Adjectives
An adjective is a word that accompanies and modifies the name. You can enlarge,
complement or quantify its size. They are words that name or indicate
qualities, features and properties of the names or nouns they accompany.
Adjectives are those words that we use to modify or accompany the noun. In
general, they are used to describe, complement or quantify the name in the
sentence. For example: I have a happy dog.
Types of Adjectives
In English there are about 7 types of adjectives, but this does not mean that
you should include them all in one sentence. You can use about 3, but always
positioning them in the correct way.
1. Descriptive
Probably a descriptive adjective is what you think all adjectives are. Descriptive
adjectives are used to describe nouns and pronouns. Example:you can say "The cat is
hungry" or "The hungry cat" ("the hungry cat"). In both cases of English, the word
hungry is an adjective that describes the cat.
2. Quantitative
Quantitative adjectives describe the amount of something.
In other words, they answer the question “how much?”. Numbers like one or
thirty are quantitative adjectives, as are more general words like many, half,
and a lot.
Examples:
"How many children do you have?" "I only have one daughter"
"How many children do you want to have?" "I only have one daughter"
3. Demonstrative
A demonstrative adjective describes which noun or pronoun you are referring to.
These adjectives include:
• This - used to refer to a singular noun that is nearby.
• That - used to refer to a singular noun that is far away.
• These - used to refer to a plural noun that is nearby.
• Those - used to refer to a plural noun that is far away.
•
Demonstrative adjectives always go before the word they modify.
Examples:"Which bicycle is yours?" "This bicycle is mine, and that one used to be
mine until I sold it."
4. Possessives
Possessive adjectives show possession. They describe who owns something. Some of
the most common possessive adjectives in English are:
My - belongs to me
His - belongs to him
Her - belongs to her
Their - belongs to them
Your - belongs to you
Our - belongs to us
Examples:"Whose dog is that?" “He’s mine. That’s my dog”.
"Who's that dog?" "It's mine, it's my dog"
5. Questions
Interrogative adjectives interrogate, which means they ask a question. These
adjectives are always followed by a noun or pronoun, and are used to put together
questions. The interrogative adjectives in English are:
Which - asks which option we choose among some options.
What - asks to choose (in general).
Whose - ask who owns something.
Examples:
"Which song will you play on your wedding day?"
"What song will you hear at your wedding?"
"What pet do you want to get?"
"Which pet do you want to choose?
6. Distributive
Distributive adjectives describe specific members of a group. These adjectives
are used to indicate one or more people or things. Some of the more common
distributive adjectives include:
Each - each thing in a group
Every - each of a group (used to make generalizations).
Either - one of two.
Neither - neither one nor the other between two.
Any - one or a few things among several.
It is also used when the option is irrelevant, as in “it doesn’t matter, I’ll
take any of them” (“it doesn't matter, I take any of them”).
Examples:
"Every rose has its thorn"
"Every Rose Has Its Thorn"
"Which of these two songs do you like?" "I don't like either song."
"Which of these two songs do you like?" "I do not like any"
7. Articles
In English there are only three articles: a, an and the. Articles can be difficult
for English learners to use correctly because many languages do not use them, or do
not use them in the same way.
Although articles have their own grammatical category, technically they are also
adjectives! Articles are used to describe which noun we are referring to. Thinking
of them as adjectives can help you know which one to use:
A - only one thing.
An - only one thing. We use it before words that start with a vowel, to avoid
cacophony.
The - something singular or plural
Examples:
"The elephants left huge footprints in the sand"
"The elephants left huge footprints in the sand"
"An elephant can weigh over 6,000 pounds!"
"An elephant can weigh more than 6,000 pounds!"
adverbios
