Adjectives

An adjective is a describing word. We use adjectives to give more information about the things we are talking about. Words for colours and feelings are adjectives.

The red car.

‘Red’ is an adjective. It gives us more information about the car.

I am tired.

‘Tired’ is an adjective. It gives us more information about you.

Using Adjectives

We use adjectives with nouns or pronouns. The adjectives give more information about the noun or pronoun they relate to.

Nouns are the names of people, places, and things.
Pronouns are small words we use in place of a noun.

Adjective + noun

We can use an adjective before the noun it relates to:

adjective + noun

John has a red car.

‘Red’ is the adjective. ‘Car’ is the noun.

That is a beautiful dress.

‘Beautiful’ is the adjective. ‘Dress’ is the noun.

Noun + be + adjective

We can also use adjectives after the noun or pronoun they relate to, with the verb ‘be’ in between:

noun + be + adjective pronoun + be + adjective

John is tall

‘John’ is the noun. ‘Tall’ is the adjective.

It was cold yesterday

‘It’ is the pronoun. ‘Cold’ is the adjective.

Using Multiple Adjectives

We can use adjectives together to help us describe the noun or pronoun we are talking about.

When your adjectives come before the noun, you put commas in between each adjective.

John has a big, red, shiny car.

‘Big’, ‘red’, and ‘shiny’ are adjectives. ‘Car’ is the noun.

When your adjectives come after the noun, you put commas in between each adjective and you put ‘and’ between the last two adjectives.

John’s car is big, red, and shiny.

‘Big’, ‘red’, and ‘shiny’ are adjectives. ‘Car’ is the noun.

John’s car is big and red.

‘Big’, and ‘red’ are adjectives. ‘Car’ is the noun.