What is an Adjective ?

An adjective is a word that describes or modifies a noun or pronoun. It tells us about quality, quantity, number, size, colour, age, shape, etc.

Example: A smart boy in a red shirt.
smart → describes the boy | red → describes the shirt

Three Degrees of Adjectives

Positive → One person/thing → Tall → Ram is tall. Ex: She is beautiful.

Comparative → Two people/things → Taller → Ram is taller than Sam. Ex: Rina is taller than Mina.

Superlative → Three or more → Tallest → Ram is the tallest boy in the class. Ex: Rina is the tallest girl in the class.

Six Key Types of Adjectives

1. Adjective of Quality

What kind ? → brave, good, beautiful, honest, clever

Examples: He is a brave soldier. | She is a clever girl. | It is a beautiful flower.

2. Adjective of Quantity

How much ? → some, much, little, enough, sufficient

Ex: There is some water. | I have little money. | We have enough food.

3. Adjective of Number

How many? → one, two, three, many, several

Ex: I have three books. | Many students were present. | She bought two pens.

4. Demonstrative Adjective

Which one? → this, that, these, those

Ex: This book is mine. | That house is beautiful. | These flowers are fresh. | Those boys are playing.

5. Possessive Adjective

Whose ? → my, your, his, her, our, their

Ex: This is my book. | Where is your pen? | Her dress is beautiful. | Their house is big.

6. Distributive Adjective

One by one / Which members? → each, every, either, neither

Ex: Each student got a prize. | Every child needs care. | Either road will take you there. | Neither answer is correct.

Adjective Order — DOSASCOMP

D → Determiner | O → Opinion | S → Size | A → Age | S → Shape | C → Colour | O → Origin | M → Material | P → Purpose

Example 1:

A beautiful small old round black Indian leather travel bag.

beautiful → Opinion | small → Size | old → Age | round → Shape | black → Colour | Indian → Origin | leather → Material | travel → Purpose | bag → Noun

Example 2:

A beautiful large red Indian silk wedding dress.

beautiful → Opinion | large → Size | red → Colour | Indian → Origin | silk → Material | wedding → Purpose | dress → Noun

Example 3:

A lovely little old brown wooden box.

lovely → Opinion | little → Size | old → Age | brown → Colour | wooden → Material | box → Noun

Easy Trick

DOSASCOMP = Determiner → Opinion → Size → Age → Shape → Colour → Origin → Material → Purpose