An adjective is a word which describes a thing, person, state, action, quality etc. Some examples include large, Italian, cold, surprising, occasional etc.
The main uses of adjectives are to :
1. Premodify (ie come before) nouns - It was an interesting lecture; She has a large house.
2. Act as subject complement after copulative verbs such as be, become, look, feel, seem etc. - He looked ill; It was difficult.
3. Act as object complement after verbs such as consider, make, believe, find, postmodifying (ie coming after) the noun/pronoun used as object: It makes me angry; We thought the place expensive.
Adjectives which premodify nouns (1 above) are known as attributive adjectives, while those which act as complements (2 and 3 above) are known as predicative adjectives. Most adjectives can be both attributive and predictive - for example :
1. It was an easy exam. (attributive)
2. The exam seemed easy. (predicative)
3. She found the exam easy. (predicative)
However, some can only be either attributive or predicative :
a) Attributive only - eg mere : I was shocked by the mere idea but not *
b) Predicative only - eg afraid : He felt afraid but not *an afraid man
Some other points...
a) Adjectives can be modified by adverbs - eg
1. The exam was really easy - here the adjective easy is pre-modified by the adverb really
2. It isn't big enough - the adjective big is post-modified by the adverb enough
1. The exam was really easy - here the adjective easy is pre-modified by the adverb really
2. It isn't big enough - the adjective big is post-modified by the adverb enough
b) They can be part of a compound word - eg compound nouns formed by adjective plus noun - eg upper case; high school; cold war; greenhouse; bluebell - or compound adjectives - eg (noun + adjective) worldwide - the worldwide web; lifelong - It was her lifelong ambition. Notice that in compound the words often lose their literal meanings - eg a greenhouse is not a house that is green, but a glass construction used to protect plants.
c) When more than one adjective is used, they are separated by commas and usually occur in a specific order depending on their category - eg adjectives relating to size will come before those relating to shape, which in turn precede those relating to material : It was a big, round, metal object rather than *It was a metal round big object. When the adjectives serve as complement to a verb, conjunctions are often used to separate the last two adjectives: The dog was large, shaggy and dirty; It was strange but true.
For a full explanation of adjective order, see here.
Some common mistakes...
1. Confusing adjectives with adverbs because they end with -ly. A lot of adjectives end with -ly. Consider: friendly, curly, sickly, lively, lovely, lonely, elderly and many others. Try fitting them into sentences based on the rules above : She's a friendly person; he has curly hair; It was a lovely experience; he looked lonely; but not *He spoke friendly; *She walked lively; *He charges costly: *She works lovely.
2. Not distinguishing between the uses of words that can be either adjectives or adverb. Consider these examples:
Kindly : He was a kindly man (adj); He spoke to her kindly (adv).
Fast: She likes fast cars (adj); I don't like driving fast (adv).
Hard: She's a hard worker (adj); She works hard (adv).
Weekly: We have a weekly meeting (adj); We meet weekly (adv),
More to explore...
To find out more about the different types of adverb see here.
Both adjectives and adverbs may have comparative and superlative forms. Click on the link for an analysis of why the "rules" which you usually find for these forms in your textbooks don't always reflect authentic language use.
Test yourself
Can you describe the form and use in the sentence of the highlighted words in the following sentences?
Example: It was only six o'clock but it seemed later = Comparative form of the adjective late, used as subject complement of the copulative verb seem.
1. His comment was a timely reminder of the problem.
2. This plant is ill - the leaves are turning brown at the edges.
3. I thought it possible but unlikely given the situation.
4. That plane is flying very low.
5. The house had a very low ceiling.
6. He didn't seem unhappy or depressed.
7. Shall we stop here or walk a bit further?
8. Do you have any further questions?
9. It's the worst book I've ever read.
10. They little (a) thought that their little (b) cottage would have so many problems.
11. Are those blue berries edible?
12. We had blueberries and ice-cream for dessert.
Now scroll down for the answers.
1. timely= attributive adjective premodifying the noun reminder.
2. ill = predicative adjective used as subject complement after the copula be; brown = adjective used as subject complement after the resultative copulative verb turn.
3. possible / unlikely = predicative adjectives used as object complement, and joined by the co-ordinating conjunction but.
4. low = adverb of manner premodified by the intensifying adverb very.
5. low = attributive adjective premodifying the noun ceiling and itself premodified by the intensifying adverb very.
6. unhappy / depressed = predicative adjectives used as subject complement for the copulative verb seem, and joined by the co-ordinating conjunction or.
7. further = adverb of place/distance - irregular comparative form of the adverb far.
8. further = attributive adjective (of degree/extent) premodifying the noun questions.
9. worst = attributive adjective, irregular superlative form of the adjective bad, used here to premodify the noun book.
10. little = (a) adverb of degree; (b) attributive adjective premodifying the noun cottage.
11. blue = adjective of colour used attributively to premodify the noun berries - which could be any type of berry that is coloured blue.
12. blueberries = compound noun specifying a type of fruit (Vaccinium) composed of adjective blue and plural noun berries.
Note that in writing the speech the difference in meaning between 11 and 12 is marked by whether they are written as one or two words, while in speech it is marked by the stress pattern : 11 = blue BERries; 12 = BLUEberries. Compare : green house / greenhouse; black bird / blackbird.
