Adjectives: Describing Words

Adjectives describe or modify nouns and pronouns.

Position of Adjectives

Attributive (before noun)

• a big house
• the red car
• an interesting book

Predicative (after linking verb)

• The house is big.
• The car looks red.
• The book seems interesting.

Order of Adjectives

When using multiple adjectives, follow this order:

1. Opinion: beautiful, ugly, nice
2. Size: big, small, tall
3. Age: old, new, young
4. Shape: round, square, long
5. Color: red, blue, green
6. Origin: British, Japanese, American
7. Material: wooden, plastic, metal
8. Purpose: sleeping (bag), running (shoes)

Examples:

• a beautiful old Italian car
• a big round wooden table
• comfortable new running shoes

Comparative and Superlative

Short Adjectives (1-2 syllables)

Long Adjectives (3+ syllables)

Irregular Adjectives

Using Comparatives and Superlatives

Comparative (comparing two things):

• She is taller than her brother.
• This book is more interesting than that one.

Superlative (comparing three or more):

• She is the tallest in her class.
• This is the most interesting book I’ve read.

Quiz