ENGLISH ADJECTIVES

I. ABOUT ADJECTIVES

Adjectives are words that tell us about nouns or other adjectives.

They tell us size and shape and quantity and quality.

For example, read this sentence:

The man is tall.

We know that there is a man and he is tall.
The word TALL is an adjective describing the noun MAN.

Now read this sentence:

The tall man is strong.

Now we know something more about the man.
The word STRONG is also an adjective describing the noun MAN.

Now read this sentence:

The man is tall and strong.

This sentence tells us the same things about the man.

Now read this sentence:

The big blue bull and the great brown bear met in the large, green field.

Can you find the adjectives?

They are: big, blue, great, brown, large and green.

BIG is an adjective describing the noun BULL.
BLUE is also an adjective describing the noun BULL.

GREAT is an adjective describing the noun BEAR.
BROWN is an adjective describing the noun BEAR.

LARGE is an adjective describing the noun FIELD.
GREEN is an adjective describing the noun FIELD.

II. COMMON ENGLISH ADJECTIVES

COLORS Red, blue, green, white, black, orange, yellow...
Example: The sky is blue.

SIZE Tall/short, big/ little, large/small, long/short...
Example: The building is tall.

SHAPE Square, round, circular, straight, crocked, twist...
Example: A circle is round.

QUALITY Beautiful, pretty, ugly, attractive, repulsive, sharp, du...
Example: My girlfriend is beautiful.

QUANTITY One, two, three, many, several, numerous, some, few, any, every, each
Example: There are three people sitting at the table.

AGE Young, old, new, used
Example: The books are new.

CONDITION Clean, dirty, broken, working
Example: The classroom is clean.

LOCATION High/low, far/near
Example: Philadelphia is not far from here.

Please underline the adjectives in the following sentences:

There was a tall man with a big head looking at the blue sky.

The quick brown fox jumped over the small white dog.

This smart child has many words in her vocabulary.

My big wide smile shows you that my two students are very hard-working.

III. ADJECTIVES FOR COMPARISON

A. COMPARISON: ONE-SYLLABLE ADJECTIVES:

In English, we use different forms of the adjective to compare things.

For short, one syllable adjectives, the ending ER is added to create the comparative form:

Your dog is small. My dog is smaller.

Quality

Examples

Comparative

Examples

     

Add ER

       

Large

This is a large bag.

Larger

That bag is larger.

       

Small

That is a small bag.

Smaller

This bag is smaller.

       

Old

My father is old.

Older

My grandfather is older.

       

Young

My daughter is young.

Younger

My son is younger.

       

Long

A day is long.

Longer

A week is longer.

       

Short

My friend is short.

Shorter

His wife is shorter.

Note that we add the word 'than' when comparing two things:

My dog is bigger than your dog.
My brother is smarter than your brother.
My computer is slower than yours.
The way you want to go is longer than the shortcut I know.

Please do not confuse THAN with THEN!


B. COMPARISON: TWO-SYLLABLE ADJECTIVES

For many two syllable adjectives, we use the word 'MORE' in front of the adjective to form the comparative:

That man is a wonderful painter. He learned from a MORE wonderful teacher.

 

Quality

Examples

Comparative

Examples

       

Handsome

He is a handsome man.

More handsome

His brother is more handsome than he is.
       

Beautiful

She is a beautiful woman.

More beautiful

Her sister is more beautiful than she is.
       

Competent

My nephew is a competent worker.

More competent

When he becomes more competent, he will get a raise in salary.
       

Experienced

My sister is an experienced knitter.

More experienced

Her mother is more experienced as a knitter than she is.
       

Worldly

My friend is a worldly man.

More worldly

His father was more worldly than he is.



For other two syllable adjectives, use either the construction ER/IER or MORE ____:

 

Adjective:

Comparative form:

Comparative form:

     

Lengthy

Lengthier

More lengthy

     

Friendly

Friendlier

More friendly

     

Cloudy

Cloudier

More cloudy


EXAMPLES:

He presented a lengthier paper at the conference than anyone else. OR

He presented a paper that was more lengthy than any other.

She was more friendly to me last night when we were out dancing. OR

She was friendlier to me last night when we were out dancing.

The sky is cloudier today than yesterday. OR

The sky is more cloudy today than yesterday.


C. COMPARISON: THREE-SYLLABLE ADJECTIVES

For three syllable adjectives, always use the word 'MORE' to form the comparative:

 

Adjective

Comparative

Example

     

Intelligent

More intelligent

He is more intelligent man I thought he was.
     

Succinct

More succinct

Each comment was more succinct than the last.
     

Wonderful

More wonderful

They had a more wonderful time because you were there.
     

Exciting

More exciting

Watching football is more exciting when you are with friends.


IV. SUPERLATIVES

In English, we use a different form of the same adjective to indicate the highest limit of any quality.

A. SUPERLATIVES: ONE-SYLLABLE ADJECTIVES

Generally, the ending EST is added to create the superlative form:

Your dog is small. My dog is smaller. His dog is the smallest.

Note that we use the word 'the' is used to designate the superlative quality.

 

Quality

Example

Superlative

Example

     

Add EST

       

Large

The large truck.

Largest

The largest truck.

       

Small

The small boy.

Smallest

The smallest boy.

       

Old

The old tree.

Oldest

The oldest tree.

       

Young

The young woman.

Youngest

The youngest woman.

       

Long

The long trail.

Longest

The longest trail.

       

Short

A short walk.

Shortest

The shortest walk.

EXAMPLES:

My father was the smartest man I ever knew.

Your sister is the youngest in your family.

The California Redwoods are the tallest and oldest living things.

The shortest distance between two points is a straight line.


B. SUPERLATIVES: TWO-SYLLABLE ADJECTIVES

The superlative can also be formed by using the original form of the adjective and placing the words THE MOST before it. As follows:

 

Adjective

Superlative

Superlative

     

Friendly

Friendliest

Most friendly

     

Toasty

Toastiest

Most toasty

     

Hardy

Hardiest

Most hardy

     

Cloudy

Cloudiest

Most cloudy

Your brother is the most friendly man. = Your brother is the friendliest man.

The sky is the most cloudy I have ever seen it. = The sky is the cloudiest I have ever seen.

The room has the toastiest fireplace. = This room has the most toasty fireplace.

He is the hardiest man I know. = He is the most hardy man I know.


C. SUPERLATIVES: THREE-SYLLABLE ADJECTIVES

For three syllable adjectives (or longer), always use the word 'MORE' and 'MOST' to form the superlative:

 

Adjective

Superlative

Example

     

Intelligent

Most intelligent

He is the most intelligent man I ever met.
     

Succinct

Most succinct

The last comment was the most succinct.
     

Wonderful

Most wonderful

They had the most wonderful time because you were there.
     

Exciting

Most exciting

Last night was my most exciting date ever.

V. IRREGULAR ADJECTIVES FOR COMPARISON AND SUPERLATIVE

In English, there are several adjectives that change form in an irregular way:

 
 

Irregular Forms

Examples

     

Quality

Big

My dog is big.

Comparative

Bigger

My dog is bigger than yours.

Superlative

Biggest

My dog is the biggest.

     

Quality

Good

My handwriting is good.

Comparative

Better

My handwriting is better than yours.

Superlative

Best

My handwriting is the best.

     

Quality

Bad

My cooking is bad.

Comparative

Worse

My cooking is worse than yours.

Superlative

Worst

My cooking is the worst.

     

Quality

Sad

It was a sad film we saw last night.

Comparative

Sadder

It was sadder than the one we saw last week.

Superlative

Saddest

But last year, I saw the saddest movie of all.



For adjectives that end with a consonant following one vowel, repeat the last consonant and add ER
(example: hot, hotter, hottest).

For adjectives that end in a consonant following two vowels, just add ER (example: cool, cooler, coolest).

MORE IRREGULAR COMPARISONS AND SUPERLATIVES

Whenever an adjective ends in the letter Y you must change the Y to IER when forming the COMPARATIVE

OR

you may use the word MORE in front of the adjective.

Whenever an adjective ends in the letter Y, you must change the Y to EST when forming the SUPERLATIVE.

OR

you may use the word MOST in front of the adjective.

 

Quality

Happy

My girlfriend is happy.

Comparative

Happier

She is happier than you.

Comparative

More happy

She is more happy than you.

Superlative

Happiest

She is the happiest of all the girls.

Superlative

Most happy

She is the most happy of all the girls.

     

Quality

Sloppy

My girlfriend is sloppy.

Comparative

Sloppier

She is sloppier than you.

Comparative

More sloppy

She is more sloppy than you.

Superlative

Sloppiest

She is the sloppiest of all the girls.

Superlative

Most sloppy

She is the most sloppy of all the girls.

     

Quality

Lucky

My girlfriend is lucky.

Comparative

Luckier

She is luckier than you.

Comparative

More lucky

She is more lucky than you.

Superlative

Luckiest

She is the luckiest of all the girls.

Superlative

Most lucky

She is the most lucky of all the girls.


First find the adjectives and then change these sentences to the comparative form of the adjective:

There is a young woman named Fran,
Who is out looking for a new man,
When she meets handsome Bill,
She loses her free will,
And kisses him as best as she can.

Note: this type of poem (the endings of the words rhyme) is called a limerick.

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