Adjectives

Adjectives are words that describe the qualities or states of being of nouns: enormous, doglike, silly, yellow, fun, fast. They can also describe the quantity of nouns: many, few, millions, eleven.

Adjectives Modify Nouns

Most adjectives are words that modify (describe) nouns.

Margot wore a beautiful hat to the pie-eating contest.
Furry dogs may overheat in the summertime.
My cake should have sixteen candles.
The scariest villain of all time is Darth Vader.

HINT: English adjectives are easy to use because they come immediately before the nouns they modify. The only exception? When they are used with stative verbs.

Adjectives can also be used with stative verbs or the verb to be. A stative verb is a verb like to feel, to seem, or to taste that describes a state of being or a sensory experience (not an action).

That cow sure is happy.
It smells gross in the locker room.
Driving is faster than walking.

Uses of Adjectives

Adjectives tell the reader how much—or how many—of something you’re talking about, which thing you want passed to you, or which kind of something you want.

Please use three white flowers in the arrangement.

Three and white describe the flowers.

Often, when adjectives are used together, you should separate them with a comma or conjunction.

I’m looking for a small, good-tempered dog to keep as a pet.
My new dog is small and good-tempered.

Comparisons

Adjectives come in three forms: absolute, comparative, and superlative. Absolute adjectives describe something in its own right.

A cool guy
A messy desk
A mischievous cat
Sneaky squirrels

Comparative adjectives, unsurprisingly, make a comparison between two or more things. For most one-syllable adjectives, the comparative is formed by adding the suffix -er (or just -r if the adjective already ends with an e). For two-syllable adjectives ending in -y, replace -y with -ier. For multi-syllable adjectives, add the word more.

a cooler guy
a messier desk
a more mischievous cat
Sneakier squirrels

Superlative adjectives indicate that something has the highest degree of the quality in question. One-syllable adjectives become superlatives by adding the suffix -est (or just -st for adjectives that already end in e). Two-syllable adjectives ending in -y replace -y with -iest. Multi-syllable adjectives add the word most. When you use an article with a superlative adjective, it will almost always be the definite article (the) rather than a or an. Using a superlative inherently indicates that you are talking about a specific item or items.

the coolest guy
the messiest desk
the most mischievous cat
the sneakiest squirrels

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Anglais pré-collégial © 2023 by Rebecca Peters, Cégep Édouard-Montpetit/Entente Canada-Québec is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/