Examples of Adjectives
What is an Adjective?
An adjective is a word that serves to modify a noun or pronoun by describing, identifying, or quantifying its specific characteristics. Essentially, the purpose of an adjective is to answer the following questions:
- How many are there?
- What kind is it?
- Which one is it?
Adjectives are often confused with adverbs by those who are learning about English grammar for the first time. However, it’s easy to correctly identify an adverb if you remember that many of them are formed by adding -ly to an adjective. While happy is an adjective, happily is an adverb. In addition, an adjective always follows a form of the verb to be when it modifies the noun before the verb.
To learn more about the correct use of adjectives in the English language, yourDictionary recommends the following helpful resources:
- What is an Adjective? outlines the role of adjectives while discussing how to identify possessive, demonstrative, interrogative, and indefinite adjectives.
- The Internet Grammar of English describes the characteristics you can use to determine whether or not a particular word is an adjective.
- Adjectives with Countable and Uncountable Nouns explains the rules for using adjectives with nouns that can be expressed in a plural form.
Examples of Adjectives
When discussing adjectives many teachers have their students brainstorm a list of the adjectives they encounter on a regular basis. This list may include:
- Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, brown, black, and white are adjectives because they describe the color of something.
- Tall, short, fat, thin, pretty, and ugly are adjectives that can be used to describe the physical characteristic of a person.
- Zany, quirky, vivacious, exuberant, determined, diligent, and adaptable are adjectives because they outline personality traits.
For more examples of adjectives, visit the following Web sites:
- ESL Desk has a list of 732 adjective examples organized alphabetically.
- Paul Noll has a large list of common English adjectives sorted into categories such as time, shape, sound, size, taste, and touch.
- Keep and Share has several different printable adjective lists, including lists of adjectives to describe personality traits and examples of predicate adjectives.
Adjective Practice Worksheets
If you’re a teacher looking for resources to use in your classroom or a concerned parent in search of extra help for your child, yourDictionary recommends visiting the following links for lesson plans, tutorials, and printable worksheets covering the role of adjectives in the English language:
- Ed Helper has adjective worksheets for students in grades 1-7.
- Teachnology has several different adjective worksheets for teachers, including worksheets covering themed units such as fall, hockey, Valentine’s Day, and the rainforest.
- Super Teacher Worksheets has adjective printables covering topics such as comparative and superlative adjectives and understanding the difference between an adjective and an adverb.
For resources to assist those who are learning English as a second language, yourDictionary suggests visiting the following links:
- English Zone has a simple handout that describes the criteria a word must meet to be considered an adjective.
- Using English has online quizzes for both beginning and intermediate students.
- Handouts Online has adjective worksheets designed for ESL learners, sorted by ability level to make it easier for you to choose the lesson that is most appropriate for your students.
Using Adjectives in Writing
While it’s important to understand how to identify adjectives in English, it’s also wise to understand how to effectively use these parts of speech in your own writing. Adjectives are best used sparingly. Generally, nouns and verbs should do the bulk of the descriptive work in your prose. Don’t simply tell your reader that something is beautiful, exciting, or interesting. Use your words to show why these descriptive labels are appropriate.
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