What Are Adjectives

Predicate Adjective

Predicate Adjective is an adjective that can act as a complement to linking verbs or the verb ‘to be’ that describes a sensory experience. such as: to feel, to seem, or to taste.

The linking verb and adjectives are the part of predicate in a sentence.

Example:

• This girl is happy.
• It feels rough on the pebble beach.

Adjectives vs. Adverbs

Bear in mind, an adverb describes how an action is performed —an adjective describes what a noun/pronoun feels.

Example:

• I feel badly about what happened. (adverb)
• I feel bad about his tragedy. (adjective)
• That boy is so loud! (adjective)
• That boy speaks so loudly! (adverb)

In above example, ‘I feel badly’ means that you are not good or weak at feeling things. However, in second sentence ‘I feel bad’ means that you are describing an emotion for his situation.

Adjectives describe the Quantity

They can also describe the quantity of nouns: many, few, millions, eleven. Adjectives tell the reader how much—or how many—of something.

Example:

• Please colour three shades of pink in this painting.
• My cake should have sixteen candles.
• Several eggs are collected each morning.

Coordinate Adjectives

Coordinate adjectives should be separated by a comma or the word and. Adjectives are coordinate if they modify the same noun in a sentence.

In a correct sentence, the subject (or doer) that is modified should immediately follow the comma after the modifier.

Examples of Coordinate Adjectives:

• This is going to be a suffocating, hot summer.
• Sam’s devoted and vigorous efforts made the impossible possible.

Examples of Cumulative Adjectives:

• My parrot, Mickey, loves sleeping on this dotted fleece rug.
• No one could open the rusted bronze gate.

In the cumulative adjective example, you would not say, “No one could open the bronze rusted gate.” Whereas, you can change the order of adjectives from first example, ‘vigorous and devoted’ efforts and it still sounds right.

Degrees of Comparison

Adjectives have three forms: absolute, comparative, and superlative.

Absolute adjectives describe something in its own right.

Absolute Adjectives:

• A wealthy woman

• A naughty monkey

• A fluffy rabbit
• A Beautiful painting

Comparative Adjectives

Comparative adjectives make a comparison between two or more things. For most one-syllable adjectives, the comparative is formed by adding the suffix -er (or just -r if the adjective already ends with an e). For two-syllable adjectives ending in -y, replace -y with -ier. For multi-syllable adjectives, add the word more.

• A wealthier woman
• A naughtier monkey
• A fluffier cat
• More beautiful painting

Superlative Adjectives

Superlative adjectives indicate that something has the highest degree of the quality in question. One-syllable adjectives become superlatives by adding the suffix -est (or just -st for adjectives that already end in e). Two-syllable adjectives ending in -y replace -y with -iest. Multi-syllable adjectives use the word most. When you use an article with a superlative adjective, it will usually be the definite article ‘the’ rather than ‘a or an’. Using a superlative indicates that you are talking about a specific item or items.

• A wealthiest woman
• A naughtiest monkey
• A fluffiest cat
• The most beautiful painting.

When Nouns Become Adjectives and Adjectives Become Nouns

Sometimes, a word that normally functions as a noun can act as an adjective, depending on its placement.

Examples:

• Never try to pet someone’s guide dog without asking permission first.
• Guide is a noun. But in this sentence, it modifies dog. So it functions as an adjective. It can be vice versa, too. Some words that are normally adjectives can function as nouns:
• Alex is working on a fundraiser to help the hungry.
• In the context of this sentence, hungry is functioning as a noun.