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Adjective and its types

1. An adjective is a word that describes and modifies a noun. And they are
usually used before a noun to describe them.
Or Adjectives are words that modify (change) nouns, pronouns, and other
adjectives.

For Example:
 Your English is good enough.
 Sorry, my English is not very good. 
 Brazil is the world’s largest producer of coffee.

Kinds of Adjectives

1. Adjective of Quality or Descriptive Adjective

Adjective showing the kind or quality of nouns or pronouns are called Adjective of
Quality
For Examples:
 We had a wonderful time last night.
 You look very smart in that suit.
 Did you have a nice time?
Note: Descriptive adjective answers the question of “What kind of “.

2. Adjective of Quantity
The adjective which shows the quantity of noun or pronoun is called the Adjective
of Quantity.
For Example:

 I didn’t have enough clothes to last a week.

 There’s still some wine in the bottle.
 I have got hardly any money.

3. Adjective of Number/ Numeral Adjective

Adjective which expresses the number of persons or things is called the Adjective
of Number or Numeral Adjective
For Example:

Compiled by: Mr. Aimal Khan DH

M. Phil Management Sciences
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 Students must enter in twos or threes.

 She’s having a party on her twenty-first.
 Italy scored a second goal just after half-time.

4. Demonstrative Adjective
This Adjective straight=away points out the person or thing concerned. The four
words this, that, these and those are called demonstratives.
For Example:
 How long have you been living in this country?
 Is that your bag?
 Your car can be sold at the rate of 2000$

5. Interrogative Adjective
Interrogative Adjectives are used with nouns to ask questions.
For Example:
 Which of the applicants has got the job?
 It’s the house whose door is painted red.
 What is your name?

6. Possessive Adjective
This Adjective expresses the state of possession of nouns is known as a possessive
adjective.
Possessive adjectives show possession or ownership: my, her, his, its, our, their,
your.
For Example:

  Where’s my passport?
 The cat is sitting on its tail.
 Please concentrate on your mistakes.

7. Distributive Adjective
This Adjective expresses the distributive state of nouns. Or Distributive
adjectives describe specific members out of a group. These adjectives are used to
single out one or more individual items or people. Some of the most common
distributive adjectives include Each, Every, Either, Neither, Any.

For Example:

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M. Phil Management Sciences
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 The answers are worth 20 points each.

 Every day is a good day if you think of positive changes.
 you can park on either side of the street

8. Proper Adjective
An adjective that is formed from a proper noun is called proper Adjective.

For Example:
 I want to talk about American culture and tourists.
 He is an Australian citizen.
 I like Pakistani dishes.
9. Indefinite Adjectives
An adjective which is not definite is known as the indefinite adjective.

For Example:
 Some of the players were tired after the match.
 A few people wanted to get the tickets.
 Many people feel that the law should be changed.

10. Article
Although articles are their own part of speech, they’re technically also adjectives!
Articles are used to describe which noun you’re referring to. Maybe thinking of
them as adjectives will help you learn which one to use. And there are three
articles in the English language: a, an, and the.

For Example:
 The days are getting longer.
 An apple a day keeps the doctor away.
 You must consult a doctor for the checkup.

Note: We also have some other types of adjective as written below.

Exclamatory Adjective-
Exclamatory Adjectives indicate strong emotion and Exclamatory Adjective is used
with noun.
Usually we use a word ‘what’ to express strong emotion that is we use the word
‘what’ as an exclamatory adjective.

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M. Phil Management Sciences
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Examples of Exclamatory Adjective

Let’s see some examples-
 What a charming child he is!
 What a beautiful girl she is!
 What an idea!
 What a popular game it is!
 What a management!
 What a beautiful flower it is!
 What a scene!
 What a picture!

Emphasizing Adjectives-
Emphasizing Adjectives lay stress on the proceeding noun. The words
used to emphasize a noun are called Emphasizing Adjectives.
‘Very’ and ‘own’ are the most commonly used emphasizing adjectives which are used
to emphasize some idea
Let’s see some examples-
 Mind your own business.
 Mind your own language.
 I arranged it with my own efforts.
 You did it with your own hands.
 He has written all this with his own hands.
 She has seen him by her own eyes.
 That very CD I wanted to have and I got it.
 This is the very woman who quarrels with me.
 That is the very toy that my son wanted to buy.

Degree of Adjectives (Positive, Comparative and Superlative)

Positive Degree: An adjective is said to be in the positive degree when there is no comparison.

Comparative Degree: An adjective is said to be in the comparative degree when it is used to

compare two nouns/pronouns.

Superlative Degree: An adjective is in superlative degree when it is used to compare more than two
nouns/pronouns. We use the article 'the' before the superlative degrees.

Formation of Comparative & Superlative Degrees of Adjectives

Adjectives usually form their comparative and superlative degrees:

1) by addition of '-er' and '-est' to the positive degree

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M. Phil Management Sciences
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POSITIVE COMPARATIVE SUPERLATIVE

bright brighter brightest
black blacker blackest
bold bolder boldest
clever cleverer cleverest
cold colder coldest
fast faster fastest
great greater greatest
high higher highest
kind kinder kindest
long longer longest
rich richer richest
small smaller smallest
strong stronger strongest
sweet sweeter sweetest
tall taller tallest
thick thicker thickest
young younger youngest
2) by addition of '-r' and '-st' to the positive degree ending in 'e'

POSITIVE COMPARATIVE SUPERLATIVE

brave braver bravest
fine finer finest
large larger largest
nice nicer nicest
noble nobler noblest
pale paler palest
simple simpler simplest
wise wiser wisest
white whiter whitest
3) When the positive ends in 'y' and has a consonant before it, we change 'y' into 'i' and
then add 'er' and 'est'.

By deleting the final ‘y’ and adding ‘ier’ and ‘iest’

POSITIVE COMPARATIVE SUPERLATIVE
costly costlier costliest
dry drier driest
easy easier easiest
happy happier happiest
heavy heavier heaviest
lazy lasier lasiest
mercy mercier merciest

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M. Phil Management Sciences
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wealthy wealthier wealthiest

4) when the positive degree ends in a consonant with a vowel before it, we double the
consonant & then add '-er' and '-est'

POSITIVE COMPARATIVE SUPERLATIVE

big bigger biggest
dim dimmer dimmest
fat fatter fattest
hot hotter hottest
thin thinner thinnest
5) by addition of '-er' and '-est' to the positive degree when it ends in '-y'

POSITIVE COMPARATIVE SUPERLATIVE

gay gayer gayest
grey greyer greyest
5) by placing 'more' and 'most' before the positive form

POSITIVE COMPARATIVE SUPERLATIVE

active more active most active
attractive more attractive most attractive
beautiful more beautiful most beautiful
brilliant more brilliant most brilliant
careful more careful most careful
courageous more courageous most courageous
cunning more cunning most cunning
difficult more difficult most difficult
famous more famous most famous
faithful more faithful most faithful
important more important most important
proper more proper most proper
popular more popular most popular
splendid more splendid most splendid
suitable more suitable most suitable

Some adjectives do not follow any of the rules explained earlier. They are compared irregularly.
Here are the different forms of such adjectives.

POSITIVE COMPARATIVE SUPERLATIVE

bad worse worst
evil worse worst
good better best
ill worse worst
far farther farthest
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M. Phil Management Sciences
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well better best

late later latest (time)
late later last (position)
little less least
much more most
many more most
near nearer nearest
old older oldest
old elder eldest

Compiled by: Mr. Aimal Khan DH

M. Phil Management Sciences