Adjective Exercise & Practice with Explanation

Complete the sentences using -ing Adjectives or -ed Adjectives:

1. _____ at the thought of moving away, Johnson began to cry

1. Terrified
2. Terrified

2. When you are not in good spirits, it is _____ to stay in bed all day.

1. Tempted
2. Tempting

3. One finding that appeared _____ was that birth rates were declining.

1. Troubled
2. Troubling

4. Never had Ann felt so _____ by the landscape she traveled through.

1. charmed
2. charming

5. As _____ as it is to be with others, it’s crucial to spend some time alone.

1. Comforted
2. comforting

Here are the answers!!!

1. Terrified at the thought of moving away, Johnson began to cry.
2. When you are not in good spirits, it is tempting to stay in bed all day.
3. One finding that appeared troubling was that birth rates were declining.
4. Never had Ann felt so charmed by the landscape she traveled through.
5. As comforting as it is to be with others, it’s crucial to spend some time alone.

Have you noticed the difference in meaning with adjectives ending in -ed or –ing????

• When the adjective ends in -ed, it describes the feeling of something.
• For example, I’m interested in modern art. (This is my personal feeling).
• When the adjective ends in -ing, it describes the feeling given by something.
• For example, Modern art is interesting. (“Modern art” cannot feel, but it makes me feel interested).

Compare:

1. He is bored.

In the above sentence, bored means he has nothing to do and is not enjoying himself. This describes his feeling.

2. He is boring.

In this sentence, boring means – he is not an interesting person. This describes the feeling he gives to other people.

Examples of Adjectives that end in -ed or -ing:

1. The children are reading an interesting book about animals.
2. My mother was amazed I got 100% on my math exam.
3. I was bored. My lessons were not fun.
4. My P.E. lesson was very tiring.
5. I am scared of the sharks in the aquarium.
6. I am interested in learning Chinese because I want to work in China.
7. I thought the movie was very boring.

Adjectives as Complement

Adjectives can act as complements that modify nouns that act as subjects and complements.

When the adjective describes the object in a sentence, it is called an object complement, and when it is used to describe the subject in a sentence, it is referred to as a subject complement.

Here are the patterns:

1. SC (Subject complement)

Example: Anne is good.

In the above example, the adjective is ‘good’, and is used to describe the subject ‘Anne’; hence it is called a subject complement.

2. OC (Object complement)

Example: The mayor declared the new park open.

Here, the adjective ‘new’ describes the object ‘park’; hence it comes under the category of object complement.

Adjectives as Coordinates

When two or more adjectives are used to describe the same noun in a sentence, they are called coordinate adjectives. Coordinate adjectives are often separated by a comma or the conjunction ‘and.’

For example:

The mobile phone is easy to use and handy.

However, my cousin is tall and thin.

Compound Adjectives

A compound adjective is formed when two or more adjectives are joined together to modify the same noun. These terms should be hyphenated to avoid confusion or ambiguity. For example:

Examples:

• Daniel submitted a 7-page
• She adopted a five-year-old

Compound Adjectives – Exceptions

Note that combining an adverb and an adjective does not create a compound adjective. No hyphen is required because it is already clear that the adverb modifies the adjective rather than the subsequent noun.

For example:

• It was a terribly hot day.
• It is an amazingly good idea.

In addition, you should not place a hyphen in a compound adjective if the adjectives are capitalized, such as when they are part of a title.

Examples of compound adjectives:

1. This is a four-foot
2. Daniella is a part-time
3. This is an all-too-common
4. Beware of the green-eyed
5. He is a cold-blooded
6. I love this brightly lit room!

Multifunctional Adjectives:

Adjectives can be made to function like or take the role of nouns in a sentence, and sometimes, a noun, when used to describe or provide more information about another noun, can perform the role of an adjective.

1. The noun becomes the adjective.
2. The adjective becomes a noun.

Use of a noun as an Adjective:

Example:

I like my English teacher.

In the above example, the word ‘English’ is generally considered a noun as it represents a language, and it is a proper noun.

But here, it is used to describe the noun ‘teacher,’ which makes it an adjective.

B. The adjective becomes a noun:

Example:

It is our duty to tend to the poor and the oppressed.

In this sentence, the words ‘the poor’ and ‘the oppressed’ pass off as nouns as it refers to ‘poor people’ and ‘oppressed people’.

So, when adjectives are preceded by the article ‘the,’ it often refers to a category of people which makes the adjective a noun.

What are the forms of Adjectives?

There are three forms of adjectives in English grammar. They are also called the degrees of comparison. The three forms of adjectives are:

1. The positive or absolute form
2. The comparative form
3. The superlative form

What are the Types of Adjectives?

Adjectives can be divided into different categories based on their functions when used in a sentence. The different types of adjectives are:

1. Possessive adjectives
2. Interrogative adjectives
3. Demonstrative adjectives
4. Compound adjectives

1. The possessive adjectives in English (also called ‘possessive determiners’) are: my, your, his, her, its, and our, and They say who something belongs to.

Example:

• I have a bag – this is my bag.
• You have a cat – that is your cat.
• He has a car – it is his car.

2. Difference Between Interrogative Pronoun and Interrogative Adjective:

You might have understood by now that some interrogatives act both as pronouns and adjectives. Given below are some example questions that use such interrogatives. Comparing these question pairs will help you clarify the difference between an interrogative pronoun and an interrogative adjective.

Example 1:

• Which is your book? (Interrogative pronoun)
• Which book is yours? (Interrogative adjective)

Example 2:

• What is the color of her hair? (Interrogative pronoun)
• What color is her hair? (Interrogative adjective)

3. Demonstrative Adjective vs. Demonstrative Pronoun:

The four terms this, these, that, and those are used to identify and indicate specific objects or people. These four terms can be used either as demonstrative adjectives or demonstrative pronouns.

Although these terms are used for both demonstrative adjectives and demonstrative pronouns, there is a big difference between them based on their function and use.

The main difference between demonstrative adjectives and demonstrative pronouns is that demonstrative adjectives modify a noun, whereas demonstrative pronouns replace a noun.

Difference between a demonstrative adjective and a demonstrative pronoun:

Example 1:

• This dog is mine. (Demonstrative Adjective)
• This is my dog. (Demonstrative Pronoun)

Example 2:

• That cake smells delicious. (Demonstrative Adjective)
• That smells delicious. Demonstrative Pronoun)

4. A compound adjective is formed when two or more adjectives are joined together to modify the same noun. These terms should be hyphenated to avoid confusion or ambiguity. For example:
5. Diana submitted a six-page
6. She adopted a two-year-old
7. I love this brightly lit room!
8. He is an obedient and well-behaved
9. You have to be open-minded about things.