Adjectives are important words in language because an adjective is a word that describes or modifies a noun, providing more detail about it. A noun is a word that represents a person, place, thing, or idea such as a dog, a city or happiness.
So, an adjective gives more detail about the noun. For example:
- a friendly dog
- a busy city
- great happiness
Without adjectives, one could not know anything about anything!
For more about how adjectives are placed in a sentence, please see the attached link.
For more on word classes or parts of speech, nouns, adjectives, verbs, etc., please see this link.
Suffixes and prefixes
Endings or letters added to the ends of words are called suffixes: joyful.
Endings or letters added to the beginnings of words are called prefixes: unhappy.
The root form of a word is the most basic part from which other forms, such as nouns, verbs and adjectives, are derived.
For example, the root word act can be used to form action (noun) or active (adjective).
Adjective endings
When a word becomes an adjective, the root form tends to take a suffix. Here are a few common suffixes for English adjectives:
1. –ful: Indicates that something is full of a certain quality.
– Examples: joyful, hopeful, beautiful, bountiful, artful
2. –less: Indicates the absence of a certain quality.
– Examples: hopeless, careless, fearless, boundless, joyless
3. –ous: Indicates that something has a lot of a particular quality.
– Examples: famous, nervous, courageous, contagious
4. –ive: Often describes a tendency or capability.
– Examples: active, creative, supportive, sensitive, impressive
5. –al: Relates to or characterized by a particular quality or aspect.
– Examples: natural, personal, cultural, physical, historical, logical
6. –ic: Often used to form adjectives describing something related to or characteristic of something.
– Examples: historic, classic, psychic, artistic, geographic, romantic
7. –y: Can describe a quality or characteristic, often with a more informal or colloquial tone.
– Examples: happy, messy, frosty, sunny, shady, salty, tasty, cloudy
8. –ed: Indicates the state or feeling experienced as a result of an effect.
– Examples: prepared, motivated, respected, shocked, confused
9. –ing: Indicates something that causes or generates an effect.
– Examples: jumping, talking, laughing, pleasing, fascinating
10. –ible and –able: Adjectives ending in –ible are typically derived from Latin and are often used to describe the capacity or ability of something. These adjectives are similar to those ending in –able, but they are less common and usually pertain to words that have Latin roots.
– Adjectives ending in –ible: accessible, visible, possible, flexible, edible
-ible endings are generally attached to words with Latin origins where the root word does not stand alone as an English word. For example “visible” comes from “visibilis” in Latin. On the other hand, -able is often added to more straightforward English root words.
– Adjectives ending in –able: comfortable, reliable, manageable, remarkable
Comparative and superlative adjective forms
The comparative form is used to compare two things, indicating that one has more or less of a certain quality than the other. The superlative form is used to compare three or more things, indicating that one has the highest or lowest degree of a certain quality. This form can be used with adjectives and adverbs, but here, we look at adjectives.
To form the comparative, most adjectives add –er to the base form of a word. For some adjectives, in particular but not exclusively longer ones, the word more is placed before the adjective:
- Base form adjective: a tall giraffe
- Comparative adjective: this giraffe is taller than that one
- Base form adjective: an interesting book
- Comparative form: this book is more interesting than the other
To form the superlative, most adjectives add –est to the base form. For some adjectives, in particular but not exclusively longer ones, most is placed before the adjective:
- Base form adjective: a tall giraffe
- Superlative adjective: this is the tallest giraffe I’ve seen
- Base form adjective: an interesting book
- Superlative adjective: this is the most interesting book I’ve ever read
For more on comparative and superlative adjectives as well as the detailed use of less, least, few, fewer, fewest, more and most, please see the linked post.
Irregular comparative adjective forms
Irregular comparative adjective forms are adjectives that do not follow the standard rules for forming comparative and superlative degrees. Irregular adjectives change in unpredictable ways, without following the rules above.
Here are some examples:
Good → Better → Best
The adjective good does not become gooder or goodest. Instead, it changes to better for the comparative form and best for the superlative.
Bad → Worse → Worst
Similarly, bad becomes worse in the comparative form and worst in the superlative.
Far → Farther/Further → Farthest/Furthest
The adjective far has two possible irregular comparative and superlative forms, with both farther/further and farthest/furthest being acceptable depending on the context.
Other exceptions include:
- Little → Less → Least
- Much/Many → More → Most
- Old → Older/Elder → Oldest/Eldest
- Out → Outer → Outermost
Because these irregular forms are exceptions to the typical grammatical patterns, they must be memorised since they do not follow a predictable rule.
Other irregular adjective forms
There are irregular adjectives that do not conform to typical adjective patterns in other ways:
Alone – Unlike most adjectives, alone cannot be modified with “very” or “more,” and it doesn’t have a comparative or superlative form.
Afraid – As with alone, afraid does not take comparative or superlative forms and is irregular in how it behaves in sentences.
Asleep – Asleep is an adjective, but it is irregular in that it is only used in the predicate position For example, “The child is asleep”, and not before a noun. One cannot speak of “an asleep child”. See adjective placement and order in English sentences.
Utmost – This adjective is irregular in that it often appears as a superlative, but there is no regular adjective form or comparative form since utmost is not derived from “ut” or “utter”.
Aghast – Similar to afraid and asleep, aghast does not have comparative or superlative forms and is not used attributively. One cannot speak of “an aghast person”.
Conclusion
Adjective suffixes modify base words to provide specific qualities or characteristics. Different suffixes add unique detail to adjectives. The same root forms of words can take different adjective suffixes dependent on context and what they are describing, such as using comparative or superlative forms.
Please feel free to add any questions or comments below.
Exercises to practise
Have a go at this quiz to see what adjective forms you already know.
Now, please try some of the other quizzes on the quiz page.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
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New Hart’s Rules: The Handbook of Style for Writers and Editors (Oxford University Press, 2005)
https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/