What are Adjectives? – Examples & Definition

Adjectives are those words that are used to describe or modify nouns or pronouns. An adjective can specify your writing by giving more information and more meaning to nouns or pronouns.

Learn about Adjectives

Some common examples of adjectives are listed below:

1. The red dress.

2. The beautiful dress.

3. The ugly dress.

4. The shiny dress.

5. The see-through dress.

6. The wet dress.

In the above examples, ‘red’, ‘beautiful’, ‘ugly’, ‘shiny’, ‘see-through’, and ‘wet’ are all adjectives because these words are modifying ‘the dress’ i.e. they are giving more information about ‘the dress’.

Furthermore, not all the adjectives come just before the nouns or pronouns.

For example,

1. That dress looks beautiful on you. 

2. The dress is ugly; please, don’t buy it.

In the above examples, you can see that the adjectives ‘beautiful’ and ‘ugly’ come after the link verbs i.e. ‘looks’ and ‘is’.

Types of Adjectives

Adjectives can be categorized into different types based on their function in a sentence:

• Descriptive Adjectives: These describe the qualities or characteristics of a noun. For example, beautiful in “a beautiful flower” or tall in “a tall building.”
• Quantitative Adjectives: These specify the quantity or amount of a noun, answering the question “how much” or “how many.” Examples include few, several, and many, as in “few students” or “many opportunities.”
• Demonstrative Adjectives: These point out specific nouns, showing which one(s) you’re referring to. Examples include this, that, these, and those. For example, “I like this car” or “Please bring those books.”
• Possessive Adjectives: These indicate ownership or possession. Common possessive adjectives include my, your, his, her, its, our, and their. Example: “That’s my laptop.”
• Interrogative Adjectives: Used in questions, these modify nouns to ask about them. Examples include which, what, and whose, as in “Whose car is this?” or “Which color do you prefer?”
• Comparative and Superlative Adjectives: These are used to compare nouns. The comparative form compares two things (e.g., bigger, more beautiful), while the superlative form compares three or more things (e.g., biggest, most beautiful). Example: “John is taller than Mike” (comparative) and “Anna is the tallest in the class” (superlative).

Adjective Clauses

An adjective clause, also known as a relative clause, is a group of words that functions like an adjective, giving more information about a noun. These clauses usually begin with relative pronouns like who, that, or which.

For example:

• The man who is wearing a blue shirt is my uncle.
  In this sentence, the adjective clause “who is wearing a blue shirt” gives additional information about the noun “man.” The clause modifies the noun by specifying which man is being referred to.

Some Other Important Points

 If you will find any difficulties in identifying, there is trick for you. Most of the adjectives can be identified by their suffixes. Take a look at a few suffixes below,

1. –ar > spectacular
2. –al > manual
3. –ous > hazardous, dangerous
4. –ful > painful, beautiful
5. –ile > juvenile
6. –en > spoken, broken
7. –able > comfortable, loveable
8. –ish > freakish
9. –ive > objective
10. –less > careless
11. –ic > energetic
12. –some > awesome

•  Sometimes, you can also find out some adjectives that come after the noun. For example, ‘he customized his profile public.’

In the above example, ‘public’ is used as an adjective, which is modifying a ‘profile’ (which is a noun).

• Words like someone, something, etc are indefinite pronouns. These indefinite pronouns can also be modified but you have to remember one thing. In such cases, the adjectives should come after these pronouns. For example, ‘one day, you will find someone good in your life.’

What Did You Learn?

Adjectives are essential tools in language, adding depth, clarity, and richness to our communication. By modifying nouns and pronouns, they allow us to describe, compare, and specify with precision.

Understanding the types and how they function, whether on their own or in the form of adjective clauses, empowers us to express ourselves more vividly and accurately.