Grammar Lesson #2: Adjectives

When I was in elementary school, I loved my English classes. When we first discussed adjectives, they were simply called “describing words,” and while it’s a touch more complicated than that, the idea, at it’s core, is true. So, welcome to Grammar Lesson #2: Adjectives.

An adjective is a word that modifies a noun or a noun phrase. The adjective can come either before or after the noun or noun phrase it modifies. The adjectives will be called different things depending on their position.

• A prepositive adjective comes before the noun or noun phrase (it’s called an antecedent basis).
• A postpositive adjective comes after the noun or noun phrase (this would be a predicate adjective).
• A nominalized adjective is when an adjective takes the place of a noun.

The way in which the adjective modifies the noun is essentially to describe or to give more information about the noun. The adjective lives to provide the sentence with the description and information that it needs in order to make sense. Adjectives are our friends.

Here are some example sentences using adjectives:

1. The big tree stood for a hundred years. Prepositive adjective.
2. The big tree limb stood in my way. Postpositive adjective
3. Out with the old, in with the new. Nominalized adjective.

In review, adjectives are words that modify nouns or noun phrases. They can come before or after the noun phrase, and they can even take the place of the noun. They modify the noun by describing it, or changing the information that it provides.

Thank you for reading grammar lesson #2: adjectives. Let me know if you would like to know about a different part of speech or something completely new.