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Introduction to adjectives start learning
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An adjective describes (tell us something about) a noun.
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We've got an old house. I like old houses. start learning
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An adjective has the same form in the singular and in the plural, e.g. an old house, old houses.
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This is a nice coat. This coat is nice. start learning
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An adjective comes before a noun (a nice coat) or after be (... is nice).
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The boys are afraid of the dark. The driver was still alive. start learning
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A few adjectives come after be but do not normally come before a noun. Examples: afraid, alive, alone asleep, awake, ill, well.
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The regular comparison of adjectives start learning
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cheaper, cheapest, more expensive, most expensive
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This radio's cheap. It's only £10. This one's cheaper than that. It's only £7.50. This must be the cheapest one. It's only £4.75. start learning
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Short adjectives of one syllable (e.g. cheap, tall, nice) take -er in the comparative (cheaper) and -est in the superlative (cheapest).
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This is an expensive coat. It's £80. I can't afford a more expensive coat. This one is the most expensive of all. It's £120. start learning
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Longer adjectives of three or more syllables (e.g. expensive, interesting, dangerous) take more in the comparative (more expensive) and most in the superlative (most expensive).
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You're taller than Bob/than Bob is. start learning
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After the comparative form we can use than. After than we can put a noun phrase (than Bob) or a noun phrase + verb (than Bob is).
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You're taller than him/than he is. start learning
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A personal pronoun without a verb after than has the object form (than him).
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Which is the longuest bridge in the world? start learning
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After a superlative we often use a phrase with a preposition.
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It's the most exciting book I've ever read. start learning
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After a superlative we often use a relative clause without a pronoun.
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silly, sillier, the silliest; simple, simpler, the simplest; clever, cleverer, the cleverest; quiet, quieter, the quietest. Also: funny, dirty etc.; gentle, feeble etc. start learning
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Note on adjectives of two syllables. These adjectives usually take -er/-est (but they can take more/most) feeble- lacking physical strength, especially as a result of age or illness. "by now, he was too feeble to leave his room"
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Adjectives in -ed usually take more/most, even adjectives of one syllable. start learning
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Some examples: tired, bored, amused, annoyed, surprised.
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Most other two-syllable adjectives take more/most: Also: useful, hopeful etc.; tiring, willing etc. start learning
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careful, more careful, the most careful; boring, more boring, the most boring; modern, more modern, the most modern; correct, more correct, the most correct; famous, more famous, the most famous.
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polite, stupid, narrow, pleasant, common, handsome. start learning
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With these adjectives either -er/-est or more/most is used.
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The irregular comparison of adjectives start learning
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good, better, the best; bad, worse, the worst.
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Nottingham has some good shops. Sheffield is better for shopping. The shops in Manchester are best. start learning
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Thursday is market day. It's a bad day for parking. The problem is worse in summer. Saturday is the worst time of the week. start learning
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start learning
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The train is just as expensive as the plane. They both cost £85. Unfortunately the news was as bad as we had expected. start learning
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In positive sentences we use as... as to compare two things that are the same in some way.
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Today isn't as cold as yesterday. Today isn't so cold as yesterday. start learning
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In negative sentences we use either as... as or so... as.
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Everything is just the same as before, really. start learning
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We also use as after the same. Compare different from.
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These shoes are expensive. They're £30. The black ones are less expensive. They're £20. These here are the least expensive. They're £10. start learning
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less and least are the opposites of more and most
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The queue of people was getting longer and longer. I began to feel more and more nervous. start learning
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We can repeat a comparative after and to talk about a change happening over a period of time.
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The higher our wages, the better our standard of living. The smaller a garden is, the easier it is to look after. start learning
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We use the + comparative to talk about a change in one thing which causes a change in something else.
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latest, last; nearest, next; further, farther start learning
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The M7 is our latest motorway. It was open only last week. The M7 will be the last motorway. There's no money to build any more. start learning
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latest - newest; last - final (but last week - the week before this)
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There are no garages here. The nearest one is 25 miles away. You'd better get some petrol at this garage. The next one is 25 miles away. start learning
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nearest - closest, least - far; next - the one after this.
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How much further/farther is it to Glasgow? Let's hope there are no further problems. start learning
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further/farther - longer in distance; further - more.
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start learning
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The rich are healthier than the poor. start learning
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We use the + adjective to talk about a whole group of people, e.g. the young, the old, the unemployed. The rich - rich people.
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You've got to take the good with the bad. start learning
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We also use the + adjective to talk about abstract ideas, e.g. the news, the unknown, the absurd.
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start learning
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We can also use an adjective to refer to people, or nations, e.g. They're Spanish. She's a French girl. English people love dogs.
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I've bought some Italian shoes. It's a japanese radio. Was it an English film? start learning
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We can use a nationality word as an adjective
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Can you speak Italian? I'm trying to learn Japanese. My English is getting better. start learning
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We can use a nationality word as the name of a language
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The owner is an Italian. A lot of Japanese come here in summer. There was an Englishman opposite me. Some of the words for people are nouns with a singular and a plural form, e.g. Italian(s), American(s), Brazilian(s), Swede(s). start learning
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We can use a nationality word to talk about a person or a group of people Some of the words for people are adjectives which we also use as nouns, e.g. Japanese, Chinese, Portuguese, Swiss. They can have a singular or a plural meaning.
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Italians/ The Italians are very artistic. the Japanese sell lots of things to Europe. Englishmen/The English love dogs. We can refer to some nations by using either a noun or an adjective, e.g. Englishmen/The English, Irishmen/The Irish, Frenchmen/The French, Spaniards/The Spanish. start learning
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We can use a nationality word to talk about a nation as a whole
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