Classification Of Adjective And Its Elaborate Discussion.

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Definition of Adjective

The part of speech that modifies noun or pronoun in a sentence is called an adjective.

Note: Adjective modifies noun or pronoun in aspect of merits, demerits, places, quantity, quality etc.

For example:

He is a good boy.
His conduct is not bad.
He gave me five taka.
He is the first boy in the class.
She gave her sister much money.
Go to the next door.

Note: In above sentences the bold mark words are adjectives.

# Kinds of uses of Adjectives: There are two kinds of uses of adjectives. Such as;

Attributive use.
Predicative use.

Structure for attributive use of adjective: (adjective + noun )

For example:

He is a good boy.
He is the first boy in the class.
She gave me much money.

Note: In above sentences the bold words are used as attributive use of adjective. Because, they are used in front of noun.

Structure for predicative use of adjective: ( Noun + to be verb + adjective ) .

For example:

She is beautiful.
Shila is intelligent.

Note:

In above sentences the adjectives “beautiful” and “intelligent” modify pronoun “she” and “Shila”.
Such adjectives are called predicative adjectives. These are also called complement adjective.

#Classification of Adjectives. Mainly Adjectives are of four kinds. Such as;

Adjective of quality.
Adjective of quantity.
Adjective of number / Numeral Adjective.
Pronominal Adjective.

Elaborate Discussion of Adjectives.

Adjective of quality: An adjective of quality is that word which qualifies nouns or pronouns in aspect of merits, demerits, condition or static.

For example:

He is a good boy.
Biva is a beautiful girl.
The tiger is very strong.

Note: In above sentences the bold marked words are the adjectives which qualify nouns/pronouns in aspect of their merits.

Rahim is a bad boy.
The crow looks ugly.
I am weak today.

Note: In above sentences the bold marked words are the adjectives which qualify nouns/pronouns in aspect of their demerits.

This is a horizontal line.
Bangladesh is a plain land.

Note: In above sentences the bold marked words are the adjectives which qualify nouns/pronouns in aspect of their condition / static.

He married an American lady.
She is an Iranian girl.

Note: In above sentences the bold marked words are the proper adjectives. These proper adjectives are formed from proper noun America and Iran.

Adjective of quality

Adjective of quality: An adjective of quantity is that word which qualifies nouns / pronouns in aspect of quantity. Here, nouns/pronouns are the materials / abstract nouns.

For example:

I need much money.
There is a little milk in the glass.
The whole class laughed out.
Give me some salt.
I have no pens.
Do you have any books of poetry? No, I have none. – (No+one).
There was not enough rain last year.
Babies need sufficient milk.
The cat drank off all the milk.
Half a loaf is better than no loaf.

Note: In above sentences the bold marked words are the adjectives of quantity. These adjectives of quantity qualify nouns / pronouns in aspect of quantity. Noted here that “No” is a descriptive adjective.

Numeral Adjectives

Numeral Adjectives: A numeral adjective is that word which qualifies nouns / pronouns in aspect of number.

For example:

They have three goats.
She lives in the second room.
Many men came to the meeting.

Note: In above sentences the bold marked words are numeral adjectives because these adjectives qualify nouns / pronouns.

# Types of numeral adjectives: Mainly there are three types of numeral adjectives. Such as;

Cardinal adjective.
Ordinal adjective.
Multiplicative adjective.

Elaborate Discussion of Numeral Adjectives.

Cardinal numeral adjective: A cardinal numeral adjective is that kind of adjective which qualifies nouns/pronouns by one, two, three, four, five etc.

For Example:

I have four books.
He bought seven birds.
There are eighty people here.

Note: In above sentences the bold marked words are cardinal numeral adjectives which qualify nouns (books, birds, people).

Ordinal numeral adjective:

Ordinal numeral adjective: An ordinal numeral adjective is that kind of adjective which qualifies nouns / pronouns by first, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth etc.

For example:

Keep it in the second box.
She is my father’s fifth child.

Note: In above sentences the bold marked words are the ordinal numeral adjectives because they qualify nouns ( box, child).

# At a glance the comparison between cardinal and ordinal numeral adjectives:

Cardinal numeral adjective	Ordinal numeral adjective
one	first
two	second
three	third
four	fourth
five	fifth etc.

# “The” is used before ordinal numeral adjective.

Structure: ( The + ordinal numeral adjective + Noun )

For example:

He lives in the second room.

Multiplicative numeral adjective: A multiplicative numeral word is that word which qualifies noun / pronoun by using single, double, threefold or treble or triple etc.

# At a glance comparison among cardinal, ordinal and multiplicative numeral adjectives is shown in the below table:

Cardinal numeral adjective	Ordinal numeral adjective	Multiplicative numeral adjective
one	first	single
two	second	double
three	third	threefold/treble/triple
four	fourth	fourfold/quadruple
five	fifth	fivefold
six	sixth	sixfold

# Definite numeral adjective: Generally cardinal, ordinal and multiplicative numeral adjectives are called definite numeral adjectives.

# Indefinite numeral adjective: Generally all, some, many, enough, several etc. are called indefinite numeral adjectives.

# Structures for quantitative adjectives: all (other adjective) + uncountable noun.

For example:

All the materials are sold.
Please, give me some water.

# Structure for numeral adjectives: All (other adjective) + countable noun.

For example:

All the boys are playing.
You will find it in many books.

# Some examples of numeral adjectives:

For example:

Ten girls were gossiping there.
We have six cows.

# Some examples of indefinite numeral adjectives.:

For example:

About all the boys were playing.
They had some six cows.

Pronominal Adjective

Definition: When a pronoun acts as an adjective taking position in front of noun, then it is called pronominal adjective.

Structure: (pronominal adjective + noun ).

For example:

This book is mine.
That dog is mad.
Many boys said this.
What news have you brought?
Any girl is beautiful.
Which pen do you want?
Each boy went there.
These goods have come from Russia.

Note: In above sentences the bold marked words are called pronominal adjectives.

Classification Of Pronominal Adjectives.

Generally there are eight kinds of pronominal adjective. Such as;

Demonstrative adjective.
Distributive adjective.
Interrogative adjective.
Possessive adjective.
Relative adjective.
Emphasizing adjective.
Compound adjective.
Exclamatory adjective.

Elaborate Discussion of Pronominal Adjectives.

Demonstrative Adjective:

Definition: When a demonstrative pronoun acts as an adjective taking position in front of noun is called Demonstrative Adjective.

Structure: (Demonstrative pronoun + noun).

For example:

I know this man.
I saw that man yesterday.
These books are mine.
Those books are theirs.

Note: In above sentences the bold marked words are called Demonstrative Adjective.

Distributive Adjective:

Definition: When a distributive pronoun acts as an adjective taking position in front of noun is called Distributive Adjective.

Structure: (Distributive pronoun + noun).

For example:

Each boy was present.
Every mother loves her child.
There are trees either bank of the river.
There are two pens but neither pen will do.
Note: In above sentences the bold marked words are called distributive adjective.

Note: “Every” can be used as an adjective only, not as a pronoun.

For example:

Incorrect: Every of them were present.

Correct: Each of them was present.

Or Everyone of them was present.

Note: When structure = (each / no + noun + AND + each/no noun ) is used then the verb becomes singular.

For example:

Incorrect: Each man and each woman have separate rooms.

Correct: Each man and each woman has a separate room.

Incorrect: No pen and no book were bought.

Correct: No pen and no book was bought.

Interrogative Adjective.

Definition: When an interrogative pronoun acts as an adjective taking position in front of noun is called Interrogative Pronoun.

Structure: (Interrogative pronoun + Noun).

For example:

What color do you like best?
Which man is your uncle?

Note:

In above sentences the bold marked words are interrogative adjectives.
“Which” that is used in a sentence to know someone/something from many persons / things.

Possessive adjective:

Definition: When a possessive pronoun acts as an adjective taking position in front of noun, then it is called Possessive Adjective.

Structure: (possessive pronoun + noun )

For example:

This is my pen.
We love our mother.
That is your pen.
She is her sister.
He is his brother.

Note: In above sentences the bold marked words are called Possessive Adjectives.

Relative Adjective:

Definition: When a relative pronoun acts an adjective taking position in front of noun and two sentences, then it is called Relative Adjective.

Structure: ( Relative pronoun + noun )

For example:

This is which book you gave me.
He gave me what shoe I wanted.
He gave me which pen I wanted for.

Note: In above sentences the bold marked words are called Relative Adjectives.

Emphasizing Adjective:

Definition: When an emphasizing pronoun acts as an adjective taking position in front of noun, then it is called Emphasizing Adjective.

Structure: (Emphasizing pronoun + noun).

For example:

This is my own cat.
Is it your own house?
He will come this very day.
I want t5his very pen.

Note: In above sentences the bold marked words are called Emphasizing Adjectives.

Compound Adjective:

Definition: When (word + word ) acts as an adjective taking position in front of noun, then it is called Compound Adjective.

Structure: ()word + word ) + noun.

For example:

This is an out-of-date house.
There will be a two-month-long meeting.
I want a five-year-old boy.

Note: In above sentences the bold marked words are called Compound Adjective.

Exclamatory Adjective:

Definition: When an exclamatory pronoun acts as an adjective taking position in front of noun, then it is called Exclamatory Adjective.

Structure: (Exclamatory pronoun + noun ).

For example:

What a fool you are!
What nonsense is this!

Note: In above sentences the bold marked words are called Exclamatory Adjective.

Non-attributive Adjective or Adjective having no attributive use:

Definition: When the structure (Adjective + of + noun) is used then it is called non-attributive adjective.

Structure: Adjective + of + noun.

For example:

The cat is fond of milk.
I am ashamed of my son.
We are tired of the guest.
Children are afraid of ghosts.
The dog is awake.
Mother is asleep.

Note: In above sentences the bold marked words are called Non-attributive adjective.

# Other Parts of Speech Used as Adjective.

Use of noun as adjective:

For example:

I like the town life.
Do you know where the Dhaka Hotel is?
This is a foot ball.

Note: In above sentences the bold marked words are basically nouns, but they are used as adjectives here taking position in front of noun..

Use of pronoun as adjective.

For example:

I did not want such shoes.
What stupidity is this!

Note: In above sentences the bold marked words are basically pronouns, but they are used as adjectives here.

Use of verb as adjective:

For example:

Let’s go to the play ground.

Note: In above sentence the bold marked word is basically verb, but it is used here as adjective.

Use of adverb as adjective:

For example:

He was then the president of Bangladesh.
The down mail will not arrive today.

Note: In above sentences the bold marked words are basically adverbs, but they are used here as adjective.

Use preposition as adjective:

For example:

The above theory will apply now.

Note: In above sentence the bold marked word is basically a preposition, but it is used here as preposition.

Use of participle as adjective:

For example:

Never get on a running train.
There is a broken chair in his room.

Note: In above sentences the bold marked words are basically participle, but they are used here as adjective. It is noted here that “running” is a present participle and “broken” is a past participle.

Use adjective of quality as noun (Noun complement):

For example:

All the men in the village are good.
The people of Bangladesh are brave.

Note: In above sentences the bold marked words are basically adjective of quality, but they are used here as noun (Noun complement).

The structure : (The + adjective + plural verb )..

For example:

The brave are always respected.
The rich are not always happy.

In above sentences the bold marked words are common noun.

# A comparison between adjective and noun is shown below;

Bold marked word is used as adjective	Bold marked word is used as noun (common noun)
He is poor	The poor are weak in financial.
He is young.	The young can do it.
I am sick today.	The sick are not happy.

Some structures:

Str. -1 = (The + adjective ) = common noun.

For example:

The poor are weak in financial.
The strong have been called to fight.

Str.-2 = (The + adjective + noun ) = The specific person/thing. ( Not common noun).

For example:

The poor man is weak financially.
The wicked man is not respected by all.
The damaged mango is sorted out.

Note:

Some adjectives are used as nouns. Such as; equal, yellow, blue, black, green etc.

For example:

He is not my equal.
The girl in green is my sister.

# Position of adjective:

Attributive adjectives are used before noun.

For example:

He is a wise man.
She is a beautiful girl.

Note: There are some exceptions.

Sometimes adjectives are used after noun.

For example:

The boy, thin and smart, brilliant and wise, are invited to the game.

Note: In above sentence the bold marked words are used as adjectives are used after noun “ The boys”.

When adjective phrase indicates number and quantity then we use adjectives like the following instead of adjective phrase.

For example:

Rahim is a boy five feet tall. – (Here “five feet tall” is a adjective phrase)
Rahim is a five-feet-tall boy. – (Here “five-foot-tall” is an adjective used instead of adjective phrase “five feet tall”.
We want a boy ten years old. –( Here, “ten years old” is an adjective phrase).
We want a ten-year-old boy. –( Here, “ten-year-old” is an adjective used instead of adjective phrase).

Use of adjectives for some exceptional expressions:

For example:

The problem can only be solved by Allah almighty. –( Here, “almighty” is an adjective).
Use of adjectives in poems:

For example:

- Here is a story very old. –( Here, “ very old” is an adjective).
Hearing which your blood will be cold. – ( Here, “Which” is an adjective).
Use of adjective for titles:

For example:

Omar the great was a justice ruler. –( Here, “the great” is an adjective).
Have you heard the name of the king Henry the fifth. – (Here, “the fifth” is an adjective).
The night is cold. – (Here, “cold” is an adjective complement).
Cold is the night. – ( Here, “cold” is used as an adjective for emphasizing. Sometimes adjective is used before verb for giving emphasis).

Use of some adjectives:

# Structure -1 = ( many a/an + singular noun + singular verb + ………..).

For example:

Many a man was listening here.
Many an ant was rushing to the nearby hole.

# Structure-2 = ( many / a great many / a good many + plural noun + plural verbs + …………)

For example:

We saw that a great many birds were bathing in the pond.

# Use of few, a few, the few, very few, not a few adjectives-( All these adjectives are used for countable noun) :

For example:

few = I have few relatives here.

Note: “few” means very poor number which is used as negative sense.

a few = I have a few relatives here.

Note: “a few” means some numbers but not many.

the few = I have read the few books that he has.

Note: “the few” means specific some numbers.

very few = Very few people are competent for the post.

Note: “very few” means very poor numbers.

not a few = She offered me not a few books.

Note: “not a few” means many.

# Use of little, a little, the little, very little, not a little adjectives- ( All these adjectives are used for uncountable noun)

For example:

little = I have little hope that he will pass.

Note: “little” means very poor in quantity which is used as negative sense.

a little = Give the cat a little milk.

Note: “a little” means some quantity but not many.

the little = The little milk that you gave me was bad.

Note: “the little” means some specific quantity.

very little = Many Bengalis have very little money to spend for recreational purpose.

Note: “very little” means very poor in quantity but not much.

not a little = She gave me not a little money.

Note: “not a little” means much quantity but not less quantity.

Note: few, a few, the few, very few, not a few etc. follow plural noun and plural verb. On the contrary, little, a little, the little, very little, not a little etc. follow singular noun and singular verb.

For example:

Few people are known to me.
A little milk is enough for me.

# Use of whole, the whole of, all etc. adjectives.

For example:

Incorrect: Whole India realized the loss.

Correct: The whole of India realized the loss.

Note: “The whole” is used before singular common noun.

For example:

Incorrect: Eat whole banana.

Correct: Eat the whole banana.

# Use of many, much adjectives:

Strucute-1 = (many + countable noun plural )

For example:

Many men were present there.

Structure-2 = ( much + uncountable noun singular).

For example:

She gave me much help.
He has much money.

# Use of any, some adjectives:

For example:

any = Any books will do.
any = She did not give me any books.

Note: “some” is not used in negative sentence. But “any” is used in both negative and affirmative. On the other hand, “any” and “some” both are used in interrogative sentence. Generally “some” is used in interrogative sentence when request or order is asked.

For example:

Will you eat any mangoes?
Will you eat some mangoes?

# Exceptional use of “any”:

Structure -1 = (hardly/scarcely /barely + any + noun )

Note: This structure is used in negative sense.

For example:

He has hardly any wealth.
There are barely any stars in the sky.

# Use of other, another, any other adjectives:

Structure-1 = ( other + places / things).

For example:

He has bought a pen, a book, a handkerchief and other things.
He went to Dhaka, Chittagong, Rajshahi and other places.

Note: In case of places / things “other things” instead of “things” only.

Structure-2= (another + singular noun)

For example:

He gave me another mango. – ( not mangoes).

Structure-3 = ( any other + singular /plural noun).

For example:

This is a good pen. But any other pen (pens) would / will do.
Akbar was greater than any other king/kings.

Read More…: parts of speech with the help of images.

“The End”

Definition of Adjective

Elaborate Discussion of Adjectives.

Adjective of quality

Numeral Adjectives

Elaborate Discussion of Numeral Adjectives.

Ordinal numeral adjective:

Pronominal Adjective

Classification Of Pronominal Adjectives.

Elaborate Discussion of Pronominal Adjectives.

Demonstrative Adjective:

Distributive Adjective:

Interrogative Adjective.

Possessive adjective:

Relative Adjective:

Emphasizing Adjective:

Compound Adjective:

Exclamatory Adjective:

Non-attributive Adjective or Adjective having no attributive use:

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