Adjectives: Lesson 1: Limiting Adjectives
Noun:
person, place, thing, or idea
Examples: boy, park, book, freedom
Adjective:
a word that describes or points to a noun
Examples: happy boy, sunny park, interesting book, blessed freedom
Limiting Adjectives: These adjectives don’t really describe things in detail; they just point out nouns.
They answer: Which one? Whose? How much?
 Limiting Adjectives may be:
1. Articles: a, an, the
Examples: a book, an apple, the tree
2. Demonstratives: this, that, those, these
Examples: this book, that apple, those shoes, these trees
3. Numbers:
Examples: ten books, thirty apples, seven women
4. Possessive Pronouns: his, her, their, our, its, your, my
Examples: his book, her sofa, their house, our car, its claws, your sink, my radio
5. Possessive Nouns: Anyone or anything’s name with an apostrophe, as long as it is describing a noun.
Examples: Tom’s car, dog’s tail, car’s tires
6. Indefinites: some, few, many, several, no, any, (there are more!)
Examples: some candy, few drivers, many toys, several students, no ice cream, any chocolate
Pronoun:

A word that takes the place of a noun.
Example: This is cool. (“this” is a pronoun)
Be careful! For the above list of determiners to be adjectives, they must point to a noun. If they do not,
then they may be pronouns, not adjectives!
Example: This cord is frayed. (“This”=adjective; it is pointing to the noun “cord”)
This is frayed. (“This” = pronoun; it is taking the place of the noun “cord”)
Adjectives: Lesson 2: Descriptive Adjectives
Descriptive Adjectives:
Adjectives that really describe nouns, instead of just pointing to them like limiting
adjectives.
 Common Suffixes for Descriptive Adjectives:
Note: A suffix is a word part that comes at the end of a word.
ous-dangerous
ful-cheerful
able/ible-remarkable, incredible
y-rainy
ive-creative
less-priceless
al-special
Adjectives: Lesson 3: Proper Adjectives
Proper nouns: Nouns that name specific persons, places, or things.
They must be capitalized.
Examples: Elvis, Bible, Switzerland, China, Mickey Mouse
Proper Adjectives:
Adjectives that are made out of proper nouns.
Examples: Biblical, Swiss, Chinese

Proper adjectives are always capitalized, but the nouns they describe are not.
Example: Swiss cheese
Elvis movie
Biblical quotation
Mickey Mouse hat
Chinese food
Adjectives: Lesson 4: Predicate Adjectives
Linking Verbs: a verb that doesn't show action; it links a subject to something else in the sentence.
The most common linking verbs: is am are was were
Examples: She is tall.
She was a teacher.
 Substitution trick: If you can substitute the verb or verb phrase with is, am, are,
was, or were, then the verb is a linking verb.
Example: She had remained calm. -> She was calm. (“had remained” is a linking verb)
Common linking verbs:

to seem, to remain, to become, to stay, to appear, to grow, to feel, to sound,
to taste, to smell
Remember to use the substitution trick to tell if a verb is a linking verb!
Adjective: a word that describes a noun.
Predicate Adjective (PA): 1. An adjective
2. It follows a linking verb
3. The predicate adjective describes the subject of the sentence.
Example: Mrs. Batsford became sleepy. (“sleepy” = PA) -> “sleepy” describes the subject “Mrs. Batsford”.
The winners of the race were thirsty and hungry. (“thirsty, hungry” = PA) -> “thirsty & hungry”describe
the subject “winners”.
Adjectives: Lesson 5: Degrees of Adjectives
Degrees of Adjectives:
adjectives that make comparisons
 There are 2 degrees of adjectives:
1. Comparative
2. Superlative
Comparative Adjectives:


compare 2 nouns
are formed by adding “er” to the adjective if it is no more than 2 syllables.
Example: high = higher

If the word has more than 2 syllables, place “more” or “less” before the adjective.
Examples: She is more beautiful than her sister. She is less beautiful than her cousin.

The words “good” and “bad” have special forms in the comparative
Examples: good = better
bad = worse
Superlative Adjectives:


Compare 3 or more nouns
Are formed by adding “est” to the adjective if it is no more than 2 syllables
Example: high=highest

If the word has more than 2 syllables, place “most” or “least” before the adjective
Examples: She is the most beautiful of all the girls at school, but he is the least handsome of all the
boys at school.

The words “good” and “bad” have special forms in the superlative:
Examples: good = best
bad = worst