Describing words are words that tell you what something is like: its size, colour, sound, feel, mood or character. Most of them are adjectives, such as tiny, golden, creaky or stubborn, and they sit next to a noun or after a verb like is, seems or looks. Some describing words are adverbs instead: they describe…

Many English adjectives are followed by one specific preposition, and the pairing has to be learned rather than worked out. You are good at something, afraid of something, interested in something. Swap the prepositions and each one breaks. This is one of the most common sources of error for learners and one of the least…

A double comparative marks a comparison twice, and English allows only one marker per adjective. More better, most easiest and more taller are all the same error. English gives you two ways to compare, and they are alternatives, not ingredients: Method Comparative Superlative Endings taller tallest Separate word more careful most careful Use one or…

The as … as structure says two things are equal, where a comparative says one exceeds the other. She is as tall as her brother claims they match; she is taller than her brother does not. The pattern is fixed: as + plain adjective + as + the thing compared. The adjective stays in its…

A small group of English adjectives forms its comparative and superlative from entirely different words. There is no rule behind them; they are survivals from older forms of the language, and they have to be memorised. Fortunately the list is short, and it contains some of the most frequent adjectives in the language. Positive Comparative…

Comparative adjectives compare two things (taller, more careful); superlative adjectives pick out one from a group of three or more (tallest, most careful). Short adjectives add -er and -est; long ones use more and most; a handful, such as good, better, best, are irregular. Positive Comparative (two) Superlative (three or more) tall taller tallest happy…

A superlative adjective marks the extreme of a group: the highest, the lowest, the most or the least. The tallest building, the most careful answer, the worst week. It sits at the top of a three-step ladder English uses for comparison: Degree Used for Example Positive a plain description a tall building Comparative two things…

An adjective clause (also called a relative clause) is a group of words with its own subject and verb that describes a noun. It usually starts with who, whom, whose, which or that, or with where, when or why, and comes right after the noun it describes: The engineer who fixed the boiler left early….

A participial adjective is a verb form doing an adjective’s job. A running tap, a broken promise, an exciting result, an exhausted team. They come in two shapes, and choosing the wrong one produces the single funniest error in English. -ing describes the cause, -ed describes the feeling -ing form -ed form The lecture was…

A quantitative adjective tells you how many or how much. Three attempts, enough time, several reasons, no excuse. Almost every difficulty with them comes from a single distinction: whether the noun can be counted. Countable and uncountable Countable nouns have a plural and can take a number – one chair, four chairs. Uncountable nouns do…