ADJECTIVES

ELC 121
MDM NUR AZIELA BT AIDIT
What is your idea of a
perfect place?
 Hot
Modern
Peaceful
Clean
Congested
Gloomy
Fresh
Tranquil
Cool
Blue
Switzerland
Spectacular
Clear
Majestic
Dark
Polluted
 Hot
Modern
Peaceful
Clean
Congested
Gloomy
Fresh
Tranquil
Cool
Blue
Spectacular New York

Clear
Majestic
Dark
Polluted
 Why do we use adjectives?

Adjectives

• Adjectives describe how something

is like. For example, It is also the
largest national park, covering 544
sq km of primary rainforest…
 How do we use adjectives in a sentence?

Adjectives can be placed before nouns e.g. a

breathtaking view, a secluded beach, a disciplined
student. Adjectives will never be placed after the
noun for example, an apple red or a car blue.

It can also be used to compliment a sentence e.g.

‘The oldest of Mulu’s caves started to form about 5
million years ago…’
It can come after the forms of the verb to be (is, are, was,
were) as in ‘The climb to the summit of Gunung Mulu is
the toughest …’

It follows verbs such as feel, look, smell, sound, taste,

appear, become and seem. For example, this room feels
cold.

Adjectives will always be in the same form and will not

have any singular or plural form. For example, there will
never be, ‘difficults books=wrong’.
 How do we construct adjectives?

Some adjectives are formed from nouns while

some are purely adjectives. It can be formed by
changing the spelling and adding ‘y’, ‘en’, ‘ious for
example;
• The cook used lots of salt in his cooking. The soup ends up
becoming too salty.
• The kettle is made of gold. The golden kettle is now on display
at the Sarawak museum.
• The football team has achieved sweet victory in the last game.
The victorious event was considered as a revenge of the fallen
and has renewed hope for the team to win the next world title.
 Noun
1a. The huts are built from wood.
2a. I can see the sand beneath the wooden
platforms.
3a. Some people say you can taste the salt in the
breeze.
4a. I heard a lot of noise as a big crowd came in.
5a. The waitresses were already serving fat
prawns to the people at the next table.
6a. The best of all were the crabs. They were so
fresh and the flesh was sweet.
8a. There was a lot of space on the wooden
platform where they had the set up the tables.
 
10a. People should control their greed when they
go to seafood restaurants.
Adjective
1b. The wooden huts are built along the trekking
trails.
2b. The sandy beach looks dirty.
3b. The salty air whipped around my face.
4b. The noisy crowd sat at the far corner.
5b. Buttered prawns are a fatty food and are high in
cholesterol.
6b. The crabs were fleshy and sweet.
7.More delicious food was brought to us.
8b. The restaurant was spacious, so we were not
disturbed by the noisy crowd at the far end.
9. We were very full by the time we finished eating.
10b. We reminded each other not to be too greedy
and order too much the next time we come back
for seafood.
 Where do I place the adjectives?
When using more than one adjective to describe a noun place the adjectives in
the following order before the noun.

NOTE: We usually use no more than three adjectives preceding a noun.

Opinion
• Example: an interesting book, a boring lecture

Dimension
• Example: a big apple, a thin wallet

Age
• Example: a new car, a modern building, an ancient ruin

Shape
• Example: a square box, an oval mask, a round ball
Colour

• Example: a pink hat, a blue book, a black coat

Origin

• Example: some Italian shoes, a Canadian town, an American car

Material

• Example: a wooden box, a woollen sweater, a plastic toy

Here are some examples of nouns modified with three adjectives in the correct
order based on the list above. Notice that the adjectives are not separated by
commas.
• A wonderful old Italian clock. (opinion - age - origin)
• A big square blue box. (dimension - shape - colour)
• A disgusting pink plastic ornament. (opinion - colour - material)
• Some slim new French trousers. (dimension - age - origin)
 Let’s Revise
Directions: Underline the adjectives in the following sentences.
1) The motorcycle is old.
2) Today is cloudy, hot, and humid.
3) The man wearing a blue suit is young.
4) The runner is very fast.
5) He is a good basketball player.
6) Alamance Community College is a great place to learn.
7) The blue bus is late.
8) The rusty truck has an oversized trailer.
9) Jaime is so smart!
10) The job was difficult, but manageable.
11) The house has new plumbing and running water.
12) The silly man laughed uncontrollably. 13) The boy said he was
sorry.