Grammar - Beginner - Kinds of Adjectives

Kinds of Adjectives

There are different kinds of adjectives.
Some adjectives describe the qualities of nouns.

a beautiful rainbow
a clever monkey
a difficult question
happy children
a kind lady
a new car
an old house
a pretty girl
a rich family
a sad story
a strong man
a wicked queen

Some adjectives tell you which place or country a person
or thing comes from, or belongs to. They are called
adjectives of origin.
Australian apples
a Balinese dancer
the English language
the French flag
an Italian car
a Japanese garden
a Scottish kilt
Thai boxing

Some adjectives tell you the color of things.

The sea is blue.
George is wearing brown shoes.
I don’t like green apples.
Carrots are orange.
Flamingos are pink.
Eggplants are purple.
Roses are red.

Some adjectives tell you the size of the nouns they
describe.
a big hat
broad shoulders
a high mountain
a large ship
a long bridge
a low ceiling
a narrow path
small animals
tiny insects
a wide street

- The word tall describes people and narrow,
upright objects. For example, you can say:
a tall girl             a tall bookcase

- The word high describes bigger or wider objects that reach
a great height. For example, you can say:
a high mountain           a high wall


Numbers are adjectives, too. They tell you how many
people, animals, or things there are. Sometimes they are
called adjectives of quantity.
eleven hens             fifteen frogs           nineteen lizards
twelve geese           sixteen snails         twenty butterflies
thirteen birds          seventeen kittens
fourteen mice         eighteen ants


Other adjectives tell you something about quantity without giving you the exact number.
a little ice cream
a little rice
not many people
too much salt
lots of insects
plenty of money
some food
Is there any milk?
- Adjectives that tell you about quantity are also called quantifying determiners.