Essential English: Adjectives

By Team 11+ Connect

Key Information

Adjectives are describing words; they tell us more about a noun.

Adjectives can describe different features of a noun. For example:

1. Size: large, colossal, miniature, etc

2. Appearance: beautiful, plain, majestic, etc.

3. Colour: azure, metallic, crimson, etc.

4. Sound: cacophonous, deafening, hissing, etc.

5. Feeling: cantankerous, jealous, melancholic, etc.

6. Time: ancient, contemporary, early, etc.

7. Shape: cavernous, narrow, circular, etc.

8. Condition: threadbare, flawless, dilapidated, etc.

Types of Adjectives

In your 11+ Reading Comprehension paper, you may be asked to identify the 'type' of adjective a writer has used. In the table below, we have identified some common types of adjectives.

​Type	Definition	Example
Descriptive	Descriptive adjectives are the most common type of adjective. They describe nouns and pronouns, giving information about their features.	​My house has a red door.
Quantitative	Quantitative adjectives provide the precise or estimated amount of a noun.	I own two cats.
Comparative	​Comparative adjectives are used to compare two nouns. A comparative adjective either ends in ‘er’ or includes the word ‘more’.	​The work is more difficult in Year 5.
Superlative	Superlative adjectives are used to show which noun is the highest or best. A comparative adjective either ends in ‘est’ or includes the word ‘most’.	I am the tallest person in my family.
​Proper	Proper adjectives are formed from proper nouns. Therefore, they always require a capital letter.	We are studying Victorian England in school.
Compound	​Compound adjectives include two or more words, usually joined by a hyphen.	​I hired a designer to create a one-of-a-kind website.
Predicative	Predicative adjectives come after the noun.	The sea was blue.

Task: Identify the Type of Adjective

1. Spring is usually hotter than winter.

2. My dad enjoys drinking Colombian coffee in the morning.

3. Abbie is the shortest girl in the class.

4. Have you seen a black dog?

5. When he scored a goal, the footballer was happy.

6. She was wearing two bracelets.

7. My grandmother bakes the most amazing cakes.

8. He told a long-winded story.

9. I received many gifts for my birthday.

10. The spelling test was more difficult than expected.

Answers

1. Spring is usually hotter than winter.

Comparative

2. My dad enjoys drinking Colombian coffee in the morning.

Proper

3. Abbie is the shortest girl in the class.

Superlative

4. Have you seen a black dog?

Descriptive

5. When he scored a goal, the footballer was happy.

Predicative

6. She was wearing two bracelets.

Quantitative

7. My grandmother bakes the most amazing cakes.

Superlative

8. He told a long-winded story.

Compound

9. I received many gifts for my birthday.

Quantitative

10. The spelling test was more difficult than expected.

Comparative