Parts of Speech: Adjectives
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Transcript Parts of Speech: Adjectives
The words that make language more specific
Adjectives defined
An adjective is a word that is used to describe (or
modify) a noun or pronoun in a sentence
Because of this, adjectives are often called modifiers
To modify something means to change it somehow.
Adjectives change the meanings of simple nouns or
pronouns.
The adjective questions
Adjectives can answer the following questions in a
sentence:
oWhat kind?
oExpensive toys
oColorful caps
oHow many?
oFew cars
oWhich one?
oThis man
oThese paddles
oHow much?
oMany people
Adjective positioning
Adjectives will usually come before the nouns they
modify .
Before: Kevin owns three arcades
Before: Large, colorful graphics covered the screen.
They can come after the nouns, but this order is not
very commonly used.
After: Kevin’s arcades are busy.
After: The most popular games are difficult.
A special type of adjectives
Articles are also adjectives
Articles are very common and are split up into two
categories:
Definite – refers to a specific person, place, or thing
The
Example: Mr. Shaffer is the man to ask.
Indefinite – refers to any member of a group of similar
people, places, or things
A
An
Example: I should probably ask a teacher.
Proper Adjectives
When a proper noun (remember these?) is used as an
adjective it is called a proper adjective
Examples:
proper noun : Baltimore
proper adjective: Baltimore newspaper
Proper noun: April
proper adjective: April showers
Proper noun: Kennedy
proper adjective: Kennedy family reunion
Proper Adjectives
Proper adjectives can also be formed out of a proper
noun by adding certain endings
Examples:
Proper noun: America
proper adjective: American jazz
Proper noun: Inca
proper adjective: Incan empire
Proper noun: Florida
proper adjective: Floridian government
Proper noun: Napoleon
proper adjective: Napoleonic complex