Adjectives
Adjectives are one of the eight parts of speech in English grammar, serving to modify nouns or pronouns by providing descriptive, identifying, or quantifying information. They typically appear before the nouns they modify, but can also follow them, as in "The man is tall." Common examples of adjectives include "tall," "happy," and "round." Adjectives do not replace nouns; rather, they enhance the meaning of the nouns they describe.
There are four primary types of adjectives in English: possessive, demonstrative, interrogative, and indefinite. Possessive adjectives, like "my" and "your," indicate ownership, while demonstrative adjectives, such as "this" and "that," point to specific items. Interrogative adjectives, including "which" and "what," are used in questions to inquire about nouns. Lastly, indefinite adjectives like "many" and "some" modify nouns in a vague or general manner. Understanding these categories helps clarify the function and structure of adjectives in English sentences.
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Adjectives
Adjectives are one of the eight parts of speech in English grammar. An adjective is a word that modifies a noun or pronoun by describing, identifying, or quantifying it in some way. An adjective is a descriptive word that is used to give more information about a person, place, or thing. An adjective is usually placed before the word it modifies. Examples of adjectives include words such as tall, thin, round, old, and happy, among many others. In the sentence, “The small dog barked at the moving car,” both small and moving are adjectives that tell more about the dog and the car, respectively. In the sentence, “The man is tall,” the world tall appears after the noun it modifies (man), but is still an adjective because it tells more about the noun. Additionally, it’s important to understand that adjectives don’t replace nouns—they simply modify them.
Overview
Four types of adjectives are used in English writing: possessive adjectives, demonstrative adjectives, interrogative adjectives, and indefinite adjectives. Possessive adjectives show possession. They include words like my, your, and our, all of which can also function as possessive pronouns. Not all possessive pronouns are possessive adjectives, however. The sentence structure determines whether these words are adjectives. For example, in the sentence, “What is your phone number?” the word your is used to modify phone number in a possessive way, and is therefore considered a possessive adjective. In the sentence, “I have everyone's phone number except for yours,” the word yours is considered a possessive pronoun. It doesn’t modify any noun or noun phrase the way a possessive adjective would.
Demonstrative adjectives such as this, that and those can also be used to modify nouns or noun phrases. Demonstrative adjectives are used to indicate specific people or things. In the sentence, “The book belongs on that shelf,” the word that acts as a demonstrative adjective because it modifies the noun shelf and identifies the specific shelf on which the book belongs.
Interrogative adjectives are used in interrogative sentences—questions. Interrogative adjectives include who, what, and which. For example, in the sentence, “Which house do you live in?” which is an interrogative adjective because it modifies the noun house.
Finally, indefinite adjectives are words that modify a noun in an indistinct way. Examples of indefinite adjectives include many, some, and all. In the sentence, "Many people have pets," many modifies the noun people. Indefinite adjectives shouldn’t be confused with indefinite pronouns, which stand alone in sentences and don’t modify a noun or noun phrase, such as in the sentence, “Many believe in this tenet.”
Bibliography
Dictionary.com. "Definition of Adjective." Dictionary.com. Dictionary.com, LLC. Web. 9 July 2014. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/adjective
Dictionary.com. "Definition of Pronoun." Dictionary.com. Dictionary.com, LLC. Web. 9 July 2014. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/pronoun
University of Ottawa. "The Part of Speech—Adjectives." The Writing Center at the University of Ottawa. University of Ottawa. Web. 9 July 2014. http://arts.uottawa.ca/writingcentre/en/hypergrammar/the-parts-of-speech