Adjectives
Essential Question
How can we more precisely describe what we mean?
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Grammar in the World
Read this sentence:
A spider crawled across my foot.
On a piece of paper, sketch what this spider looked like.
What did you draw?
(Was the spider tinier than a coin or as big as the palm of your hand? Was it brown, black, striped, or some other color?)
Adjectives are words, phrases, and clauses that help us communicate exactly what we mean. They let us paint word pictures so that when we speak or write, others understand what we see, hear, taste, touch, and smell.
What Do I Know?
What do you already know about adjectives? Take this quiz to find out.
Building Blocks
Grammar is a complex system and structure of language. Mizzou Academy Grammar Lab spotlights one skill (or block) at a time. It is also helpful to see how each skill works together with other, related blocks to build the language structure as a whole. You may find the following resource topics helpful as context for this lesson:
- Parts of Speech
- Subject, Object, and Possessive Pronouns
- Reducing Adjective Clauses to Adjective Phrases
- Adjective Clauses with Relative Pronouns
Learn About Adjectives
Adjectives answer three questions.
| 1. Which one? | 2. How much/many? | 3. What kind? |
For example, look again at our opening sentence: A spider crawled across my foot. We can use adjectives to be more specific about which spider, how many spiders, and what kind of spider did the crawling.
|
1. Which one? |
That spider crawled across my foot. |
|
2. How much/many? |
One spider crawled across my foot. |
|
3. What kind? |
A big, black, hairy spider crawled across my foot. |
There are many types of adjectives to use. One interesting thing about adjectives is that any adjective is also another part of speech. It may be a noun, pronoun, or article that functions to describe another word in the sentence. You get to choose the best adjective to create the meaning you want.
This chart shows how different adjectives modify nouns in sentences.
|
Type of Adjective |
Example |
|
Article (a/an/the) |
A spider usually has six or eight eyes. |
|
Noun |
Spiders can crawl into a house through kitchen windows or basement doors. |
|
Possessive Noun |
Spiders’ webs are made out of silk. |
|
Proper Noun |
Spider-Man’s powers began when he was bitten by a spider. |
|
Proper Adjective |
The Black Widow spider is one of the deadliest types of arachnids. |
|
Pronoun |
My sister has a pet spider and says that all spiders are fascinating. |
Adjectives always describe nouns. They can be placed before a noun, after a noun, or after a verb.
|
Placement |
Example |
|
Before a Noun |
A spider has many eyes. This big, hairy spider crawled across my foot. My sister’s pet spider jumps high. |
|
After a Noun |
The spider, big and hairy, crawled across my foot. |
|
After a Verb |
The spider was big and hairy. Those spiders are beautiful. |
|
Fun Fact |
|
Types of adjectives take place in a certain order in sentences. Native English speakers place adjectives in this order without even realizing it. English Learners learn to use this order over time. First: Articles/Possessives/Demonstrative Next: Numbers/Amounts/Sequence Then: Size/Length or Shape/Condition/Age/Color/Pattern Finally: Origin/Material/Purpose/Noun as Adjective Sounds right: My three large black spiders. Does not sound right: My black large three spiders. |
Do I Get It?
Click on each adjective in the sentences below.
Note: while the articles a, an, and the can function as adjectives, we will focus on other types of adjectives in this exercise.