Adjectives

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Adjectives

• Definition A word that modifies (describes) a
  noun or pronoun. Adjectives can be found in many
  different positions in a sentence.

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Questions answered by adjectives

• What kind?
• Ex. GRAY shoes OLD cheese SILLY dog
• Which one?
• Ex. THAT girl NEXT day EITHER way
• How many?
• Ex. FIVE fingers MANY rivers SOME rain

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Wait, is that a pronoun or an adjective?

• Some words can act as either a pronoun or an
  adjective, depending on how they are used. (that,
  either, many, some)
• If the word modifies (describes) a noun, its an
  adjective
• EX. THAT cheese is old.
• If it takes the place of the noun, it is a
  pronoun.
• EX. THAT is old.

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Nouns can act as adjectives

• Sometimes, nouns can act as adjectives if they
  are being used to modify (describe) another noun.
• NOUN NOUN as ADJECTIVE
• crisp BACON BACON sandwich
• Blinding SNOW SNOW sculpture
• Last DECEMBER DECEMBER sale

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Possessive nouns can be adjectives

• Possessive Nouns and Pronouns (his, hers, Bobs)
  can also be considered adjectives because they
  are used to describe nouns.
• Ex. Which shoes? Bobs shoes.
• I will accept either possessive noun or adjective
  as labels for these words. Some teachers will
  want one or the other.

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Articles

• Articles are the most frequently used adjectives
  and include a, an, and the.
• Indefinite Articles articles that refer to one
  of a general group.
• Ex. A monkey An ice cream bar
• Definite Article articles that refer to someone/
  something in particular.
• Ex. The chicken pot pie.

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Forms or degrees

• Some adjectives have different forms to indicate
  the degree of comparison. These forms are
• Positive makes a descriptive statement
• Comparative used to compare one noun/ pronoun
  to another with similar qualities
• Superlative used to make the statement that one
  noun/ pronoun exceeds another in a certain
  quality.
• Example
• POSTIVE COMPARATIVE SUPERLATIVE
• light lighter lightest
• funny funnier funniest
• good better best
• bad worse worst

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Proper adjectives

• Definition Formed from a proper noun always
  starts with a capital letter.
• Typically formed by adding endings such as an,
  -ian, -n, -ese, -ish to the end of a proper noun.
• Example
• Proper Noun Proper Adjective
• America American
• Ireland Irish
• Japan Japanese