Page 46 - Grammar_Programme

Target 8: Describing words (Adjectives and Adverbs)

Part One: Adjectives

 Adjectives are describing words that tell us more information about nouns
(people, places and things). Do you remember this from Target 1?
Adjectives tell us all sorts of information such as size, shape, colour, age
and texture. Some examples of adjectives are:

huge round red young soft angry

 Adjectives make writing more interesting by adding detail.

The noun in the sentences below is ‘cat’. Let’s see how we can use adjectives to
add detail about the cat:

This doesn’t give us any detail about the cat.
I have a cat.

Adding the adjective ‘ginger’ tells us more about the cat.
I have a ginger cat.

I have a small, ginger cat. This sentence has two adjectives – small and ginger.

I have a small, cute, ginger cat.

If there are two or more adjectives, we usually put a comma between them.

 We can also compare things using adjectives:

I have a small cat, you have a smaller cat but she has the smallest cat.

NOTE: All the examples above have the adjective before the noun but we can put
adjectives after the noun by adding the verb ’to be’.

The cat is ginger. If there are two or more

The cat was small and ginger. adjectives after the noun, put
‘and’ before the last one.
The cats were small, ginger and cute.

Why not try putting adjectives

before AND after the noun!

The ginger cat is small and cute.

42
© SSER Ltd