Adjectives (Adjective Endings, Kinds of Adjectives and Comparison of Adjectives)

Adjectives 

An adjective is a describing word. It tells you more about a noun. An adjective usually appears before the noun it describes. Sometimes, though, the adjective appears after the noun, later in the sentence.

Retrieved from: Basic English Grammar - Book 1

Exercise 1
Underline the adjectives in the following sentences.

1. There is an empty room upstairs.
2. It's a hot summer.
3. You are so kind.
4. Don't be crazy.
5. This park is clean and green.
6. Many people exercise to keep healthy.
7. I think these eggs are rotten.
8. We are all bored. There isn't anything to do.
9. The pupils don't find the joke amusing.
10. James was absent because he was ill.

Exercise 2

Fill in the blanks with suitable adjectives from the box.

Retrieved from: Basic English Grammar - Book 1

Adjective Endings

Adjectives have different endings.
Some adjectives end in -ful or -less.

Retrieved from: Basic English Grammar - Book 1

An adjective that ends in -less is the opposite of the same adjective that ends in -ful. For example:

The -ful ending means having a lot of something. For example:

The -less ending means without. For example:

Some adjectives end in -y.

Retrieved from: Basic English Grammar - Book 1

Some adjectives end in -ing.

Retrieved from: Basic English Grammar - Book 1

Some adjectives end in -ly.

Retrieved from: Basic English Grammar - Book 1

Here are some adjectives with the endings -able, -al, -en, -ible, -ish and -ous.

Retrieved from: Basic English Grammar - Book 1

Exercise 1
Add the correct endings to turn these words into adjectives.

Retrieved from: Basic English Grammar - Book 1

Exercise 2
Add the corerct endings to turn these words into adjectives.

Retrieved from: Basic English Grammar - Book 1

Kinds of Adjectives 

There are different kinds of adjectives.
Some adjectives describe the qualities of nouns.

Retrieved from: Basic English Grammar - Book 1

Some adjectives tell you which place or country a person or thing comes from, or belongs to. They are called adjectives of origin.

Retrieved from: Basic English Grammar - Book 1

Some adjectives tell you the color of things.

Retrieved from: Basic English Grammar - Book 1

Some adjectives tell you the size of the nouns they describe.

Retrieved from: Basic English Grammar - Book 1

DID YOU KNOW?
The word tall describes people and narrow, upright objects. For example, you can say:

• a tall girl
• a tall bookcase

The word high describes bigger or wider objects that reach a great height. For example, you can say:

• a high mountain
• a high wall

Numbers are adjectives, too. They tell you how many people, animals, or things there are. Sometimes they are called adjectives of quantity.

Retrieved from: Basic English Grammar - Book 1

Other adjectives tell you something about quantity without giving you the exact number.

Retrieved from: Basic English Grammar - Book 1

DID YOU KNOW?
Adjectives that tell you about quantity are also called quantifying determiners.

Exercise 
Look at the underlined words in the following sentences. Do you know what kinds of adjectives they are?

In the blanks write C if the underlined words tell you about color, S if they tell you about size, Q/ if they tell you about quality, O if they tell you about origin, or Qn if they tell you about the number or quantity of things.

Retrieved from: Basic English Grammar - Book 1

Comparison of Adjectives 

When you compare two people or things, use the comparative form of the adjective.
Lots of comparative adjectives end in -er.

Retrieved from: Basic English Grammar - Book 1

* The word than is often used with comparative adjectives. For example, you might say:

• Jack is taller than John.
• A sports car is faster than a motorbike.

Use the superlative form of an adjective to compare three or more nouns. Lots of superlatives end in -est.

Retrieved from: Basic English Grammar - Book 1

* You often add the before the superlative form. For example, you say:

• Mount Everest is the highest mountain in the world.
• Peter is the tallest boy in his class.

* With adjectives that end in -e, add -r to form the comparative, and -st to form the superlative. For example:

* Some adjectives have only one syllable, end with a consonant, and have a single vowel before the consonant. With these asjectives, double the last letter before adding -er to form the comparative, and -est to form the superlative. For example:

* Some adjectives have two syllables and end in -y. With these asjectives change the y to i. Then add -er to form the comparative, and -est to form the superlative. For example:

With some adjectives, you use more to make the comparative form, and most to make the superlative form.

Retrieved from: Basic English Grammar - Book 1

DID YOU KNOW?
Adjectives that form their comparative and superlative with more and most are usually adjectives with two or more syllables, or sounds. For example:

The comparative and superlative forms of some adjectives are completely different words.

Retrieved from: Basic English Grammar - Book 1

* With these adjectives, you don't add -er or more to form the comparative, or -est or most to form the superlative.

Exercise 1
Fill in the blanks with the correct comparative and superlative forms of the following adjectives.

Retrieved from: Basic English Grammar - Book 1

Exercise 2
Fill in the blanks with the correct comparative and superlative forms of the following adjectives.

Retrieved from: Basic English Grammar - Book 1