Novelas

What are adjectives?

Definition of Adjective

Adjectives are describing words. Large, grey and friendly are all examples of adjectives. In the examples below, these adjectives are used to describe an elephant.  

Examples:

[pic]Large elephant
[pic]Grey elephant
[pic]Friendly elephant

Adjectives Modify Nouns

The word elephant is a noun. Adjectives are added to nouns to state whatkind, what colour, which one or how many. Adjectives are said to modify nouns and are necessary to make the meanings of sentences clearer or more exact.

Examples:

[pic]Follow the yellow cab.
(In this example, the adjective 'yellow' modifies the noun 'cab'.)

[pic]Craig caught another large bass.
(In this example, the adjective 'large' modifies the noun 'bass'.)

[pic]It is the girlwith the pale face again.

[pic]The principal words should be in bold.
(Beware of the adjective 'principal' - see right)


PRINCIPAL AND PRINCIPLE 

Writers occasionally confuse the words principal and principle. In its most common role, the word principal is an adjective with a meaning similar to main or key.

[pic]The principal objective is to make a profit. [pic](The adjective 'principal' modifies the noun 'objective'.)

The word principle, on the other hand, is not an adjective. It is a noun. It can mean 'general law' or 'code of conduct'.
[pic]No! It is against my principles! [pic]
[pic]That is a great idea in principle. [pic]

The word principal can also be noun when it means head or chief. It is commonly used to denote'head teacher' in the US.
[pic]Here comes the principal. [pic]

See the lesson on Principle and Principal.


[pic]The rusty nail he stood on was the cause of the infection. 

[pic]Please put the old documents in the shredder.

[pic]There is an essential matter we need to discuss.

[pic]Peter guessed the right number.

Adjectives Modify Pronouns

Although less common,adjectives can also modify pronouns.

Examples:

[pic]It is a blue one.
(In this example, the adjective 'blue' modifies the pronoun 'one'.)

[pic]Only a brave few have received a recommendation.


THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF ADJECTIVES

Adjectives are describing words. However, there are many other words that are classified as adjectives, some of which do not fall easily under thisdescription.

PERSONAL TITLES
 
Personal titles such Mr, Mrs, Auntie, Uncle, Dr and Lord are classified as adjectives when they are attached to a name.

[pic]The day after tomorrow, you can visit Auntie Pauline and Uncle Joe.
[pic]The lecture on Friday will be presented by Dr Ingols and Prof. Munro.

POSSESSIVE ADJECTIVES

Possessive adjectives are used to show possession. They are my, your, his,her, its, our and their.

THE ARTICLES   

The words a, an and the are known as articles and are classified as adjectives too. 'A' and 'an' are called the indefinite articles, as they do not indicate a specific noun; whereas, 'the' is called the definite article, because it does point to a specific noun.

[pic]A cup (< any cup)
[pic]The cup (< a specific cup)

DEMONSTRATIVE ADJECTIVESDemonstrative adjectives are used to demonstrate or indicate specific things. This, that, these and those are all demonstrative adjectives.
[pic]If I hear that parrot again, I will call the RSPCA.
('That' is a demonstrative adjective. It refers to a specific parrot.) 
[pic]Medals will only be given to those runners who complete the marathon in
less than 8 hours.  
('Those' is a demonstrativeadjective. It refers to specific people.) 

INDEFINITE ADJECTIVES
   
Unlike demonstrative adjectives, which indicate specific items, indefinite adjectives do not point out specific things. They are formed from indefinite pronouns. The most common indefinite adjectives are no, any, many, few and several.
[pic]The chief has heard many people make the same promise.
(The indefinite adjective...