Adjectives

Adjectives are one of the eight parts of speech. Just as a reminder, the others are the verb, the noun, the pronoun, the adverb, the preposition, the conjunction, and the interjection.

The primary purpose of an adjective is to modify a noun. They typically answer one of these three questions about the noun: What kind? How many? Which one?

For example:

• the 44th president
• a green product
• a responsible investment
• an economist’s analysis
• the dumbest, worst leader

Now that you have a general sense of an adjective, let’s pause for a moment to consider the adjective in writing.

For the purposes of this discussion, let’s say that writing is the literary equivalent of cooking, and adjectives are one of the spices you bring to the kitchen. Like spices added to a soup, a few adjectives go a long way. Don’t overdo it. Let the more substantial ingredients (strong verbs!) be the stars.

Pay particular attention to adjectives that have lost their pizzazz, words that no longer register in the reader’s palate: interesting, beautiful, fun, exciting, cool. The key to excellence in writing is showing, not telling. In other words, don’t simply tell your readers the snow on the field is beautiful, show them.

Okay, back to examples.

While it may be easier to identify the parts of speech when we are faced with only a few words (as in the examples above), most reading and writing involves full sentences. Consider the following sentences containing particular types of nouns and their accompanying adjectives:

• A subject:

• The volatile Bobby Knight has been accused of choking a player.

• A direct object:

• Tom threw the slimy ball for his dog, Rover.

• An indirect object:

• After the last out, David Justice tossed the excited child the game ball.

• A gerund

• Cecilia enjoys distance running.

• A predicate nominative:

• They didn’t know that Caroline was a decorated officer.

Adjectives are divided into categories as a way of understanding their purpose. Read more about the types of adjectives, here.

This is a special type of adjective that follows a linking verb and modifies (directly refers to) the subject of the sentence.

[In the following examples, the predicate adjective is bold and the subject/noun is underlined.]

• People are interested in this game.
  • ARE is a linking verb connecting the subject PEOPLE with its descriptor of equal weight INTERESTED.
  • Note: The descriptor is an adjective; therefore, it is a predicate adjective. A noun would be a predicate nominative.

• Watching the championship was fun.
  • WAS is a linking verb connecting the subject WATCHING with its descriptor of equal weight FUN.
  • Note: WATCHING is the form of a verb used as a noun—a gerund.

• Don argues that cheering for a team can be nerve-wracking, too.
  • CAN BE is a linking verb connecting the subject CHEERING with its descriptor of equal weight NERVE-WRACKING.
  • Note: CHEERING is the form of a verb used as a noun—a gerund.

• If you‘re not careful, the whole group is going to judge you on what you do on this day.
  • ARE in the contraction YOU’RE is a linking verb connecting the subject YOU with its descriptor of equal weight CAREFUL.

• The two teams look very similar in the tempo that they play.
  • LOOK is a linking verb connecting the subject TEAMS with its descriptor of equal weight SIMILAR.
  • Note: TO BE is not the only linking verb.

• Stan does not seem scared of them.
  • DOES SEEM is a linking verb connecting the subject STAN with its descriptor of equal weight SCARED.

LIMITING ADJECTIVE:

These types of adjectives specify or limit the noun.

[In the following examples, the adjective is bold and the noun is underlined.]

• The two teams have met every season since 1932.
  • TWO tells us how many TEAMS and EVERY tells us how many SEASONS.
  • Note: It does not describe the teams; it tells us which ones to limit our attention to.

• Saturday, Oregon plays USC before what should be a sellout crowd.
  • SELLOUT tells us what size of crowd. A specific number would also be limiting.

• Did Garret see this article that appeared in the paper?
  • THIS indicates which “limited” article.
  • Note: In this sentence, THIS is NOT a demonstrative pronoun.

• Will you be sitting at the captain’s table this evening?
  • CAPTAIN’S limits what table we are considering.
  • Note: This type of possessive is called a possessive noun.

• This season, the two are meeting on a home-and-home basis, unusual for non-conference rivals.
  • HOME-AND-HOME limits the basis for meeting.
  • Note: We use hyphens to connect words that work together to modify the noun.

DESCRIPTIVE ADJECTIVE:

These types of adjectives add detail or description to the noun.

[In the following examples, the adjective is bold and the noun is underlined.]

• When Tennessee and Connecticut first met in women’s basketball in 1995, it was a nice made-for-TV game between an established power and one on the rise.
  • NICE describes the predicate nominative GAME and ESTABLISHED describes POWER, which is the object of the preposition BETWEEN.
  • Note: In this sentence, ESTABLISHED is also a participle.

• The tall man thought he could reach the top shelf of the bookcase.
  • TALL describes the subject MAN and TOP describes the direct object SHELF.

• After the difficult surgery, the famous doctors to a nap.
  • DIFFICULT modifies the object of the preposition SURGERY and FAMOUS describes the subject DOCTOR.

• A worthwhile rivalry had been born.
  • WORTHWHILE describes the subject RIVALRY.

• Monica said, “Wow, this is a great game.”
  • GREAT describes the predicate nominative GAME.