Adjectives
Adjectives describe or limit nouns
Eg tall, long, high, expensive, furious, rapid, bold, fierce
each of which could describe the nouns considered in the topic "Nouns".
If we say "a tall tree" or "a high mountain", we know that the object has
been reduced to an even lesser category that excludes anything small.
Several adjectives can govern a single noun if separated by commas:
Eg The deep, blue sea.
ie the sea is both deep and blue.
Without a comma, the sea would simply be deep blue in colour because
"deep" would limit "blue" (and would actually be an adverb).
Adjectives can be classified as either:
Attributive when they limit a subsequent noun:
Eg He plucked a ripe apple, He saw a high mountain.
Predicative when they form a predicate (a word or clause given as an
assertion after a verb)
Eg The apple was red, The tree is tall.
Comparison
Adjectives modify slightly when they show relativity. There are three
degrees of comparison:
Positive: the adjective in its basic state;
Eg tall, beautiful
Comparative: the form of adjective used to compare two objects;
Eg The man is taller than the woman, The woman is younger than her
neighbour. She is more beautiful than her sister.
Superlative: the form of adjective used to express the highest attainable
degree of comparison.
Eg He is the tallest man in the regiment. The moon is the most
beautiful object in the sky.
In general, monosyllabic adjectives add -er and -est to the positive
adjective for comparative and superlative respectively. Multisyllabic
adjectives prefix "more" and "most" to the positive adjective for the
comparative and superlative respectively.
Words ending in 'y' substitute 'i' for the 'y' and decline conventionally.
Eg dry, drier, driest
Eg busy, busier, busiest
Eg heavy, heavier, heaviest
Some absolute adjectives (those where comparison cannot apply) cannot
take comparative or superlative forms because no greater degree of
description is possible.
Eg unique, dead
A few adjectives are irregular, however.
Eg Good: takes better and best
Bad: takes worse and worst
Many: takes more and most
"Old" follows the conventional monosyllabic rule, "older" and "oldest",
when referring to things, animals or persons but becomes "elder" and
"eldest" when expressing family degrees.
Eg The church is the oldest building in the village.
He is the oldest man in town.
He is the elder/ eldest son.
But when one interposes "than", one reverts to the conventional form.
Eg The boy was older than his sister.
Be aware that the adjectival form is sometimes found used as another
part of speech.
Eg The evil (noun) that men do lives after them.
He worked hard (adverb).
whereupon it loses its adjectival quality and becomes transformed into
the relevant part of speech.
Numerals are also adjectives of which there are three kinds:
Cardinals are the basic numbers
Eg one, two, ten, sixty
Ordinals show the order or rank
Eg first, second, tenth, sixtieth
Multiplicatives indicate quantities
Eg single, double, tenfold, manifold
Order of Adjectives
Multiple adjectives must be expressed in a certain order starting with the
most general and ending with the most specific attributes, thus:
General opinion;
Specific opinion;
Size;
Shape;
Age;
Colour;
Nationality;
Material;
Any number of adjectives could be used but a lengthy sequence could
become unwieldy:
a tall, slender, hundred year old, black, brick chimney.
a beautiful, small, round, old, green, Chinese, jade statue.
Often, only one or two adjectives will suffice:
a little, red dress;
the wide, blue sky;
a tall, stone building.
Few sequences exceed three adjectives:
a large, towering, white cloud.
Attributive adjectives precede the noun to which they refer; but adjectival
phrases succeed the noun:
a man, wizened with age.
a woman, wise beyond her years.
As do adjectives used predicatively:
the building is tall.
And adjectives given a poetical context:
a coffee, black and strong