Descriptive Adjectives
Descriptive adjectives are adjectives that modify a noun or pronoun by showing its quality. In this lesson, we will learn more about them.
What Are Descriptive Adjectives?
Descriptive adjectives are adjectives that modify a noun or pronoun by describing it or showing its quality.
Take a look at the following examples:
I heard a
This coffee is
In these examples, the words 'funny' and 'sweet' are descriptive adjectives. They both describe the nouns they modify and tell us information we can use to describe the things they are referring to.
Tip!
The vast majority of adjectives are descriptive adjectives.
Categories of Descriptive Adjectives
Descriptive Adjectives can talk about: what size something is, how something tastes, what something smells like, and so much more. Some adjectives that describe nouns are:
- size: big, small, little, tiny, huge
- taste: sweet, bitter, sour, salty, milky, sugary
- smell: stinking, fishy, savory
- texture: pokey, seedy, grainy, lumpy, gritty
- sound: mellow, melodic, musical
- appearance: fat, skinny, beautiful, good-looking
- personality: smart, outgoing, shy, stupid
- color: red, blue, bright, dark, matte
- shape: round, rectangular, angular, bent
My
This
Descriptive Adjectives: Position in a Sentence
We can use descriptive adjectives:
- before the nouns or pronouns they modify
- after a linking verb as the subject complement
Children played with the
The kitten was
Descriptive Adjectives: Types
We have three kinds of descriptive adjectives:
- Simple Adjectives
- Compound Adjectives
- Proper Adjectives
Simple Adjectives
Simple adjectives are comprised of single words that are commonly used to describe a noun. For example:
- new
- shy
- ugly
- beautiful
- polite
- round
- red
Compound Adjectives
Compound adjectives are comprised of two words that are combined to create a descriptive adjective. The two words are typically connected with a hyphen. For example:
- middle-aged
- near-sighted
- blue-green
- old-fashioned
- well-known
- short-term
- warm-blooded
Proper Adjectives
Proper adjectives are derived from proper nouns. Because of this, proper adjectives are always capitalized. For example:
- Indian
- Shakespearean
- Chinese
- Victorian
- Spanish
- Martian
- Marxist