What are Adjectives? » Pyinnyar Pankhin

What Are Adjectives?

The Quick Answer

Adjectives are describing words.

Adjectives

Adjectives describe nouns and pronouns. (Old, green, and cheerful are examples of adjectives.)

Easy Examples of Adjectives

In each example, the adjective is italicised.

An adjective usually comes directly before the noun or pronoun it describes (or modifies, as they say).

old man
green coat
cheerful one

(When adjectives are used like this, they’re called attributive adjectives.)

An adjective can come after the noun.

Jack was old.
It looks green.
(Adjectives can describe – or modify – pronouns too.)
He seems cheerful.

In the three examples above, the adjectives have followed linking verbs (was, looks, and seems) to describe the noun or pronoun. (When adjectives are used like this, they’re called predicative adjectives.)

Sometimes, an adjective comes immediately after a noun.

the Princess Royal
time immemorial
body beautiful
the best seats available
the worst manners imaginable

When adjectives are used like this, they’re called postpositive adjectives. Postpositive adjectives are most common with pronouns.

someone interesting
those present
something evil

A descriptive adjective will usual fit into one of the following categories:

Category	Example
Appearance	attractive, burly, clean, dusty
Colour	azure, blue, cyan, dark
Condition	absent, broken, careful, dead
Personality	annoying, brave, complex, dizzy
Quantity	ample, bountiful, countless, deficient
Sense	aromatic, bitter, cold, deafening
Size and Shape	angular, broad, circular, deep
Time	ancient, brief, concurrent, daily

More about Adjectives

The Transition from Adjectives to “Determiners”

For centuries, the term “adjective” has been used for a word type now called determiners. Determiners are still classified as adjectives by most people but not everyone. Determiners indicate qualities such as the following:

Possession (e.g., my dog)
Specificity (e.g., that dog)
Quantity (e.g., one dog)
Definiteness (e.g., a dog)

Regardless of whether you classify determiners as adjectives, this much is true: determiners are not like descriptive adjectives. Here are the four main differences between determiners and normal adjectives:

(Difference 1) A determiner cannot have a comparative form.

Normal adjective: pretty > prettier
(Prettier is the comparative form of pretty.)
Determiner: that > [nothing fits here]

(There is no comparative form.)

(Difference 2) A determiner often cannot be removed from the sentence.

Normal adjectives removed: The young boy stole a silver watch. ✔︎
(This is grammatically sound with the normal adjectives removed.)
Determiner: The Young boy stole a silver watch. ✖︎

(The sentence is flawed with the determiners removed.)

(Difference 3) A determiner often refers back to something (i.e., it’s like a pronoun).

Determiner: Release those prisoners immediately.
(The determiner those refers back to something previously mentioned. In other words, it has an antecedent (the thing it refers to).)

(Difference 4) A determiner cannot be used as a subject complement.

Normal adjective: She is intelligent.
(The normal adjective intelligent can be used after a linking verb (here, is) and function as a subject complement.)
Determiner: She is [nothing fits here].

(You can’t use a determiner as a subject complement. NB: If you think you’ve found a determiner that fits, then you’ve found a pronoun not a determiner.)

Below is a brief description of the main determiners. (There is a separate page on each one.)

Possessive Determiners. The possessive determiners (called “possessive adjectives” in traditional grammar) are my, your, his, her, its, our, their, and whose. A possessive determiner sits before a noun (or a pronoun) to show who (or what) owns it.

When a man opens a car door for his wife, it’s either a new car or a new wife. (Prince Philip)
The only time a wife listens to her husband is when he’s asleep. (Cartoonist Chuck Jones)

Demonstrative Determiners. The demonstrative determiners (called “demonstrative adjectives” in traditional grammar) are this, that, these, and those. A demonstrative determiner makes a noun (or a pronoun) more specific by relating it to something previously mentioned or something being demonstrated.

That man’s silence is wonderful to listen to. (Novelist Thomas Hardy)
Maybe this world is another planet’s hell. (Writer Aldous Huxley)

Articles. The articles are the words a, an, and the. They are used to define whether something is specific or unspecific.

The poets are only the interpreters of the gods. (Philosopher Socrates)
I’m an optimist – but an optimist who carries a raincoat. (Prime Minister Harold Wilson)

Numbers (or Cardinal Numbers). The cardinal numbers are one, two, three, etc. (as opposed by first, second, third, etc., which are known as ordinal numbers). Cardinal numbers are used to specify quantity. They are part of the group of determiners known as “quantifiers.”

If two wrongs don’t make a right, try three wrongs. (Canadian educator Laurence Peter)
One loyal friend is worth ten thousand relatives. (Greek Tragedian Euripides)

Indefinite Determiners. The most common indefinite determiners (called “indefinite adjectives” in traditional grammar) are no, any, many, few, several, and some. Indefinite determiners modify nouns in a non-specific way usually relating to quantity. Like numbers, they are part of the group of determiners known as “quantifiers.”

If you live to be one hundred, you’ve got it made. Very few people die past that age. (Comedian George Burns)
If this is coffee, please bring me some tea; but if this is tea, please bring me some coffee. (US President Abraham Lincoln)

Interrogative Determiners. The most common interrogative determiners (called “interrogative adjectives” in traditional grammar) are which, what, and whose. They are used to ask questions.

If you decide that you’re indecisive, which one are you?
What hair colour do they put on bald person’s driving licence?

Nouns Used as Adjectives

Many words that are usually nouns can function as adjectives. For example:

autumn colours
boat race
computer shop
Devon cream
electricity board
fruit fly

Here are some real-life examples:

Not all face masks are created equal. (Entrepreneur Hannah Bronfman)
You cannot make a revolution with silk gloves. (Premier Joseph Stalin)

When used like adjectives, nouns are known as attributive nouns.

Participles Used as Adjectives

Formed from a verb, a participle is a word that can be used as an adjective. There are two types of participle:

The present participle (ending –ing)
The past participle (usually ending –ed, –d, –t, –en, or –n)

Here are some examples of participles as verbs:

The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds new discoveries, is not “Eureka!” but “That’s funny.” (Writer Isaac Asimov)
Always be wary of any helpful item that weighs less than its operating manual. (Author Terry Pratchett)
While the spoken word can travel faster, you can’t take it home in your hand. Only the written word can be absorbed wholly at the convenience of the reader. (Educator Kingman Brewster)
We all have friends and loved ones who say 60 is the new 30. No, it’s the new 60. (Fashion model Iman)

A participle is classified as a verbal (a verb form that functions as a noun or an adjective).

Infinitives Used as Adjectives

An infinitive verb (e.g., to run, to jump) can also function as an adjective.

No human creature can give orders to love. (French novelist George Sand) (Here, the infinitive to love describes the noun orders.)
Progress is man’s ability to complicate simplicity. (Norwegian adventurer Thor Heyerdahl)
(An infinitive will often head its own phrase. Here, the infinitive phrase to complicate simplicity describes the noun ability.)

The Order of Adjectives

When two or more adjectives are strung together, they should be ordered according to the following list:

Order	Category	Examples
1	Determiner	the, my, those
2	Number	one, two, ninety-nine
3	Opinion	lovely, attractive, rare
4	Size	small, medium, large
5	Physical Quality	thin, lumpy, cluttered
6	Shape	round, square, triangular
7	Age	young, middle-aged, old
8	Colour	red, white, blue
9	Origin	British, German, Russian
10	Material	wood, metal, plastic
11	Type	L-shaped, two-sided, all-purpose
12	Purpose	cooking, supporting, tendering
13	Attributive Noun	service, improvement, head

Here is an example of a 14-adjective string (bold) that is ordered correctly:

my two lovely XL thin tubular new white Spanish metallic hinged correcting knee braces.

Regardless of how many adjectives are used (more than 3 is rare), the established order is still followed.

That’s a lovely, mixing bowl
(1: Determiner 2: Opinion 3: Purpose)
Who’s nicked my two black, wooden spoons?
(1: Number 2: Colour 3: Material)
Give your ticket to the Italian old waiter. ✖︎
(Age comes before origin. Therefore, the old Italian waiter would have been better.)

This list of precedence is not universally agreed, but all versions are pretty similar. The area of most dispute is age and shape. The order can change for emphasis too. If there were two old waiters, one Italian and one Spanish, then the wrong example above would be correct, and the word Italian would be emphasised.

If you’re a native English speaker, you are safe to ignore this list and let your instinct guide you. (You already know this stuff, even if you don’t know you know it.)

Compound Adjectives

Not all adjectives are single words…far from it. Often, a single adjective will comprise two or more words. A single adjective with more than one word is called a compound adjective. For example:

Happiness is having a large, loving, caring, close-knit family in another city. (Comedian George Burns)
Be a good-looking corpse. Leave a good-looking tattoo. (Actor Ed Westwick)
I like the busted-nose look. (Actor Peter Dinklage)

Compound adjectives are usually grouped with hyphens to show they are one adjective.

Adjective Phrases

In real-life sentences, adjectives are often accompanied by modifiers like adverbs (e.g., very, extremely) and prepositional phrases (e.g., …with me, …about the man). In other words, an adjective (shown in bold) will often feature in an adjective phrase (italicised).

My bankers are very happy with me. (The popstar formerly known as Prince)
(In this example, the adjective phrase describes bankers.)
The dragonfly is an exceptionally beautiful insect but a fierce carnivore.
(Here, the adjective phrase describes insect.)

Here’s a more formal definition:

Formal Definition for Adjective Phrase

An adjective phrase is a group of words headed by an adjective that describes a noun.