Adjectives

Adjectives describe or modify nouns.

I like fairy tales. A fairy tale is an imaginary story that has unrealistic characters in a fantastic background. It makes me forget about the real world and refreshes my tired mind.

Adjectives generally appear immediately before the noun.

• A pretty girl
• Red flowers
• A long stick
• Heavy boxes
• Warm weather

Commonly, adjectives of opposite meaning are formed by adding a prefix such as un, in, or dis.

• clear – unclear, important – unimportant, predictable – unpredictable, believable – unbelievable, common – uncommon, aware – unaware, ambiguous – unambiguous, conventional – unconventional, certain – uncertain
• definite – indefinite, correct – incorrect, comparable – incomparable, complete – incomplete, evitable – inevitable, expensive – inexpensive
• able – disable, assemble – disassemble, content – discontent, similar – dissimilar

When using a string of adjectives, they should appear in a set order: size/shape + age + color + origin + material.

• A big brown house
• A small old English desk
• A beautiful black Italian leather purse
• Delicious Chinese food

The + adjective describes a class or group of people and acts as a noun.

• the old, the young, the poor, the rich, the oppressed, the homeless, etc.
• This popular TV show is loved by the old.