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1.     Descriptive adjectives:

 describing a quality of the noun

• Attributive Adjectives:
• Predicate Adjectives:

2.     Limiting adjectives:

limiting the noun being described

• Possessive Adjectives:
• Definite & Indefinite Articles
• Demonstrative Adjectives:
• Indefinite Adjectives:
• Interrogative Adjectives:
• Cardinal Adjectives:
• Ordinal Adjectives:
• Proper Adjectives:
• Nouns used as Adjectives:

1.     Descriptive adjectives

These can be attributive adjectives or predicate adjectives.

1.1. Attributive Adjectives:

Adjectives which appear directly beside the noun, most commonly before, are

called attributive, because they attribute a quality to the noun they modify. More than one adjective can modify the same noun.

 

Example:

• He washed the empty cup.

"Empty" is an attributive adjective, as it is placed directly beside the noun "cup." It is describing the cup.

• The chatter made the room noisy.

This is an instance in which the attributive adjective appears directly behind the noun. "Noisy" is describing the "room."

 

1.2. Predicate Adjectives:

Adjectives which appear after a linking verb are called predicative, because

they form part of the predicate. They modify the subject of the sentence or clause (a clause is a portion of a sentence which contains a subject and a predicate).

 

Examples:

• The painting was colourful.

noun: painting

linking verb: was

adjective: colourful (describing the noun "painting")

 

• The wind remained strong.

noun: wind

linking verb: remained

adjective: strong (describing the noun "wind'")

 

2.     Limiting adjectives

They do as their name suggests, they limit the noun being described.

There are nine types of Limiting Adjectives:

 

2.1.Definite & Indefinite Articles

There is only one definite article, the. When used before a noun, it specifies a

particular noun as opposed to any one.

Examples:

• The dog (a specific, identifiable dog)
• The walls (specific, identifiable walls)

There are two indefinite articles, a and an. These are used with a noun when a

specific noun is not being pointed at.

Examples:

• a dog (any dog)
• an apple (any apple)

 

2.2. Possessive Adjectives:

The possessive adjectives my, your, his. her, its, our, and their modify nouns

by showing possession or ownership.

Examples:

• my sweater
• their party

 

2.3. Demonstrative Adjectives:

A demonstrative adjective is a demonstrative pronoun that appears before a noun and emphasizes it.

Example: (note the difference)

• Demonstrative pronoun: These are wonderful.
• Demonstrative adjective: These apples are wonderful.

2.4. Indefinite Adjectives:

Indefinite adjectives are indefinite pronouns used before a noun.

Example: (note the difference)

• Pronoun: Several witnessed the event.
• Adjective: Several pedestrians witnessed the event.

2.5 Interrogative Adjectives:

The interrogative adjectives what, which, and whose modify nouns and pronouns to indicate a question about them.

Example: (note the difference)

• Pronoun: Which fell adjective: Which trapeze artist fell

2.6. Cardinal Adjectives:

Adjectives that modify the noun by numbering it (stating how many) are cardinal adjectives.

Examples:

• five books
• two fish

2.7. Ordinal Adjectives:

An ordinal adjective indicates the position of a noun in a series.

Examples:

• the first date
• the fourth day

2.8. Proper Adjectives:

Adjectives derived from proper names are called proper adjectives. They are

easily recognizable in that they are always capitalized.

Examples:

• French bread
• Shakespearean sonnet

2.9. Nouns used as Adjectives:

Sometimes nouns can be used as adjectives to define or describe another noun.

Examples:

• the porch light
• a house fly

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