Adjectives Articles Proper Adjectives Adverbs

Adjectives give color, size, shape, dimension, and a host of other qualities to nouns and pronouns. Adjectives are modifiers. They give information about the nouns and pronouns they modify. –WHAT KIND?yellow ribbon, dirty sidewalk, concise report –HOW MANY?ten onions, numerous instances, few visits –HOW MUCH?ample food, more energy, little produce –WHICH ONE?this minute, next summer, second paragraph, last place

Proper adjectives, the modifying form of proper nouns, always begin with a capital letter. –Persian rugFilipino musicEuropean tourists Many adjectives come right before the noun they modify, but predicate adjectives follow a linking verb to modify the subject of a sentence. –Emily is ill today. –The water appears cloudy and menacing. When a noun modifies another noun, it functions as an adjective. –desk draweropera houseKyra’s coat Sometimes, an adjective is part of a compound proper noun. Always begin these adjectives with a capital letter. –Native AmericansNorthern HemisphereBig Dipper

Two or more adjectives may modify the same noun. The climbers made three desperate attempts. Spot is lively, intelligent, and affectionate. A, an, and the make up a subcategory of adjectives called articles. The is the definite article. It is an adjective that points out a particular, or definite, noun. A and an are indefinite articles. They point to any one –rather than just one specific—member of a group. –INDEFINITEShannon made a fabulous catch. –DEFINITEThe ball nearly sailed over the fence.

Just as adjectives add information to nouns, adverbs describe or limit other parts of speech. Adverbs modify—or tell more about—verbs, adjectives, and other adverbs. –MODIFIES VERBShe peered hopefully into the distance. –MODIFIES ADJECTIVEBrianna is extraordinarily helpful. –MODIFIES ADVERBHe left the room rather abruptly. Many adverbs can come before or after the verbs they modify. Rapidly, we descended the stairs. We rapidly descended the stairs. We descended the stairs rapidly.

You may think all adverbs end with the suffix –ly. Many do (truly, usually, easily, for example). Many common adverbs, however, don’t end in –ly (seldom, never, always, soon, today, now, here, for example.) Intensifiers are adverbs that answer the question to what extent? Is Brandon somewhat lazy about doing his homework? Meaghan was less startled by the news than I was. This recipe is too complicated.