ADJECTIVES…

ADJECTIVE

An ‘adjective’ is a word which qualifies a noun or a pronoun.

Ex: She is a ‘good’ woman.

An adjective can be used in two ways, attributively and predicatively.

It is attributive when it is placed immediately before the noun it qualifies.

Ex: She is a ‘beautiful’ woman.

It is predicative when it is used after the verb.

Ex: Shakuntala is ‘genius’.

KINDS OF ADJECTIVES:

Possessive adjectives
Interrogative adjectives
Demonstrative adjectives
Distributive adjectives
Adjectives of quality
Adjectives of number
Adjectives of quantity.

Possessive adjectives:

They show possession. They tell us ‘whose’ a thing is.

Ex: This is ‘my’ book.

Interrogative adjectives:

The words which are used with nouns to ‘ask’ questions are called interrogative adjectives.

Ex: ‘Which’ way shall we go?

Demonstrative adjectives:

The words which point out the thing or person that is spoken about are called demonstrative adjectives.

Ex: Look at ‘that’ hat.

I love ‘such’ things.

Distributive adjectives:

The words which show that only one person or thing is taken at a time are called distributive adjectives.

Ex: ’Each’ boy carried a bag.

Adjectives of number:

The words which show how many persons or things are there or in what order any one of them stands are called adjectives of number.

Ex: ‘All’ men are honest.

Many, several, some, five, first, most, etc.

Adjectives of quantity:

The words which tell us how much of a thing is intended are called adjectives of quantity. They do not describe persons or things.

Ex: She has ‘much’ money.

Little, sufficient, some, any, enough, whole, etc.

Adjectives of quality:

The words which tell us what kind a place, a person, a thing is, are called adjectives of quality.

Ex: The rose is a ‘beautiful’ flower.

Adjectives have three forms. These three forms are called three degrees of adjective. They are positive, comparative and superlative degrees.

An adjective which is in its base form is said to be in positive degree. It refers to the existence of particular quality.

Ex: she is a tall girl in the class.

The comparative degree denotes a higher degree of quality than the positive. It is used when two things are compared.

Ex: She is taller than any other girl in the class.

The superlative degree denotes the highest degree of the quality.

Ex: She is the tallest girl in the class.

By adding ‘er’ and ‘est’

positive	comparative	superlative
Bright	Brighter	Brightest
Black	Blacker	Blackest
Bold	Bolder	Boldest
Clever	Cleverer	Cleverest
Cold	Colder	Coldest
Fast	Faster	Fastest
Great	Greater	Greatest
High	Higher	Highest
Kind	Kinder	Kindest
Long	Longer	Longest
Small	Smaller	Smallest
Strong	Stronger	Strongest
Sweet	Sweeter	Sweetest
Tall	Taller	Tallest
Young	Younger	Youngest

By adding ‘r’ and ‘st’

Positive	Comparative	Superlative
Brave	Braver	Bravest
Fine	Finer	Finest
Large	Larger	Largest
Nice	Nicer	Nicest
Noble	Nobler	Noblest
Pale	Paler	Palest
Simple	Simpler	Simplest
Wise	Wiser	Wisest
white	Whiter	Whitest

By deleting the final ‘y’ and adding her

Positive	Comparative	Superlative
Costly	Costlier	Costliest
Dry	Drier	Driest
Easy	Easier	Easiest
Happy	Happier	Happiest
Heavy	Heavier	Heaviest
Lazy	Lazier	Laziest
Wealthy	Wealthier	Wealthiest

By doubling the final consonants

Positive	Comparative	Superlative
Big	Bigger	Biggest
Dim	Dimmer	Dimmest
Fat	fatter	Fattest
Hot	Hotter	Hottest
Thin	Thinner	Thinnest

By using more and most

Positive	Comparative	Superlative
Active	More active	Most active
Attractive	More attractive	Most attractive
Beautiful	More beautiful	Most beautiful
brilliant	More brilliant	Most brilliant
Careful	More careful	Most careful
Courageous	More courageous	Most courageous
Cunning	More cunning	Most cunning
Difficult	More difficult	Most difficult
Famous	More famous	Most famous
Faithful	More faithful	Most faithful
Proper	More proper	Most proper
Popular	More popular	Most popular
Splendid	More splendid	Most splendid

irregular comparisons

Positive	Comparative	Superlative
Bad	Worse	Worst
Evil	Worse	Worst
Good	Better	Best
Ill	Worse	Worst
Far	Farther	Farthest
Well	Better	Best
Late	Later	Latest
Little	Less	Least
Much	More	Most
Many	More	Most
Near	Nearer	Nearest
Old	Older	Eldest
Old	Elder	Eldest

Comparison between two things:

positive	comparative
John is as clever as Rosy	Rosy is not clever than John
Patrick is at least as tall as Jane	Jane is not taller than Patrick

Comparative	Positive
Lazar is brighter than Stalin	Stalin is not so bright as Lazar

Superlative	Comparative	Positive
Noel is the richest man in Kanpur	Noel is richer than any other man in Kanpur	No other man in Kanpur is so rich as Noel

Superlative	Comparative	Positive
London is one of the biggest cities in England	London is bigger than most other cities in England	Very few cities in England are so big as London

Superlative	Comparative	Positive
Shakespeare is the greatest of all dramatists.	Shakespeare is greater than all other dramatists	No other dramatist is as great as Shakespeare

Positive	Comparative
Lazar is as strong as Lenin	Lenin is not less strong than Lazar

Positive	Comparative	Superlative
Some boys in our class are at least as intelligent as Jane	Some boys in our class are not more intelligent than Jane	Jane is not the most intelligent boy in our class

When we compare two objects, persons, qualities, degrees etc. that are equal in some respects equal, we may use the comparison of equality. This is formed by the use of as… adjective/adverb… as.

E.g.: Your house is as large as mine.

When we compare unequal’s, we may use the comparative degree of the adjective or adverb with than.

E.g.: His new book is more interesting than his earlier books.

When the comparison is negative, we use:

So…adjective/adverb…as

E.g.: Your house is not quite so large as mine.

In some adverbial clauses of comparison both subject and verb are dropped.

E.g.: He is more shy than (he is) unsocial.

Some people think more about their rights than (they do) about their duties.

In clauses of comparison introduced by than that ‘should’ is used.

E.g.: I am already to do the work myself rather than that you should have to do it.

Comparison and contrast are also expressed by the use of

The…the…with comparatives.

E.g.: The sooner you start, the sooner you’ll finish.

The more he read, the less he understood.

Superlative	Comparative	Positive
Iron is the most useful of all metals.	Iron is more useful than any other metal	No other metal is so useful as iron

Superlative	Comparative	Positive
Tom is the cleverest of all boys in the class	Tom is cleverer than any other boy in the class	No other boy in the class is as clever as Tom

Superlative	Comparative	Positive
Rainwater is the purest water	Rainwater purer than any other water	No other water is as pure as rainwater

Superlative	Comparative	Positive
Paris is one of the busiest cities in England	Paris is busier than many other cities in England	Very few cities in England are as busy as Paris

Superlative	Comparative	Positive
Football is one of the most interesting games	Football is more interesting than most other games	Very few games are as interesting as football.

Positive	Comparative	Superlative
Very few animals are as fast as cheetah	Cheetah is faster than many other animals	Cheetah is one of the fastest animals

Comparative	Positive
Paris is hotter than England	England is not so hot as Paris

Positive	Comparative
John is as tall as Dave	Dave is not taller than John

Comparative	Positive
The Blue Mountain Express runs faster than the Green Express	The Green Express does not run so fast as the Blue Mountain Express

RULES OF ADJECTIVES:

There is no superlative degree if the comparison involves only two objects, persons, or places etc.
Ex: Of the two friends he is the better one. (the ‘best’ is wrong)
When two qualities in the same person or thing are compared, the comparative degree is formed by using ‘more’ instead of ‘-r’,’-er’.
Ex: Reshma is more attractive than beautiful.
When two objects are compared with each other, the latter must exclude the former by using ‘any other’.
Ex: Platinum is more valuable than any other metal.
Some adjectives are used only in the positive degree and cannot be used in the comparative or the superlative degrees.
Ex: exterior, ulterior, major, minor, etc.
When adjectives ending with ‘-or’ are used in comparative degree, they are followed by ‘to’ and not ‘than’. The word ‘preferable’ also takes ‘to’ after it.
Ex: He is ‘superior’ to me.

Senior, junior, inferior, prior etc.

Some adjectives are not used in comparative or superlative degree. They are used as they are.
Ex: excellent, unique, entire, complete, final, last extreme etc. and also the shapes like circular, triangular etc.
Some adjectives are used in positive and the superlative degrees. They don’t have comparative degree.
Ex: top-topmost, northern-northernmost, eastern-easternmost etc.
Two adjectives which refer to the same noun or pronoun joined by a conjunction should be in the same degree.
Ex: Indira Gandhi is the toughest and smartest of all political leaders.
Certain adjectives become plural nouns when they are preceded by ‘the’ and takes a plural verb.

Ex: The rich usually hate the poor.

Needy, aged, blind, dead etc.

Words like ‘a great many’, ‘a good many’ take plural nouns and plural nouns after them.
Ex: A great many people have come forward to help at the time ‘Hudhud’.
The word ‘many’ takes a singular verb with singular noun and takes a plural verb when used with plural noun.
Ex: Many a delegate is arriving to attend the conference.

Many delegates are arriving to attend the conference.

Words ‘few’ and ‘little’ have rather negative meaning when used without article. They become positive in meaning.
Ex: There are a few books on ‘space science’ in the library.
Hyphenated nouns or compound adjectives are never plural.
Ex: I bought a one-hundred-year-old miniature painting in Rajasthan.
When ordinal numbers are used, the noun comes after the ordinal.
Ex: The first book of series of Harry Potter is released in the market.
When the cardinal numbers are used, the noun comes before the cardinal.
Ex: Book one of the series of Harry Potter is released in the market.
The word ‘very’ means to a very high degree but does not show the impossibility.
Ex: Surya is very intelligent.
The word ‘too’ suggests impossibility or undesirable degree.
Ex: He is too badly injured to play the game.
The word ‘enough’ suggests possibility or sufficient degree.
Ex: He is kind enough to help the poor.