What is an adjective?
An adjective is a describing word. It tells more about a noun (a person, place, thing or animal).
a dog → a fluffy dog
a house → a tiny, blue house
an apple → a juicy, red apple
Adjectives help readers picture what you are writing about. They add colour, size, shape and feeling to your sentences.
What adjectives tell us
Adjectives answer three questions about a noun.
What kind?
a soft blanket, a loud drum, a brave knight, a sunny day
How many?
three ducks, many stars, some cookies, few clouds
Which one?
this book, that hat, these shoes, those trees
Using your senses
A great way to find adjectives is to use your five senses.
| Sense | Adjectives |
|---|---|
| See | shiny, striped, tall, round, purple, sparkly |
| Hear | loud, quiet, squeaky, booming, buzzing |
| Touch | soft, rough, sticky, smooth, bumpy, cold |
| Smell | smoky, sweet, fresh, stinky, flowery |
| Taste | salty, sour, sweet, spicy, crunchy |
You can also use feeling adjectives: happy, sad, grumpy, excited, scared, proud.
Where adjectives go
Most of the time, an adjective comes before the noun:
The hungry bear ate the sweet honey.
Sometimes an adjective comes after a linking verb like is, are, was or looks:
The bear was hungry. The honey tastes sweet.
When you use two or more adjectives before a noun, put a comma between them if they both describe the noun in the same way: a long, scary story.
Articles: little adjectives
The words a, an and the are special adjectives called articles.
- Use a before a consonant sound: a cat, a ball.
- Use an before a vowel sound: an egg, an owl, an hour.
- Use the for a particular one: the cat that lives next door.
Comparing with adjectives
Adjectives can compare.
Comparing two: -er
When you compare two things, add -er. This form is called the comparative.
My dog is bigger than your dog. Today is colder than yesterday.
Comparing three or more: -est
When you compare three or more, add -est. This form is called the superlative.
She is the tallest girl in our class. That is the biggest pumpkin of all.
| Adjective | Comparing two | Comparing three or more |
|---|---|---|
| tall | taller | tallest |
| fast | faster | fastest |
| big | bigger | biggest |
| happy | happier | happiest |
Spelling tips: double the last consonant after a short vowel (big → bigger), and change y to i (happy → happier).
Special ones
- good → better → best
- bad → worse → worst
- For long adjectives, use more and most: beautiful, more beautiful, most beautiful.
Adjectives in the books you read
Authors choose adjectives carefully to set a mood. Compare these two sentences:
- The dark, silent forest was full of twisted trees.
- The bright, cheerful forest was full of tall, leafy trees.
The nouns are almost the same, but the adjectives make one forest feel spooky and the other feel friendly. Next time you read, notice the adjectives the author uses to describe the setting and the characters. Ask yourself: How do these words make me feel? You can borrow the best ones for your own writing.
How to add adjectives to your writing
- Find the nouns in your sentence.
- Ask the questions: What kind? How many? Which one?
- Use your senses to think of good adjectives.
- Pick the best one or two. Do not pile on too many.
- Read it back. Can you picture it better now?
Let’s try some examples
Example 1: Find the adjectives. The small, brown mouse nibbled the hard cheese.
Adjectives: small, brown, hard.
Example 2: Add adjectives. The cat sat on the mat.
The sleepy, orange cat sat on the fuzzy mat.
Example 3: Choose the right form. A turtle is (slow / slower / slowest) than a rabbit.
Comparing two, so slower.
Example 4: a or an? ___ umbrella
an umbrella (vowel sound).
Common mistakes
- Too many adjectives. The big, huge, giant, enormous elephant repeats the same idea. Choose one.
- Using “nice” and “good” for everything. Try delicious, friendly, exciting or cozy instead.
- Wrong comparing form. more taller is wrong; say taller. gooder is wrong; say better.
- Mixing up a and an. Listen for the first sound of the next word.
Try it yourself
- Circle the adjectives: Six noisy geese flew over the quiet lake.
- Write two adjectives for each noun: snow, lemon, drum.
- Fill in: A cheetah is the ___ (fast) land animal.
- Make this sentence more interesting: I have a dog.
Answers: 1. Six, noisy, quiet. 2. Some answers: cold, white; sour, yellow; loud, booming. 3. fastest. 4. Example: I have a playful, spotted dog.
Tip for families
Play “Describe it”: hide an object in a bag and give three adjectives as clues (“It’s round, smooth and red”). Take turns guessing. At meals, ask your child to describe the food with sense words.
Quick recap
- An adjective describes a noun.
- Adjectives tell what kind, how many or which one.
- Use your five senses to find great adjectives.
- Add -er to compare two things and -est to compare three or more.
- A, an and the are articles.
- Choose a few strong adjectives instead of many weak ones.