AdjectivesIntroduction to Literature

 I. Adjective: a word used to describe a noun or pronoun

  -Adjectives answer the questions below about the

nouns or pronouns they modify  • What kind? red boat silver jewelry • Which one? third chance this piece • How many? both answers six letters • How much? enough space more energy

II. An adjective usually comes before the noun it modifies, but it may also come after the noun.

 Before the noun: The sick child lay in bed.  After the noun: The child, sick with fever, lay in bed.  An adjective generally comes after a pronoun it

modifies, usually directly after a linking verb such as is, was, look, or seemed. It may, however, come before the pronoun.

 After the pronoun: She was sick for a week. Before the pronoun: Sick in bed, he was very bored.

III. Articles (the, a, an)  • Definite Article: (the) indicates that the noun it modifies

refers to a specific person, place, or thing • Indefinite Articles: (a, an) indicate that the nouns they

modify refer to any one of a class of people, places, or things

 Examples:

-The dog was wearing a collar. -An apple a day keeps the doctor away.-A history lesson was taught.

 • AN or A

An: is used before a vowel sound  A: is used before a consonant sound

 

IV. Nouns Used as Adjectives:

-A noun used as an adjective answers the question “What kind?” or “Which one?” about a noun that follows it.

 A Guitar…… guitar music (what kind of music?)

 An Evening …evening meal (which meal?)

- A proper adjective is a proper noun used as an adjective or an adjective formed from proper nouns

   - EX: Alcott …..Alcott novel

(What kind of novel?)  Chicago….Chicago storm (What kind of storm?) 

- EX: Jefferson….Jeffersonian democracy (what kind?) 

Mexico……Mexican art (what kind?)

- A compound adjective is an adjective that is made up of more than one word

 - Compound adjectives are often written as

hyphenated words, but some are separated or combined. See a dictionary to check spelling.

 Examples:

  -far-off land-hard-shell crabs-farsighted leader-hardhearted neighbor

VI. Possessive Pronouns as Adjectives: -Seven of the personal pronouns can be

considered both pronouns and adjectives because they have antecedents and they can modify nouns by answering the question, which one?my, your, his, her, its, our and theirEX: Your car is the squeaky one.

EX: My daughter left her new backpack at school.

-A demonstrative, interrogative, or indefinite pronoun becomes an adjective if it answers the question Which one? How many? or How much? about a noun that follows it.

Demonstrative Adjectives (point out): this, that, these, and those ADJECTIVE: I watched those birds fly away. PRONOUN: I watched those.

Interrogative Adjectives (ask): which, what, and whose ADJECTIVE: What sport does she play? PRONOUN: What does she play?

Indefinite Adjectives:  ADJECTIVE: They bought more rigging.

ADJECTIVE: Each boat had several sails.