ADJECTIVES

ADJECTIVES

1. A word which describes or tell us more about a NOUN: green, tall, bad, etc.; DESCRIBE FEATURES of persons/things denoted by Nouns/Pronouns. They are IDENTIFIED by their FUNCTION

   • COMPARATIVE ADJECTIVES compare things
   • SUPERLATIVE ADJECTIVES: States that something is more or least
   • SHORT ADJECTIVES: er/est
   • LONG ADJECTIVES: More/Most

2. Commonly referred to as "PARTS OF THE SPEECH"; Technical WORD CLASS; THIRD MAJOR OPEN WORD CLASS in English

3. SUFFIXES that occur with adjectives

   • -able/ible; al/ial; ed; ful; ic; ical; ish; ive/ative; less; eous/ious/ous; y

4. -ED &-ING FORMS can function as Adjectives

   • -ED Past Participle
   • -ING Present Participle/Gerunds

5. MEANINGS: 1. Denote inherent characteristics of permanent/Long lasting qualities, e.g: tall, true, red, young 2. Express transient states and conditions, e.g: hungry, cold, ill 3. Denote relations between entities, e.g: Fond (of), Similar (to) 4. Describe entities in terms of their actions e.g: Generous, cruel, polite 5. Classify entities e.g: Types, wooden, organic, wild

6. OPPOSITENESS & GRADABILITY

   • Most Adjectives have ANTONYMS (OPPOSITES) Tall/Short; Good/Bad; Dead/Alive
   • Many Adjectives are GRADABLE (Can differentiate different degrees along a scale) Quite Tall/Really Tall/Incredibly Tall

7. ORDER OF ADJECTIVES

   • 1. OPINION 2. SIZE 3. AGE 4. SHAPE 5. COLOUR 6. ORIGIN 7. MATERIAL 8. PURPOSE