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.

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