COMPOSITION 9 Parts of Speech: Adjectives

Adjectives in General  Follow along on Text pages  An adjective is a word that modifies a noun or a pronoun.  Thus, an adjective gives you more details about the noun or pronoun that it modifies by describing what kind, which one, how many, or how much of a noun or pronoun there is.  Examples: Fat kid (what kind), four hats (how many), these desks (which one), no talking (how much)  We will work together on Exercise 1 in the text.

Importance of Adjectives  Simply put, in terms of navigating through life, there is perhaps nothing more important than using precise adjectives.  Observe the following slide…

Yikes vs. Awesome Fat girl Hot girl Without adjectives, we couldn’t state the difference between “fast food beast” and Natalie Portman. That is not the kind of world where I want to live.

Adjective Placement  Most adjectives are placed before the nouns or pronouns that they modify.  Example: The angry mother yelled at Jonathan.  However, adjectives may also come after the nouns or pronouns that they modify.  Example: Because the mother was angry, she yelled at Jonathan.  We will work together on Exercise 2 on textbook page 382.

Articles are Adjectives!  Follow along on Textbook pages  There are three adjectives that are called articles. The three articles are a, an, and the.  A and an are called indefinite articles. They are used to state that the noun or pronoun being modified belongs to a general group. A is used before a noun or pronoun beginning with a consonant sound, while an is used before a noun or pronoun beginning with a vowel sound. Specifically, the letters o and u often make consonant sounds, even though they are vowels.  Example: I put on a hat.  Example: I ate an orange.  Example: He was a one-man team.  Example: She was an honest woman.  The is a definite article. It refers to someone or something in particular, not one of a larger group.  Example: The orange that I ate tasted terrible.  We will work together on Exercise 4.

Nouns as Adjectives  Follow along on Textbook pages  Some nouns can also be used as adjectives. They will answer which one or what kind about the nouns or pronouns that follow them.  Examples: Ham, baseball, Nike I ate ham. (noun) I ate a ham sandwich. (adjective)  We will work together on Exercise 5.

Proper and Compound Adjectives  Follow along on textbook pages  A proper adjective is a proper noun or is formed from a proper noun and begins with a capital letter.  Example: A man from Spain  A Spanish man  A compound adjective is an adjective formed from more than one word. They can be hyphenated, combined into one word, or written as two or more separate words. Always refer to a dictionary if you are unsure of spelling.  Example: He is nearsighted.  We will work together through Exercise 7.

Pronouns as Adjectives  Follow along on Textbook pages  Some of the pronouns that we discussed before can also be used as adjectives. As pronouns, they stand alone, but as adjectives, they are joined by whatever nouns or pronouns they modify.  Pages 386 and 387 have lists of these kinds of pronouns.  I kissed her. (pronoun)  I kissed her armpit. (adjective)  Either would be fine. (pronoun)  Either option is okay. (adjective)  This is my house. (pronoun)  This house is mine. (adjective)  Which is yours? (pronoun)  Which car is yours? (adjective)  We will work together on Exercises 9 and 10.

Adjectives Done  Quiz concerning adjectives.