USING ADJECTIVES English 9

USING ADJECTIVES An adjective is one of the two parts of speech known as a MODIFIER---it slightly changes the meaning of other words by adding description or making them more precise.

USING ADJECTIVES Definition: An adjective is a word used to describe or modify a noun or pronoun to give it a more specific meaning.  An adjective clarifies the meaning of a noun or pronoun providing information about its appearance, location, and so on.  An adjective answers one of four questions about a noun or pronoun:  What kind?EX. green fields  Which one?EX. that garden  How many?EX. six roses  How much?EX. extensive rainfall

USING ADJECTIVES Where can adjectives be found in sentences?  When an adjective modifies a noun, it USUALLY precedes the noun. Sometimes an adjective follows the noun it modifies.  EX. The beautiful girl is Lisa’s sister.  EX. The doctor was very kind to the small child.

USING ADJECTIVES  When an adjective modifies a pronoun, it USUALLY follows it. However, sometimes the adjective comes before the pronoun.  EX. They were disappointed in the results of the contest.  EX. Disappointed by the results of the contest, they looked very unhappy.  More than one adjective may modify a single noun or pronoun.  EX. We hired a capable, energetic trainer for the new gym.

TYPES OF ADJECTIVES There are six different types of adjectives :  ARTICLES  The words used as articles are a, an, and the.  The indefinite articles are a and an---these refer to any one of a class of nouns.  EX. She gave her mother a daisy after school today.  EX. That is a girl in my biology class.  The definite article is the---it refers to a specific noun.  EX. She gave her mother the daisy that she found during her walk home from school.  EX. That is the girl in my biology class who dates Bob.

TYPES OF ADJECTIVES  NOUNS USED AS ADJECTIVES  Words that are usually nouns can sometimes be used as adjectives.  In this situation the noun answers the questions What kind? or Which one? about another noun.  EX. The flower garden is finally blooming this year.  EX. The lawn mower at our house is not working anymore.

TYPES OF ADJECTIVES PROPER ADJECTIVES  These are proper nouns that are used as adjectives OR adjectives that are formed from proper nouns.  These begin with capital letters.  EX. She never liked to get out of bed on Monday mornings.  EX. The San Francisco streets are steep and difficult to climb.  EX. The band’s European tour was a success.  EX. Shakespeare lived during the Elizabethan period in England.

TYPES OF ADJECTIVES COMPOUND ADJECTIVES  These are adjectives that are made up of two or more words. Most are hyphenated; others are combined as one word or two or more words.  EX. Those rainforest plants will have a difficult time growing here.  EX. Dad told us to help him trim the evergreen shrubs around the pool.  EX. We learned how to do a South American dance in my dance class today.

TYPES OF ADJECTIVES PRONOUNS USED AS ADJECTIVES  The seven personal pronouns, known as either possessive adjectives or possessive pronouns, can do two jobs in a sentence---they can be pronouns or adjectives.  These pronouns are my, your, his, her, its, our, and their.  These are pronouns because they have antecedents BUT they can also be used as adjectives because they can modify nouns by answering Which one? to a noun  EX. That is her car that is in the parking lot. ***Possessive pronouns, demonstrative pronouns, interrogative pronouns, and indefinite pronouns can all function as adjectives when they modify nouns.

TYPES OF ADJECTIVES VERB FORMS USED AS ADJECTIVES  Sometimes forms of verbs can be used as adjectives; these verb forms usually end in –ing or –ed and are called participles.  EX. I pruned the wilting flowers and leaves off of the bush. REMEMBER---NOUNS, PRONOUNS, AND VERB FORMS FUNCTION AS ADJECTIVES ONLY WHEN THEY MODIFIY OTHER NOUNS AND PRONOUNS.