- What a beautiful day!
- We had a wonderful time at Disney World.
- The professor gave a really interesting talk.
- Thank you for the flowers. They’re so pretty!
One of the most important parts of speech, adjectives describe or modify nouns (persons, places, things, ideas) and pronouns (he, she, it, they, us.)
- Is the movie hilarious or overrated?
- Is the food delicious, yummy, or inedible?
- Is your bestie loyal, caring, and cheerful? Or are they crazy, lazy, and obnoxious?
Adjectives provide pertinent information about the nouns or pronouns they describe by answering questions like: What kind? How much/many? Which one?
- Pelé is one of the greatest soccer players of all time. (What kind?)
- He earns enough money to support his wife and children. (How much?)
- There are eight beads in the box. (How many?)
- The yellow dress looks beautiful. (Which one?)
Adjectives are critical because they add a touch of originality to writing and make it more precise.
Adjectives can be categorized into 11 types, depending on what they are used for.
1. Descriptive Adjectives
But aren’t all adjectives supposed to be descriptive by nature? Most are and they are known as descriptive adjectives—they describe or express the quality of a noun or pronoun and provide more information about them.
- He sat next to the bossy woman with a loud voice.
- We had an interesting conversation last night.
The adjectives used above tell us that the woman (noun) was bossy and had a loud voice (noun). We also learn that the conversation (noun) was interesting.
2. Limiting Adjectives
If you’re a grammar nerd, you are likely familiar with limiting adjectives, a type of adjective that restricts nouns and pronouns instead of describing them.
- Some puppies are playing in the meadow.
The adjective some does not express a quality of the puppies themselves. Rather, it informs us that there is an unknown or unspecified number of puppies. It restricts the number of puppies.
- The cat licked her hand.
The possessive adjective her tells us whose hand it is, instead of modifying the noun hand as a descriptive adjective would. In this sentence, her functions as a limiting adjective by restricting the ownership of the hand to a specific person.
The possessive adjectives (my, her, his, its, yours) as well as other word classes such as articles (a, an, the), cardinal adjectives (12, 14, 6, 9), and ordinal adjectives (first, second, sixth, tenth) also function as limiting adjectives.
3. Coordinate Adjectives
Sometimes, a single noun or pronoun is modified by multiple adjectives. Coordinate adjectives, as they are called, are usually separated by commas or the conjunction and. A multi-adjective phrase that describes a single noun is known as an adjective phrase.
- She arranged green and yellow flowers in the bowl.
- We saw a glorious orange sunset in Hawaii.
- The car crashed into the cold, hard metal barrier.
- He carried a huge, heavy burden of guilt all his life.
4. Compound Adjectives
Like the coordinate adjective, the compound adjective consists of multiple words or a combination of a word and a number. These are typically hyphenated and do not use commas or conjunctions. They work together to modify a noun.
- The professor asked us to write a 1000-word report.
- He owns a fifty-acre farm in Kansas.
- We have a ten-minute break between classes.
- I bought a carton of fat-free milk at the store.
5. Proper Adjectives
They are derived from proper nouns, and they look a lot like them too. Proper adjectives are used to describe something associated with their noun counterparts and must be capitalized.
- Do you like Chinese food?
- I studied Jacobean drama in college.
- Jungian therapy aims to connect the conscious and unconscious parts of the mind.
- The tradition of sending Christmas cards started during the Victorian era.
6. Demonstrative Adjectives
This is a limited group consisting of the adjectives this, that, these, and those. Demonstrative adjectives indicate the noun or pronoun to which they are linked. They are always placed directly before the nouns or pronouns they modify.
- Is this your wallet?
- I want that book.
- These flowers are pretty!
- I have never liked those colors.
7. Distributive Adjectives
This group of adjectives is used to refer to members of a group individually. Distributive adjectives are usually placed before the nouns and pronouns they modify. Any, every, each, and neither are examples of distributive adjectives.
- Is any of you coming to the party?
- Each family member received a beautiful gift for Christmas.
- Either dress will go with those shoes.
- She wanted to buy every book in the store.
8. Indefinite Adjectives
These adjectives describe nouns or pronouns in a non-specific manner. They impart a sense of uncertainty in their description. This group includes adjectives like many, several, few, no, and some.
- There are several books in the room.
- Do you have many indoor plants?
- A few people complained about the noise.
- There is no milk in the refrigerator.
9. Interrogative Adjectives
As the name suggests, interrogative adjectives ask a question related to the noun or pronoun they modify. This is a limited category that includes only three adjectives: what, which, and whose.
- What book are you reading?
- Which dress would you like to buy?
- Whose dog is this?
10. Predicative Adjectives
Adjectives can be placed before or after the noun/pronoun they modify.
- The stormy seas
- The joyful children
VS.
- The seas are stormy.
- The children are joyful.
The adjectives in the first group of sentences belong to a category known as attributive adjectives. The adjectives in the second group of sentences are known as predicative adjectives.
Predicative adjectives are those that appear after the linking verb.
- He is clever.
- They are rich.
- Paul is efficient.
- Kyle is wonderful.
11. Quantitative Adjectives
These adjectives describe the quantity of the noun they modify. They also answer questions like “How much/many?” Words like one or two or three can thus be used as adjectives.
- He would like to have a dozen children.
- Each matchbox has ten matchsticks.
- The whole litter needs to be vaccinated.
- Five cats were yowling in the alley.
Using adjectives effectively can help writers make their writing more descriptive. This, in turn, helps keep readers interested in what they have to say.
