Adjectives – Details That Make English More Interesting

The basic definition of adjectives is “words that modify or describe nouns or prepositions.” Although this definition is concise, it only says there is, in fact, a relationship between adjectives and nouns or pronouns. However, there is so much more we need to know that is not included in this humble definition. For example, how many adjectives have I used before this sentence, and what are they? The first and most important thing about adjectives is to be able to identify them readily. Let’s look at the easy and the not-so-easy rules regarding English adjectives.

Placement of Adjectives in English

While in some languages, adjectives come after the nouns they refer to, in English, they generally come before the nouns.

Examples:

a dog black
a black dog
a baby cute
a cute baby

That was easy. However, there are times when adjectives come after the noun or pronoun they refer to but never directly after. That is the key, “never directly after”. We must connect them with a linking verb, and they then become a complement to the subject noun or pronoun. The most common linking verb is “be” in its various forms. Other common linking verbs include become, seem, feel, look, smell, taste, etc.

Examples:

She is beautiful.
It seems afraid. (referring to a cat)
You look tired.

Comparative and Superlative

Comparative adjectives compare two things only. They are generally formed in one of the following two different ways:

1. For one-syllable or shorter adjectives, add the suffix -er to the end of the simple form of the adjective.
2. For longer adjectives, add the adverb more directly in front of the simple form of the adjective.

Note: Either method above may correctly form the comparative form of some shorter adjectives. However, using both methods at the same time is incorrect. It must be one or the other.

Superlative adjectives compare more than two things. They are generally formed in one of the following two different ways:

1. For one-syllable or shorter adjectives, add the suffix -est to the end of the simple form of the adjective.
2. For longer adjectives, add the adverb most directly in front of the simple form of the adjective.

Note: Either method above may correctly form the superlative form of some shorter adjectives. However, using both methods at the same time is incorrect. It must be one or the other.

Examples of Adjectives Using the Suffixes -er and -est

Simple Form	Comparative	Superlative
big	bigger	biggest
fast	faster	fastest
young	younger	youngest
cold	colder	coldest
dark	darker	darkest
high	higher	highest
sweet	sweeter	sweetest
happy	happier	happiest
easy	easier	easiest
dirty	dirtier	dirtiest

Note: The last three in the table are different from the rest in two ways: 1. They are each two syllables but still short, and 2. The “y” changes to an “i” before adding the suffixes to meet English spelling rules.

Examples of Adjectives Using the Adverbs more and most

Simple Form	Comparative	Superlative
beautiful	more beautiful	most beautiful
intelligent	more intelligent	most intelligent
expensive	more expensive	most expensive
difficult	more difficult	most difficult
dangerous	more dangerous	most dangerous
delicious	more delicious	most delicious
exciting	more exciting	most exciting
generous	more generous	most generous
honest	more honest	most honest
respectful	more respectful	most respectful

Examples of Adjectives Using Either -er or more and -est or most

Simple Form	Comparative	Superlative
clever	cleverer/more clever	cleverest/most clever
polite	politer/more polite	politest/most polite
common	commoner/more common	commonest/most common
cruel	crueler/more cruel	cruelest/most cruel
subtle	subtler/more subtle	subtlest/most subtle

Although either -er/-est or more/most is considered grammatically correct in the above five examples, I find the comparative -er incredibly awkward to say and hear. So, I would choose the most/most versions for all of these.

Absolute Adjectives

Absolute adjectives can’t be made comparative or superlative. They can’t be put on a continuum line because they would already be at the extreme end of the line, either positive or negative. Either it has this quality, or it doesn’t. In other words, they are absolute, and nothing is more or greater. The most obvious absolute adjective is “dead”. It is impossible to be deader/more dead or deadest/most dead unless you’re referring to zombies, and even they are called the undead.

Absolute adjectives, for the most part, should be obvious, even to intermediate learners of English. They are words that can’t possibly be better or worse than what they are. Some examples are impossible, complete, final, unique, perfect, and maximum.

They also cannot be preceded by intensifiers.

Intensifiers

An intensifier, as it relates to adjectives, is generally an adverb that aims to strengthen the adjective. Perhaps the most common intensifier for adjectives is the word very. It’s a good word when used sparingly. However, if everything is very _________, then nothing is very _________. It has lost its meaning. Other common intensifiers are really, so, and too. You can look up many more, but those seem to be the most common.

If you feel it’s necessary to use an intensifier for your chosen adjective, you may need a more expressive adjective. This is where synonyms come in. Synonyms for adjectives are very important. A synonym is a word that means the same or almost the same as another word. However, choosing a synonym may depend on what the synonym means to you compare.

Let’s look at the word big. Can you think of words that mean bigger than big or very big? For me, the sequence for size would be big, large, huge, enormous, gigantic, monstrous, massive, etc. Any of these words would be better than very big, depending on what you are trying to say.

Now, let’s look at the word little from the same point of view. Very little is boring when there are so many more expressive synonyms. It depends on how little you want to go. Little, small, mini, tiny, teeny, teeny-weeny, minute, etc., are all better choices than very little.

Compound Adjectives

Compound adjectives are two or more words that work as one to describe a noun. The words are usually joined by hyphens, but not always.

Two main ways to determine if a compound adjective requires hyphens:

1. Clarity and readability: Hyphens are used to ensure that the reader understands that the hyphenated words form a compound adjective and are to be read as one unit.
   E.g., “A little-known actor” means he is not very famous. / “A little known actor” would mean he is famous but small in stature.
2. Notice that in each of the examples without hyphens, the first two words form a compound noun that acts as a compound adjective.

If you are ever in doubt, consult a dictionary or a style guide.

Useless Adjectives

Some adjectives have been so overused that they no longer have any real meaning. The most obvious of these is nice. What does nice even mean? I guess we can all agree that it has a good, or at least not a bad, meaning.

Let’s look at three sentences with the word nice.

• He is a nice guy.
• It’s a nice day.
• We had a nice time.

The only thing these three sentences have in common is the word nice. In each sentence, we recognize that nice means something vaguely good. Still, it certainly can’t have the same meaning in each sentence. Let’s look at the same three sentences using a more appropriate and descriptive adjective in each one.

• He is a generous guy.
• It’s a sunny day.
• We had a great time.

The adjectives generous, sunny, and great do not have the same meaning. So why do we summarize them all with the word nice?

Nice isn’t the only useless adjective. Good and bad aren’t far behind in uselessness.

Royal Order of Adjectives

Suppose you use more than one adjective to describe a specific noun or pronoun. In that case, there is a particular order in which the adjectives must appear. This order is complicated but not necessarily anything to worry about.

If you are a native English speaker, this concept is a part of native language acquisition, just as any other part of the language. I have read that this is taught in school. However, I don’t remember learning it in school unless it was just in passing.

If you are learning English as a second or foreign language, you don’t need to worry about it either. You would rarely use more than two adjectives at a time anyway, which is also true for native speakers. Just use the following chart for reference or even as a source of amusement at how seemingly unnecessarily complicated a language can be.

Royal Order of Adjectives

	Classification	Examples
1	Determiner Articles Possessives Demonstratives	a, an, the my, your, his, her, our, their this, these, that, those
2	Quantity	one, five, eight, (any number), many, few
3	Opinion General Personal	popular, famous, important, common, expensive beautiful, delicious, interesting, boring, ugly
4	Size	small, medium-sized, large
5	Age	new, brand new, old, ancient
6	Shape	round, triangular-shaped, rectangular, spherical
7	Colour	red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple
8	Origin	Canadian-made, British, African, American
9	Material	wooden, silk, metal, cardboard, plastic
10	Qualifier or Purpose	vacation resort, wedding dress, race car, swimming pool,

If you use a list of adjectives before a noun, you must use a comma between only if two of the adjectives are of the same degree, meaning from the same classification in the above chart.

Summary

1. English, adjectives come before the nouns they refer to, except when they act as a complement following a linking verb.
2. Comparative adjectives compare two things only.
   – formed by adding the suffix -er to the simple adjective form for one syllable or short adjectives
   – formed by adding the adverb more directly in front of the simple adjective for longer adjectives
3. Superlative adjectives compare more than two things.
   – formed by adding the suffix -est to the simple adjective form for one syllable or short adjectives
   – formed by adding the adverb most directly in front of the simple adjective for longer adjectives
4. Absolute adjectives cannot be made comparative or superlative or preceded by intensifiers.
5. Intensifiers are used to strengthen adjectives.
   – are overused
   – look for a more expressive adjective rather than using an intensifier
   – use this as a reason to build your vocabulary
6. Compound adjectives are two or more words that work as one unit to describe a noun.
   – usually joined by hyphens but not always
7. Useless adjectives have become such through overuse to the extent that they have lost all meaning
   – use the useless adjective nice at your own risk and under penalty of linguistic ridicule
8. The Royal Order of Adjectives is complicated.
   – important but overkill because more than two adjectives together are rare
   – use it for reference only
   

The above essay is for entertainment and English language study only. For suggestions on how to use this post to improve your English reading and listening comprehension, click here.

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