Adjective. Types of adjectives
Plan:
1. What Is an Adjective?
2. Forms of Adjectives – Degrees of Comparison
What Is an Adjective?
An adjective is a part of speech that can be used to describe or provide more
information about a noun or pronoun that acts as the subject in a sentence.
Adjectives are found after the verb or before the noun it modifies.
Definition of an Adjective
According to the Cambridge Dictionary, an adjective is defined as “a word that
describes a noun or pronoun.” The Collins Dictionary gives a more elaborate
definition. According to it, “an adjective is a word such as ‘big’, ‘ dead’, or ‘
financial’ that describes a person or thing, or gives extra information about them.
Adjectives usually come before nouns or after link verbs.”
The Oxford Learner’s Dictionary defines an adjective as “a word that describes a
person or thing, for example ‘big’, ‘red’ and ‘clever’ in a
big house
,
red wine
and
a
clever idea
.” An adjective is “a word belonging to one of the major form classes
in any of numerous languages and typically serving as a modifier of a noun to
denote a quality of the thing named, to indicate its quantity or extent, or to specify
a thing as distinct from something else”, according to the Merriam-Webster
Dictionary.
Forms of Adjectives – Degrees of Comparison
Did you know that adjectives can be used to compare similar qualities of different
subjects that perform the same action. There are three forms of adjectives or rather
three degrees of comparison. The are:
Positive or Absolute Form
Comparative Form
Superlative Form
Positive Degree of Comparison:
The positive form or the positive degree of comparison is the form of the adjective
used in the original form. For example: This book is interesting. This form of
adjective is used when there is no other subject to be compared.
Comparative Degree of Comparison
The comparative form of the adjective is used when two subjects performing the
same action or possessing the same quality are compared. For example: The book I
read yesterday was more interesting than the one I read today.
Superlative Degree of Comparison
The superlative degree of comparison is used when comparing the same quality of
two or more subjects and to represent that a subject is superior to two or more
subjects in performing an action. For example: This fantasy novel is the most
interesting book that I have ever read.
Types of Adjectives
Adjectives can be divided into different categories based on their functions when
used in a sentence. The different types of adjectives are:
Possessive Adjectives
Interrogative Adjectives
Demonstrative Adjectives
Compound Adjectives
Possessive Adjectives:
These adjectives, like possessive pronouns, are used to show or represent
possession of a quality. For example: my, your, his, her, their, its, whose, etc.
Interrogative Adjectives:
An adjective that is used to modify a noun or a pronoun by asking a question is
called an interrogative adjective. There are only a few adjectives that can be
termed as interrogative adjectives. They are whose, what and which.
Demonstrative Adjectives:
Demonstrative adjectives are mainly used to describe the position of a subject (a
noun or pronoun) in space or time. This, that, these and those are the demonstrative
adjectives in English.
Adverb. Degrees of Adverbs
Plan
1. Adverb of Degree
2. What is an adverb of degree?
Adverb of Degree
What is an adverb of degree?
An adverb of degree is used to discuss the degree or intensity of an adjective, an
action, or another adverb. There are so many adverbs of degree that it’s impossible
to list them all in one short guide. Some common examples of adverbs of degree
follow.
Almost
Absolutely
Barely
Completely
Deeply
Enough
Enormously
Extremely
Fairly
Fully
Greatly
Hardly
Incredibly
Practically
Quite
Scarcely
Somewhat
Terribly
Virtually
Adverbs of degree are important modifiers. As you will soon see, they are
usually placed before the word they are modifying.
Examples of Adverbs of Degree
Adverbs of degree allow you to be very specific when writing, no matter
what the purpose. In the following examples, the adverbs of degree have
been italicized for ease of identification.
This cake is
absolutely
wonderful.
The temperature was
barely
above freezing.
Our driveway is
completely
frozen.
We felt
incredibly
lucky after winning tickets to the World Series.
My teacher is
terribly
grumpy today.
What are adverbs of degree?
Definition: an adverb of degree modifies a verb, an adjective, or an adverb by
telling to what degree they are true. When it modifies a verb, it indicates the degree
to which the action takes place or is true. It talks about the intensity of the action.
When an adverb of degree modifies an adjective and an adverb, they Indicate “to
what degree” they are true.
Adverbs of degree intensify (strengthens or weakens) the meaning of the word they
modify. Let’s look at the list of adverbs of degree.
Gradable adjectives show a point on a scale. For example, cheap and expensive are
adjectives on the scale of 'how much something costs.' On the other hand,
ungradable adjectives represent the two extreme limits of the scale, like priceless
and worthless.
Mitigators, also known as downtoners, have the *opposite effect of intensifiers.
They are used to make words and expressions less strong or forceful, reducing the
emphasis
on
them.
These adverbs are commonly placed before the adjective or adverb.
'Very' vs. 'Too'
'Very' is used to emphasize the degree or intensity of an adjective, adverb, or
phrase, while 'too' implies that there is a problem or an excessive amount of the
quality being described, making it more than what is acceptable or possible.
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