The Complete Guide to ADJECTIVES in English

Main Ideas

The lesson explains how adjectives modify nouns by describing them, identifying them, or adding information. The instructor groups adjective forms into simple adjectives, adjective clauses, and adjective phrases. Grammar books may use different technical labels—such as determiners or limiting adjectives—so the lesson emphasizes recognizing what a word or group of words does in a sentence.

Simple Adjective Types

The instructor discusses these types; coordinate adjectives are treated as phrases rather than as a simple type.

• Descriptive (attributive) adjectives describe a noun’s qualities: a big dog, a heavy box.
• Demonstrative adjectives point to a noun: this cat, those houses.
• Compound adjectives combine words to modify a noun as a unit, often with a hyphen: fat-free milk.
• Quantitative adjectives indicate amount or number: two men, the whole cake.
• Predicate adjectives follow a linking or “be” verb and describe the subject: He seems nice; he is nice. Though they come after the verb, they describe he, not the verb.
• Comparative and superlative adjectives compare things, often using -er or -est: a taller boy, the tallest girl. Longer comparison expressions can form phrases.
• Proper adjectives come from proper names and are capitalized: Canadian maple, an English book, a Shakespearean play.
• Indefinite adjectives indicate an imprecise amount or number: a few teachers.
• Distributive adjectives refer to people or things individually or across a group: each student, every teacher, all workers.
• Interrogative adjectives appear in questions with nouns: Which building do you live in?
• Possessive adjectives indicate ownership or association: my house, his girlfriend, her teacher.
• Articles—a, an, and the—are not technically adjectives, according to the instructor, but they work similarly by specifying a noun. The indicates a particular, definite item.

Participles Used as Adjectives

Participles are verb forms that can function like adjectives. The instructor shows how they can come from reduced adjective clauses:

• The window that was broken can be shortened to the broken window. Since broken modifies window, it is used like an adjective.
• The girl who is wearing the hat can become the girl wearing the hat. Here, wearing the hat is a participle phrase modifying girl.
• A participle phrase can sometimes be recast as a compound adjective before the noun, as in the hat-wearing girl.

The lesson distinguishes a single participle used adjectivally from a longer participle phrase.

Adjective Clauses

An adjective clause is a clause that modifies a noun, often identifying it or adding information about it.

• Identifying clauses (called “definite” in the lesson) specify which noun is meant and generally do not use commas: The house that I bought doubled in value.
• Non-identifying clauses (called “indefinite” in the lesson) add information about a noun that is already understood and are set off with commas: The house, which I bought last year, doubled in value.
• Relative words discussed include that, which, when, and where. The instructor says that is used for identifying clauses and which for non-identifying clauses; when and where may be used in either kind.
• Removing a relative word alone does not necessarily turn a clause into a phrase: the house I bought still contains a subject and verb. A clause can be reduced to a phrase when its structure is shortened, such as by removing a relative pronoun and a “be” verb or changing the main verb to a participle.

Adjective Phrases

An adjective phrase is a group of words that acts together to modify a noun. The key is to identify the whole phrase, not just one word within it.

• Prepositional phrases: In The man with the cane walked slowly, with the cane identifies the man.
• Participle phrases: The man using the cane modifies and identifies man. This can be understood as a shortened form of the man who is using the cane.
• Comparative or superlative phrases: Jake is taller than Steve and the tallest in the class include a comparison that completes the adjective’s meaning.
• Adverb-plus-adjective phrases: In too long, too modifies long; together they describe the show in The show was too long. Similarly, increasingly popular describes the band.
• Coordinate adjective phrases: Multiple adjectives modify the same noun, such as the tall, thin tree or the expensive but delicious steak. The adjectives may be joined by a conjunction and can express contrast.

Overall Lesson

Recognizing adjective words, clauses, and phrases helps readers understand which noun is being described and helps writers vary sentence structure. The instructor encourages learners to practice using the forms in their own writing rather than only memorizing their grammar labels.

Speakers and Sources Featured

• Adam — the lesson’s presenter and English instructor.
• EngVid — the educational website hosting the lesson, mentioned by the presenter.