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English adjectives are words that describe or change nouns, pronouns or other adjectives. Most adjectives can be used in front of a noun or a verb.
Order of Adjectives: If you have a sentence that has more than two adjectives, then you need to place your adjectives in a particular order. Otherwise, your sentence will sound strange.
Adjectives With -ED or -ING: Ed ending adjectives often describe emotions. They tell us how people feel about something: “He was surprised to see the monkey riding a horse.” -ing ending adjectives describe the thing that caused the emotion.
For example, “The movie was absolutely terrifying.”
Why do many people get confused by English adjectives with -ed and -ing? First, because they look like verbs in the present simple and the continuous tense. Second, because they’re not sure how the -ing and -ed affect the meaning of the word.
The following adjectives can be used in both forms:
amused amusing annoyed annoying confused confusing disappointed disappointing excited exciting exhausted exhausting frightened frightening satisfied satisfying shocked shocking
Adjectives as Nouns: Using adjectives as nouns can be very confusing for those learning English. If we use the article “the” in front of an adjective, it changes meaning into a plural noun.
Examples:
The good always win in movies The unemployed are losing hope. We should do something to help the homeless.
Using adjectives as nouns in this form allows you to talk about groups of people. For example, poor people = the poor. We don’t often want to make generalizations of groups of people saying they all have similar qualities, however it is useful and efficient when discussing political and social policies. Take a look at this video below which explains the use of adjectives as nouns.
Adjectives as Adverbs: Adjectives can be turned into adverbsby adding “ly” to the end of them. This allows them to modify verbs, adjectives, and other adverbs.
Examples of Adjectives as Adverbs: Modify verbs: She spoke confidently when she pitched her idea to the team. Modify adjectives: Apartments in Amsterdam are outrageously expensive. Modify other adverbs: She spoke extremely confidently.
The most common irregular adverbs are well, fast and hard. Don’t add an -ly to these words!
Comparative Adjectives: Comparative adjectives are used to compare 2 objects. The key to understanding comparative adjectives is to count how many syllables (the number of sounds in a word) are in the adjective. For example, fast has one syllable, handsome has 2 syllables and dangerous has 3 syllables.
For one syllable adjectives, we simply add -er to the end of the adjective. Example: Heidi is taller than Jane.
If the adjective ends in a consonant + vowel + consonant spelling, (for example, ‘fat’ or ‘big’), then you need to double the final consonant before adding -er. Example: That hippo is fatter than the crocodile.
For two or more syllable adjectives, simply use the form more + adjective + than. Example: London is more expensive than Bangkok.
For two syllable adjective ends in -y, change the -y to -i and add -er. Example: He is happier than Eric.
To help you remember the comparative form: 1 syllable adjective + -er She is faster than Mary. 2 + syllables more + adjective Ryan is more handsome than Dave. 2 syllables ending in -y drop -y from adjective +-ier That joke was funnier than mine.
Superlative Adjectives Superlative adjectives are used when we are talking about 3 or more objects, where we want to show what is the upper or lower limit of something. The rules to use for superlative adjectives are very similar to comparative adjectives.
For one syllable adjectives, add -est, and again, if the word ends in vowel-consonant, double the consonant.
That is the tallest building in the whole city. Today is the hottest day of the year.
For two or more syllable adjectives, use the form the most + adjective.
This is the most beautiful painting in the whole museum.
For two syllable adjectives that end in -y, change the -y to -i and add -est.
That is the funniest joke I have ever heard.
To help you remember the rules: 1 syllable the + adjective + add -est That’s the tallest building in New York. 2+ syllables the most + adjective Rachel is the most interesting woman I’ve ever met. 2 syllables ending in -y drop -y from adjective +-iest Jerry is the funniest of all my friends.
As always in English, there are some irregulars.
The most common irregular adjectives are:
Adjective - Comparative - Superlative good better best bad worse worst little less least much more most far further / farther furthest / farthest
List of Adjectives:
Adjectives of quantity. full empty some few half several many every many numerous aplenty galore
Adjectives of appearance. beautiful ugly stunning hideous handsome old young ancient tall short clean dirty slim chubby long
Adjectives of color. red orange purple green yellow orange blue brown dark green yellowish metallic transparent silver
Adjectives of opinion. good bad funny boring good better best wonderful splendid mediocre useful useless evil lovely
Adjectives of size. small little tiny tall mountainous huge minute gigantic long short same as colossal massive
Adjectives of shape. round square triangular oval cylindrical oblong zigzag spherical crooked distorted steep straight deep
Adjectives of origin. American French Spanish English Italian Dutch lunar oceanic polar equatorial northern southern
Adjectives of material. glass wooden cloth concrete fabric leather ceramic china steel cotton silicon plastic
Adjectives of distance. short long far nearby close faraway neighboring distant remote far-flung around outlying outermost
Adjectives of temperature. hot cold boiling freezing frigid sweltering chilly scalding burning cool sizzling wintry frosty
Adjectives of time. early late morning afternoon evening night first last initial modern old-fashioned quick rapid belated
Adjectives of personality. happy sad excited scared funny boring cheerful grumpy lonely brave lazy witty mysterious jealous
Adjectives of taste. sweet sour acidic bitter salty delicious repulsive tasty yummy appetizing scrumptious spicy tasteless
Adjectives of Touch. hard soft rough smooth grainy coarse bumpy lumpy polished glossy irregular sticky damp cuddly
Adjectives of Age. young old baby child childish antique youthful elderly mature adolescent infantile bygone recent
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