As we learned last time, descriptive words can be a necessary addition to your writing, but only when used with intention. If done incorrectly, descriptive words can actually leave your reader with less information than if you had found the right verbs or nouns for what you were trying to describe. However, if you learn to use them properly, they can add some necessary information to your sentences that would be lacking otherwise.
This week, we’ll tackle adjectives, the descriptive words paired with nouns. These words give extra meaning, color, and significance to the nouns in your sentences. There are thirteen common types of adjectives, but we’ll be starting with the first seven:
comparative
superlative
predicate
compound
possessive
demonstrative
proper
Quick reminder: Don’t get too overwhelmed! We’re not in a class where you get a grade, so you don’t need to memorize each of these types. You already use these without even thinking about it every day. This is just meant to help you understand the words you already use. You don’t have to remember every category to use them effectively—it’s not like I’ve put this blog together off the top of my head. Feel free to come back to this post as often as you need.
Types of Adjectives
Comparative adjectives: an adjective that connects two nouns, comparing them against each other. For example,
Robert is stronger than Joshua.
With the use of this comparative adjective, we are comparing Joshua and Robert with each other and coming to the conclusion that Robert is the stronger of the two.
Superlative adjectives: an adjective that compares a single noun to a group of nouns, indicating extremes—such as most or least. These are essentially an extreme version of comparative adjectives.
In the case of Robert and Joshua, perhaps Robert is the strongest in their jiu-jitsu class. Instead of comparing Robert to just Joshua, we compare him to an entire group and find that he comes out on top.
Predicate adjectives: an adjective connected to the noun by a linking verb instead of sitting directly beside the noun or pronoun. For example,
Rebecca is creative
Albert was joyful.
These predicate adjectives are used in situations where it doesn’t make sense to put the adjective right beside the noun. We generally wouldn’t say “creative Rebecca” or “joyful Albert,” so instead, we place the adjective toward the end of the sentence.
Compound adjectives: an adjective which is made up of multiple words, such as back-breaking or brokenhearted.
Possessive adjectives: an adjective that shows who possesses a particular noun, such as my, your, its, her, his, our, their, whose.
Demonstrative adjectives: an adjective that establishes the noun’s position in time and space, such as that, those, these, etc.
Proper adjectives: an adjective that is created out of a proper noun, usually describing a noun’s origin or connection to a proper noun. For example, a Shakespearean sonnet is a poem written in the style of Shakespeare’s sonnets or a French person is generally someone who was born in France or has French heritage. These adjectives are always capitalized, just like their proper noun counterparts.
Next time, we will be looking into the last six types of adjectives, and once we’re finished there, we’ll move on to adverbs. Remember to use these sparingly, and when possible, use a better, more descriptive noun in its place!
