ADJECTIVE

To talk or write about a person place or thing, you use nouns like girl, house, or tree.

To add descriptions to those nouns that give the reader a clearer picture of what you mean, you add “detail” words in front of the noun like little, blue, rich, old. Words that tell more about nouns or pronouns are called adjectives.

An adjective is a word which describes or modifies a noun or pronoun. A modifier is a word that limits, changes, or alters the meaning of another word.

Therefore, an adjective limits, changes, or alters the meaning of a noun or pronoun.

the white, puffy clouds

a happy, carefree child

some tall, stately trees

a rich dark chocolate layer cake

five huge leafy bushes

I have a car. 

I have a blue car. 

I have a small dark blue car.

A REVIEW OF WHAT YOU HAVE READ SO FAR ABOUT ADJECTIVES:

 an adjective is a word that modifies a noun or a pronoun;

 an adjective tells what kind, as in old man, new clothes, bad taste, and cold day;

an adjective tells how many, as in many days, few hours, couple of dollars, and two cities;

an adjective tells which one or ones, as in those books, this restaurant, these computers, that building;

articles are also adjectives - a, the, and an.

Sometimes nouns can be used as adjectives. Glass, kitchen, and school are usually nouns. 

Used in the following ways, however, many grammar books call them adjectives:

I could see that he had a glass eye.

Hang the kitchen clock above the refrigerator.

Do you know the value of that school book?

Adjectives are describing words which add details about the nouns in a sentence. 

Adjectives are usually placed BEFORE the nouns or pronouns they modify. However, adjectives can occasionally be found AFTER nouns and pronouns.

The trees, tall and leafy, lined the driveway.

The man with the umbrella stood in the rain.

Adjectives which follow a noun are always surrounded by commas

A child, busy and happy, is the best thing a mother can think of.

A sentence with a linking verb uses adjectives like this:

The trees were tall and stately.

The clouds were white and puffy.

I am happy about winning the lottery.

The counsellors were very angry.

The words tall, stately, white, puffy, happy, angry are all adjectives. They are placed after the linking verb and give more information about the person or thing which comes before the verb. These are a special kind of adjective called a predicate adjective.

Here are some more examples of adjectives used with linking verbs.

The book is heavy.

The tourists are American.

I am frustrated with my son's behavior.

Max was late again today.

The boys will be hungry.

They became nervous when they heard the thunder.

It seems to be injured.

What is the correct order for two or more adjectives?

1. The general order is: opinion, fact:

a nice French car (not a French nice car)

("Opinion" is what you think about something. "Fact" is what is definitely true about something.)

2. The normal order for fact adjectives is size, age, shape, colour, material, origin:

a big, old, square, black, wooden Chinese table

 

When we want to use two colour adjectives, we join them with "and":

Many newspapers are black and white. 

She was wearing a long, blue and yellow dress.