Adjectives
from English Grammar Today
Adjectives are one of the four major word classes, along with nouns, verbs
and adverbs. Examples of adjectives are: big, small, blue, old, rich and nice.
They give us more information about people, animals or things represented
by nouns and pronouns:
Thats a big house.
Look at the grey horse.
Some dogs have long tails.
She is tall.
See also:
Nouns
Pronouns
Meanings of adjectives
Adjectives give us more information. They modify or describe features and
qualities of people, animals and things.
Here are some of the common meanings.
examples
meaning
I am fond of ice cream.
Cairo is differentfrom
Alexandria.
His car is similar to
mine.
Other examples:
keen (on), near (to),
aware (of)
Relations between people and things. These
adjectives usually require a word or phrase
(complement) to complete their meaning.
Hes generous.
Shes a kindwoman.
The waiter was verypolite.
Descriptions of people and things in terms
of their actions.
examples
meaning
Other examples:
talkative, cruel,
cooperative, helpful,
useful
Thats an old house.
The Olympic stadium
is big.
Other examples:
tall, old, good, rough,
true, ugly, red, heavy
Features that will last a long time or will
not change (permanent).
Anyone hungry? Lunch is
nearly ready.
Its so cold in Nicks
house.
Other examples:
absent, ill, dry, full,
lonely, wet, hot, thirsty,
angry
States and conditions that can change.
I saw a greatFrench film
last night.
I dont
like modernpaintings.
I live in a detachedhouse.
Other examples:
organic (vegetables),
impressionist (painter),
wild (salmon)
Classifying people and things into types.
See also:
Adjective phrases
Oppositeness
Most common adjectives are members of a pair of opposites (antonyms):
beautiful ugly
dead alive
happy sad
rough smooth
big small
dry wet
heavy light
tall short
cold hot
good bad
Gradable and ungradable
Many pairs of opposites are gradable, i.e. they have different degrees of the
same feature:
Small:
This suitcase is extremely small.
This suitcase is very small.
This suitcase is quite small.
Hot:
It was reasonably hot in Italy this summer.
It was quite hot in Italy this summer.
It was pretty hot in Italy this summer.
It was very hot in Italy this summer.
It was extremely hot in Italy this summer.
One type of adjective is not gradable. These are the adjectives that we use
to classify people and things into types:
Warning:
These vegetables are organic.
Not: These vegetables are very organic .
I like salmon especially when it is wild.
Not: I like salmon especially when it is quite wild .
See also:
Adjective phrases
Gradable opposites (antonyms)
