
• It’s not “I don’t feel well.”
• “ I don’t feel good.”