Types of adjectives
When we think of adjectives, we tend to think of descriptive (qualitative) adjectives such as those in the previous exercise. However, there are other categories of adjectives. While grammarians have names for the different categories, knowing the category names is not particularly important. What is important is to recognise that they are functioning as adjectives.
Starting with qualitative adjectives, the various types are:
- Qualitative adjectives: beautiful flowers, new shoes (i.e. showing qualities);
- Quantitative adjectives: enough food, many attempts, three attempts, third attempt (adjectives of number - or quantity - and order);
- Demonstrative adjectives: this apple, those pears (not to be confused with demonstrative pronouns, which stand on their own as in That is correct or This is the place);
- Interrogative adjectives: Which race? What program? (Interrogation means asking questions);
- Possessive adjectives: their shoes, his demeanour (though some grammarians see these as possessive pronouns);
- Compound adjectives: a fast-moving train, an over-ripe peach, an ever-attentive nurse;
- Proper nouns used as adjectives: December weather, Chinese languages, the Brisbane festival.
As well as adjectives, there are also adjectival phrases, adjectival clauses and participial phrases that add layers of information to nouns and pronouns.
Adjectival phrases
Adjectival phrases are introduced by prepositions such as in, on, under, with...and, just like adjectives, they 'throw' information onto nouns and pronouns.
- a. The cat on the mat is a Burmese. (The phrase on the mat identifies which cat.)
- b. Children with lice in their hair should be kept away from school. (The phrase with lice indicates which children; but the noun 'lice' is then also qualified by the adjectival phrase in their hair.)
Adjectival clauses
Adjectival clauses are another way to add information about nouns and pronouns. They are introduced by relative pronouns such as who, that and which and are different from phrases because clauses have a verb, whereas phrases do not.
- a. They handed the free tickets to the people who arrived first. (Here the clause who arrived first tells us which people. It is a clause because it contains a verb - arrived.)
- b. The fireworks that we saw were fantastic. (The clause that we saw qualifies 'fireworks'. It contains its own verb, saw.)
Participial phrases
Instead of starting with prepositions, participial phrases start with participles: -ing words such as running, sleeping, partying (called present participles) and words such as loved, shaken, broken, seen (past participles). Participles frequently introduce phrases - and those participial phrases qualify nouns and pronouns, as in:
- Sailing with the wind, the yachts made good speed.
- Shattered by the fall, my vase was beyond repair.
- Seen by no one, a beautiful flower bloomed in the desert.