Adjectives
1) Modify nouns, pronouns, and other adjectives by giving descriptive information about them.
2) Usually answer these descriptive questions: which one, what kind, how many, or whose.
3) A, An, and The are always adjectives
Thebrown dog chewed itsowner’sblack shoes.
Which dog? The brown one
Whose owner? Its owner (“Its” is a pronoun that takes the place of “dog”)
Whose shoes? The owner’s shoes
Which shoes? The black ones
“Its” is an interesting word—it is a pronoun that shows possession, which makes it an adjective. “Its” replaces “the brown dog” in the sentence above because we would not say, “The brown dog chewed the brown dog’s owner’s shoes.” We use words to substitute for other words to avoid redundancy. That’s what pronouns do!
Common vs. Proper
Like nouns, adjectives can be common or proper. The difference is proper adjectives are specific; common adjectives are not.
The red ball bounced down the dusty trail.
“Red” and “dusty” are common adjectives because they do not identify anything specific. They do identify what kind of ball and what kind of trail, though, so they are adjectives nonetheless.
Bob’s car is a Ford Tempo.
Both “Bob’s” and “Ford” identify something specific; thus, they are proper adjectives, even though we normally might think of those words as nouns. They are adjectives because they identify whose car it is and what kind of Tempo. Compare the above sentence to the following one:
Bob owns a Ford.
Bob is a noun in the above sentence because it tells us WHO owns the car; Ford is a noun because it tells us WHAT he owns.
Pay close attention to the words in a sentence. One will have a difficult time gaining meaning from any given sentence if one does not examine the role of the various words.
Which of the following words are proper adjectives and which are common? Any A, an, or the present is underlined because they are always adjectives.
Example:TheFrench people revolted against their government in 1789.
Example:Thedeadly guillotine was used often during the French Revolution.
Example:The French were using critical-thinking skills when they figured out, “Hey, if America can successfully revolt against atyrannical government, so can we!”
- Why is French identified as a proper adjective in the first sentence but not in the second or third?
- What part of speech is their in the first sentence? What word(s) does it take the place of?
Proper adjectives might look like nouns—that is, they may seem on the surface like a person, place, idea, or thing—however, one must keep in mind HOW the word is used in the sentence. If the word is asking which one, what kind, how many, or whose instead of identifying a who or what in the sentence, then the wordis an adjective in that particular sentence. Consider this:
“Our mangy, unruly dog chewed John’s Rico Martin designer shoes.”
- In the sentence above, find the name, “Rico Martin.” That is a person’s name, which would normally indicate a noun; however, if you pay close attention, you notice that the name identifies the particular type of designer shoes that the dog chewed (after all, a dog chewing someone named Rico Martin is a little gruesome). Because of this, the name is an adjective in the sentence.
- Can you find the other five adjectives in the sentence?
- Our______
- ______
- ______
Discussion
Examine the sentences below to see how adjectives work in sentences to help create meaning.
1) Billy likes to wear ablack shirt on Fridays.
“A” is always an adjective. “Black” identifies or describes which shirt Billy has on.
2) Mandy likes to hold hands with hernew boyfriend.
“Her” tells us whose boyfriend (Mandy’s); “new” tells us which boyfriend it is (not her old one—her new one)
3) Nolan Ryan was anawesomeMajor League Baseball pitcher.
“An” is always an adjective; “awesome” tells us what kind of pitcher Nolan Ryan was; Major League Baseball describes what kind of pitcher he was—not a minor league pitcher or a little league pitcher but a major league one!
Even though we might normally call Major League Baseball a noun—because often times it is used as a noun—it is an adjective IN THIS PARTICULAR SENTENCE. Remember: words are just words; we determine what part of speech a word is by HOW it is used in any particular sentence.
4) The Central Intelligence Agency, or C.I.A., protects theAmerican President from harm.
“The” (both of them) is underlined because “the” is alwaysan adjective; “American” is underlined because it describes which President in particular that the sentence identifies (not the Brazilian one or the Australian one or even the Russian one—it’s the American President). “Central” and “Intelligence” are not adjectives because all three of those words together identify WHAT organization is responsible for protecting the President—in other words, it is a proper noun.
5) Bonnie became angry when her parents grounded her.
“Angry” is an adjective because it describes what kind of state Bonnie was in after her parents grounded her. “Her,” a pronoun that takes the place of “Bonnie,” is an adjective in this sentence because it tells whose parents the sentence identifies (Bonnie’s parents).
Coordinate vs. Compound vs. Cumulative
Proper punctuation can be a source of trouble for young writers. It all boils down to one’s ability to recognize when an adjective is coordinate, compound, or cumulative.
Coordinate Adjectives
1) If you can insert “and” between two adjectives, they are coordinate. These types of adjectives add equal weight (they modify in the same way) the noun or adjective they describe.
2) There can be any number of coordinate adjectives in a row.
3) Coordinate adjectives are separated with commas.
Incorrect: John owns a sweet fluffy dog.
TEST: John owns a sweet AND fluffy dog.Passes coordinate test
John’s dog is sweet, and John’s dog is fluffy.Passes coordinate test
Write the sentence correctly in the space below by putting the comma where it belongs
Correct: ______.
Add commas between the coordinate adjectives in the sentences below.
1)Josh, who sits in the back, is the tall handsome boy.
HINT: Is Josh both tall and handsome? If he is both of those things, you should know where the comma goes!!
2)The fast expensive car belongs to Archie.
3)Nolan Ryan was a dominating frightening terrifying pitcher.
Q) Do we ever put a comma after the last coordinating adjective in a series? Do we ever use a comma after a single adjective that comes just before the word it modifies? Consider the following sentences if you aren’t sure. Are these two examples correct? How would you make them correct?
1)Teachers like to see sophisticated,eloquent, capable, writing.
2)Teachers like sophisticated, writing.
Compound Adjectives
1) Is the adjective modifying the noun, or is it modifying another adjective?
2) Compound adjectives have two parts: the fist word modifies the second word, and then the whole thing modifies a separate noun or adjective.
Incorrect: John owns a baby bluecorvette.
Is John’s corvette blue? Yes, it is. Is John’s corvette “baby?” No, it isn’t because a “baby corvette” doesn’t make any sense—in other words, we don’t normally describe a car as being “baby” in color. “Baby” describes the particular shade of blue, not the car; therefore, we must link the two together with a hyphen.
Correct: ______.
Q) Using “baby-blue corvette” as a model, think of some other compound adjectives that might follow the same pattern. Remember: an adjective can modify nouns OR adjectives; don’t limit your ideas only to the modification of nouns. Write some of your ideas in the space below to serve as future examples. I put a couple in there myself!
Cherry-red Trans Ampistol-toting granny butt-ugly criminalthirty-four-year-old man
Three Water-starved,long-haired,tree-loving hippies hiked the nation.
*Notice in the above sentence how the rules for coordinate and compound go hand-in-hand: the hippies are water-starved, and they are long-haired, and they are pie-loving; therefore, not only is one required to hyphenate the compound adjectives, but one is also required to put a comma between the groups of adjectives because they are coordinate!
Practice! Apply the rules for coordinate AND compound adjectives to the sentences below. You should recognize them from the exercise earlier! The first is done for you.
1)Joshis the tall handsome boy in the sky blue wrinkled shirt.
Joshis the tall, handsome boy in the sky-blue, wrinkled shirt.
2)The fast expensive car belongs to a big shot lawyer named Archie.
3)Nolan Ryan was a hitter dominating frightening terrifying pitcher—a big shot who knew how to bring the rip roaring stinky cheese.
Q) In questions two and three, we find the words “big” and “shot” used together in both cases. Why does one of the applications require a hyphen but not the other?
Writer’s Corner— using the hyphen in creative ways
When one needs to add a unique touch to a piece of writing, the hyphen provides a useful tool. Look at the two examples below. Both are correct, but one is more colorful
1)I am not playing the waiting game with you. Either you want me to call, or you don’t.
2)I am not playing the gotta’-wait-three-days game with you. Either you want me to call, or you don’t.
Notice the phrase gotta’-wait-three-days in number two. Using hyphens in this way helps the readers clump together two or more words to use as an adjective or a noun. Hyphens are used between each word so there is no confusion concerning what your intentions are with meaning; the entire construction is read as one word, providing a smooth, fluid rhythm through the sentence that ensures the reader will interpret the construction exactly as you intend him to. Like any other writing practices, one should be careful not to overuse the technique.
Look at the sentences below. Determine if the bold words are being used as adjectives or as nouns.
EX: When the huge, hungry bear showed up at the campsite, most of the frantic people had the no-one-is-going-to-save-you-now look on their faces.
EX: Nolan Ryan’s sound-barrier-breaking fastball helped him earn seven career no-hitters.
EX: A jack-of-all-trades is a person who is good at just about everything.
EX:Success in school depends on study and practice. This is a no-brainer.
Now, you try! Create a sentence using the above technique
Cumulative Adjectives
Unlike their coordinate adjective kin, these adjectives do not add equal weight to the word they modify. No commas. No hyphens. “And” doesn’t work between them.
These are tougher; sometimes they require a thoughtful decision: “What am I trying to say EXACTLY about the word being modified?”
Here are some examples. Notice there are two versions of each sentence. Discuss the differences between the two versions and determine which is correct.
1)It hurts my teeth when I bite down on an un-popped popcorn kernel.
2)It hurts my teeth when I bite down on an un-popped, popcorn kernel.
3)Our mangy dog chewed John’s Rico Marko Dawson designer shoes.
4)Our mangy dog chewed John’s, Rico Marko Dawson, designer shoes.
5)Nolan Ryan’s sound-barrier-breaking fastball helped him achieve seven career no-hitters.
6)Nolan Ryan’s sound-barrier-breaking fastball helped him achieve seven, career no-hitters.
HINT: does this make sense: “It hurts my teeth when I bite down on an un-popped and popcorn kernel.” If the adjectives are coordinate, then one can insert “and” between them and still maintain the same meaning. If “and” cannot be inserted, then the adjectives are likely cumulative, which means you do NOT put a comma between them because doing so either a) changes the sentence’s original meaning or b) creates gibberish normally only spoken by that really old, weird guy who lives under the bridge near my house. Chances are you'll want to fare better than he.
Practice!
a) Circle the nouns. The nouns in the first sentence are identified for you.
b) Punctuate the sentence properly depending upon whether the adjectives are coordinate, compound, or cumulative.
c) Draw an arrow from the adjectives to the words they modify.
Each sentence might have more than one type, so read carefully! Some of the sentences might be correct as-is. If they are, don’t change anything.
1)Dave’s feeble attempts to impress Betty involved a series of sillynonsense.
2)My wife’s homemade apple pie is a warm delicious mouth watering experience.
3)I like fast cars, but I love four wheel drive trucks also.
4)The long movie threw me into a deep sleep that lasted the whole time.
5)College admissions people complete huge intimidating amounts of mind numbing paperwork.
6)My dad can be a very unreasonable man when it comes to short sighted politicians.
7)Supper was awful last night; mom fixed me a seven year old freezer burned minute steak that tasted like a slab of tire rubber.
8)Kenny’s favorite team is the Saint Louis Cardinals.
9)Marko Polo played polo with the native tribes.
10)I had to take an exhaustive seven hour long three part exam for teacher certification.
11) My grandfather’s ornery old mule kicked me yesterday.
12) Trevor wore a blue pinstriped suit to school; he must have a meeting this morning.
13) AP Language and Composition asks students to read carefully and analytically.
14) College life is exciting, laid-back, and full of intellectual and recreational experiences.
15) I love pie the way parrots like shiny objects.