Student’s note
Adjectives
• An adjective is a word that describes a noun or pronoun.
Example -
Kind Pretty
Honest Clever
Girl
Tall
Beautiful
Short
• There are two ways that an adjective can be occurred in a sentence.
1. Attributively
The adjectives describe the noun being just before the noun.
Examples –
a. She is a beautiful girl.
Adjective
Noun
b. They are tall boys.
Adjective
Noun
Some adjectives can only be used attributively.
Examples –
a. This is the main hall.
The above-mentioned adjective, “main” cannot be used predicatively.
2. Predicatively
The adjectives describe the noun or pronoun being after the verb (link verbs).
Examples –
a. Kamala is beautiful
Adjective
Verb
b. They are tall.
Verb Adjective
Some adjectives can only be used predicatively.
Example-
a. That fish is still alive.
The above-mentioned adjective, “alive” cannot be used attributively.
• There are two forms of an adjective.
1. Comparative form
Comparative adjectives are used to compare two persons or things.
Examples –
a. Nimal is taller than Kamal.
b. Seetha is more beautiful than Neetha.
c. The car is shorter than the bus.
d. Blue skirt is more expensive than the red skirt.
In above sentences, one can notice that the comparative is formed in two ways.
One is adding “er” to the adjective and the other one is adding “more” just before
the adjective.
For short adjectives (one syllable adjectives), such as tall, fat, long etc. the
comparative can be formed by adding “er” to the adjective.
Examples –
a. Pretty – Prettier
b. Short – Shorter
c. Tall – Taller
For long adjectives (two or more syllable adjectives), such as, beautiful, colourful,
expensive etc. the comparative can be formed by adding “more” just before the
adjective.
Examples –
a. Beautiful – More beautiful
b. Colourful – More colourful
c. Expensive – More expensive
2. Superlative form
Superlative adjectives are used to compare more than two persons or things.
Examples –
a. Kamal is the tallest boy in the class
b. Nimali is the most beautiful girl in the village.
c. Train is the longest vehicle.
d. Blue skirt is the most expensive skirt in the shop.
In above sentences one can notice that the superlative is formed in two ways. One
is adding “est” to the adjective and the other one is adding “most” just before the
adjective.
For short adjectives (one syllable adjectives), such as tall, fat, long etc. the
superlative can be formed by adding “est” to the adjective.
Examples-
a. Pretty – prettier – prettiest
b. Long – Longer – Longest
c. Big – Bigger – Biggest
For long adjectives (two or more syllable adjectives), such as, beautiful, colourful,
expensive etc. the superlative can be formed by adding “most” just before the
adjective.
a. Beautiful – More beautiful – Most beautiful
b. Expensive – More expensive – Most expensive
c. Colourful – More colourful – Most colourful
It is compulsory to use the indefinite article “the” with the superlative form.
There are some irregular comparisons too.
Adjective Comparative Superlative
Good Better Best
Bad Worse Worst
Far Further Furthest
Well Better Best
Old Elder Eldest
Exercise 01 –
Fill in the blanks using the proper form of adjective.
01. My sister thinks she is …………………………...(intelligent) than me.
02.“Avatar” is probably the…………………………(good) film I have ever seen.
03.Who is the ………………………………...(powerful) person in your country?
04.Is Samadhi …………………… (tall) than Nikini.
05.Whale is the ……………………. (big) animal in the ocean.
06.Tiger is ………………… (fast) than dog.
07.The red bag is ……………………… (expensive) than the green bag.
08.Lion is the …………………... (dangerous) animal in the jungle.
09.They are the ………………………... (clever) students in the school.
10.He is the ……………. (lazy) person I know.
Exercise 02 –
Underline the adjective and write whether the adjectives are used
attributively or predicatively.
01. A strange thing happened this morning. ………………………………
02. This drink tastes sweet. ………………………………………………
03. She is a beautiful girl. ……………………………………………..
04. The green door opened slowly. ……………………………………..
05. This is an interesting film. ……………………………………
06.He was carrying huge boxes. ………………………………………
07.She is a young actress. ……………………………………………….
08.The teacher seems angry. ……………………………………………..
09. He is a strange person. …………………………………………………..
10.Kamal is late again. …………………………………………………….
