Types of Adjectives

A word that is used to describe or point out the nouns, which may be a person, place, animal, or thing, or to tell the number or quantity, is called an adjective.   

For example, in the sentence:  

Rachel is a brilliant student. 

the noun Rachel is described as brilliant. Since the word brilliant is used to describe Rachel, it is the adjective in the sentence. 

More examples: 

• Ryan is an honest man. 
• Your puppy is cute. 
• This is an entertaining movie. 

Adjectives are classified into six. Let us take a look at them: 

There are: 

• Adjectives of Quality(Descriptive Adjectives) 
• Adjectives of Quantity 
• Adjectives of Number(Numeral Adjectives) 
• Demonstrative Adjectives 
• Interrogative Adjectives 
• Possessive Adjectives 

Adjectives of Quality: 

Adjectives of quality, also known as Descriptive adjectives, are used to show the kind or quality of a person or a thing, like: 

• Chicago is a large city. 
• Kyle is an irritating person. 
• That is an expensive car. 
• Emily is a wonderful individual. 

There is another type of adjective that is generally classed with Adjectives of Quality. Adjectives are sometimes formed from proper nouns like French wine, Indian tea,  Victorian attitude, etc. They are called Proper Adjectives. 

We can find out if the given adjective is an Adjective of Quality if it answers the question: Of what kind? 

More examples: 

• He is a terrible person. 
• Today is a lovely day. 
• The play was boring. 

Adjectives of Quantity: 

Adjectives of Quality are the ones that show how much of a thing is meant, like: 

• I had some chicken. 
• She showed much patience. 
• They have done enough planning. 
• Joseph has lost all his money. 
• Bob makes no sense. 
• Martha did not eat any meals. 
• You should take great care of your health. 
• There has been sufficient rain this year. 

We can find out if the given adjective is an Adjective of Quantity if it answers the question: How much? 

Adjectives of Number: 

Adjectives of Number, also known as Numeral Adjectives, give us the idea about how many persons or things are meant, or in what order the noun stands, like: 

• I have three cars. 
• Florence has two kittens. 
• Few boys liked the reading session. 
• There are no twists in this movie. 
• All men must die. 
• Sunday is the first day of the week. 
• My guide has taught me many things. 

We can find out if the given adjective is an Adjective of a Number if it answers the question: How many? 

Adjectives of Numbers are further divided into three types: 

1. Definite Numeral Adjectives: 

They denote an exact number, like one, two, three, etc. , which are called cardinals, and first, second, third, etc. which are called ordinals. 

2. Indefinite Numeral Adjectives: 

All, no, many, few, some, any, certain, several, etc. are indefinite numeral adjectives as they do not denote an exact number. 

3. Distributive Numeral Adjectives: 

They indicate the singular number of a noun among a large number of nouns, like: 

• Each student must take his/her turn. 
• The organization expects every individual to do their duty. 
• Either answer will do. 
• Neither accusation is true. 

Demonstrative Adjectives: 

Demonstrative Adjectives simply  point out which person or thing is meant, like: 

• This car is more expensive than Ferrari. 
• That girl is industrious. 
• These peaches are rotten. 
• Those papers are mine. 
• I was in such a hurry. 
• I like such players. 

We can find out if the given adjective is a Demonstrative Adjective if it answers the question: Which? 

Interrogative Adjectives: 

When words like what, which and whose are used with nouns to raise questions, they are called Interrogative Adjectives. 

Examples: 

• What kind of a person is he? 
• Which route should we take? 
• Whose wallet is this? 

Possessive Adjectives: 

When words like my, our, your, his, her, and its, and there are used before the noun to indicate its possession or to tell who owns it, they are called Possessive Adjectives. 

Examples: 

• This is my bed. 
• Which one of these is your watch? 
• Welcome to our home. 
• They cannot do this to their child. 
• Those are her books. 
• The cat cares very much for its offspring. 
• You have to return his money.