IELTS Basic Grammar - Adjective
Adjectives describe nouns and pronouns. They give you more information about people, places, and things.
Kinds of Adjectives
Some adjectives tell about the size of people or things.
• Example: a big house, a long bridge, tiny feet, a large army, a high mountain, big hands, huge ship, a short man, a short skirt etc.
Some adjectives tell about the colour of things.
• Example: a red carpet, a gray suit, a brown bear, a white swan, an orange balloon etc.
Some adjectives tell what people or things are like by describing their quality.
• Example: a beautiful woman, a young soldier, a flat surface, a handsome boy, an old uncle, a hot drink etc.
Some adjectives tell what things are made of. They refer to substances.
• Example: a plastic folder, a stone wall, a clay pot, a paper bag, a metal box, a glass door, a cotton shirt, a silk dress, a concrete road etc.
Some adjectives are made from proper nouns of place. These adjectives are called adjectives of origin.
• Example: a Mexican hat, a British police officer, the French flag, a Filipino dress, an American custom, Washington apples etc.
The Order of Adjectives
Sometimes several adjectives are used to describe a single noun or pronoun. When you use two or more adjectives, the usual order is- size, quality, colour, origin, substance.
For example:
|
a small green plastic box a stylish red Italian car |
Adjectives of quality sometimes come before adjectives of size.
• For example:
beautiful long hair, elegant short hair etc.
But adjectives of size always come before adjectives of colour.
• For example:
beautiful long black hair, elegant short red hair etc.
If you use any adjective of substance, it comes after the colour adjective.
• For example:
a beautiful long black silk dress.
The Comparison of Adjectives
The Comparative Form.......
To compare two people or things, use the comparative form of an adjective. The comparative form is usually made by adding er to the adjective.
• For example:
dark -- darker, light -- lighter, high -- higher, low -- lower, old -- older etc.
The Superlative Form......
When you compare three or more people or things, use the superlative form of an adjective. The superlative form is usually made by adding est to the adjective.
• For example:
dark -- darkest, light -- lightest, high -- highest, low -- lowest, old -- oldest etc.
Irregular Comparative and Superlative Forms......
A few adjectives don’t form their comparative and superlative forms in any of the usual ways. The comparative and superlative forms of these adjectives are different words, called irregular forms.
• For example:
good - better - best ; bad - worse - worst; little - less - least; many - more - most etc.
( My painting is good, Melanie’s painting is better, but Andrew’s painting is the best. )
Adjective Phrases
Phrases can be used like single adjectives to describe nouns and pronouns. Phrases that are used in this way are called adjective phrases.
Most adjective phrases come after the word they describe.
" Who is the girl with long hair?"
" My friend lives in the house across the street."
" Mrs. Morris is tall and slim."
" This is the road to Toledo."
" The lady in the bookshop is a friend of mine. "
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