Level Three
Lesson 38
adjectives in English
An adjective is a word that gives information about a noun–a person, a place, or a thing.
- That’s a big piece of cake. (The adjective “big” gives information about the noun “piece.”)
Adjectives describe nouns.
Adjectives modify nouns.
38a. Adjectives modify nouns. 
An adjective can give a lot of information about a noun or a pronoun. The word “modify” is almost always used in reference to what an adjective does.
- I’m wearing a beige shirt. (The adjective comes before a noun.)
- The shirt is beige. (The adjective comes after a noun.)
- It’s beige. (The adjective comes after a pronoun.)
- They are happy students. (The adjective comes before a noun.)
- The students are happy. (The adjective comes after a noun.)
- They’re happy. (The adjective comes after a pronoun.)
- She’s holding some pink flowers. (The adjective comes before a noun.)
- The flowers are pink. (The adjective comes after a noun.)
- They’re pink. (The adjective comes after a pronoun.
38a. Adjectives modify nouns.
- She is a beautiful woman.
- subject = she
- verb = is (be)
- article = a
- adjective = beautiful
- noun = woman (The noun is a subject complement.)
- The children are happy.
- article = the
- subject = children
- verb = are (be)
- adjective = happy (The adjective is a subject complement.)
38b. adjectives for quality
An adjective tells a reader or a listener if something is good or bad, if an experience is fun or boring, or if a person is talented or untalented. There are thousands of adjectives for qualities.
positive qualities
good
beautiful
interesting
fun
comfortable
happy
strong
clean
negative qualities
bad
ugly
boring
dull
uncomfortable
sad
weak
dirty
38b. adjectives for quality
- The water looks clean.
- article = the
- subject = water
- verb = looks
- adjective = clean
- His sweater is ugly.
- possessive adjective = his
- subject = sweater
- verb = is (be)
- adjective = ugly
38c. adjectives for quantity
Adjectives tell you if an amount is small or large. They can also provide information about numbers.
adjectives for numbers and amounts
each
every
some
few
many
much
several
enough
Numbers function as adjectives when they appear before a noun:
one bear, two people, three countries, 1,000 dollars, etc.
38c. adjectives for quantity
- They have enough plants to start a garden.
- adjective = enough
- noun = plants
- Many species of animals are endangered.*
- adjective = many
- noun = species
38d. descriptive adjectives
Descriptive adjectives provide information related to the five senses: smell, touch, sound, taste, and sight.
adjectives for description
red
white
smooth
rough
noisy
delicious
huge
tiny
quiet
fragrant
smelly
tangled
teeny
teeny-tiny
38d. descriptive adjectives
- Her fur is brown.
- She has small eyes.
- Her movement through the water is graceful.
- adjectives = brown, small, graceful
- This is a colorful basket of vegetables.
- Leafy vegetables are good for you.
- Tomatoes in my garden are very juicy.
- adjectives = colorful, leafy, good, my, juicy
my = possessive adjective
38e. nouns used as adjectives
Knowing that a noun can serve as an adjective will help increase your vocabulary choices when speaking or writing
nouns used as adectives
*Spanish history
ice cream
*french fries
spaghetti noodles
*American autoworker
hotel room
guitar case
student teacher
construction worker
*Christian beliefs
*Muslim holiday
*Jewish faith
*Hindu temple
*English language
Another way of thinking about these combinations is that they are compound nouns–two nouns that work together to represent one thing.
*Proper nouns for people, languages, religions, countries, etc, may or may not be capitalized
38e. nouns used as adjectives
- French fries are popular at American restaurants.
- Do you like french fries? (In this case, it’s not necessary to use a capital F, but the A in “American” is capitalized.)
- You can dry your clothes on a clothes line.
- The shirts are hanging on a clothesline.
38f. creating adjectives with suffixes
Certain suffixes are often used to create adjectives from other parts of speech. Suffixes such as ous, al, ful, less, ent, ic, and many others are commonly used.
- playful = play + ful
- helpless = help + less
- cautious = related to the noun “caution.”
- realistic = The “ic” is added to “realist.”
- magical = The “ic” is added to “magic.”
- hazardous = The “ous” is added to “hazard.”
- magnificent = related to the verb “magnify.”
38f. creating adjectives with suffixes
- Working in hazardous conditions requires proper equipment and safety gear.
hazard — hazardous
- This path through the words has a magical quality.
magic — magical
In Lesson Thirty-nine, you will learn about comparative adjectives.