Definition: Adjectives describe, or modify, nouns and pronouns. An adjective gives information about the colour, size, characteristic, quality, quantity or personal traits of a noun or pronoun. Generally an adjective modifies a noun by answering one of these following questions:

Which? What kind? How many?

Example:

The one-eyed man tells him the story. (Answer the question ‘Which man?’)

Fox is a cunning animal. (Answer the question ‘What kind of animal?’)

Five or six gunmen attack the area. (Answer the question ‘How many gunmen?’)

Classification: There are five kinds of adjective as follow.

1. Adjective of Quality	quality	tall, good, beautiful honest, kind, large, bulky, thin, fat, smart, ugly etc.
2. Adjective of  Quantity	quantity	some, any, much, few, little, enough, all, many, half, no, great, etc.
3. Numeral Adjective	number of noun	first, second, one, two, three, every, each, another, many, some, any, few, all, several, neither, either
4. Demonstrative Adjective	point out the noun	this, these, that, such, and those
5. Interrogative Adjective	ask a question	where, what, which, whose
6. Possessive Adjective	belongs to someone	my, your, our, their, his, her and its

Classification of Adjectives

Adjectives can be classified into various categories based on their functions and meanings. Here are the main types of adjectives:

1. Descriptive (Qualitative) Adjectives

These adjectives describe the qualities or characteristics of a noun or pronoun. They answer questions like “What kind?” or “What is it like?”

Examples:

The beautiful garden is filled with flowers. (Beautiful describes the garden)

He wore a blue jacket. (Blue describes the color of the jacket)

Common Descriptive Adjectives:

Tall, small, bright, intelligent, strong, delicious, happy, sad.

2. Quantitative Adjectives

These adjectives indicate the quantity or amount of a noun. They answer the question “How much?” or “How many?”

Examples:

I have two pens. (Two indicates the number of pens)

She has little time to finish the task. (Little indicates the amount of time)

Common Quantitative Adjectives:

Few, many, much, several, all, some, no, one, ten.

3. Demonstrative Adjectives

Demonstrative adjectives point out specific nouns. They answer the question “Which one?”

Examples:

This book is mine. (This specifies which book)

Those apples look fresh. (Those specifies which apples)

Common Demonstrative Adjectives:

This, that, these, those.

4. Possessive Adjectives

Possessive adjectives show ownership or possession. They answer the question “Whose?”

Examples:

This is my laptop. (My shows possession of the laptop)

Their house is huge. (Their shows possession of the house)

Common Possessive Adjectives:

My, your, his, her, its, our, their.

5. Interrogative Adjectives

Interrogative adjectives are used to ask questions about a noun. They are placed before a noun in a question.

Examples:

Which movie are we watching? (Which asks about a specific movie)

What time is the meeting? (What asks about a specific time)

Common Interrogative Adjectives:

What, which, whose.

6. Indefinite Adjectives

Indefinite adjectives refer to non-specific amounts or quantities. They do not specify exact amounts.

Examples:

Several students participated in the event. (Several gives an indefinite quantity of students)

Do you have any questions? (Any refers to an indefinite quantity)

Common Indefinite Adjectives:

Some, many, few, several, all, any, each.

7. Proper Adjectives

Proper adjectives are derived from proper nouns and are always capitalized. They describe a noun by relating it to a specific person, place, or thing.

Examples:

She loves Italian food. (Italian is derived from the proper noun Italy)

I bought a Shakespearean novel. (Shakespearean is derived from Shakespeare)

Common Proper Adjectives:

American, Indian, Victorian, African, Shakespearean.

8. Numerical Adjectives

Numerical adjectives express numbers or the order of things. They are of two types: Cardinal and Ordinal adjectives.

Cardinal Adjectives indicate how many.

He has three dogs. (Three indicates the number of dogs)

Ordinal Adjectives indicate the order or position.

This is my second attempt. (Second indicates the position of the attempt)

9. Distributive Adjectives

Distributive adjectives refer to individual elements within a group, addressing each member separately.

Examples:

Each student must submit their homework. (Each refers to every individual student)

Every book on the shelf is new. (Every refers to all books individually)

Common Distributive Adjectives:

Each, every, either, neither.

10. Comparative and Superlative Adjectives

These adjectives are used to compare two or more things.

Comparative Adjectives compare two things and often end in “-er” or are used with “more.”

She is taller than her brother. (Taller compares two people)

Superlative Adjectives compare three or more things and often end in “-est” or are used with “most.”

This is the tallest building in the city. (Tallest compares more than two buildings)

Examples of Comparative and Superlative Adjectives:

Tall, taller, tallest

Good, better, best

Beautiful, more beautiful, most beautiful

Conclusion

Adjectives are essential parts of speech that enrich language by providing more detail and clarity to nouns and pronouns. Understanding the different types of adjectives and their functions allows us to use them effectively to describe and emphasize various aspects of the subjects we discuss.

Identify Adjectives

The warm days are here. The longest days come in June. Three feet make one yard. Seven days make one week. This boy will do your errand. Those books belong to Mary. That man is honest. He has eaten three apples. I don’t have much money. There is so much wine for the guests. This long, thin centipede has many legs. I spent my afternoon cleaning the toilet. This must be your cap. His arms have a few tattoos. Its skin is dry and rough. Our grandmothers were classmates. Ety is witty. They live in a beautiful house. Lisa is wearing a sleeveless shirt today. I used to buy this kind of shirts. The water was clean. The sun is high in the sky. This soup is not edible. She wore a beautiful dress. He writes meaningless letters. This shop is much nicer. She wore a beautiful dress. Ben is an adorable baby. Linda’s hair is gorgeous. This glass is breakable. I met a homeless person. She is tired. The cafeteria was attractive. Maria was tried after the long flight. Whales are larger than sharks. They are amazing. The walkway was small. Dad had a bald head. No one liked the cold pizza. The hot water boiled. Stay in the big area. Watch out, the table is heavy! It was dry in the desert. These skates are Frank’s. He had little love for work. There was much work to be done. Some people remember favors. Any man is liable to make mistakes. No word came from the steamer. Please make more haste. The less talk the more work. He opened the book at the sixth chapter, the tenth paragraph, the one hundred and eighth page. The American, French, and English ambassadors are safe. Children like sweet apples. She has an amiable disposition. It is a beauteous evening, calm and clear. He paid two hundred dollars for the horse.  Sixteen ounces make a pound. Any man here can do a little work. He occupies the fourth seat in the seventh row. Yonder elm was planted by my grandfather. This house is older than yours. What book do you prefer? Which boy came late? He knew what value to place upon promises. It was easy to see which boy led his class. She saw the door was open.

 

Some rules of interchanging degrees

By using more and most
Positive	Comparative	Superlative	Positive	Comparative	Superlative
Useful	More useful	Most useful	active	more active	most active
Intelligent	More Intelligent	Most Intelligent	attractive	more attractive	most attractive
Attentive	More attentive	Most attentive	beautiful	more beautiful	most beautiful
Difficult	More difficult	Most difficult	brilliant	more brilliant	most brilliant
courageous	more courageous	most courageous	careful	more careful	most careful
cunning	more cunning	most cunning	splendid	more splendid	most splendid
famous	more famous	most famous	proper	more proper	most proper
faithful	more faithful	most faithful	popular	more popular	most popular
caring	more/less caring	most/least caring	amazing	More amazing	most amazing
gifted	more/less gifted	most/least gifted	terrible	More terrible	most terrible

By adding ‘er’ and ‘est’
Positive	Comparative	Superlative	Positive	Comparative	Superlative
Black	Blacker	Blackest	bright	brighter	brightest
Fair	Fairer	Fairest	strong	stronger	strongest
Clever	Cleverer	Cleverest	bold	bolder	boldest
Poor	Poorer	Poorest	young	younger	youngest
great	greater	greatest	cold	colder	coldest
high	higher	highest	fast	faster	fastest
kind	kinder	kindest	sweet	sweeter	sweetest
long	longer	longest	tall	taller	tallest
small	smaller	smallest	weak	weaker	weakest
rich	richer	richest	thick	thicker	thickest

By adding ‘r’ and ‘st’
Positive	Comparative	Superlative	Positive	Comparative	Superlative
brave	braver	bravest	pale	paler	palest
fine	finer	finest	simple	simpler	simplest
large	larger	largest	wise	wiser	wisest
nice	nicer	nicest	white	whiter	whitest
noble	nobler	noblest

By doubling the final consonats
Positive	Comparative	Superlative	Positive	Comparative	Superlative
big	bigger	biggest	hot	hotter	hottest
dim	dimmer	dimmest	thin	thinner	thinnest
fat	fatter	fattest	Wet	Wetter	Wettest
sad	sadder	saddest	slim	slimmer	slimmest

By deleting the final ‘y’ and adding ‘ier’ and ‘iest’
Positive	Comparative	Superlative	Positive	Comparative	Superlative
costly	costlier	costliest	Prettier	Prettier	Prettiest
dry	drier	driest	Busy	Busier	Busiest
easy	easier	easiest	lazy	lasier	lasiest
happy	happier	happiest	mercy	mercier	merciest
heavy	heavier	heaviest	wealthy	wealthier	wealthiest
chewy	chewier	chewiest

Exceptional
Positive	Comparative	Superlative	Positive	Comparative	Superlative
Good/well	Better	Best	Out	Outer/utter	Utmost/utter most
Bad/evil/ill	Worse	Worst	Far	Farther	Farthest
Much/Many	More	Most	Fore	Former	Foremost/first
Little	Less	Least	Fore	Further	Furthest
Late	later/latter	Latest/last	In	Inner	Inmost/inner most
Old	Older/elder	Oldest/eldest	Up	Upper	Upmost/uppermost
near	nearer	nearest	fun	more/less fun	most/least fun
hind	hinder	hindermost	nigh	nigher	Nighest/ next

There are also some adjectives that can be inflected using either form we looked at above. The following are some of the most common:

Adjective (positive degree)	Comparative degree	Superlative degree
clever	cleverer or more/less clever	cleverest or most/least clever
likely	likelier or more/less likely	likeliest or most/least likely
narrow	narrower or more/less narrow	narrowest or most/least narrow
quiet	quieter or more/less quiet	quietest or most/least quiet
simple	simpler or more/less simple	simplest or most/least simple

1. Turn the following superlative into comparative and positive:

bravest, driest, thinnest, most attractive, most important, best, fastest, quickest, truest, finest, hardest, deepest, coldest, gentlest, least interesting, wisest, ugliest, worst, dullest, utmost, greatest, eldest, blackest, cheapest, fairest

2. Fill in the blank with the right form of degree in the brackets.

(a) There is no other story as — (funny/funnier/funniest) as this.

(b) Bangladesh is — (populous/more populous/most populous) than any other country.

(c) He is — (sincere/more sincere/most sincere) than his brother.

(d) This is the — (foggy/foggier/foggiest) day in the year.

(e) Jacocabath is the (warm/warmer/warmest) place in the world.

(f) Hanif is — (old/older/oldest) than any other player in the team.

(g)City life is not as — (quiet/quieter/quietest) as village life.

(h) Mahbub is the — (wise/wiser/wisest) boy in the class.

(i)No other gift is as — (fine/finer/finest) as this.

(j)Starvation is — (honourable/more honourable/most honourable) than begging.

3. Fill in the blank with the right form of degree in the brackets.

(a) Kamal does not get as — (high/higher/highest) marks as Jamal.

(b) This milk is — (fresh/fresher/freshest) than that.

(c) He is — (friendly/more friendly/most friendly) to me than to you.

(d) Iron is not as — (light/lighter/lightest) as cotton.

(e) You seem — (sleepy/sleepier/sleepiest) than he.

(f)You are the — (lazy/lazier/laziest) boy I have ever seen.

(g) I do not feel as — (free/freer/freest) as you.

(h) The old man is the — (hungry/hungrier/hungriest) of all men.

(i)His hair is — (grey/greyer/greyest) than yours.

(j)Shahin is not — (bold/bolder/boldest) than Shabuj.

4. Fill in the blank with the right form of degree in the brackets.

(a) Shoheb is — (smart/smarter/smartest) than Sakib.

(b)Travelling is pleasant/more pleasant/most pleasant) than many other things.

(c)This is the — (fancy/fancier/fanciest) dress in the shop.

(d) Trees are the — (good/better/best friend to us.

(e) Nipa is not as — (dull/duller/dullest) as Rita.

(f) He is the — (brave/braver/bravest) man.

(g)A crow is — (ugly/uglier/ugliest) than a dove.

(h)The Cuckoo sings — (sweet/sweeter/sweetest) than most other birds.

(i)I love my country — (much/more/most) than anything else.

(j)I do not know any person as — (humble/humbler/humblest) as he.

5. Fill in the blank with the right form of degree in the brackets.

(a) Very few persons are as — (sad/sadder/saddest) as he.

(b) He is — (gentle/gentler/gentlest) than any other person in the village.

(c) I did not see anything as — (black/blacker/blackest) as this.

(d) Dishonour is not as — (preferable/more preferable/most preferable) as death.

(e) The Meghna is — (deep/deeper/deepest) than any other river in Bangladesh.

(f) This pen is as — (new/newer/newest) as that.

(g)Grapes are the — (tasty/tastier/tastiest) of all fruits.

(h) Anwar is — (young/younger/youngest) than Akmal.

(i) No other person is as — (wealthy/wealthier/wealthiest) as he.

(j) There is no other person as — (healthy/healthier/healthiest) as he.

6. Fill in the blank with the right form of degree in the brackets.

(a) Liza is the — (proud/prouder/proudest) of all girls.

(b) No other road is as — (muddy/muddier/muddiest) as this.

(c) English is — (rich/richer/richest) than any other language.

(d) The cow is — (useful/more useful/most useful) than any other animal.

(e) No other person is as — (hot/hotter/hottest) as he to do this job.

(f) He is — (near/nearer/nearest) to us than anybody else.

(g) He is the — (active/more active/most active) person.

(h) Milk is — (nutritious/more nutritious/ most nutritious) than any other food.

(i) These fruits are not as — (fresh/fresher/freshest) as those.

(j) This is — (good/better/best) than all other story books.

7. Fill in the blank with the right form of degree in the brackets.

(a) No other girl is as — (pretty/prettier/prettiest) as she.

(b) Gold is the — costly/costlier/costliest) of all metals.

(e) Your handwriting is — (clumsy/clumsier/clumsiest) than hers.

(d) I have not seen any person as — (cruel/crueler/cruelest) as he.

(e)Your hands are not as big/bigger/biggest) as hers.

(f)The Ramadan is the — (holy/holier/holiest) month for the Muslims.

(g)This ghee is — (pure/purer/purest) than that.

(h) Bangladesh is (green/greener/greenest) than many other countries.

(i) Very few persons are as — (greedy/greedier/greediest) as he.

(j) You seem — (gloomy/gloomier/gloomiest) than before.

8. Fill in the blank with the right form of degree in the brackets.

(a) Liton is the — (handsome/more handsome/ most handsome) boy in the school.

(b) His room is — (tidy/tidier/tidiest) than yours.

(c) The security of the airport was tight/tighter/tightest) than before.

(d) Sumi’s hair is — (curly/curlier/curliest) than Suma’s.

(e)His manner is — (calm/calmer/calmest) than any other person.

(f)Rina’s knowledge in English is not as — (sound/sounder/soundest) as Nasrin.

(g)This is the — (interesting/more interesting/most interesting) matter.

(h) She is — (happy/happier/happiest) than he.

(i) Honesty is — (much/more/most) than anything else.

(j) He is the — (thin/thinner/thinnest) boy in class.

9. Fill in the blank with the right form of degree in the brackets.

(a) The Padma is the — (large/larger/largest) river in Bangladesh.

(b) Gold is — (precious/more precious/most precious) than iron.

(c) No other girl is as — (pretty/prettier/prettiest) as Rani.

(d) January is — (cold/colder/coldest) than December.

(e) Anis is — (happy/happier/happiest) than you.

(f)He is one of the — (good/better/best) boys in the class.

(g) English is — (rich/richer/richest) than any other language.

(h) He is — (noble/nobler/noblest) than any other person I have ever met.

(i)A bird cannot sy as — (last/faster/fastest) as a plane.

(j) Dhaka is the — (big/bigger/biggest) city in Bangladesh

10. Fill in the blank with the right form of degree in the brackets.

(a) Very few metals are as — (precious) as gold.

(b) Chattogram is the — (big) port in Bangladesh.

(c) He is — (old) than any other man in the village.

(d) Tomatoes are — (cheap) than oranges.

(e) A bird does not run as — (fast) as a train.

(f) Jamil is the — (wise) man in the village.

(g) Mr. Jabbar is the popular) teacher in our school.

(h) She is — (beautiful) than her sister.

(i) Very few boys are as — (brave) as he.

(j) Bhutan is one of the — (small) countries in the world.

11. Fill in the blank with the right form of degree in the brackets.

(a) There is no other fruit as — (cheapest) as pine apple.

(b) It runs the — (fast) of all horses.

(c) Ibrahim is — (wise) than Raju.

(d) There is no other place as — (loneliest) as this.

(e) It is the — (famous) school in the town.

(f) He is — (wealthiest) than his brother.

(g)Very few persons are as — (politest) as his brother.

(h) Our English teacher is — (humble) than any other teacher in the school.

(i) This is the — (safe) place.

(j) I arrived — (early) than you.

12. Fill in the blank with the right form of degree in the brackets.

(a) Omar is the — (elder) son in the family.

(b) No other person is as — (braver) as he.

(c) She is — (proud) than her sister.

(d) His way of life is — (simple) than all other persons in the village.

(e) Imran is the — (talented) of all students.

(f) 21st February is — (memorable) than any other day.

(g) This is the — (happy) day in my life.

(h) No other day is as — (mistier) as today.

(i) This is the — (easy) way.

(j) Very few days are as — (colder) as today.

13. Fill in the blank with the right form of degree in the brackets.

(a) This is the — (wide) road in the city.

(b) Very few roads are as — (narrowest) as this road.

(c) You are the — (weak) student in the school.

(d) This tree is — (tall) than that.

(e) You are not as — (slower) as he.

(f) This knife is — (sharp) than that one.

(g) Bangladesh is one of the — (fertile) lands in the world.

(h) Nothing passes as — (quickliest) as time.

(i) The climate of Rajshahi is not — (healthful) than that of Cox’s Bazar.

(j) Your horse is not — (well) trained than this.

14. Fill in the blank with the right form of degree in the brackets.

(a) This is the — (large) mosque.

(b) The pen is — (might) than the sword.

(c) Akbar was — (powerful) than any other kings in India.

(d) This place is — (clean) than that one.

(e) This is the — (dirty) place in the city.

(f) Very few places are as — (noisiest) as this place.

(g) He draws the — (low) salary in the office.

(h) They live in the — (remote) corner of the country.

(i) He is one of my — (close) friends.

(j) Cotton is — (soft) than many other fibres.

15. Fill in the blank with the right form of degree in the brackets.

(a) Aziz is the — (sincere) student in our school.

(b) Very few scenes are as — (loveliest) as this.

(c) Autumn in Bangladesh is not — (warm) than summer.

(d) A journey by boat gives me the — (great) pleasure.

(e) Swimming is — (good) than any other exercise.

(f) This story is — (funny) than any other story.

(g)The days in the winter are — (foggy) than those of other seasons.

(h) This road is — (muddy) than that.

(i) Bangladesh is the — (populous) country in the world.

(j) Very few persons in the village are as — (poorest) as he.