A1Adjectives

Adjectives (overview)

What is it?

Adjectives are words that describe or modify nouns and pronouns. They give us more information about the qualities, sizes, shapes, colors, or feelings of things. For example, "beautiful house," "red car," "tall man." In English, adjectives don't change form for singular/plural or masculine/feminine, making them relatively simple to use once you understand their basic rules.

How to form it

Subject	Positive	Negative	Question
Before noun	a beautiful house	not a beautiful house	Is it a beautiful house?
Before noun	a red car	not a red car	Is it a red car?
After "be"	The house is beautiful	The house is not beautiful	Is the house beautiful?
After "be"	The car is red	The car is not red	Is the car red?
With linking verbs	She looks tired	She doesn't look tired	Does she look tired?
Plural (no change)	big dogs	not big dogs	Are they big dogs?

• Adjectives come before the noun: a beautiful house, a red car
• Adjectives can come after 'be' and linking verbs (seem, look, feel, sound): The house is beautiful, She looks tired
• Adjectives don't change for singular/plural: big dog → big dogs (not 'bigs dogs')
• Adjectives don't change for masculine/feminine: smart boy, smart girl
• Common adjective types: size (big, small), color (red, blue), age (old, young), quality (good, bad), feeling (happy, sad)

When to use it

1
Position before nouns — adjectives describe the noun that follows
"She has a beautiful house." / "I want a new car." / "He's a tall man."
2
Position after "be" — predicative position describes the subject
"The house is beautiful." / "The car is new." / "He is tall."
3
After linking verbs — seem, look, feel, sound, taste, smell
"She looks tired." / "The food smells good." / "He seems happy."
4
No form changes — adjectives stay the same for all situations
"A big dog / Two big dogs" / "A smart boy / A smart girl"
5
Common adjective types — size, color, shape, age, quality, feeling
"big, small, tall, short" / "red, blue, green" / "old, new, young" / "good, bad, nice"

Common mistakes

She is a teacher good.

She is a good teacher.

Adjectives come before the noun in English, not after (unlike some other languages).

They have cars reds.

They have red cars.

Adjectives don't change form for plural nouns. Don't add -s to adjectives.

This is house very old.

This is a very old house.

Place 'very' before the adjective, and adjectives before the noun. Word order matters in English.

He has eyes blues.

He has blue eyes.

Adjective position is before the noun, and adjectives don't take plural forms.

Quick reference

Adjectives describe nouns: beautiful house, red car, tall man
Position: before noun (a big dog) OR after 'be' (The dog is big)
After linking verbs: looks, seems, feels, sounds, tastes, smells
No changes: same form for singular/plural, masculine/feminine
Types: size (big, small), color (red, blue), age (old, new), quality (good, bad)
Common mistake: Don't put adjectives after nouns in English

Natural conversation example

At a pet shop, a customer is looking for a dog

Customer

Hi! I'm looking for a small dog.

Shop Owner

We have many cute puppies. Do you want a young dog or an older one?

Customer

A young puppy would be nice. What colors do you have?

Shop Owner

We have black, brown, and white puppies. This little brown puppy is very friendly.

Customer

Oh, she's beautiful! Is she healthy?

Shop Owner

Yes, all our puppies are healthy. She's also very playful and smart.

Customer

Perfect! I'll take her.

Practice Exercises

Complete the sentences with the correct adjective.

1.
I have a car. (new)
2.
The flowers are . (beautiful)
3.
She has eyes. (blue)
4.
They live in a house. (big)
5.
This is a book. (interesting)
6.
The weather is . (cold)

All Topics Adjectives and Adverbs

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