Descriptive Adjectives

Used to describe the qualities, characteristics, and features of nouns

Descriptive Adjectives describe or modify a noun by stating its quality, size, colour, shape, condition, emotion, or origin.

Function: Add details to nouns and make sentences more vivid and meaningful.

Main Features

  • Add visual or emotional detail to a noun
  • Answer questions like What kind?, Which one?, or How many?
  • Typically placed before the noun, or sometimes after linking verbs

Types of Descriptive Adjectives

  • Opinion: lovely, boring, amazing
  • Size: large, tiny, huge
  • Shape: round, flat, rectangular
  • Age: old, new, young
  • Colour: blue, golden, crimson
  • Origin: Japanese, Victorian, Arctic
  • Material: wooden, silk, metallic
  • Purpose: sleeping (as in sleeping bag), racing (as in racing car)

Adjective Position in a Sentence

  • Before noun: She wore a beautiful dress.
  • After linking verb: The view was breathtaking.
  • With multiple adjectives: A tall young French man

Comparative and Superlative Forms

  • Positive: smart
  • Comparative: smarter
  • Superlative: smartest
  • For longer adjectives: more beautiful, most beautiful

Common Errors and Fixes

1. Incorrect adjective order
  • ❌ A red big car → ✅ A big red car
2. Using nouns instead of adjectives
  • ❌ She has a intelligence look → ✅ She has an intelligent look
3. Overusing adjectives
  • ❌ The nice beautiful charming lady → ✅ The charming lady

Practice Exercises

1. Identify the Descriptive Adjective

  1. He opened the ancient book. → Descriptive Adjective: ancient
  2. They adopted a playful puppy. → Descriptive Adjective: playful

2. Fill in the Blanks

  1. It was a ______ evening. (use: relaxing)
  2. The ______ chair broke under pressure. (use: wooden)

3. Rewrite the Sentence

  1. The cat (black) slept soundly. → The black cat slept soundly.
  2. The film was (thrilling). → The film was thrilling.

Pro Tips

1. Master the Order of Adjectives

Order: Opinion → Size → Age → Shape → Colour → Origin → Material → Purpose

Example: A lovely small old round brown French wooden dining table

2. Use Adjectives with Linking Verbs

  • Linking verbs: is, seem, become, feel, appear
  • Example: The cake smells delicious.

3. Avoid Repetition

  • Instead of: a nice good tasty meal
  • Say: a delicious meal