Adjective and its kinds

A.    An adjective is a word used to add something to the meaning of a noun (or a pronoun). Adjective means added to.

For example:

1.      Vasundhra is a tall girl.

2.      Ramdas is poor but happy.

3.      The teacher narrates interesting stories.

In sentences 1, 2 and 3 tall, poor, happy and interesting are the adjectives. They tell us what type of girl Vasundhra is, what kind of man Ramdas is and how he feels, what type of stories are narrated by the teacher. These adjectives make us understand more about Vasundhra, Ramdas and the stories.

Adjectives are of following kinds:

1.      Adjectives of quality: These adjectives tell us what kind of a person/thing is or they tell us about quality.

For example:

Akbar was a good and wise thing.

The sunflower is a bright flower.

2.      Adjectives of number: These adjectives tell us ‘how many’ of a thing. They may tell about a definite number (twenty five, four, six etc.) or an indefinite number/amount (few, some, several, much, less etc.).

These adjectives also tell us the order like – first, second, third etc.

For example: Vidya stood first in her class.

For example:

Many people were killed in the earthquake.

Geeta had only twenty rupees in her pocket.

The boy who came first, got the trophy

3.      Adjectives of quantity: These adjectives tell us ‘how much’ of a thing.

For example:

Renu needs a little training.

Mother cooked plenty of rice for all of them.

4.      Demonstrative adjectives: These adjectives tell us which person/thing is concerned/talked about

For example:

I like these bananas.

Rina likes such dresses.

Demonstrative adjectives are this, that, these, those, such, certain, yonder etc.

5.      Interrogative adjectives: These adjectives along with nouns are used for asking questions.

For example:

What is your name?

Which book is yours?

The words ‘whose’, ‘which’, ‘what’ and ‘who’ are used for asking questions.

6.      Possessive adjectives: These adjectives show possession or belonging. They answer the questions ‘whose’?

For example:

I have completed my work.

This is your reward.

Other possessive adjectives are mine, yours, his, her, their, our, its

B.     Formation of adjectives

We can form adjectives

1.      From nouns:

Honour – honourable; beauty – beautiful; slave – slavish

2.      From verbs:

Quarrel – quarrelsome; talk – talkative

3.      From other adjectives:

Black – blackish; red – reddish

C.    Degrees of comparison

1.      Adjectives of quality have three degrees of comparison – positive, comparative and superlative. For example,

Positive	Comparative	Superlative
Tall	Taller	Tallest
Easy	Easier	Easiest

2.      Look at the following illustrations:

The first man is an old man.

The second man is older than the first man.

The third man is the oldest of all.

·         The positive degree is used when no comparison is made.

The first man is an old man. (This old man is not compared with any other man. Hence we have used the positive degree.)

·         The comparative degree is used to compare two things or two groups of things.

The second man is older than the first man. (Two old men are being compared. Hence we have used the comparative degree.)

·         We use than with the comparative degree of an objective:

easier than, taller than, more beautiful than

Look at this sentence:

Preeti is taller than any other girl in the class.

It is important to use the word other in this sentence. It is incorrect to say: Preeti is taller than any girl in the class. The expression any girl in the class includes Preeti also. It is obvious that Preeti cannot be taller than herself. So we have to use the word other to exclude Preeti from the comparison.

We cannot use than in a sentence like

Preeti is the taller of the two girls.

·         The superlative degree is used to compare more than two things or two groups of things.

The third man is the oldest of all. (More than two old men are being compared. Hence we have used the superlative degree.)

·         We use the article the with the superlative degree of an adjective: the tallest of all, the easiest of the three, the richest person in the city.

D.    Making comparisons

1.      The comparison of equality is expressed by as … as:

Suchi is as tall as Geeta.

Chetan is as honest as Gaurav.

2.      The comparison of inferiority can be expressed in the following ways:

This book is not so (as) expensive as that.

This book is less expensive than that.

That book is more expensive than this.

Copper is not so (as) heavy as gold.

Copper is less heavy than gold.

Gold is heavier than copper.

E.     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.

What do we use in interrogative sentences?

Do you have some money?

Do you have any money?

Both these sentences are correct. But we use some if an affirmative answer is expected and any if a negative answer is expected.

F.     Much, many

Much means a large quantity of; it is used with uncountables:

Much ink

Much sorrow

Many means a large quantity of; it is used with the plurals of countables

Many books

Many years

G.    Little, few

Little is used with uncountables; few is used with countables:

Little help, little hope

Few friends, few books

H.    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

I have little money. I cannot buy a bar of chocolate with it.

I have a little money. I can afford to buy a bar of chocolate with it.

I bought a bar of chocolate with the little money I had.

I.       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

Few friends visit me. So I am often lonely.

Sometimes a few friends visit me and we have a nice time.

The few friends I have visit me very rarely.

J.      Elder, eldest, older, oldest

Elder and eldest are used with close family relations like daughters, sons, sisters, brothers etc.:

My eldest brother has won the best athlete’s award.

Elder is not followed by than. So if we have to use than, we must use the word older:

Shuchi is older than Vandita.

Older and oldest denote age; they can be used with both persons and things:

Pankaj is older than Neeraj.

Mr. Mohan Lal is the oldest person in our colony.

This is the oldest pair of shoes I have.

K.    Later, latter, latest, last

Later and latest denote time. Latter and last denote position.

We shall be going to the hills in the later part of April.

What is the latest news?

Ram and Anand entered the finals; the latter won the match.

She prefers to sit on the last bench.

L.     Nearest, next

Nearest denotes distance; next denotes position:

Who lives nearest to the school?

Her house is next to mine.

M.   Comparatives ending in or

Senior, junior, inferior and superior are adjectives ending in ‘or’. These adjectives are followed by to and not by than:

He is senior to me by three years.

My pen is superior to yours.

N.    As … as, so … as

As … as is usually used with positive statements:

She is as cunning as a fox.

Her result was as good as we had expected.

In negative sentences, both as … as and so … as are acceptable.

She is not as cunning as you think.

She is not so cunning as her elder sister.

O.    Some adjectives represent the highest degree. They cannot be used in the comparative or superlative degree. Important adjectives of this kind are:

Unique, chief, complete, perfect, entire, full, ideal. We cannot have anything more complete or most complete; similarly we cannot think

Of anything more perfect or most perfect:

This was a unique plan. (And not a most unique plan.)