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.)

Adverb and its kinds

An adverb is a word that adds something to the meaning of a verb, an adjective or another adverb.

1.      The traveller walked briskly.

2.      Today I faced a very difficult situation.

3.      She faced the interview quite confidently.

In the above sentences, the words printed in bold letters are all adverbs.

In sentence 1, the adverb briskly adds to the meaning of the verb walked. It tells how the traveller walked.

In sentence 2, difficult is an adjective describing the noun situation. The adverb very adds to the meaning of the adjective difficult. It tells how difficult the situation was.

In sentence 3, confidently is an adverb describing the verb faced. The adverb quite adds to the meaning of the adverb confidently. It tells how confidently she faced the interview.

Adverbs are of following kinds:

1.      Adverbs of manner:

They show/tell how an action takes place.

For example:

Birbal acted wisely.

Revati behaved foolishly.

A horse runs fast.

Our jawans fight bravely.

2.      Adverbs of place:

These adverbs tell us where an action is done.

For example:

The children are playing outside.

The police looked for the thief everywhere.

Go away.

3.      Adverbs of time:

These adverbs tell us when an action takes place.

For example:

Children come to play daily.

Our guests left early.

The officer is coming immediately.

Sheenu is coming soon.

4.      Adverbs of number:

They tell us how often an action is done/takes place.

For example:

The policeman struck the thief twice.

We often do our work together.

The minister visited our colony once.

5.      Adverbs of degree:

They tell how much or to what extent a thing is done.

For example:

We were extremely tired.

After the races, the children were quite worn out.

Is he entirely dependent on his son?

6.      Interrogative adverbs:

They help us in framing/asking questions.

For example:

When did they come?

How are you, Neeru?

Why are you sad?

Where is your mother?

Position of adverbs:

1.      Adverbs of manner, place and time are placed after the verb if the verb is intransitive and after the object if the verb is transitive:

The thief ran fast.

It rained heavily.

The artist played her part efficiently.

We took this decision yesterday.

2.      For emphasis, adverbs of time may also be placed in the beginning of the sentence:

We went to the museum yesterday.

Yesterday we went to the stadium.

3.      (a) Adverbs of frequency (always, sometimes, often etc.)

(b) Adverbs of degree (almost, nearly, quite, just etc.) and

(c) Sometimes adverbs of manner are placed

(i)                 After the verb if the verb is is/am/are/was/were:

She is often absent from the school.

We were quite in time for the match.

(ii)               Between the subject and the verb if the verb consists of one word.

Sandhya never forgot to send me new year greetings.

His uncle nearly lost his life in the war.

(iii)             After the first word if the verb consists of more than one word:

We should never disobey the rules.

The postman has just delivered the mail.

(iv)             Before the verbs have to and used to:

We often had to work on Sundays.

He always used to visit me during the summer vacation.

4.      When an adverb modifies an adjective or another adverb, it is placed before the adjective or the adverb:

The bride looked very beautiful.

They agreed to the plan quite happily.

5.      But the adverb enough is always placed after the word it modifies:

She is intelligent enough to understand the problem.

The teacher spoke loud enough to be heard by everybody.

6.      The word only should be placed immediately before the word it modifies. Notice how in the following sentences the meaning changes on changing the position of the word only.

Only he promised to give me books. (only he and nobody else)

He only promised to give me books. (promised but did not give)

He promised to give me only books. (books and nothing else)

7.      When there are two or more adverbs after a verb (and its object), the normal order is: adverb of manner, adverb of place, adverb of time.

She sang sweetly (manner) in the concert (place) last evening (time).

The train arrived at the platform (place) at 6 p.m. (time).

Correct use of some adverbs:

1.      Fairly, rather

(a)    Both fairly and rather mean moderately. Fairly is used with favourable adjectives and adverbs (clever, wise, intelligent etc.); rather is used with the unfavourable ones (foolish, ugly etc.):

This child is fairly clever for his age.

She did fairly well in the interview.

This shirt is rather expensive.

He is fairly rich but his uncle is rather poor.

(b)   Some words (like hot, cold, fast, slow, high, low) in themselves are neither favourable nor unfavourable. In such cases fairly suggests the idea of approval, rather that of disapproval:

This tea is fairly hot. (I like it that way.)

This tea is rather hot. (I don’t want it that hot.)

2.      Very, much:

(a)   We use very with adjectives or adverbs in the positive degree, much with the comparative degree:

She is a very intelligent girl.

She ran very fast.

Today she is looking much weaker than usual.

(b)   Very is used with present participles, much with past participles:

She is very charming.

Her dancing was much praised.

The young boy was very daring.

The girl was much loved by her parents.

However, now it is quite common to use very with the following past participle forms: tired, satisfied, pleased, surprised, delighted, grieved, pained, annoyed, disappointed, worried, bored, shocked:

I am very tired.

I am very satisfied to see your work.

(c)    We do not use very with words like afraid, obliged, alike; we use  

much with them:

I am much obliged to you for your help.

The two are much alike.

3.      Too

(a)    The word too suggests excess of some kind, more than what is desirable, natural or proper. It should not be used instead of very or much:

Do not say: It is too hot today. Say: It is very hot today.

Do not say: It is too good. Say: It is very good.

(b)   Too generally has a negative sense and is than followed by an infinitive:

I am too tired to walk further. (I am so tired that I cannot walk further.)

(c)    However it is correct to say: She talks too much. This sentence means: She talks more than she should.

Similarly, it is correct to say: He takes things too seriously. This sentence means: He takes things more seriously than he should.

4.      Enough:

Enough means sufficient. It is always used in the positive sense. It is placed after the adjective or adverb but before a noun:

She is old enough to go alone.

She ran fast enough to overtake me.

There is enough food for both of us.

5.      Quite:

With adjectives that do not have a comparative and superlative degree, quite means completely, entirely, fully. It does not mean very:

She is quite right. (She is fully right.)

It is quite impossible. (absolutely impossible.)

With other adjectives or adverbs, quite means to a fairly great extent, to a greater extent than average:

He sings quite well.

She speaks English quite fluently.

Pronoun and its kinds

Pronoun:

A pronoun is a word used in place of a noun.

Monica is a brilliant girl. She is the favourite of all the teachers. All of them admire her.

In the example given above, the words she and her stand for the noun Monica. The word them stands for teachers. So she, her and them are pronouns.

Pronouns are of different kinds:

1.      Personal Pronouns:

There are three persons: first person, second person and third person. The first person is the person speaking, the second person is the person spoken to; and the third person is the person (or thing) spoken about. The various forms of personal pronouns are:

Person	Used as a subject	Used as an object	Possessive form	Reflexive or emphasizing form	Remarks
I (singular)   (plural)	I We	Me Us	Mine Ours	Myself Ourselves	Used for both masculine &  feminine
II (singular)     (plural)	You You	Yours Yours	Yourself Yourselves		Used for both masculine &  feminine
III (singular) (singular) (singular) (plural)	He She It They	Him Her It Them	His Hers Theirs	Himself Herself Itself Themselves	Masculine Feminine Neuter All genders

1.       I, we, he, she and they are used as subjects.

Me, us, him, her and them are used as objects.

They congratulated me. (they - subject; me - object)

He helped us. (he – subject; us – object)

2.      You and it may be used both as the subject and the object:

You should learn swimming. (you – subject)

You will enjoy it. (it – object)

Besides, it will keep you fit. (it – subject; you – object)

3.      After prepositions, we use the objective form of pronouns:

Between them and us; between her and me

For him; to her; from them; without us

4.      The verb let requires the objective form of the pronoun:

Let me try this problem.

Let us go for a walk.

5.      The form it is me is common in spoken English although the correct form is It is I.

Who is there? It is me. (spoken English)

Who is there? It is I. (formal)

Did Renu make this painting?

I’m not sure. It may be her. (spoken English)

I am not sure. It may be she. (formal)

2.      Reflexive Pronouns:

Pronouns which are objects of a verb but refer to the same person (subject of the verb). For example:

(a)    I am myself responsible for it.

(b)   We will go there ourselves.

(c)    You should talk about yourself.

(d)   Girls, you take care of yourselves.

(e)    He went for an inspection himself.

(f)    She has made this painting herself.

(g)   They put themselves into trouble.

(h)   The lion itself jumped into the well.

3.      Emphasizing Pronouns:

Pronouns which are used for showing emphasis on a noun/a pronoun are called Emphasizing Pronouns. For example:

(a)    He himself went there.

(b)   She herself will do it.

(c)    I myself did it.

(d)   We should do it ourselves.

(e)    You yourselves planned all this.

(f)    You yourself have to do it.

(g)   They themselves came forward.

(h)   The dog itself jumped from the wall.

4.      Demonstrative Pronouns:

These are used for pointing out a person or thing/persons or things like this, these, that, those and such.

This and these are used for person or thing/persons or things nearby.

That and those are used for person or thing/persons or things far off.

Such means – like

For example:

This pencil writes smoothly.

These pencils are of good quality.

That horse runs fast.

Those boys belong to fifth standard.

Such was the situation.

5.      Interrogative Pronouns:

These pronouns are used for asking questions.

For example:

(a)    Who broke this glass?

(b)   What happened?

(c)    Which is your pen?

(d)   Whose book is this?

(e)    Whom did you call?

6.      Possessive Pronouns:

These pronouns show possession.

For example:

These gloves are mine.

That suit is yours.

7.      Relative Pronouns:

Pronouns which relate are Relative Pronouns.

Who, whose, whom, which and that are the words most frequently used as relative pronouns. As is also sometimes used as a relative pronoun.

1.      As a rule, who, whose and whom is used for persons only. It has the same form whether it refers to a singular or a plural noun or a noun of masculine, feminine or common gender:

The farmer who was eager to work immediately started ploughing the field. (singular)

The shopkeepers who had closed their shops felt safe. (plural)

The Principal called the parents of those children whose result was poor. (common gender)

The girl narrated her story to an old lady whom she met on the way.

The use of whom needs a bit of care. Look at these two examples:

People who do not love others ……… (the relative pronoun as subject, hence who)

People whom others do not love ……. ( the relative pronoun as object, hence whom)

Sometimes whose may also be used for things without life:

The car whose headlights were on ………

Actually this sentence should have been written as:

The car the headlights of which were on ……..

But the first sentence looks more elegant.

2.      Which is used for things without life and for animals:

The house which had been lying vacant for a long time has been sold off.

The tiger which had turned a man-eater could not be located.

3.      That is used for both persons and things:

This is the man that I have been speaking of. (man-person)

I have lost the watch that my father had presented me. (watch-thing)

4.      More on the use of that

(a)    We use that after adjectives in the superlative degree:

Kapil is the best fast bowler that we have produced.

Even the most foolish person that ever lived could teach us something.

(b)   We use that after the words ‘all’, ‘same’, ‘any’, ‘none’, ‘nothing’, (the) ‘only’:

All that glitters is not gold.

Nothing that I did pleased my father.

(c)    Suppose in a sentence we have two nouns, one denoting a person and the other a thing. Which relative pronoun shall we use? We would naturally prefer to use that:

Both the car and its driver that now appeared looked shabby.

                 (thing)          (person)

5.      What refers to things only. Its antecedent is not expressed. It actually means that which or the thing which:

What cannot be cured must be endured. (=that which)

We have found what we have been looking for. (=the thing which)

6.      The word as is also sometimes used as a relative pronoun. It is used after the word such and sometimes after the word same:

He is such a leader as the country needs today.

His problem is the same as yours.

Omission of the relative pronoun:

We can often leave out the relative pronoun when it is in the objective case:

This is the pen with which I wrote the letter.

This is the pen I wrote the letter with.

(which is omitted and the position of the preposition with is changed.)

The man about whom you are enquiring is a friend of mine.

The man you are enquiring about is a friend of mine.

(whom is omitted and the position of the preposition about is changed.)

Where have you parked the car by which you came?

Where have you parked the car you came by?

(which is omitted and the position of the preposition by is changed)

Position of the relative pronouns:

The relative pronoun should be placed as near as possible to the noun or the pronoun it refers to; otherwise sometimes the sentences we write might look absurd. Look at this sentence:

Vijay was called by the Principal, who had cheated in the examination.

In this sentence, the relative pronoun who refers to Vijay, so it should have been placed quite close to the word Vijay. We should have written this sentence like this:

Vijay, who had cheated in the examination, was called by the Principal.

Take another example:

The manager warned the lazy clerk, who was very strict.

This sentence also does not make sense. We should have written:

The manager, who was very strict, warned the lazy clerk.

Joining sentences with relative pronouns:

We can use relative pronouns to join sentences. Look at these examples:

1.      I have found the purse. I had lost it.

I have found the purse which I had lost.

2.      An old lady looked after the child. I know the lady.

An old lady whom I know looked after the child

or

I know the old lady who looked after the child.