Today, we will discuss another part of speech after we have successfully completed the basics of Nouns as a part of speech in English Grammar from our previous articles. So, next in line is Adjectives.
What is Adjectives as a part of speech in English grammar?
ADJECTIVES are some words that go with nouns and tell us something about them.
Below are some examples of such words in usage;
A fat man a thin man
An old book a new book
A heavy box a light box
A sweet orange a sour orange
A white rabbit a black cat.
In the examples above, the words man, book, box, orange, and cat are NOUNS. While the words thin, old, new, heavy, light, sweet, sour, white, and black all tell us something about these nouns. They simply tell us what kind of man, what kind of book, what kind of box, etc., and they are called Adjectives.
In those examples above, you will also notice that in English grammar adjectives almost always goes before nouns.
For instance;
A red flower
A big dog
A long journey
As we proceed, we will come across some adjectives that don’t go before the now in English grammar.
Forms Of Adjectives
1. Adjectives of Quality
The adjectives that describe a noun (i.e., that tell us “what sort”) are called Adjectives Of Quality.
Examples of Adjectives Of Quality include; Old, Heavy, Thin, Fat, Young, Hairy, Wise, Strong, Little, Fast, etc.
2. Adjectives Of Quantity
Apart from adjectives of quality, there are other kinds of adjectives and one of them is Adjectives of Quantity. Adjectives of Quantity are, for example, adjectives that tell you “how many.”
For Examples;
– I have two eyes
– There are twenty books on the desk, etc.
An Illustration that tells us more about Adjectives of Quantity;
Let’s look at the little story below that will make us understand more about this particular adjective (Adjectives of Quantity).
Ten Green Bottles Song
There were ten green bottles standing on the wall;
When one green bottle accidentally falls;
There’d be nine green bottles standing on the wall.
Now, there were nine green bottles standing on the wall;
And if one green bottle should accidentally fall,
There’d be eight green bottles standing on the wall.
You can then continue in the same way until you get to the last one, where you can say;
There was one green bottle standing on the wall;
When it falls, there’d be no green bottles standing on the wall.
Hence, the word no here is also an adjective of quantity.
Furthermore, Much and Many, are also adjectives of quantity, but they don’t tell us the quantity so definitely as do the numbers one, two, three, etc.
For Example;
- He had many friends at school, but he hasn’t much friends at work.
- There are many ripe bananas now, but there aren’t much sweet oranges.
NOTE: Much is used only with a special group of nouns that cannot be made plural because they are the names of things that are not countable, or not usually counted.
Also, Much is only used in negative sentences.
For Example;
- We had plenty of rain last year, but there hadn’t been much rain this year.
- He ate a lot of meat, but he didn’t drink much beer.
Hint: Always bear in mind that adjectives of quantity show “how much” or “how many”.
Before we proceed to the other forms of adjectives, here are some exercises to test your understanding of the lessons you just had.
ALSO READ: Classes Of Noun In English Grammar – English Language’s Parts Of Speech
Quick Exercise
1). Put suitable adjectives in front of each of the following nouns;
House, day, dress, book, boy, tree, lion, train, river, etc.
2). Point out the adjectives in the following sentences;
a). they live in a big, red house
b). John is a clever boy
c). Plant has small, yellow flowers
d). These small fruits have a bitter taste.
3). Fill the following blank spaces with adjectives;
a). the man bought a ——- car
b). do you like —— oranges?
c). an elephant is a ——- animal, a mouse is a —— one.
d). in his country they have ——- weather in summer and ——- weather in winter.
4). Put an adjective of quantity in each of the blank spaces;
a). there were —— bottles on the wall
b). I have —– eyes and —- nose
c). we hadn’t —— time to do our work
d.) Fred didn’t spend —— money on his birthday
e). there are —— days in a week.
DEMONSTRATIVE & INTERROGATIVE ADJECTIVES
3. Demonstrative Adjectives
There are adjectives that are used to point out nouns
For Examples;
This, that, former, latter.
Example in sentences;
I like this car I don’t like that car.
This and That in the two sentences above were used to point out the noun car and there are referred to as demonstrative adjectives.
This and That are the only adjectives that have plural forms
Now, the plural form of This and That are These and Those.
This and That go with singular nouns. While These and Those go with plural nouns.
It is also right to understand that;
- This and These are generally used for things that are near, while
- That and Those are generally used for things that are further away.
Examples Of Adjectives showing their singular form and plural
Singular
- This car is old
- That car is old
Plural
- These cars are new
- Those cars are new
Therefore, we can now ascertain or point out that;
“this, that, these, those, former, latter,” are called Demonstrative Adjectives.
4. Interrogative Adjectives
Interrogative adjectives are the kind of adjectives that are used with nouns to ask questions.
For Examples;
- What book are you reading now?
- What price are eggs today?
- Which boy can answer this question?
- Which house do you live in?
- Whose house is that?
- Whose car is that?
In some cases, you can find both Demonstrative and Interrogative Adjectives in one sentence.
For instance, when you make the such sentence as;
- Whose house is that?
Whose here is an interrogative adjective, while that is a demonstrative adjective.
- Whose cars are those?
Here, the same thing goes; Whose is interrogative and those is demonstrative.
ADJECTIVES IN SOME OTHER FORMS
In between Demonstrative and Interrogative adjectives, there are some other forms of adjectives.
For Example; What and Which can also be referred to as Relative Adjectives.
They can be used to join sentences or to ask questions.
Specifically, What and Which, are classified as relative adjectives.
Elsewhere, we also have adjectives such as whatever, whatsoever, and whichever, which can be referred to as indefinite relative adjectives.
Furthermore, interrogative adjectives which and what may be used in direct and indirect questions.
For Example in Direct Questions
- Which debt must I pay first, the debt to the rich, or the debt to the poor?
- But when the Trojan war comes, which side will you take?
- What kind of car do you ride?
Examples In Indirect Questions
- A lady once remarked, he could never fix which side of the garden walk would suit him best
- Trump was turned before long into all the universe, where it was uncertain what game he would catch.
The adjective “What” In Exclamation
In exclamatory expressions, what (or what a) has a force somewhat like a descriptive adjective. It is neither relative nor interrogative but might be called an exclamatory adjective.
For Examples:
- Oh, what a revolution!
- What a piece of work is man. (Poetic)
- What a business for a long time to come!
- Through what hardships it may attain to bear a sweet fruit!
Comparison In Adjectives
Comparison belongs to adjectives and adverbs
Comparison is when we place two things side by side to figure out the differences between them such as size, weight, color, etc.
And when we compare things, we do so by means of their qualities.
For Examples;
- A cow is larger than a sheep
- Gold is heavier than iron
Again, words of quantity may also be compared.
For Example;
“more matter, with less wit”
“no fewer than a hundred”
To understand it better, we say that comparison means the changes that words undergo to express degrees in quality or amounts in quantity.
That’s all for adjectives as a part of speech in English grammar. But before you log out, quickly take the exercises below to sharpen your memory!
Quick Exercises
1). Put a demonstrative adjective in each of the blank spaces;
a). I like —— flower
b). Have you read —– book which I am reading?
c). Do you like —— shoes that I am wearing?
d). I bought —– biscuits from —– shop in Liberty street.
e). —— exercises that we are doing on —— page are more difficult than —— exercises that we did on page 2.
2). Make the following phrases plural
a). that open window
b) this red shirt
c). that small, yellow orange
d). that clever boy
e). this new, clean book.
3). Make the plural of the following phrase;
a). those boys
b). those blue flowers
c). those big dogs
d). these fine, new bicycles
e). these bright, red flowers.
4). Put an interrogative adjective in each of the blank spaces
a). —— bicycle is that?
b). —— questions have you answered?
c). ——- time is it now?
d). —— lesson do you like best?
e). —— color were the bottle on the wall?
5). Pick out the adjectives in the following and say what kind of adjective each one is;
a). there were four lemons and two oranges on the plate
b). when that song finished, there were no green bottles on the wall
c). what time are you going to the football match?
d). Nine green bottles were standing on this old wall
e). I saw four birds in the tall tree.
Good luck and see you in our next articles!