Adjectives
The “crayons” of the Grammar
World
Adjectives
Adjectives are words that describe
nouns by telling what kind, how
many, or which one.
The old boat sat on the purple
______ whale.
One
___ man fished from the boat.
That
____ whale looks very tame.
Adjectives answer the
questions:
■
■
■
How many?
What kind?
Which one?
The yellow house is for sale.
Find the noun.
house
Ask the question: What kind of house?
yellow house
Yellow is the adjective.
Two dogs ran outside.
Find the noun.
dogs
Ask the question: How many dogs?
two dogs
Two is the adjective.
That cow fell down.
Find the noun.
cow
Ask the question: Which cow?
That cow
That is the adjective.
Let’s Try Some!
■
■
■
■
The magnificent butterfly flew under
the branch.
The butterfly with the colorful wings
rested.
One butterfly flew quietly beneath the
tree.
The butterfly fluttered its
delicate wings.
There are special types of
adjectives:
Articles
Demonstrative Adjectives
Comparative Adjectives
Superlative Adjectives
Articles
A
■ An
■ The
■
A
a book
■
■
Use before words beginning
with a consonant sound.
Use with singular nouns.
a cat
a key
An
■
■
an onion
Use before words beginning with a
vowel sound and the silent h.
Use with singular nouns.
an island
an honest man
Demonstrative Adjectives
These adjectives point out specific things.
this
■ that
■ these
■ those
■
This, that
use with singular nouns
■answers the question which one?
■
This boy is my friend.
I want this boy on my team.
That soccer ball belongs to me.
I bought that ball yesterday.
These, those
■
■
use with plural nouns
answers the question which ones?
These people are working.
They are working on these problems.
Those books are on the table.
The boys used those books to help them.
Comparative Adjectives
■
■
■
■
used to compare two nouns or
pronouns.
Add –er to the end of one syllable
words.
Add more to the beginning of multisyllable words.
NEVER use –er and more together.
Let’s try some!
■
■
■
taller than Bill. (tall)
Joe is ______
Bill works _______
harder than Joe. (hard)
This car is ___________to
drive than
more difficult
that one. (difficult)
Superlative Adjectives
■
■
■
■
Used to compare three or more nouns
or pronouns
Add –est to the end of one syllable
words.
Add most to the beginning of
multisyllable words.
NEVER use -est and most together.
Let’s try some!
■
■
■
■
Mary has the brightest
______ shirt. (bright)
Mark is the _____
tallest boy.(tall)
They are the ________
most honest children. (honest)
Chrissy is the ________
most helpful girl I know. (helpful)
ADVERBS
ADVERBS ANSWER THE QUESTIONS:
⦿ How?
⦿ When?
⦿ Where?
⦿ To
what extent?
⦿ Why?
ADVERBS
⦿ Adverbs
describe and modify or change
other words, just as adjectives do.
⦿ HOWEVER, instead of describing things, they
describe actions & qualities.
⦿ For example:
◼ How
did the runner run?
◼ How deep was the snow?
◼ How well did the singer sing?
⦿ Adverbs
have the answers to all these
questions!
EXAMPLE
⦿ He
played
guitar
skillfully.
⦿ He played
guitar
dreadfully.
⦿ He played
guitar
passionately.
FEATURES OF ADVERBS
1.
2.
Many adverbs end in –ly
Adverbs modify
BEWARE!
⦿
Rules about adverbs:
1.
2.
Use adverbs sparingly because they cause wordiness
and awkwardness
Beware of words ending in –ly that are not adverbs
●
●
●
3.
Examples: lovely, lonely, ghastly, and worldly
These examples do not answer the question HOW?
These examples are really adjectives!
Always go back to the HOW? Rule
HOW?
(3) PLACEMENT OF ADVERBS
⦿ Adverbs
modifying verbs can usually be moved around
in a sentence w/out changing the meaning.
⦿ Before verb
◼ Ex: The car immediately stopped.
⦿ After verb
◼ Ex: The car stopped immediately.
⦿ Adverbs that modify adjectives or other adverbs
belong right in the front of the words they modify.
⦿ Before adjective
◼ Ex: That’s an extremely dangerous corner for
bicycle riders.
⦿ Before adverb
◼ Ex: The car turned the corner really quickly.