Adjectives, Adjective?


Adjectives - Definition, Forms, Types, Usage And Examples

What are Adjectives? 

In English grammar, adjectives are words that add something to the meaning of a noun or pronoun. Adjectives give us more information about a noun or pronoun. 

Examples: 

(a) John is a good boy. 

(b) She is a beautiful girl.

In the first example, the word, ‘good’ in “good boy” is an adjective because this word (good) gives some information about the boy. It tells us that the boy is good in character, not bad. 

Similarly, in the second example, ‘beautiful’ in “beautiful girl ” is an adjective because it also gives us information about the girl.

1. Positive Adjectives

Positive adjectives are those simple adjective words that are not used in comparison. Positive adjectives describe a person, place or thing in a positive manner. 

There are numberless positive adjectives in English. Except for comparative adjectives (which usually end in ‘er’, ‘ier’ or are  preceded by ‘more’) and superlative adjectives (which end in ‘est’, or are preceded by most)  all other adjectives are positive adjectives.

Examples: 

(a) He is a brilliant boy.

(b) She is a gorgeous girl. 

List of Common Positive Adjectives

1. Good 

2. Bad 

3. Beautiful

4. Ugly

5. Handsome

6. Gorgeous

7. Kind 

8. Polite 

9. Rude 

10. Nice 

11. Loyal

12. Sincere 

13. Brave 

14. Honest

15. Dishonest

16. Gentle

17. Faithful

18. Modest 

19. Clever

20. Tough

21. Active

22. Brilliant

23. Authentic

24. Lovely

25. Cute

2. Comparative Adjectives 

Comparative adjectives, as the name suggests, are the adjectives that compare a person, place, thing or idea to another. Comparative adjectives usually end in ‘er’, as in nicer, ‘ier’ as in happier. 

Comparative adjectives are followed by the word, ‘than’. Some comparative adjectives are also formed with ‘more’ without any change in the word as in “More important”. 

Examples: 

(a) He is nicer than me/I (am). 

(b) She is more beautiful than her mother. 

List of Comparative Adjectives

1. Better 

2. Worse 

3. More beautiful

4. Uglier 

5. More handsome/handsomer 

6. More gorgeous

7. Kinder 

8. Politer/more polite 

9. Ruder 

10. Nicer  

11. More loyal

12. More sincere 

13. Braver 

14. More honest

15. More dishonest

16. Gentler/more gentle 

17. More faithful

18. Modester/more modest 

19. Cleverer

20. Tougher 

21. More active

22. More brilliant

23. More authentic

24. Lovelier

25. Cuter

Superlative Adjectives

Superlative adjectives are the forms of adjectives that describe a person, place or thing as having the highest or lowest quality. 

Superlative adjectives are formed with ‘est’ as in ‘greatest’ or with ‘most’ as in ‘most important’. 

Superlative adjectives use the article ‘The’ before them as in “The most beautiful women” or “The greatest man”. 

Examples:

(a) He is the tallest boy in the class.

(b) She is the most intelligent girl in the village. 

List of Superlative Adjectives

1. Best  

2. Worst 

3. Most beautiful

4. Ugliest 

5. Most handsome/handsomest 

6. Most gorgeous

7. Kindest 

8. Politest/most polite 

9. Rudest

10. Nicest  

11. Most loyal

12. Most sincere 

13. Bravest 

14. Most honest

15. Most dishonest

16. Gentlest/most gentle 

17. Most faithful

18. Most modest 

19. Cleverest 

20. Toughest 

21. Most active

22. Most brilliant

23. Most authentic

24. Loveliest 

25. Cutest

How to Form Comparative and Superlative Adjectives? 

To form comparative and superlative adjectives, you need to know about syllable. 

A syllable is a part or segment of a word that is pronounced in one chest pulse. There is only one syllable in son. 

There are two syllables in Happy→ hap-py. There are three syllables in Inferno→ in-fer-no. 

Positive adjectives are changed into comparative and superlative degrees by applying the following rules. 

Rule 1. Adjectives that have only one syllable are changed into comparative and superlative degrees by adding ‘er’ in comparative and ‘est’ in superlative. 

In the following examples, the first adjective is positive, the second one comparative and the third one is superlative. 

Examples: 

(a) Big→ Bigger→ Biggest 

(b) Small→ Smaller→ Smallest 

(c) Fat→ Fatter→ Fattest 

(d) Thick→ Thicker→ Thickest 

(e) Thin → Thinner→ Thinnest

Rule 2. Most of adjectives that have two syllables and all the adjectives having three or more syllables are changed into comparative and superlative adjectives by adding ‘more’ in comparative and ‘most’ in superlative. 

Examples: 

(a) Beautiful→ More beautiful→ Most beautiful

(b) Gorgeous →More gorgeous → Most gorgeous

(c) Sincere → More sincere→ Most sincere 

(d) Honest →More honest →Most honest

(e) Active →More active →Most active

Rule 3. Some adjectives have irregular comparative and superlative degrees. 

Examples:

(a) Good→ Better→ Best 

(b) Bad→ Worse →Worst 

(c) Many →More→ Most 

(d) Little →Less →Least 

(e) Late →Later→ latest

Adjectives to Describe a Person

1. Optimistic→ having positive thoughts 

2. Confident→ Believing in oneself 

3. Pessimistic→ having negative thoughts

4. Energetic →an active person

5. Gloomy→ unhappy 

6. Reserved→ A person who keeps his feelings and emotions private. 

7. Competent→ A skillful person 

8. Prudent→ A wise person 

9. Resilient→ A strong person 

10. Methodical→ A person who thinks in a systematic manner. 

11. Influential→ A person who has influenced many other people.

12. Dazzling→ An impressive person 

13. Dedicated→ A zealous person who is hard-working. 

14. Caring→ A person who takes care of others. 

15. Generous→ A person who gives charity or wealth to others for free as an act of kindness.


Exercise 1

What Is an Adjective? 

Give examples of adjectives. 

Answer keys: 

An adjective is a word that describes a person, place or thing. 

Examples include good, bad, happy, prosperous, healthy, peaceful, powerful, forceful, greedy, etc. 

Exercise 2

Give comparative and superlative adjectives of the following words. 

1. Bad 

2. Fat 

3. Well 

4. Small 

5. Beautiful

6. Handsome

7. Interesting

8. Gorgeous

9. Intelligent

10. Brilliant

Answer keys? 

1. Worse and worst 

2. Fatter and fattest 

3. Better and best 

4. Smaller and smallest 

5. More beautiful and most beautiful 

6. More Handsome and most handsome or handsomer and handsomest 

7. More interesting and most interesting 

8. More gorgeous and most gorgeous 

9. More intelligent and most intelligent 

10. More brilliant and most brilliant 

Exercise 3 

Recall the meanings of the following words. 

1. Competent

2. Prudent

3. Resilient

4. Methodical

5. Influential

6. Dazzling

7. Dedicated 

8. Optimistic

9. Pessimistic

10. Confident 

Answer keys: 

1. A skillful person

2. A wise person

3. A strong person

4. A person who thinks in a systematic manner.

5. A person who has influenced many people.

6. An impressive person

7. A zealous person who is hard-working

8. A person having positive thoughts

9. A person who has negative thoughts.

10. A person who believes in his abilities.