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1. Adjective.

Adjective is a word which describes or modifies a noun.Adjective adds something  for the meaning of the noun.(Adjective means ‘added to’). Generally adjective comes before the noun it describes.

Examples:

He is an ‘honest’ man.
I like ‘blue’ jeans.
These are ‘sweet’ mangoes.

2. Kinds of adjectives.

A.Adjectives of quality or descriptive adjectives:


They show the kind or quality of a person or thing.

Examples:

Bangalore is a ‘beautiful’ city.
It was a ‘bright’ day.
The ‘brilliant’ actress received a standing ovation.

These adjectives answer the question ‘of what kind?’

B. Adjectives of quantity:

They show how much of a thing is meant.

Examples:

I want ‘some’ water.
There is ‘sufficient’ food in the refrigerator.
Show a ‘little’ patience.

These adjectives answer the question, ‘how much?’
C. Adjectives of number:

They show how many persons or things are meant or in what order a person or thing stands.

Examples.

Arjun has 'three' cars.
Johnson has got 'first' rank in the University Examination.
There are 'several' paintings in my drawing room.

Adjectives of number answer the question 'How many?'. They are also called numeral adjectives.
D. Demonstrative adjectives:

These adjectives point out which person or thing is meant.

Examples.

'This' girl is smarter than my daughter.
'These' criminals must be punished at once.
'That' man has come from Venice.

Demonstrative adjectives answer the question, 'Which?'
E. Interrogative adjectives:

They are used to ask questions about a noun.

Examples.

'What' do you want?
'Which' is your favourite dish?
'Whose' car is this?

3.Formation of adjectives:

a. Many adjectives are formed from nouns.

Examples.

Care - careful
Fool - foolish
Dirt - dirty
Gold - Golden
Storm - Stormy

b. Some adjectives are formed from verbs.

Examples.

Talk - talkative
Move - moveable
Tire - tireless

c. Some adjectives are formed from other adjectives.

Example.

Blue - bluish
Tragic - tragical
Whole - Wholesome

4. Position of adjectives:

Adjectives nearly always appear immediately before the noun or noun phrase that they modify.
Examples.

Rohan is an 'honest' boy.
He did not eat 'any' food today.

Sometimes they appear in a string of adjectives.
Examples.

'Anyone' 'capable' of doing 'something' useful' should be welcomed.

5. Degrees of adjectives:

Adjectives can express degrees of modification.
Examples.

Jennifer is a 'rich' woman, but Helen is 'richer' than Jennifer, and Jolly is the 'richest' woman in the city.

a. The adjective 'rich' is said to be in the positive degree. Positive degree is used to denote the mere existence of some quality of what we speak about. It is used when no comparison is made.

b. The adjective 'richer' is said to be in the comparative degree. We use the comparative for comparing 'two' things. The word 'than' frequently accompanies the comparative.

c. The adjective 'richest' is said to be in the superlative degree. The superlative degree denotes the highest degree of the quality and is used when more than two things are compared. The word 'the' always precedes the superlative.

6. Formation of comparative and superlative:

a. Suffixes, 'er' and 'est' are used to form most comparatives and superlatives for most adjectives of one syllable.

Example.

Strong - stronger - strongest
Sweet - sweeter - sweetest
dear - dearer - dearest

b. When the positive ends in 'e', only 'r' and 'st' are added.

Examples:

Large - larger - largest
white - whiter - whitest
Fine - finer - finest

c. when the positive ends in 'y' preceded by a consonant,'y' is changed to 'i' before adding 'er' and 'est'.

Example.

Easy - easier - easiest
Merry - merrier - Merriest
Healthy - healthier - healthiest

d. When the positive is a one syllable word ending in a single consonant, preceded by a short vowel, this consonant is doubled before adding 'er' or 'est'.

Examples.

Hot - hotter - hottest
Thin - thinner - thinnest
Big - bigger - biggest

e. The comparative and superlative of adjectives of more than two syllables are formed by putting 'more' and 'most' before the positive.

Examples.

Beautiful - more beautiful - most beautiful
Intelligent - more intelligent - most intelligent
Difficult - more difficult - most difficult

Two syllable adjectives ending in ful ( eg. Useful), less ( eg. hopeless), ing ( eg. boring ) and, ed ( eg. surprised) etc take 'more' and 'most'.

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