Adjective Definition and Meaning
1. An Adjective is a word used to add something to the meaning of a Noun (or Pronoun).
Study the following sentences :
1. He told us an interesting story.
2. There are seven days in a week.
3. Few people survived the air crash.
4. I haven't much work to do.
5. We go to school with our books.
The words interesting, seven, few, much and our in the above sentences, add to the meaning of the Nouns story, days, people, work and books respectively. So they are Adjectives. Each Adjective is followed by the Noun it qualifies.
2. Kinds of Adjectives :
There are ten kinds of Adjectives :
a. Descriptive Adjectives -
1. Adjectives of Quality.
b. Restrictive Adjectives -
2. Adjectives of Quantity
3. Adjectives of Number (or Numeral Adjectives)
4. Demonstrative Adjectives
5. Distributive Adjectives ( A kind of Numeral Adjective)
6. Interrogative Adjectives
7. Possessive Adjectives
8. Proper Adjectives
9. Emphasizing Adjectives
10. Relative Adjectives
1. ADJECTIVES OF QUALITY
Such Adjectives, which tell us of what kind a person or thing is, are called (Adjectives of Quality) Because they describe a person or thing, they are also called (Descriptive Adjectives).
Study the Adjectives of Quality in the following sentences :
1. The pretty plant has green leaves.
2. An elephant is a large animal.
3. This child has golden hair.
4. My mother has poor eyesight.
5. Meena is an intelligent girl.
6. Kapil Dev is a great cricketer.
7. We live under the blue sky.
8. Mr. Chaddha is an excellent teacher.
The Adjectives pretty, green, large, golden, poor, intelligent, great, blue and excellent, tell us of what kind a person or a thing is. Such Adjectives are called Adjectives of Quality.
Adjectives of Quality answer the question - Of what kind?
2. ADJECTIVES OF QUANTITY
Such Adjectives, which tell us how much of a thing is intended are called Adjectives of Quality.
1. There is a little milk in the kettle.
2. He spent all his wealth.
3. He has much money to spend.
4. Shrinath takes a whole glass of milk every morning.
5. She has enough money to buy books.
6. Priya takes great care of her health.
7. He has some rice.
8. He did not eat any food.
9. He had sufficient food to eat.
The Adjectives little, all, much, whole, enough, great, some, any and sufficient. tell us how much of a thing is intended. Such Adjectives are called Adjectives of Quantity. They are used with countable nouns.
Adjectives of Quantity answer the question - How much?
3. ADJECTIVES OF NUMBER OR NUMERAL ADJECTIVES
Such Adjectives, which tell us how many persons or things are meant or in what way or order a person or thing stands, are called Adjectives of Number.
Examples:
1. Here are ten rupees for you.
2. He is sixty years of age.
3. This is the second edition of the book.
4. I have many friends.
5. Two women came to the king quarreling.
6. Neeta's mother bought her some dolls.
7. All men are mortal.
The Adjectives ten, sixty, second, many, two, some, all tell us how many persons or things there are, or in what order any of them stands. Such Adjectives are called Adjectives of Number or Numeral Adjectives They are used with uncountable nouns.
Adjectives of Number answer the question - How many? or In what way or order?
4. DEMONSTRATIVE ADJECTIVES
Demonstrative Adjectives point out which persons, things or places are meant.
Examples:
1. This boy is very polite.
2. That boy topped the list.
3. These shoes are for sale.
4. Those girls will take part in the drama.
5. Rekha and Rani are in the same class.
6. We don't like such things.
7. He lives in yonder house.
The Adjectives this, that, these, those, same, such, and yonder point out which persons or things are meant. Such Adjectives are called Demonstrative Adjectives.
5. DISTRIBUTIVE ADJECTIVES
Distributive Adjectives show that the persons or things from a group are taken one at a time.
Examples:
1. Each man has his own opinion.
2. We drink tea every day.
3. There are big trees on either side of the road.
4. Neither book was very interesting.
The Adjectives each, every, either and neither, refer to persons or thing taken separately. These words are called Distributive Adjectives when they are used with Nouns.
6. INTERROGATIVE ADJECTIVES :
The words what, which and whose, when used with Nouns in asking questions are called Interrogative Adjectives.
Study the Interrogative Adjectives in the following sentences :
1. What information have you about it?
2. Which book do you want?
3. Whose shoes is he wearing?
In the above sentences, what, which and whose are Adjectives. They are called Interrogative Adjectives, because they are used with Nouns (information, book and shoes) to ask questions.
7. POSSESSIVE ADJECTIVES
Adjectives which help to show ownership or possession are called Possessive Adjectives.
Study the Possessive Adjectives in the following sentences :
1. My car needs repairs.
2. This plant is losing its leaves.
3. That is your house.
4. This is her book.
In the above sentences, the words my, its, your and her show ownership or possession. They qualify the Nouns (car, leaves, house and book). Therefore they are called Possessive Adjectives.
8. PROPER ADJECTIVES
Proper Adjectives are Proper Nouns used as Adjective forms of Proper Nouns.
Study the Proper Adjectives in the following sentences :
1. He is an Indian. (Proper Noun)
2. He is an Indian soldier. ( Proper Adjective)
1. I went to visit France. (Proper Noun)
2. I enjoyed the French food. ( Proper Adjective)
9. EMPHASIZING ADJECTIVES
Adjectives which are used to emphasize our opinion about something are called Emphasizing Adjectives.
Examples:
1. The real owner of this firm is somebody else.
2. I have a very bad cold.
Words like real, very, complete, true, perfect, own, total and absolute are called Emphasizing Adjectives, because we use them to emphasize our opinion about something.
10. RELATIVE ADJECTIVES
The words what, which and whose are classed as Relative Adjectives when they are used with Nouns to relate clauses.
Examples:
1. I know the boy whose father is a Policeman.
In the above sentence, the word whose is a Relative Adjective, because it is followed by the Noun father, and, moreover, it relates two clauses :
(a) I know the boy, and (b) His father is a Policeman.
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