📚 What is an Adjective?
An adjective is a word that describes or modifies a noun or pronoun. Adjectives tell us more about the qualities, size, color, shape, or number of things.
The big dog played with a red ball.
She wore a beautiful dress to the party.
🎯 What Adjectives Describe
Size
big, small, tiny, huge, large, little, enormous, gigantic
The enormous elephant walked slowly.
Color
red, blue, green, yellow, pink, purple, black, white
I love your purple backpack!
Shape
round, square, circular, triangular, oval, flat, curved
The round table seats eight people.
Age
old, young, new, ancient, modern, elderly, youthful
We visited an ancient castle.
Number/Quantity
one, two, three, many, few, several, some, all
Three birds sat on the branch.
Quality/Opinion
good, bad, beautiful, ugly, delicious, terrible, wonderful, awful
That was a wonderful performance!
Feeling
happy, sad, angry, excited, nervous, calm, worried, proud
The excited children opened their presents.
📊 Degrees of Comparison
Positive
Basic form (describes one thing)
The cat is fast.
This book is interesting.
Comparative
Compares two things (add -er or use "more")
The dog is faster than the cat.
This book is more interesting than that one.
Superlative
Compares three or more things (add -est or use "most")
The cheetah is the fastest animal.
This is the most interesting book I've ever read.
💡 Rules for Comparison:
- Short adjectives (1 syllable): Add -er/-est (tall → taller → tallest)
- Long adjectives (3+ syllables): Use more/most (beautiful → more beautiful → most beautiful)
- 2 syllables ending in -y: Change y to i and add -er/-est (happy → happier → happiest)
- Irregular: good → better → best, bad → worse → worst
✏️ Practice Exercise
Identify the adjectives. Click to reveal!
1. The little girl wore a pink dress and shiny shoes.
Adjectives: little, pink, shiny
2. Five hungry bears ate the delicious honey.
Adjectives: Five, hungry, delicious
3. The tall, handsome prince lived in an enormous castle.
Adjectives: tall, handsome, enormous
4. My older brother is taller than me.
Adjectives: older (comparative), taller (comparative)
5. This is the most beautiful sunset I've ever seen.
Adjectives: most beautiful (superlative)
🎯 Key Takeaways
- Adjectives describe or modify nouns and pronouns
- They tell us about size, color, shape, age, number, quality, or feeling
- Adjectives usually come before the noun they describe
- Comparative form compares two things (-er or more)
- Superlative form compares three or more (-est or most)
- Multiple adjectives can describe the same noun