Daily Grammar Lesson – Adjectives Lesson 7

Adjectives, another part of speech, give us a great deal of terminology. I will share it with you, but all that is really important is that adjectives modify or affect the meaning of nouns and pronouns and tell us which, whose, what kind, and how many about the nouns or pronouns they modify. They generally come before the noun or pronoun they modify, but there are exceptions to that rule. How and why they are different will be explained in later lessons. They still tell us which, whose, what kind, and how many.

There are seven (7) words in the English language that are always adjectives. They are the articles: a, an, and the and the possessives my, our, your, and their. (The possessives are from the possessive pronoun list but are always used with nouns as adjectives.) Being only seven in number, one should memorize them so they are immediately recognized as adjectives.

Example: The neighbor girl likes chocolate ice cream. Mr. Johanson is tall, dark and handsome.

Some authorities like to distinguish between what they call true adjectives and determiners, but both still just tell which, whose, what kind, and how many. Those words are the key to adjectives and should be memorized to make adjectives easy.

Instructions: Pick out the adjectives in the following sentences.

1. The heavy red dress of Queen Elizabeth weighed over fifty pounds.

2. My sister chose two shirts for my graduation present.

3. That small Mexican restaurant in the next block serves fresh meals.

4. The little black dog barked at the well-dressed stranger.

5. An old wood fence had caught several discarded candy wrappers.

Other pronouns can also be used as adjectives, but they are not always adjectives as the seven mentioned in the beginning of the lesson. Demonstrative pronouns: this, that, these, those; interrogative pronouns: whose, which, what; and indefinite pronouns: another, any, both, each, either, many, neither, one, other, some; when used with a noun become adjectives. Cardinal and ordinal numbers can be adjectives.

Examples: ten students (cardinal), the tenth student (ordinal). Pronouns used as adjectives are called pronominal adjectives.

Instructions: List the adjectives in these sentences.

6. Whose car is that red one in the driveway?

7. Those drapes go well with this brown carpet.

8. The two men were wondering what signal had brought many people to their rescue.

9. The third person entering the city park won another prize.

10. That tie is a good one for this suit.

Proper nouns, possessives and modifiers made from them, and common nouns can be adjectives.

Examples: July storms, winter weather, Jim's boat, boy's bed.

Some authorities call nouns used to described another noun noun adjuncts. They tell us whose or what kind.

Instructions: Find the adjectives in these sentences..

11. Dan's new hat blew down the man's stairway.

12. Stormy spring weather can cause many flash floods.

13. Pam's new suitcase was ready for the Canadian trip.

14. December winds can make a dangerous Christmas trip.

15. The student's hope was the teacher's happiness

Verb forms can also be used as adjectives. They are called participial adjectives.

Examples: the lost mine, the howling wolf.

Instructions: Pick out the adjectives in these sentences.

16. The soaking rain caused much damage.

17. The broken dish cut the crying girl.

18. A great work was done by the person with a giving spirit.

19. The laughing hyena was sleeping in its cage.

20. The eager student found the torn book

Adjectives are not limited in how many can be used with a noun to modify it as in the big black frightening curly bear. These adjectives follow an order pattern when two or more are used together. There is no written rule but just common usage.

Examples: the second three days, both his friends. You would not say three second the days or his both friends.

Instructions: Because many words can be both pronouns and adjectives depending on how they are used in a sentence, decide if the italicized words are pronouns or adjectives in the following sentences. Remember that pronouns stand alone, but adjectives are used to modify nouns.

21. Do either of you have any of this material. Any amount would help.

22. Each girl did her chores, and their mother gave each a hug.

23. This is our answer, and no one disagrees.

24. Both have many chances to play, but neither one is better.

25. What is your name because neither of us knows it?