TYPES OF ADJECTIVES WITH EXAMPLES

Interestingly, nouns and verbs help to complete sentences; however, adjectives make the sentences more interesting. Adjectives modify nouns, pronouns and even other adjectives to enhance and clarify their meaning. Let’s dive further to discuss the different types of adjectives with examples.

Types of Adjectives

• Descriptive Adjectives
• Coordinating Adjectives
• Compound Adjectives
• Proper Adjectives
• Demonstrative Adjectives
• Distributive Adjectives
• Indefinite Adjectives
• Interrogative Adjectives
• Possessive Adjectives
• Predicate Adjectives
• Quantitative Adjectives
• Adjectives as Articles

TYPES OF ADJECTIVES WITH EXAMPLES

Descriptive Adjectives

Of the numerous categories of adjectives, descriptive adjectives are the most prevalent. Descriptive adjectives involve words that modify nouns. This type of adjective expresses a characteristic or attribute of a noun. 

The cat – The big cat

The employee – The smart employee

Example:

• The angry man sat in the filthy gutter for days.
• He is such a brilliant student.
• They upset her when they called her a stingy cousin.

Coordinating Adjectives

Small sets of adjectives joined together to modify the same noun are called coordinate adjectives. Use “and” or commas to separate these adjectives in a sentence. Also, an adjective phrase occurs with multiple adjectives modifying the same noun.

Example:

• She carried a black and red bucket last night.
• It was a dark, moody and cold night in London.
• Their event was pleasant, colourful and successful.

Compound Adjectives

A compound adjective exists when combining two or more adjectives to modify the same noun. Add hyphens to separate the words to avoid misinterpretation or vagueness. 

Example:

• Peter is on part-time studies.
• She has to read a 500-word article.
• Rebecca is going on a three-day boat cruise.
• They sold a few carb-free chocolates.

Proper Adjectives

Proper adjectives begin with capital letters because they emanate from proper nouns. A proper noun refers to a specific person, place, or thing, for instance, “Rebecca” instead of “she”, “China” instead of “country.” Therefore, proper adjectives resemble their forerunners, proper nouns, with a little difference. They usually describe something that has something to do with its noun counterpart.

Example:

• She dislikes Nigerian football.
• That was a Jamaican song.
• They are going to a New Year festival.

Demonstrative Adjectives

A demonstrative adjective points to something specific within the sentence. The four demonstrative adjectives in the English language include – this, that, these, and those. Adjectives usually come before the noun they modify, but not all the time. Demonstrative adjectives are always placed immediately before the word they modify.

Example:

• Will you buy that house?
• This fish needs water.
• They do not like these clothes.
• Those bikes are expensive.

Distributive Adjectives

Distributive adjectives define a class or group collectively. Some distributive adjectives comprise each, either, any, every, and neither. These, like most adjectives, stay directly next to the noun they’re modifying.

Example:

• Each examiner vetted the work.
• Either flower will look nice on the table.
• Can any of you pick up the money?
• They sold every property in their house.
• Neither file is correct.

Indefinite Adjectives

Indefinite adjectives characterize nouns or pronouns in a broad sense. They refer to things that are not exact. Many, several, few, no, and some are examples of indefinite adjectives. 

Example:

• Many people go to the show.
• There are several books on that subject.
• Few ladies attended that event.
• There is no milk in the cereal.
• There are some eggs there.

Interrogative Adjectives

Interrogative adjectives ask a question. They require the presence of a noun or pronoun. These are whose, which, what.

Example:

• Whose car are you driving?
• Which football club do you support? 
• What food do you want?

Other words, like “who” and “how,” pose a question but are not adjectives because they don’t modify nouns. For instance, “Whose car are you driving?” is correct but, “Who car are you driving?” or “How car are you driving?” is incorrect.

Possessive Adjectives

Possessive adjectives denote ownership. His, her, my, your, and their are some important possessive adjectives. Possessive adjectives frequently come before the nouns they describe.

Example:

• That’s not your Mercedes.
• You can take his Smirnoff.
• Is this her Gucci?

Predicate Adjectives

Predicate adjectives appear after the linking verb and modify the sentence’s subject. Because they appear after the verb rather than before the noun, these adjectives can be difficult to recognize; nonetheless, they belong to the adjective tribe.

Example:

• They are wealthy.
• He is kind.
• We are earnest.

Quantitative Adjectives

Quantitative adjectives express the quantity of something. They change more than only the form of a noun or pronoun. They can also answer inquiries like “How much?” and “How many are there?” As a result, words like “one” or “two” become adjectives. Any quantity that adds to the meaning of a noun is referred to as a quantitative noun.

Example:

• They have five brothers.
• Very soon, I wish to buy two cars.
• Actually, he’ll sleep the whole day.

Adjectives as Articles

There are three articles (a, an, the) in English. There are definite and indefinite articles. The definite article (the) precedes a noun to emphasize that the reader is aware of the noun’s identity. When the noun is generalized or unknown, the indefinite article (a, an) comes before it. These articles function as adjectives in sentences and stay beside the nouns they modify.

Example:

• He just bought a house. (indefinite)
• That is an egg. (indefinite)
• Don’t pick up the pencil. (definite)

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