The words that make language more specific
Adjectives defined
 An adjective is a word that is used to describe (or
modify) a noun or pronoun in a sentence
 Because of this, adjectives are often called modifiers
 To modify something means to change it somehow.
 Adjectives change the meanings of simple nouns or
pronouns.
The adjective questions
 Adjectives can answer the following questions in a
sentence:
oWhat kind?
oExpensive toys
oColorful caps
oHow many?
oFew cars
oWhich one?
oThis man
oThese paddles
oHow much?
oMany people
Adjective positioning
 Adjectives will usually come before the nouns they
modify .
 Before: Kevin owns three arcades
 Before: Large, colorful graphics covered the screen.
 They can come after the nouns, but this order is not
very commonly used.
 After: Kevin’s arcades are busy.
 After: The most popular games are difficult.
A special type of adjectives
 Articles are also adjectives
 Articles are very common and are split up into two
categories:
 Definite – refers to a specific person, place, or thing


The
Example: Mr. Shaffer is the man to ask.
 Indefinite – refers to any member of a group of similar
people, places, or things



A
An
Example: I should probably ask a teacher.
Proper Adjectives
 When a proper noun (remember these?) is used as an
adjective it is called a proper adjective
 Examples:



proper noun : Baltimore
proper adjective: Baltimore newspaper
Proper noun: April
proper adjective: April showers
Proper noun: Kennedy
proper adjective: Kennedy family reunion
Proper Adjectives
 Proper adjectives can also be formed out of a proper
noun by adding certain endings
 Examples:




Proper noun: America
proper adjective: American jazz
Proper noun: Inca
proper adjective: Incan empire
Proper noun: Florida
proper adjective: Floridian government
Proper noun: Napoleon
proper adjective: Napoleonic complex