What do all of these words have in common?
dim
moldy
wrinkled
smooth
shiny
sharp
cracked
fuzzy
spotted
frozen
hazy
slick
muted
sour
sweet
spicy
They are CONCRETE ADJECTIVES!
What do all of these words have in common?
beautiful ugly
sad
anxious
pretty
nice
mean
democratic
fair
bad
good
boring
They are ABSTRACT ADJECTIVES!
Copy this page into the grammar section of your
3 subject spiral:
4. ADJECTIVES are words that describe (give
more information about) nouns and pronouns.
A. Concrete adjectives give information about
things that we can see, touch, taste, hear,
and smell.
B. Abstract adjectives give an idea about
something.
Examples:
Concrete Adjectives:
The hairy troll – tells us something about how the
troll looks.
Abstract Adjectives:
The bad troll – tells us that the person who wrote
the sentence thinks the troll is bad. It doesn’t
tell us what the troll looks like, etc.
What is an adjective?
Adjectives describe nouns or pronouns.
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•
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The beautiful princess –
The ugly troll –
The huge giant –
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The princess is sleepy.
The troll is ugly.
The giant is huge.
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She is beautiful.
It is ugly.
He is huge.
These are Predicate Adjectives
What can Adjectives do?
Adjectives can tell you:
1. which one – this frog, that frog, those frogs
2. what kind – green frog, lonely frog
3. how many – three frogs, several frogs, many frogs
*Adjectives can also work together:
– this green frog, those three frogs
ARTICLES are a special type of adjective.
Articles: A, AN, THE
Definite Article:
THE
- The airplane specific
Indefinite Articles:
A
AN
- A plane
not specific
- An airplane not specific
Let’s practice . . .
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Identify the adjectives/articles
What do they tell: which, what kind, how many
Are they abstract or concrete
1.
2.
3.
4.
The woman is smart.
All three cats were black.
Put this plastic cup on the top shelf.
Several frogs jumped onto the frozen lake.
Assignment: Adjectives 1
Do you really need
to ask if you have
to copy the whole
sentence???
1. The creepy storekeeper rang the golden bell.
2. Please take the stinky garbage out to the roadside curb.
3. He is the sweetest person I know.
4. Jack stood at the bottom of the prodigious beanstalk.
5. Cinderella wore the glass slipper to the ball.
6. The magical helper turned six mice into an orange pumpkin.
7. Jack planted several beans in the black soil.
8. We saw a magical harp, four silver coins, and a golden egg.
9. The gray wolf growled at the young girl.
10. The three bears ate the warm porridge.
Adjectives should “show” not “tell”
“We went into the big, old, dark, cold, scary, empty, rotten house.”
The adjectives in this sentence tell the reader what to think about.
“We stepped into the house. We saw wrinkled wallpaper,
shattered windows, and a gaping hole where the staircase used to
be.”
The adjectives in this sentence show that the house was old and
falling apart; it does not tell the reader what to think.
Assignment: Adjectives 2
Instructions: Replace the boring adjectives in the following
sentence with specific VIVID! ones.
Example:
We saw the pretty lake.
We saw the shimmering lake.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Snow White bit the bad apple.
Jack hacked down the tall beanstalk.
The goat sniffed the smelly ogre.
The princess gazed at the nice sunset.
The car is neat.
Alliterative Adjectives
Some writers adjectives in a special way.
They put two or three of them together,
and these adjectives all begin with the
same sound. These are called alliterative
adjectives.
Here are some examples:
•The curious, curved caterpillar crept across the cracked branch.
•The determined, dotted Dalmatian dragged the dizzy fireman to
safety.
•The groaning, grumpy giant grabbed the sack of golden eggs.
•The tired, toothless troll tugged at the ropes of his tattered tent.
Assignment: Adjectives 3
Instructions: Write two sentences that have alliterative
adjectives.
Example:
The sluggish, slimy snail slithered around the south corner.
*Tip: think of an animal and then use describing adjectives that
begin with the same letter.
Adjectives can’t work alone. They have to work with
other words, especially nouns and verbs. If writing is
going to be clear and specific, all three kinds of words
need to work together like a team.
Here’s an example of how adjectives, nouns, and verbs DO NOT
work together to create clear and specific pictures in writing.
They are too general.
My room is a real mess. There’s stuff everywhere. Things are
all over the place. It doesn’t even look like my room.
This description only tells the reader that the room is a “mess”; it
does not describe the things in the room – it doesn’t paint a
clear picture with words.
Here’s what happens when the general adjectives, nouns, and
verbs are replaced with more concrete and specific ones.
My room looks like a tornado hit it. Strewn on the floor are
heaps and bundles of clothes. Crumpled and crinkled papers
and torn and tattered candy wrappers litter the desk. Faded,
dingy curtains hang like flags at half-mast; behind them a
mud-spattered window filters the sun in blotches. The doors
of the closet hang at deranged angles; inside, shoes and
sweaters lay in piles beneath bent and twisted hangers.
This description is better because it lets the reader “see” that the
room is a mess, but it doesn’t tell the reader directly. (the
reader infers that the room is a mess)
Assignment: Adjectives 4
Try creating a description of something you know.
Step 1: Brainstorming
Think of a list of things that you might be able to describe. Don’t
try to describe something too big.
Examples: a pet, a room, a favorite place, an animal, a character
from a story, and so on.
An animal: dragon
List of details:
body as large as a two-story building
body covered with sharp, green scales
arms as thick as telephone poles
claws on the feet and hands
head the size of an SUV
mouth filled with rows of deadly teeth
Assignment: Adjectives 4
Step 2: Drafting
Put your ideas together in a draft, a sloppy-copy. Begin by
describing your subject either from top to bottom, bottom to
top, left to right or vice versa. Also start your sentence with a
sentence that lets the reader know what you are going to
describe and what the general idea is. For example, “The
dragon was a frightening creature.” The word frightening lets
the reader know what idea you will create in your description.
Assignment: Adjectives 4
Here’s a way to begin a draft:
The ___________________ was ___________________.
The meadow was beautiful.
The eagle was majestic.
The dungeon was terrible.
The ogre was ugly.
Write a draft of the description like this:
The dragon was a frightening creature. It stood up. It was taller
than a two-story building. The dragon spread its wings. It
opened its mouth which had rows of deadly teeth. It spit fire.
Its red eyes flashed. The dragon flew away.
Assignment: Adjectives 4
Step 3: Revising Look at the Draft
Now try to replace any weak adjectives, nouns, and verbs with
stronger ones. Also try to use some alliteration.
The dragon was a frightening creature. It roared and reared,
whipping its slithering, slimy-scaled body to its fullest height.
Taller than a two story building, the dragon spread its wide
wings and beat the air with thunderous blasts and bursts. It
opened its mouth, which was lined with rows of jagged teeth,
and spewed a searing stream of fire. As its laser-red eyes
flashed at something in the distance, the dragon launched
itself into the air and blasted toward the fading horizon.
Assignment: Adjectives 4
Step 4: Editing and Sharing
Check your revision to see that all words are spelled correctly and
that proper punctuation has been used. Then share your
description.
Extension: Choose a piece of writing that you are working on. Try
to add three or four adjectives.