This chapter is dedicated to dealing with adjectives in detail. Here, you are going to know the conception of adjective and the way adjective has been classified into many categories
An adjective qualifies or modifies a noun or
pronoun. While qualifying or modifying a noun or a pronoun, an adjective gives
extra information about that noun or pronoun. So, if you want to add extra
information about a noun or a pronoun, you can insert an adjective.
For example:
- Karim is a good boy.
- Nasima is a beautiful girl.
- He is handsome.
- She looks pretty.
Now we know something about the boy. How is the
boy? He is a good boy. The adjective “good” has specified the noun boy.
Similarly, the adjectives “beautiful”, “handsome” and “pretty” have specified
“girl”, “he”, and “she” respectively. So, an adjective can specify a noun or
pronoun by giving extra information about the noun or the pronoun. Therefore,
we use adjectives if we want to insert any information.
An adjective can sit before and after a noun.
However, an adjective cannot sit before a pronoun. So, an adjective can
pre-modify and post-modify a noun, but an adjective cannot pre-modify a pronoun.
For example, Karim is a boy. Here, “boy” is a common noun. In the
sentence--Karim is a good boy—the noun “boy” has been preceded by an adjective.
So, we can see how an adjective can be used before a noun. An adjective can
also be used after a noun. For example, Karim is happy. Here, “happy” has been
preceded by the noun “Karim”. So, we can understand that adjectives can be used
before and after a noun. But an adjective cannot be used before a pronoun. For
example, we can say he is sad. But there is no way we can use any adjective
before “he”, “she”, “they”, “we”, “I”, or “you”. So, as far as placement is
concerned, we can say an adjective can modify a noun sitting before or after
that noun. But an adjective modifies a pronoun sitting only after that pronoun.
When we are done with the definition and placement of adjectives, we can talk about various types of adjectives. Here, we have proper adjectives, pronominal adjectives qualitative adjectives, quantitative adjectives, and numerical adjectives. Look at the diagram below and see how adjective has been divided and sub-divided into many categories:
Proper adjective
The proper adjective refers to those adjectives
which have come from a proper noun. Can you remember what a proper noun is? I
talked about it in the noun section. Proper noun indicates any definite name:
Bangladesh, India, America, Dhaka, etc. These words refer to particular names.
We can transform Bangladesh into Bangladeshi, India into Indian, America into
American; Panjab in Panjabi. These transformed words are adjectives, and they
are proper adjectives because they have come from proper nouns.
Examples:
- Bangladeshi people are highly hospitable.
- Indian and Chinese foods taste delicious.
- American citizens enjoy all the civic facilities.
Qualitative adjective
A qualitative adjective is gradable. That means it has a degree of comparison. It has a higher degree; it has the highest degree. So, the qualitative adjective has three forms: positive, comparative, and superlative degree.
We can understand a qualitative adjective when
we understand that a qualitative adjective has a degree of comparison.
Examples:
- Rohan is a good boy.
- Rohit is better than most other players.
- Nasima is the best singer in her class.
- Jon is a more efficient worker.
- She is the most beautiful girl in the class.
Quantitative adjective:
Quantitative adjectives talk about an amount but
do not deal with any exact number.
Many, some, few, and a few are some examples of quantitative adjectives.
- I have many friends.
- I have some friends.
- I have a few friends.
- There is a little milk in the glass.
Keep in mind that quantifiers are determiners.
However, like an adjective, they modify nouns. But you should be aware of the
fact that adjectives and determiners have different functions and placement.
Determiners always sit before an adjective. Moreover, while a determiner gives
quantifying and specifying information, an adjective gives qualitative
information, and an adjective has a degree of comparison. While a determiner
introduces a noun to the audience, an adjective gives further
information.
Numerical Adjective
Numerical adjectives deal with the exact number.
It has many forms: cardinal, ordinal, multiplicative, and fraction.
- I have five pens.
- I will buy two cars.
- He stood first in the exam.
- She stood second in the class.
- He now earns double his previous income.
- Half of the mangoes have rotten.
- Two-thirds of the students have got G.P.A. 5.
Pronominal Adjective:
Pronominal adjectives originate from pronouns:
the pronominal adjective is of four types: demonstrative, distributive,
interrogative, and possessive. They are called pronominal adjectives because
they have come from pronouns. Look at the diagram below:
- This car is very expensive.
- These motorbikes were made in Japan.
- I was looking for that motorbike.
- He was talking about those old buildings.
- Each student is meritorious.
- Every man wants to be happy.
- Either you or your friend is responsible.
- Neither you nor your friend is responsible.
- This is my laptop.
- Do you like our building?
- I love your car.
- It is his responsibility.
- I appreciate her consciousness.
- Its tail is quite long.
- Their sense of responsibility is praiseworthy.
- This car is ours.
- That building is yours.
- This book is mine.
- That garden is theirs.
- This pen is hers
- What books will you buy tomorrow?
- Whose car is it?
- Which one will you drive?
The words in bold are modifying nouns, and so
they are adjectives. On the other hand, these words in bold are called
pronominal adjectives because they originate from different types of pronouns.
So, when a pronoun sitting before a noun modifies that noun, it is an
adjective. This adjective is technically called a pronominal adjective.
Article Adjectives
There are three articles: a, an, and the. “The” is called definite article and “a and an” are known as indefinite articles. “A” and “an” carry similar meanings. It means they are interchangeable. So, we have only two unique articles: “the” and “a”. They have unique usages. We use “a and “an when we do not specify any particular noun.
- I have a pen.
- She ate an apple.
Here, we are not mentioning any particular pen or cat. We are just mentioning some pen someone possesses and some apple has is eaten by someone.
We use “the” to refer to any specific noun.
- The Padma is the biggest river in Bangladesh.
- This is the dog I bought yesterday.
- The earth is a planet where we come across living creatures.
Here, the three the’s specifically point to one specific river,
one specific dog, and one specific planet.
Exercise
Note: Linking verbs are always followed by adjectives, not
adverbs. Linking verbs are be verbs (am, is, are, was, were), sense verbs
(look, smell, taste, sound), feel, seem, become, appear, remain, etc. An
adjective modifies nouns and pronouns. An adverb modifies all the parts of
speech except noun, pronoun, and interjection.
- Wrong: He looks smartly.
Right:
2. Wrong: It sounds harshly.
Right:.
3. Wrong: They seem happily.
Right:
4. Wrong: He looked uncomfortably.
Right:
5. Wrong: They were considerable more studious.
Right:
6. Wrong: It was obvious important.
Right:
7. Wrong: It seemed extreme complex.
Right:
Note: seldom, hardly, never, rarely are
negative adverbs; so, you cannot use them with other negatives.
8. Wrong: I haven’t never done this.
Right:
9. Wrong: He cannot hardly do this.
Right:
10. Wrong: He doesn’t seldom watch television.
Right:
Note: Some words such as late, fast, hard, straight, and right have both adjective and adverb form.
11. Wrong: He runs fastly.
Right:
12. Wrong: They arrived lately.
Right:
13. Wrong: Work hardly if you want success
Right:
Right answers:
2. It sounds harsh.
3. They seem happy.
4. He looked uncomfortable.
5. They were considerably more studious.
6. It was obviously important.
7. It seemed extremely complex.
8. I have never done this.
9. He can hardly do this.
10. He seldom does it.
11. He runs fast.
12. They arrived late.
13. Work hard if you want success.
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