Download Adjectives

Adjectives
Introduction to Adjectives
An adjective is a word that modifies a noun or a pronoun.
Examples
The words in bold type below are adjectives.
That new blue sports car has aluminum hubcaps.
It also has a high-tech GPS system.
To find an adjective, first find each noun and pronoun in a sentence. Then ask yourself, What kind?
Which one(s)? How many? or How much? about each one. The answers will be adjectives.
Adjective Identification
What kind?
Which one(s)?
How many?
How much?
fresh air
loud music
tall trees
strong wind
these windows
red carpets
that woman
sleek dress
twenty seats
one car
six men
fifty cents
great amount
much help
small dose
little aid
Most adjectives come before the nouns or the pronouns they modify. A few adjectives come after the
nouns or pronouns they modify, and some adjectives follow linking verbs. In the next table, notice that
more than one adjective can modify the same noun or pronoun.
Adjective placement
Before a noun
The cold, rough water made swimming hard.
After a noun
The water, cold and rough, made swimming hard.
After a linking verb
The water is cold and rough.
Punctuating Two Adjectives
If two adjectives come before or after the noun or pronoun they describe, you may need to put a
comma between them. To decide whether a comma belongs, read the adjectives and add the word and
between them.


If the adjectives make sense with and between them, put a comma in to replace and.
If the adjectives do not make sense with the word and between them, do not add a comma.
Punctuation
Comma needed: The warm, sunny day was perfect for a picnic.
(The warm and sunny day reads well.)
No comma needed: It was a blistering hot day.
(A blistering and hot day does not read well.)
Proper Adjectives
You have learned that a proper noun is the name of a particular person, place, or thing—China or
Northeast, for example. A proper adjective is an adjective formed from a proper noun—Chinese food
and Northeastern states. Like a proper noun, a proper adjective begins with a capital letter. Notice how
the proper adjectives in bold below have changed: Greece becomes Greek salad.
Pronoun Nouns
Greece
France
Mexico
Proper Adjectives
Greek salad
French bread
Mexican fiesta
Some proper adjectives keep the same form as the proper noun.
Pronoun Nouns
New York
Monday
Thanksgiving
Proper Adjectives
New York restaurant
Monday dinner
Thanksgiving holiday
Compound Adjectives
Compound adjectives are adjectives that are made up of two or more words. The adjectives are in bold
type below.
Some compound adjectives
a rooftop café
faraway lands
an everyday occurrence
a household word
his record-breaking sprint
a first-class meal
Articles
Examples
A, an, and the form a special group of articles. The refers to a specific thing while a and an refer to any
one in a category of nouns. A comes before words that begin with a consonant sound, and an comes
before words that begin with a vowel sound.
A ship pulled into the dock in Sydney Harbor.
An airplane touched down at the end of the runway.
Other parts of Speech used as Adjectives
The same word may be used as an adjective in one sentence and a noun in another sentence.
Adjective
Seat belts should always be worn.
(Seat tells what kind of belts.)
Name tags were given to everyone at the seminar.
(Name tells what kind of tags.)
Noun
You must find a seat before the show starts.
(Seat is the name of a thing.)
CleanWorks was the name of the sponsor.
(Name is a thing).
Some words can also be used as pronouns or adjectives. The words in the next chart are adjectives when
they come before a noun and modify a noun. They are pronouns when they stand alone.
Words used as Adjectives or Pronouns
Examples
Demonstrative
that
these
this
those
Interrogative
what
which
whose
all
another
any
both
each
either
few
Indefinite
many
more
most
neither
other
several
some
Adjective
These boots are made of leather. (These modifies boots. It tells which boots.)
Pronoun
These are the wrong color. (These is the subject of the sentence.)
Adjective
What answer did he give you?
Pronoun
What did he find there?