Meaning & use
adjectives
Last updated
“adjectives” is a form of “adjective”. See that entry for the full set of meanings.
Meaning
nounpluraltechnical
Words that describe or give more information about nouns or pronouns, such as big, red or honest.
Grammar: Plural of adjective: the adjectives in this sentence, not an adjectives.
Patterns
- adjectives like something
- adjectives before nouns
Big, red and shiny are all adjectives.
In English, adjectives usually come before the noun they describe.
Good writers do not stuff their sentences with too many adjectives.
Common combinations
- possessive adjectives
- My, your and their are possessive adjectives.
- comparative adjectives
- Taller and happier are comparative adjectives.
- use adjectives
- Use adjectives to make your description vivid.
- list of adjectives
- She made a list of adjectives for describing weather.
- adjectives and adverbs
- The lesson covered adjectives and adverbs.
Synonyms and how they differ
- modifiers
- Modifiers is a wider grammatical term that includes adverbs and phrases, while adjectives are only words that describe nouns.
- describing words
- Describing words is a plain school-level phrase for adjectives, easy for children but less exact.
- qualifiers
- Qualifiers often means words that weaken or strengthen another word, like quite or very, so it is not a true synonym of adjectives.
Word family
- adjective noun
- singular form
- adjectival adjective
- relating to or working like an adjective
- adjectivally adverb
- in the manner of an adjective
Commonly confused: adjectives or adverbs?
adjectives vs adverbs
Adverbs describe verbs, adjectives or other adverbs, as in runs quickly or very tall, whereas adjectives describe nouns.
Practice
Which word in this sentence is an adjective? 'The tired child fell asleep quickly.'
Choose one answer.
Tired describes the noun child, so it is an adjective. Child is a noun, fell is a verb, and quickly is an adverb.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “adjectives”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.