- \r\n \t
- The schoolhouse\u00a0was<\/em> red<\/strong>.<\/li>\r\n \t
- I looked<\/em> good<\/strong> today.<\/li>\r\n \t
- She was<\/em> funny<\/strong>.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\nNumbers can also be adjectives in some\u00a0cases. When you say \"Seven is my lucky\u00a0number,\"\u00a0seven\u00a0<\/em>is a noun, but when you say \"There are seven cats in this painting,\"\u00a0seven<\/em> is an adjective because it is modifying the noun\u00a0cats<\/em>.\r\n
\r\nPractice<\/h3>\r\nIdentify the adjectives in the following sentences:\r\n
- \r\n \t
- Of the four\u00a0seasons, fall is my favorite; I love the\u00a0red leaves, the\u00a0cool weather, and the\u00a0brisk wind.<\/li>\r\n \t
- My roommate, on the other hand, thinks that summer is the best season.<\/li>\r\n \t
- I think she is crazy.<\/li>\r\n \t
- Fall is\u00a0better than summer. Summer is too hot and muggy to be enjoyable.<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n[reveal-answer q=\"383934\"]Show Answer[\/reveal-answer]\r\n[hidden-answer a=\"383934\"]\r\n\r\nThe adjectives have been bolded in the sentences below:\r\n
- \r\n \t
- Of the four<\/strong> seasons, fall is my favorite<\/strong>; I love the\u00a0red<\/strong> leaves, the\u00a0cool<\/strong> weather, and the\u00a0brisk<\/strong> wind.<\/li>\r\n \t
- My roommate, on the other hand, thinks that summer is the best<\/strong> season.<\/li>\r\n \t
- I think she is crazy<\/strong>.<\/li>\r\n \t
- Fall is better<\/strong> than summer. Summer is too hot<\/strong> and muggy<\/strong> to be enjoyable<\/strong>. (All of these adjectives follow linking verbs.)<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n[\/hidden-answer]\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n
Comparable Adjectives<\/h2>\r\n
![\"Icon](\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/85\/2016\/06\/21201038\/Screen-Shot-2016-06-21-at-3.44.43-PM-300x230.png\")
Some adjectives are comparable<\/strong>. For example, a person may be polite, but another person may be more polite, and a third person may be the most polite of the three. The word more<\/em>\u00a0here modifies the adjective polite<\/em>\u00a0to indicate a comparison is being made (a comparative<\/strong>), and most<\/em>\u00a0modifies the adjective to indicate an absolute comparison (a superlative<\/strong>).\r\n\r\nThere is another way to compare adjectives in English.\u00a0Many adjectives can take the suffixes -er<\/em>\u00a0and -est<\/em>\u00a0(sometimes requiring additional letters before the suffix; see forms for far<\/i> below) to indicate the comparative and\u00a0superlative forms, respectively:\r\n- \r\n \t
- great<\/em>, greater<\/em>, greatest<\/em><\/dd>\r\n \t
- deep<\/em>, deeper<\/em>, deepest<\/em><\/dd>\r\n \t
- far<\/em>, farther<\/em>, farthest<\/em><\/dd>\r\n<\/dl>\r\nSome adjectives are irregular<\/i> in this sense:\r\n
- \r\n \t
- good<\/em>, better<\/em>, best<\/em><\/dd>\r\n \t
- bad<\/em>, worse<\/em>, worst<\/em><\/dd>\r\n \t
- little<\/em>, less<\/em>, least<\/em><\/dd>\r\n<\/dl>\r\nAnother way to convey comparison is by incorporating the words more<\/em>\u00a0and most<\/em>. There is no simple rule to decide which means is correct for any given adjective, however. The general tendency is for shorter\u00a0adjectives to take the suffixes, while longer adjectives do not\u2014but sometimes sound<\/i> of the word is the deciding factor.\r\n
more beautiful\u00a0<\/em>not\u00a0beautifuller\r\nmore pretentious <\/em>not\u00a0pretentiouser<\/em>\r\n<\/em><\/p>\r\nWhile there is no perfect rule to determine which adjectives will or won't take -er<\/em> and -est<\/em> suffixes, this video lays out some \"sound rules\" that can serve as helpful guidelines:\r\n<\/span>\r\n\r\nhttps:\/\/youtu.be\/Mxblg8xKBoc\r\n
\r\nA Note about\u00a0Fun<\/em><\/h3>\r\n
![\"Yellow](\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/106\/2016\/07\/20184630\/450003437_e7efa022c7_z-300x300.jpg\")
The adjective\u00a0fun<\/em> is one of the most notable\u00a0exceptions to the rules. If you follow the sound rules we just learned about, the comparative should be\u00a0funner<\/em> and the superlative\u00a0funnest<\/em>. However, for a long time, these words were considered\u00a0non-standard, with\u00a0more fun<\/em> and\u00a0most fun<\/em> acting as the correct forms.\r\n\r\nThe reasoning behind this rule is now obsolete (it has a lot to do with the way\u00a0fun<\/em> became an adjective), but the stigma against\u00a0funner<\/em> and\u00a0funnest<\/em> remains. While the tides are beginning to change, it's safest to stick to\u00a0more fun<\/em> and\u00a0most fun<\/em> in formal situations (such as in academic writing or in professional correspondence).\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\nNon-Comparable Adjectives<\/h2>\r\nMany adjectives do not naturally lend themselves to comparison. For example, some English speakers would argue that it does not make sense to say that one thing is \"more ultimate\" than another, or that something is \"most ultimate,\" since the word ultimate<\/em> is already an absolute. Such adjectives are called non-comparable adjectives<\/strong>. Other examples include\u00a0dead<\/em>,\u00a0true<\/em>, and unique<\/em>.\r\n\r\nNative speakers will frequently play with non-comparable\u00a0adjectives. Although pregnant<\/em> is logically non-comparable (someone is pregnant or she\u00a0is\u00a0not), you\u00a0may hear a sentence like \"She looks more and more pregnant each day.\" Likewise extinct<\/em>\u00a0and equal<\/em>\u00a0appear to be non-comparable, but one might say that a language about which nothing is known is \"more extinct\" than a well-documented language with surviving literature but no speakers, and George Orwell\u00a0once wrote \"All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others.\"\r\n
\r\nPractice<\/h3>\r\nRead the following passage. Identify the\u00a0adjectives, and categorize them by comparable and non-comparable.\r\n
The Principality of Sealand has been described as the world's smallest\u00a0nation. However, it is more accurate to describe it as an unrecognized micronation. It\u00a0claims Roughs Tower, an offshore platform located approximately 7.5 miles off the coast of Suffolk, England, as its territory. Roughs Tower is a disused Maunsell Sea Fort, originally called HM Fort Roughs, built as an anti-aircraft defensive gun platform by the British during World War II.<\/p>\r\n
Since 1967, the decommissioned HM Fort Roughs has been occupied by family and associates of Paddy Roy Bates, who claim that it is an independent sovereign state. However, Sealand is not officially recognized by any established sovereign state.\u00a0Bates moved to the mainland when he became elderly, naming his son Michael regent.<\/p>\r\n[practice-area rows=\"4\"][\/practice-area]\r\n[reveal-answer q=\"814015\"]Show Answer[\/reveal-answer]\r\n[hidden-answer a=\"814015\"]\r\n\r\nThe adjectives are\u00a0smallest<\/em>,\u00a0accurate<\/em>,\u00a0unrecognized<\/em>,\u00a0Roughs<\/em>,\u00a0offshore<\/em>,\u00a0Roughs<\/em>,\u00a0disused<\/em>, Maunsell Sea<\/em>,\u00a0anti-aircraft<\/em>, defensive<\/em>, gun<\/em>, decommissioned<\/em>,\u00a0independent<\/em>, sovereign<\/em>, recognized<\/em>,\u00a0established<\/em>, sovereign<\/em>, elderly<\/em>\r\n\r\nHere's the passage again with all the adjectives bolded:\r\n
The Principality of Sealand has been described as the world's smallest<\/strong>\u00a0nation. However, it is more accurate<\/strong> to describe it as an unrecognized<\/strong> micronation. It\u00a0claims Roughs<\/strong> Tower, an offshore<\/strong> platform located approximately 7.5 miles off the coast of Suffolk, England, as its territory. Roughs<\/strong> Tower is a disused Maunsell Sea<\/strong> Fort, originally called HM Fort Roughs, built as an anti-aircraft defensive gun<\/strong> platform by the British during World War II.<\/p>\r\n
Since 1967, the decommissioned<\/strong> HM Fort Roughs has been occupied by family and associates of Paddy Roy Bates, who claim that it is an independent sovereign<\/strong> state. However, Sealand is not officially recognized<\/strong> by any established sovereign<\/strong> state.\u00a0Bates moved to the mainland when he became elderly,<\/strong> naming his son Michael regent.<\/p>\r\nThe comparable adjectives are smallest, <\/em>accurate<\/em>, unrecognized<\/em>, offshore<\/em>, disused<\/em>, defensive<\/em>, independent<\/em>, recognized<\/em>, established<\/em>,\u00a0and\u00a0elderly<\/em>.\r\n\r\nThe non-comparable adjectives are Roughs<\/em>, Maunsell Sea<\/em>,\u00a0anti-aircraft<\/em>, gun<\/em>, decommissioned<\/em>, and\u00a0sovereign<\/em>. As you can see, several of these non-comparable adjectives are\u00a0places or things that have acted as adjectives in this passage (like\u00a0Maunsell Sea<\/em> and\u00a0gun<\/em>).\r\n\r\n[\/hidden-answer]\r\n\r\nNow that you've identified the comparable adjectives, write\u00a0their comparative and superlative forms in the text frame below:\r\n\r\n[practice-area rows=\"4\"][\/practice-area]\r\n[reveal-answer q=\"814016\"]Show Answer[\/reveal-answer]\r\n[hidden-answer a=\"814016\"]\r\n
\r\n\r\n
\r\n \r\nAdjective<\/th>\r\n Comparative<\/th>\r\n Superlative<\/th>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<\/thead>\r\n \r\n small<\/td>\r\n smaller<\/td>\r\n smallest<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n \r\n accurate<\/td>\r\n more accurate<\/td>\r\n most accurate<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n \r\n unrecognized<\/td>\r\n more unrecognized<\/td>\r\n most unrecognized<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n \r\n offshore<\/td>\r\n more\u00a0offshore<\/td>\r\n most\u00a0offshore<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n \r\n disused<\/td>\r\n more disused<\/td>\r\n most disused<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n \r\n defensive<\/td>\r\n more\u00a0defensive<\/td>\r\n most\u00a0defensive<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n \r\n independent<\/td>\r\n more\u00a0independent<\/td>\r\n most\u00a0independent<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n \r\n recognized<\/td>\r\n more\u00a0recognized<\/td>\r\n most\u00a0recognized<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n \r\n established<\/td>\r\n more\u00a0established<\/td>\r\n most\u00a0established<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n \r\n elderly<\/td>\r\n more\u00a0elderly<\/td>\r\n most\u00a0elderly<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<\/tbody>\r\n<\/table>\r\n[\/hidden-answer]\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n Adjective Order<\/h2>\r\nIf you're a native English speaker, you may have noticed that \"the big red house\" sounds more natural than \"the red big house.\" The video below explains the order in which\u00a0adjectives occur in English:\r\n\r\nhttps:\/\/youtu.be\/7sHbB9VQBgo\r\n
\r\nPractice<\/h3>\r\nRead the following sentences. Are the adjectives in the correct order?\u00a0Type any corrections in the text frame below:\r\n
- \r\n \t
- Ramin\u00a0was throwing a party out at his\u00a0ancient\u00a0stone big house.<\/li>\r\n \t
- Can you believe James lost his leather\u00a0dumb Italian wallet?<\/li>\r\n \t
- Sof\u00eda was transfixed by that\u00a0green big singing fish.<\/li>\r\n \t
- He bought a pink new nice bouquet of flowers.<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n[practice-area rows=\"4\"][\/practice-area]\r\n[reveal-answer q=\"415266\"]Show Answer[\/reveal-answer]\r\n[hidden-answer a=\"415266\"]\r\n
- \r\n \t
- Ancient<\/em> describes age,\u00a0stone<\/em> describes material,\u00a0and\u00a0big<\/em> describes size. The correct order would be size, age, material:\r\n
- \r\n \t
- Ramin\u00a0was throwing a party out at his\u00a0big ancient\u00a0stone house.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/li>\r\n \t
- Leather <\/em>describes material, dumb<\/em> describes opinion, and\u00a0Italian<\/em> describes origin.\u00a0<\/i>The correct order would be opinion, origin, material:\r\n
- \r\n \t
- Can you believe James lost his dumb Italian leather wallet?<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/li>\r\n \t
- Green<\/em> describes color,\u00a0big<\/em> describes size, and\u00a0singing<\/em> describes purpose. The correct order would be size, color, purpose:\r\n
- \r\n \t
- Sof\u00eda was transfixed by that\u00a0big\u00a0green\u00a0singing fish.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/li>\r\n \t
- Pink<\/em> describes color, new<\/em> describes age, nice<\/em> describes opinion. The correct order would be opinion, age, color:\r\n
- \r\n \t
- He bought a nice new pink bouquet of flowers.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n[\/hidden-answer]\r\n\r\n<\/div>","rendered":"
![\"Figure](\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/85\/2016\/06\/21204623\/Screen-Shot-2016-06-21-at-4.45.37-PM-264x300.png\")
An adjective modifies a noun; that is, it provides more detail about a noun. This can be anything from color to size to temperature to personality.\u00a0Adjectives usually\u00a0occur just before the nouns they modify. In the following examples, adjectives are in bold, while the nouns they modify are in italics (the big<\/strong>\u00a0bear<\/em>):<\/p>\n- \n
- The generator is used to convert mechanical<\/strong> energy<\/em> into electrical<\/strong> energy<\/em>.<\/li>\n
- The steel<\/strong> pipes<\/em> contain a protective sacrificial<\/strong> anode<\/em> and are surrounded by packing<\/strong> material<\/em>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Adjectives can also follow a linking verb. In these instances, adjectives can modify pronouns as well. In the following examples, adjectives are still bold, while the linking verb is in italics this time (the sun is<\/em> yellow<\/strong>):<\/p>\n
- \n
- The schoolhouse\u00a0was<\/em> red<\/strong>.<\/li>\n
- I looked<\/em> good<\/strong> today.<\/li>\n
- She was<\/em> funny<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Numbers can also be adjectives in some\u00a0cases. When you say “Seven is my lucky\u00a0number,”\u00a0seven\u00a0<\/em>is a noun, but when you say “There are seven cats in this painting,”\u00a0seven<\/em> is an adjective because it is modifying the noun\u00a0cats<\/em>.<\/p>\n
\nPractice<\/h3>\n
Identify the adjectives in the following sentences:<\/p>\n
- \n
- Of the four\u00a0seasons, fall is my favorite; I love the\u00a0red leaves, the\u00a0cool weather, and the\u00a0brisk wind.<\/li>\n
- My roommate, on the other hand, thinks that summer is the best season.<\/li>\n
- I think she is crazy.<\/li>\n
- Fall is\u00a0better than summer. Summer is too hot and muggy to be enjoyable.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\nShow Answer<\/span><\/p>\n\n
The adjectives have been bolded in the sentences below:<\/p>\n
- \n
- Of the four<\/strong> seasons, fall is my favorite<\/strong>; I love the\u00a0red<\/strong> leaves, the\u00a0cool<\/strong> weather, and the\u00a0brisk<\/strong> wind.<\/li>\n
- My roommate, on the other hand, thinks that summer is the best<\/strong> season.<\/li>\n
- I think she is crazy<\/strong>.<\/li>\n
- My roommate, on the other hand, thinks that summer is the best<\/strong> season.<\/li>\n
- Of the four<\/strong> seasons, fall is my favorite<\/strong>; I love the\u00a0red<\/strong> leaves, the\u00a0cool<\/strong> weather, and the\u00a0brisk<\/strong> wind.<\/li>\n
- I looked<\/em> good<\/strong> today.<\/li>\n
- The steel<\/strong> pipes<\/em> contain a protective sacrificial<\/strong> anode<\/em> and are surrounded by packing<\/strong> material<\/em>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
- The generator is used to convert mechanical<\/strong> energy<\/em> into electrical<\/strong> energy<\/em>.<\/li>\n
- He bought a nice new pink bouquet of flowers.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n[\/hidden-answer]\r\n\r\n<\/div>","rendered":"
- Ancient<\/em> describes age,\u00a0stone<\/em> describes material,\u00a0and\u00a0big<\/em> describes size. The correct order would be size, age, material:\r\n
- bad<\/em>, worse<\/em>, worst<\/em><\/dd>\r\n \t
- deep<\/em>, deeper<\/em>, deepest<\/em><\/dd>\r\n \t
- My roommate, on the other hand, thinks that summer is the best<\/strong> season.<\/li>\r\n \t
- Of the four<\/strong> seasons, fall is my favorite<\/strong>; I love the\u00a0red<\/strong> leaves, the\u00a0cool<\/strong> weather, and the\u00a0brisk<\/strong> wind.<\/li>\r\n \t
- I looked<\/em> good<\/strong> today.<\/li>\r\n \t