Do you know what adjectives are in English? These are essential words in a sentence to express qualities, defects, states or conditions. Of course, they also exist in our language, however, Some rules for using this grammatical class in English differ from Portuguese.

They may vary in degree, but they are invariable in gender. Some words are specific to complimenting women and others are only for men. There is also a difference in the position in relation to the noun in a sentence.

If you want to better understand all these rules, what types of adjectives there are and which are most used in the English language to expand your vocabulary, come read this content that CCAA has prepared for you.

See also our list of compliments in english that will add to your conversations in that language!

What types of adjectives are there in English?

Like all grammatical classes, adjectives have different types. In this case, the classification of a word will depend on its function in a sentence or what it refers to. There are seven types of adjectives in English, check out what they are and how to use them:

1. Demonstrative

Demonstrative adjectives modify a noun or pronoun in a sentence and emphasize its importance. The most common demonstratives are:

• This – adjective used to refer to a nearby subject or object;
• That – when you want to refer to a subject or object that is far away;
• These – used to refer to more than one subject or object that is close together;
• Those – used to refer to more than one subject or object that is far away.

See some examples of sentences using these adjectives:

• This gift was my favorite one! – This gift was my favorite!
• That woman next to Paul is my sister. – That woman next to Paulo is my sister;
• These cars are all new. – These cars are all new;
• Those houses were all built in the 1990s. – Those houses were all built in the 1990s.

2. Descriptive

Descriptive adjectives are used to describe pronouns and nouns, that is, to give a description of an object or person. There are countless examples of this class, including: bright (smart or brilliant), tall (high or high), annoying (irritating), beautiful (beautiful or pretty) and nice (nice/friendly).

Check out how some sentences look using these adjectives:

• My father is tall. – My father is tall;
• Anne looked beautiful in the purple dress. – Anne looked pretty in the purple dress;
• I am short compared to my classmates. – I am short compared to my classmates;
• I am tanner than my brothers. – I am more tanned than my brothers;
• The new neighbors are nice. – The new neighbors are nice.

3. Quantitative

As the name suggests, quantitative adjectives are used to describe the quantity of something. This description can be specific, either when we mention numbers, such as thirty (thirty), four (four), or in more general terms, as half (half), a lot of (many) and many (many), which are examples of this type of adjective.

Keep an eye out for some sentences with this type of adjective:

• How many skirts do you have? I have five skirts. – How many skirts do you have? I have 5 skirts;
• I wrote many songs about the end of my relationship. – I wrote a lot of songs about the end of my relationship;
• I can't believe she even half the cake. – I can't believe she ate half the cake.

Please note, there is a rule regarding the use of the terms “much” and “many”. They both mean “many,” but there is a difference in when to use each:

Many: is used to talk about something countable, such as quantities of food, number of shoes, pieces in a game, people in a room, etc.

Much: is used to refer to something uncountable, such as information, money, the cost of something (which is countable, but is something abstract), etc.

4. Possessive

As the name itself makes clear, this type of adjective demonstrates possession of something. The most common are:

• My – mine/belongs to me;
• His – his/belongs to him;
• Her –hers/belongs to her;
• Their – theirs/belongs to them;
• Your – yours/belongs to you;
• Our – ours/belongs to us.

Here are some examples:

• That is my bicycle. – This is my bike;
• Her friends lied about where they were. – Her friends lied about where they were;
• “Whose cat is that?” “It is our cat”“. – Whose cat is that? He’s our cat.

5. Distributive

These are used to highlight one or more items in a sentence. The most common distributive adjectives are:

• Every – each/everyone in a group (more general);
• Each – each one from a group (individual);
• Either - none;
• Neither – neither one nor the other between two options;
• Any – one or some of several options.

Here are some examples:

• Every rose has its thorn. – Every rose has its thorn;
• Which of these songs do you like? I don't like either song. – Which of these songs do you like? I don’t like any of the songs.

6. Interrogative

Interrogative adjectives are used to form questions, before nouns or pronouns, check it out:

• Which – used to ask a choice question between options;
• What – used to ask a general choice question;
• Whose – used to ask a question to whom something belongs.

Examples of sentences with interrogative adjectives:

• Whose coat is this? – Whose coat is this?
• What kind of car do you want to get? – What kind of car do you want?

7. Articles

They are used to refer to the noun, they are:

THE – for a general and singular item;

An – for a general, singular item before words beginning with a vowel;

The – for a specific item in singular or plural.

Check out the examples:

• I don't understand the question. – I didn't understand the question.
• An elephant can weigh over 6,000 pounds. – An elephant weighs over 6,000 pounds.

Degrees of adjectives in English: understand once and for all

Adjectives in English do not vary in number and gender as in Portuguese, that is, they do not have a plural and do not change between feminine and masculine. For example, the sentence “three beautiful cars” in English becomes “three beautiful cars”“. The plural is marked by the numeral three and by the noun cars. Nonetheless, English adjectives vary in positive, comparative and superlative degree.

Positive degree

It is the adjective used in its normal form to describe people and objects, check out the examples:

• My sister wants a green dress to go to the party. – My sister wants a green dress to go to the party today.
• I want to buy a small car. – I want to buy a small car.

Comparative degree

When the adjective is used to compare two or more nouns. In this case, the following expressions are used:

to the + adjective + to the – as…as;

more + adjective + to the – more…than;

less + adjective + than – less…than.

Here are some examples:

• She is more intelligent than her sister. – She is smarter than her sister;
• The girl is as beautiful as her mother. – The girl is as beautiful as her mother;
• The ring is less andxpensive than the purse. – The ring is less expensive than the bag.

When the adjective is a short word, like big (big), new (new), nice (legal), short (small), old (old) or easy (easy), the comparative degree is formed by the following structure:

Adjective + –er + than – more…than

Examples:

• I am shorter than my brother. – I am shorter than my brother;
• Studying English is easier than studying in Italian. – Studying English is easier than studying Italian;
• My daughter is older than my son. – My daughter is older than my son.

You can explore the comparative degree in the English phrases for photos.

Superlative degree

In the superlative degree, the adjective intensifies the qualities of the nouns with the use of the following expressions:

• Superiority: “the most”, which means “the most”;
• Inferiority: “the least”, which means “the/the least”.

Here are some examples:

• That bicycle is the most expensive in the store. – That bike is the most expensive in the store;
• She is the least qualified candidate for the job. – She is the least qualified candidate for the job.

When the adjective is a short word, the superlative degree is formed by the following structure:

The + adjective + –is

Examples:

• Jack is the oldest brother. – Jack is the older brother.
• My house is the smallest in the neighborhood. – My house is the smallest in the neighborhood.

How to use adjectives in English?

There are some rules for the order of adjectives in English in a sentence, check them out:

1. A qualitative adjective will come before the noun that characterizes it:

• I have a beautiful girlfriend. – I have a beautiful girlfriend;
• Mary and John are excellentt students. – Maria and João are excellent students;
• It is a new car. – It's a new car.

1. A predicative adjective will come after the linking verb (to be, to seem, to get, to become, to feel, to get, to look, to smell):

• The car is new. – The car is new;
• Mary and John are happy. – Maria and João are happy;
• You look great. – You look great.

1. When the sentence has an indefinite pronoun – someone (some), somebody (somebody), something (something), anybody (nobody) –, the adjective will come after these:

• There is something useful here. – There is something useful here;
• There is someone sick in my classroom. – There is someone sick in my classroom;
• They will spend the weekend somewhere cold. – They are going to spend the weekend somewhere cold.

1. When a sentence has more than two adjectives, we follow a certain sequence:

Prioritize the adjectives in this order: opinion → size → age → shape → color → origin → religion → purpose → name.

Here are some examples:

• She has a brand-new red purse. – She has a brand new red bag;
• We prefer the old paper bag. – We prefer the old paper bag;
• My neighbor is a lovely old man. – My neighbor is a lovely old man.

List of most used adjectives in English

See below a list of English adjectives that we have selected for you to increase your English vocabulary:

• Cute - cute;
• Crabby – grumpy;
• Easy – easy;
• Hard – difficult;
• Funny - funny;
• Good - good;
• Long – long;
• Large - big;
• Mean – evil;
• Pretty – beautiful;
• Rich – rich;
• Small - small;
• Strong – strong;
• Talented – talented;
• Wise – wise;
• Slow - slowly;
• Sloppy – sloppy;
• Sensitive - sensitive;
• Shy - shy.

We hope our content has helped you learn English. To continue expanding your vocabulary in the language even further, why not check out post Colors in English: A Guide to Never Forget Them Again.

Keep following the blog from CCAA and achieve the fluency in English you’ve always dreamed of!