All About Adjectives

1. All About Adjectives -By Tracy Wills click here for sources used (right click to open hyperlinks)

2. Greengrass Fourbuttons Beautifulface Friendlypeople Noisydishwasher Coldweather Four-year-old sister Shockingnews Manydogs Hishat Thattable Favoriterestaurant Richestcelebrity Largehouse What is an Adjective?An adjective is a word that describes a nounHere are some examples: (the adjectives are red; the nouns are blue)

3. Here are some adjectives that specifically describe nouns related to the picture below (adjectives are in red): • African-American person • Yellow shirt • Happy girl • Shiny apple • Four books • Brown hair • Small eyes • One, green book • Round face

4. It makes your writing more visual and vivid. Your readers will get a better idea of what you wish them to picture when they read your writing. It appeals to your readers’ senses so they can hear, see, touch, taste, and even smell what you’re describing. It makes reading and writing much more fun. It sets the tone for your writing. You need to use them for descriptive papers. Here are two sentences: one uses adjectives, one doesn’t. Which one allows you to see the picture better? a. The rainforest contains flowers and plants that may help cure hospital patients. b. The fresh, lush rainforest contains hundreds of bright, colorful flowers and healthy, green plants that may help cure many weak hospital patients. Why are adjectives important to use in writing?

5. Here are some adjective usage tips: • Adjectives almost always are placed immediately before the noun they describe. Sometimes they appear in a string of adjectives. • As mentioned above, don't place an adjective after the noun. Correct: The red apple is tasty. Incorrect: The apple red is tasty. • Don’t overuse adjectives. It sounds jumbled and less credible if you run more than three adjectives (at the most) together. Ex. She is a nice, beautiful, funny, clever, knowledgeable, tactful person. • “When an adjective owes its origins to a proper noun, it should probably be capitalized. Thus we write about Christian music, French fries, the English Parliament, the Ming Dynasty, a Faulknerian style, Jeffersonian democracy. Some periods of time have taken on the status of proper adjectives: the Nixon era, a Renaissance/Romantic/Victorian poet… Directional and seasonal adjectives are not capitalized unless they're part of a title” (http://ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/adjectives.htm).

6. Order of adjectives As mentioned previously, more than one adjective may be stringed together before the noun it (they) describes. When they do, they have a correct order they must appear in, according to category. 1. Determiners — articles (a, an, the…) and other limiters. (click for definition of "'determiner") 2. Observation — postdeterminers (click for definition of "postdeterminer") and limiter adjectives (e.g., a real hero, a perfect idiot) and adjectives subject to subjective measure (e.g., beautiful, interesting) 3. Size and Shape — adjectives subject to objective measure (e.g., wealthy, large, round) 4. Age — adjectives denoting age (e.g., young, old, new, ancient) 5. Color — adjectives denoting color (e.g., red, black, pale) 6. Origin — denominal adjectives denoting source of noun (e.g., French, American, Canadian) 7. Material — denominal adjectives denoting what something is made of (e.g., woolen, metallic, wooden) 8. Qualifier — final limiter, often regarded as part of the noun (e.g., rocking chair, hunting cabin, passenger car, book cover). Order of adjectives taken directly from: http://ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/adjectives.htm Example: The large, black, metallicrocking chair is in my room. The adjectives in this sentence are in proper order. click for an adjective ordering drag and drop exercise

7. Possessive Adjectives Examples: My, your, his, her, its, our, their Example in a sentence: The ballerina spins on her toes. “Her” describes the word “toes,” telling us whose toes are being talked about. Note that the possessive pronoun form “mine” is not used to modify a noun or noun phrase. Demonstrative Adjectives Examples: This, these, that, those, what Example in a sentence: The sweaters are in that drawer. “That” describes the word “drawer,” telling us which drawer is being talked about There are seven main types of adjectives. Here they are:

8. Participle Adjectives • Participles are verb forms acting as adjectives. Examples of participle adjectives are bold-faced in the paragraph below to give a good idea of how they are used. • “He remembered…the floating snow of blossoms. He knew the inchoate sharp excitement of hot dandelions in young earth; in July, of watermelons bedded in sweet hay, inside a farmer's covered wagon; of cantaloupe and crated peaches; and the scent of orange rind, bitter-sweet, before a fire of coals. He knew the good male smell of his father's sitting-room; of the smooth worn leather sofa, with the gaping horse-hair rent; of the blistered varnished wood upon the hearth; of the heated calf-skin bindings; of the flat moist plug of apple tobacco, stuck with a red flag; of wood-smoke and burnt leaves in October; of the brown tired autumn earth; of honey-suckle at night; of warm nasturtiums, of a clean ruddy farmer who comes weekly with printed…” (http://ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/adjectives.htm).

9. Interrogative adjectives • They are words used to ask questions that indicate the noun that is being talked about. • It asks which or what. • Examples: which, what • Example in a sentence: Which bike is yours? • “Which” describes the word “bike.”

10. Indefinite Adjectives Usually answers the question, “how much?” But it doesn’t specify a particular quantity (like four or thirteen). Examples: Many, any, few, all, some, each, every Example sentence: “Many of my friends have pets.” “Many” describes “friends,” letting us know approximately how many of the friends have pets. A-adjectives They start with an “a” and describe nouns as normal. The most common of these are: ablaze, afloat, afraid, aghast, alert, alike, alive, alone, aloof, ashamed, asleep, averse, awake, aware They usually show up after a linking verb (like were, was, am). They usually come after the noun they describe. Example sentence: I was ashamed. “Ashamed” describes “I” (myself) in this sentence. Indefinite and a-adjectives

11. Adjectives of Degrees • These adjectives express the degrees of modification/comparison • There are three degrees (from lowest to highest): positive, comparative, and superlative. • For example, if the adjective “rich” is used to describe people, these would be the adjectives of different degrees. • Rich = Positive • Richer = Comparative • Richest = Superlative practice reference

12. http://www.kn.pacbell.com/wired/fil/pages/listadjectivan.html (collaborative group of websites for games) http://www.ezschool.com/example/EZGames?Name=grammar (identification drill) http://www.nonstopenglish.com/allexercises/kws.asp?Vocabulary=adjectives (interactive quizzes) http://www.writingfix.com/forkids/adjectivegame.htm (uses writing) http://www.nll.co.uk/self/java/adjwordelem.htm (an easy-mix letter game) http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/revisewise/english/spelling/18_act.shtml (interactive adjective practice) Thanks for reading and use those adjectives! Additional links to websites for more games and practice: