Adjective

Adjective:-

• An adjective is a word used used to add something to the meaning of a noun or a pronoun.
• An adjective qualifies a noun or a pronoun.

       From the definition it is clear that adjective is used to specify or qualify a noun or a pronoun in the sentence. It shows qualities, properties, etc. of the noun or the pronoun.

e.g.

• It is a good pen.
• They are nice persons.
• He is brave.
• Milk is sweet.
• She is beautiful.
• Sohan is not lazy.

In the sentences above good, nice, brave, sweet, beautiful and lazy are adjectives which qualifies the respective nouns.

kINDS OF ADJECTIVES

Mainly adjectives are of 10 types. They are.....

1. Adjectives of quality
2. Adjectives of quantity
3. Adjectives of number
4. Demonstrative adjectives
5. Possessive adjectives
6. Distributive adjectives
7. Interrogative adjectives
8. Proper adjectives
9. Emphasizing adjectives
10. Exclamatory adjectives

Now we'll read about the definitions and examples of each of the kinds of adjecives.

1. Adjectives of quality:-

Adjective of quality shows the quality of a person or thing.

e.g. good, bad, weak, strong, kind, cruel, sweet, bitter, thin, fat, long, short, hot, cold, beutiful, red, brown, etc.

Use of the adjectives of qualities in sentences.

• Shyam is a good boy.
• It is a large balloon.
• The pen is blue.
• Ram was a kind man.
• It is very cold.
• The table is long.

2. Adjectives of quantity:-

Adjectives of quantity show how much of a thing is meant.

e.g. some, much, little, whole, all, no, any, enough, a lot of, etc.

Use of the adjectives of quantity in the sentences.

• She had some/ little/ no/ enough/ a lot of curd.
• The whole money was distributed.
  
• He has lost all his wealth.
• He did not eat any bread.

Adjectives of quantity shows quantity and magnitude not the number. There are some adjectives which can be used as adjectives of number also, such as, all, no, some, etc.

3. Adjectives of number:-

Adjective of number show how many persons or things are meant, or in what order a person or thing stands.

e.g. few, no, many, some, enough, several, all, one, two, first, second, etc.

Use of the adjectives of number in the sentences.

• She had few/ no/ many/ some/ several/ enough/ two horses.
• All men must die.
• The cat has one tail and two eyes.
• I was the first/ second man.

Note:- 1) One, two, three, four, etc. are called cardinal numbers.

            2) First, second, third, fourth, etc. are called ordinal numbers.

            3) There are some words which can be used as both the adjectives of number and the adjective of quantity.

4. Demonstrative adjective:-

The adjective used to point out some person or thing is called demonstrative adjective.

• This, that, these, those and such are main demonstrative adjectives.
• If after this/ that/ these/ those/ such nouns are used then they are called demonstrative pronouns.

e.g. 

• This man will serve you.
• i like that girl.
• Those pens are mine.
• These books are ours.
• I hate such things.

 5. Possessive adjective:-

The adjectives used o show possessions are called possessive adjectives.

• My, our, your, his, her, its and their are possessive adjectives.
• His can be used as pronouns also but in this case no noun is used after this.

e.g. 

• This is my book.
• It is your bag.
• Its colour is black.
• My pen is pink.

6. Distributive adjectives:-

Each, every, either and neither are called distributive adjectives when they are followed by a noun.

• When no noun is used after each/either/every/neither then they are called demonstrative pronoun and not the demonstrative adjective.

e.g. 

• Each boy had a pen.
• Every man has his own duty.
• Either pen will do.
• Neither pen was safe.

7. Interrogtive adjective:-

What, which and whose are called interrogative adjectives when they are used with nouns to ask questions.

e.g.

• What question did the teacher ask?
• Which ball should we buy?
• Which box is yours?
• Whose book is this?

8. Proper adjectives:-

Adjectives made from proper nouns are called proper adjectives.

e.g.

• He is an Indian student.
• Indian farmers are honest.
• American English is different from British English.
• Do you like the European culture.

    In these sentences Indian, American, British and European are proper adjectives. We can see here clearly that they are made from proper nouns.

9. Emphasizing adjectives:-

Own, very, same, very same, etc. are such adjectives as are used to convey emphasis on the nouns that follow them. Such adjectives are called emphasizing adjectives.

e.g.

• This is the very book I liked.
• I saw them with my own eyes.
• This is the same book I wanted.
• He lived in the very same house for ten years.
• This is the very phone you have liked.

10. Exclamatory adjectives:-

'What' is called an exclamatory adjective when it is used as adjective in an exclamatory sentence.

e.g.

• What folly!
• What an aim!
• What an idea!
• What a piece of work is man!