Adjectives

Definition of adjective

An adjective is a word used to add something to the meaning of a noun or a pronoun. For an example: Sincere friend, sincere is an adjective. Similarly, my aunt, my is an adjective.

Adjectives can be of six kinds:

• Adjectives of quality
  (telling what kind of)
  honest boy; easy question
  
  
• Adjectives of quantity
  (telling how much)
  some salt; much help
  
  
• Adjectives of number
  (telling how many)
  two examples; many children
  
  
• Demonstrative adjectives
  (used to point out)
  these books; such dresses
  
  
• Interrogative adjectives
  (used to ask questions)
  Which shoes?; Whose purse?
  
  
• Possessive adjectives
  (telling whose)
  our house; her clothes

Formation of adjectives

We can form adjectives from:

• nouns
  honour-honourable; beauty-beautiful; slave-slavish
  
  
• verbs
  quarrel-quarrelsome; talk-talkative
  
  
• other adjectives
  black-blackdish; red-reddish
  Let's learn how adjective are formed with the help of some common suffixes.
  

  Suffix	Word	Adjective
  able	advise honour memory terror comfort	advisable honourable memorable terrible comfortable
  al	accident crime nation navy centre	accidental criminal national naval central
  ar	angel table circle	angular tabular circular
  ful	beauty duty harm peace thought	beautiful dutiful harmful peaceful thoughtful
  ic	angel hero science	angelic heroic scientific
  y	anger ease flower hand need	angry easy flowery handly needy
  ly	brother day king world	brotherly daily kingly worldly

Degree of comparison

Adjectives of quality have three degrees of comparison. They are:positive, comparative, superlative.
For example:

Positive	Comparitive	Superlative
tall	taller	tallest
easy	easier	easiest

Note:

• The positive degree is used when no comparison is made.
• The comparative degree is used to compare two things or two group of things.
• The superlative degree is used to compare more than two things or two group of things.

Making comparison

• The comparison of equality is expressed by as.... as:
  Suruchi is as tall as Komal.
  Bikash is as honest as Gaurav.

• The comparison of inferiority (of being less than) can be expressed in the following ways:
  This book is less expensive than that.
  That book is more expensive than that.

Correct use of adjectives

Some, any

• Some is used in affirmative sentences, any in negative sentences:
• I have already purchased some books.
• I have not purchased any books.

Much, many

• Much means a large quantity of; it is used with uncountables: muchink,much sorrow
• Many means a large number of; it is used with the plurals of countables:many books,many years

Little, few

• Little is used with uncountables; few is used with countables:little help, little hope;few friends, few books

Little, a little, the little

• Little =almost none (Little is almost a negative adjective.)
• A little= at least some
• The little =the whole, though very little
  For an example
  I have little money. I cannot buy a bar of chocolate with it.
  I have a little money. I can affort to buy a bar of chocolate with it.
  I bought a bar of chocolate with the little money I had.
  

Few, a few, the few

• Few = not many, in fact almost none
• A few = at least some
• The few =all of them, though very few
  For an example
  Few friends visit me. So I am almost lonely.
  Sometimes a few friends visit me and we have a nice time.
  The few friends I have,visit me very rarely.

Elder, eldest, older, oldest

• Elder and eldest are used with close family relations like daughters, sons, sisters, brothers, etc.
  For an example
  My eldest brother/sister/daughter has won the best athlete's award.
  Older and oldest denote age; they can be used with both persons and things:Neeraj is older than Ramesh.
  This is the oldest pair of shoes I have.

Later, latter, latest, last

• Later and latest denote time; latter and last denote position
  For an example
  We shall be going on vacation in the later part of June.
  What is the latest news?
  Kapil and Mohan entered the finals; the latter won the match.
  She prefers to sit on the last bench.

Nearest, next

• Nearest denotes distance; next denotes position
  For an example
  Who lives nearest to the school?
  Her house is next to mine.

As... as, so...as

• As...as is used with positive statements:She is as cunning as a fox.
• In negative sentences, both as...as and so...as are acceptable:She is not as clever as you think./She is not so clever as her elder sister.