ADJECTIVES
An adjective is a describing word that qualifies a noun or a pronoun
For Ex- Rishabh is a dull boy
In the above sentence dull shows what kind of boy Rishabh is (ie. it qualifies Rishabh)
Types of Adjectives
Adjectives are of the following types:
(1)Adjective of quality
(2)Adjective of quantity
(3)Adjective of number
(4)Proper adjective
(5)Demonstrative adjective
(6)Distributive objective
(7)Interrogative adjective
(8)Possessive adjective
(9)Emphasizing adjective
(10)Relative adjective
(11)Exclamatory adjective
(1) Adjective of quality:
adjectives of quality show the quality and kind of a person or thing
For Ex-Ritu is a beautiful girl
Rajasthan is a large city
An adjective can be used before a noun (attributive use)
For Ex-Ashok was a great king
In the above example, adjective (great)has been used attributively
An adjective can also be used after a verb (predicative use)
For Ex-Ravi is smart
In the above example, adjective (smart)has been used predicatively
Note: some adjectives like sleep,awake, afraid, ashamed, alike,alone etc. are used only predicatively
For Ex-Ram is afraid
Sita and Gita are alike
(2) Adjective of quantity:
Adjective of quantity are used to denote the quantity of nouns or pronouns
For Ex-some,all,any, enough,much etc
For Ex-Give him some milk
Enough oil is there in the urn
Uses of adjectives of quantity
1. Some is used in affirmative sentences before uncountable nouns
For Ex- I have some oil
2.Any is used in negative sentences before plural countable nouns
For Ex- He does not have any problems
3.Many is used for countable nouns whereas much is used for uncountable nouns
For Ex- I have many works to do (wrong)
I have much work to do (correct)
I have many pens (correct)
(3)Adjectives of number:
adjective that shows the number of nouns or pronouns is called adjective of number
Adjective of number is of two types
Definite
Indefinite
1.Definite Numerals:
these are used to denote and exact number
For Ex- one car,second boy, first row etc
They can again be divided into two parts
(a)Ordinals:
definite adjectives which show the order in which a person or thing stands are called ordinal adjectives
For Ex- the first boy of this row is Raj
August is the eight month of the year
(b) Cardinals:
definite adjectives which shows the number of nouns are called cardinal adjectives
For Ex- I have seven pens
Shashank has three sister
2.Indefinite Adjectives:
adjectives than do not denote an exact number or order are called indefinite adjective
For Ex- few girls have come
he has several books
(4)Proper Adjective:
adjectives which are formed from proper nouns are called proper adjectives
For Ex- Gandhian philosophy
Indian economy
(5)Demonstrative Adjective:
adjectives which point out which person or thing is being talked about are called demonstrative adjectives
For Ex- that pen is yours
this boy is fatter then you
these teams have qualified for the finals
those trees are quite tall
Note: when demonstrative words like this, that, these or those precede a noun, they are known as demonstrative adjectives, where as if these words are followed by a verb, they are called demonstrative pronouns
For Ex- this is my book
this book is mine
Note: the number of a demonstrative adjectives and the noun qualified by it must be same
For Ex- these kind of necklace is expensive (wrong)
this kind of necklace is expensive (correct)
(6)Distributive Adjective:
distributive adjectives are those adjectives which are used to refer to members of a group as individuals
For Ex- each student has passed.
every boy was present yesterday
Note: each, every, either or neither can be used both as an adjective (when place before a noun) and as a pronoun (when followed by some other word)
For Ex- each boy has come
each of the boys has come
(7)Interrogative Adjective:
when interrogative pronouns (what/ which/ whose) are followed by a noun then they are said to be interrogative adjective
For Ex- what kind of man are you?
which car is yours?
(8)Possessive Adjective:
adjectives formed from possessive pronoun are called possessive adjectives
For Ex- my Book has been lost
your father is coming
(9)Emphasizing Adjective:
adjectives which are used to emphasize a noun are called emphasizing adjectives
For Ex- I cooked it with my own hands.
emphasizing adjective
(10)Relative Adjective:
when relative pronouns which and what are used as adjectives they are called relative adjectives
For Ex- he was injured, which fact
(11)Exclamatory Adjective:
sometimes what is used in exclamatory sentences such type of usage makes what an exclamatory adjective
For Ex- what a beautiful painting!
what an idea!
Formation of Adjectives
Many adjectives are formed from noun
some adjectives are formed from verbs
some adjectives are formed from other adjectives
Look at the following sentences
(a) Ravi is a tall boy
In the first sentence tall denotes the quality of Ravi and is therefore an adjective in "positive degree"
(b) Ravi is taller than Rakesh
In the sentence the comparison of quality of Ravi with that of Rakesh and is there for an adjective in comparative degree
(c) Ravi is the tallest boy of his class
In the sentence tallest denotes the highest degree of quality and is therefore adjective and is there for an adjectives in superlative degree
Hence, adjectives have three types of degree
1.Positive degree (when no comparison is made)
2.Comparative degree (when two things or set of things are compared)
3.Superlative degree (to denote the highest degree of quality)
Ways to change positive into comparative and superlative degree
Rule 1:To change and adjective into comparative degree er is added to the positive degree and est added to change it into superlative degree
Rule 2: If e is present at the end of a positive degree r is added to change it into a comparative degree and st to change it into superlative degree
Rule 3: if the positive degree ends in a consonant and a short vowel comes before it, the last consonant is doubled and then er and est added to change it into comparative and superlative degree respectively
Rule 4: when a positive degree ends in y and a consonant is present before y the y is converted into i and then er and est are added respectively
Note: if a vowel is present before y, only er and est should be added
Rule 5: adjectives that are more than two syllabus are changed to comparative and superlative degree by adding more and most respectively
Note: certain adjectives do not follow any rule they get changed completely
Correct Uses of Adjectives:
1.Positive degree of adjective is used in between as…….. as and so……. as
For Ex-she is as fair as her sister
he played as good as he could
2.When one is to be chosen out of two we use a comparative degree followed by of and preceded by the. But when one is to be chosen out of more than two, superlative degree is used with of placed immediately after and the placed immediately before the superlative degree
For ex she is prettiest of two sisters (wrong)
she is the prettier of two sisters (correct)
he is the strongest of all the wrestlers
3.Following structure must be followed when two qualities of a noun are being compared
subject +verb+ more+ positive degree+ then+ positive degree
For Ex- he is taller than falter (wrong)
he is more tall than fat (correct)
4.Some comparative adjective are followed by to and not then some of them are superior, inferior, senior ,prayer, anterior, posterior, preferable etc
For Ex-he is junior to me
tea is more preferable to coffee
5.If two adjectives are joined by a conjunction, they should be in same degree
For Ex- my house is bigger and better than yours
ashish is the richest and kindest person of this town
6.Hyphenated adjectives are never used in plural form
For Ex- I gave three ten- rupees notes(wrong)
I gave him three ten-rupees notes (correct)
7.Possessive adjectives must be placed after all and both and not before them
For Ex-both his brothers have failed
all my friend have reached there
8.To compare One with all the others of same quality any other (for singular) and all other (for plural) are used
For Ex-she is more intelligent than any other student in the class
she is more intelligent than all other students in the class
9.Both as…….. as and then are used when we use positive and comparative degree of an adjective together
For Ex- she is as good as if not better than you
10.Some adjectives are not used in comparative or superlative degree. some of those adjectives are interior, exterior ,complete,perfect, final, last ,unique ,absolute, impossible, supreme etc
For Ex- this is more superior than that (wrong)
this is superior then that (correct)
11.Some adjective are never used in comparative degree. they are always used in only positive and superlative degree
positive
Northern
Top
Eastern
Superlative
Northernmost
Topmost
Easternmost
12.some confusing adjectives
(a)Farther and further: farther means at,to or by a greater distance
it is used as comparative of far
For Ex- my house is at the farther end of the street
further means additional
For Ex-for further information contact, contact me
(b)last and latest: last means after all others in time or order
it refers to position
For Ex- lord Mountbatten was the last victory of India
latest means of recent date. it refers to time
For Ex- I bought the latest mobile phone
(c)elder(eldest)/older(oldest): elder(eldest) means of earlier birth.it is used only for persons and is confined to members of the same family.
For Ex-ramesh is my elder brother
older (oldest) means advanced in years. it can be used for both persons and things
For Ex-Shivam is older than tina
Hinduism is the oldest religion of the world
(d)nearest and next: nearest means not for distant in time or space,or degree,or circumstances. it did not distance
For Ex- which is the nearest shopping mall?
next means immediately following in time or oder. it denotes position
For Ex-virot will be the next captain of indian cricket team
(e)later and latter: later means at a subsequent time or stage
For Ex- she will ask him later
latter means second of the two things or persons
For Ex- the latter innings of the ODI was quite interesting
Note: farmer is opposite of letter
(f)fewer and less: both fewer and less means of small quantity or numbers
But fewer is used for countable noun
while less is used for uncountable nouns
For Ex- no fewer than 20 people died in the plain crash
no less than half of the work has been completed
(g)little/a little/the little: little means limited are below average (hardly any)
It has negative meaning
For Ex- there is little hope of his survival
a little means some what (though not much)
It has positive meaning. it is used in context of some
For Ex- a little awareness would have saved his life
the little means not much but all of that much available
For Ex- he drank off the little water he had
Note:few /a few/ the few and little /A little/ the little have same meaning. The only difference being that little/a little/ the little are used for uncountable nouns, while few/ a few/ the few are used for countable noun
For Ex-few (hardly any) students have attended the class today
a few (some) members are absent
the few (not many, but all there are)
friends he had were all very helpful
Note: few is used with plural nouns
13.If adjective of shape, size, color, origin etc come together in a single sentence, then the order of adjective should be as follows
opinion >size> age> shape> colour> origin> material> purpose
For Ex- I bought a big basket black leather bag for the summer camp.
size colour material
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