Descriptive Adjective Rules
1. Placement: Descriptive adjectives are typically placed before the noun or pronoun they modify. For example, “a beautiful garden” or “an exciting movie.”
2. Order of Adjectives: When multiple adjectives are used to describe a noun, there is a general order in which they are placed. It often follows this sequence: opinion, size, age, shape, color, origin, material, and purpose. For instance, “a small old house” or “a beautiful red rose.”
3. No Comma: In most cases, adjectives do not require commas between them when they appear together before a noun. For example, “a happy, energetic child” is incorrect. It should be “a happy and energetic child.”
4. Exceptions with Commas: Commas are used when coordinate adjectives (adjectives that independently modify the noun) can be rearranged without changing the meaning. For instance, “a big, red ball” and “a red, big ball” have the same meaning.
5. Hyphenation: Some compound adjectives are hyphenated when they appear before a noun to create a single descriptive unit. For example, “a well-known author” or “a two-year-old child.”
6. Agreement: Adjectives should agree in gender, number, and case with the noun they modify. For instance, “a happy child” (singular) and “happy children” (plural).
7. Use of Articles: Articles like “a,” “an,” or “the” can appear before descriptive adjectives. For example, “an interesting book” or “the blue sky.”
8. Comparative and Superlative Forms: Adjectives often have comparative (e.g., “bigger”) and superlative (e.g., “biggest”) forms when comparing nouns. For instance, “the tallest building” or “a more interesting story.”
9. Proper Adjectives: These adjectives are derived from proper nouns (names) and are capitalized. For example, “American culture” or “French cuisine.”
10. Demonstrative Adjectives: Words like “this,” “that,” “these,” and “those” can also function as descriptive adjectives when they specify or point to specific nouns. For example, “I want this book.”
Descriptive Adjective : Definition, Types, Functions and Examples
Descriptive Adjective
In English Grammar, many different aspects assist us in constructing grammatically sound sentences. Understanding the English language can be challenging; as a result, we make use of a variety of methods to simplify the process and make it easier to grasp. In this article, you will find a detailed description of the descriptive adjective, its functions, types, and examples accordingly.