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…

English compares adjectives in three degrees, and the form changes with how many things are involved. Positive Comparative (two) Superlative (three or more) tall taller tallest happy happier happiest careful more careful most careful expensive more expensive most expensive The rule that decides between the endings and the words more/most is syllable count, and it…

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 is a group of words with its own subject and verb that together modifies a noun. In the engineer who fixed the boiler left early, the underlined clause describes the engineer – and it contains a subject (who) and a verb (fixed) of its own. That subject-and-verb is the whole difference between…

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…

An interrogative adjective asks a question about the noun it sits in front of. There are three: which, what, and whose. Which platform leaves first? What colour did you choose? Whose coat is on the chair? Remove the noun and they stop being adjectives. Which leaves first? uses which as a pronoun, because it no…

A proper adjective is formed from a proper noun and keeps its capital letter. France gives French, Shakespeare gives Shakespearean, Victoria gives Victorian. They are the only adjectives in English that are capitalised, which makes them the one place where choosing an adjective changes your punctuation. Where they come from Source Proper noun Proper adjective…

A demonstrative adjective points at a noun and tells you which one is meant. English has exactly four: this, that, these, those. They are chosen on two axes at once – how near the thing is, and whether there is one of it or several. Near Far Singular this chair that chair Plural these chairs…

An adjective modifies a noun or pronoun. An adverb modifies a verb, an adjective, or another adverb. That is the whole distinction, and almost every error in this area comes from applying it to the wrong word. She is a careful driver. – careful describes the driver, a noun, so it is an adjective. She…