Learn English Grammar and Vocabulary
Adjectives
How to Compare Two Qualities of the Same Person
Mar 16th
The comparative ending in –er is not used to compare two qualities of the same person or thing. For example, if we want to say that the smartness of John is greater than his prudence, we use a structure with more. John is more smart than prudent. (NOT John is smarter than prudent.) To compare [...]
Formation of the Comparative and the Superlative
Mar 16th
Adjectives of one syllable usually form their comparative and superlative forms by the addition of –er and –est to the positive. Some adjectives of more than one syllable also form their comparatives and superlatives by this method. Examples are given below: Tall (positive), taller (comparative), tallest (superlative) Big, bigger, biggest Small, smaller, smallest, Short, shorter, [...]
Degrees of Comparison
Mar 14th
Read the following sentences: John’s painting was good. Peter’s painting was better than that of John’s. Tom’s painting was the best of all. In sentence 1, the adjective good merely tells us that John’s painting has the quality of goodness, without saying how much of this quality it has. In sentence 2, the adjective better [...]
Formation of Adjectives
Mar 14th
Adjectives formed from Nouns Many adjectives are formed from nouns. Examples are: boyish from boy, foolish from fool, careful from care, playful from play, hopeful from hope, golden from gold. Adjectives formed from Verbs Some adjectives are formed from verbs. Examples are: tireless from tire, talkative from talk, ceaseless from cease and moveable from move [...]
Interrogative Adjectives
Mar 14th
When what, which and whose are used with nouns to ask questions, they are called interrogative adjectives. Whose book is this? Which way shall we go? What kind of man is he?
Demonstrative Adjectives
Mar 14th
Demonstrative adjectives point out which person or thing is meant. Examples are: that, this, these, those and such. Those mangoes were sweet. I don’t like that girl. That boy is very clever. I admire such things. Demonstrative adjectives answer the question: which? Notes: This and that are used with singular nouns. These and those are [...]
Adjectives of Number (Numeral Adjectives)
Mar 14th
Adjectives of number show how many persons or things are meant. They may also express in what order a person or thing stands. Examples are: five, ten, one, first, last, few, some, all etc. We bought some oranges. Each hand has five fingers. Sunday is the first day of the week. Saturday is the last [...]
Kinds of Adjectives
Mar 14th
There are several kinds of adjectives: Adjectives of quality (Descriptive adjectives) Adjectives of quality show the kind or quality of a person or thing. They answer the question: ‘of what kind?’ Examples are: coward, intelligent, brave, kind, honest, big, large, great etc. Mumbai is a large city. Winston Churchill was a great politician. He is [...]
Adjectives
Mar 14th
Read the following sentence: John is a clever boy. Here the word clever shows what kind of boy John is. In other words, clever describes the noun John. An adjective is a word used to describe or point out a noun. Adjectives tell us more about a temporary or permanent quality associated with the noun. [...]