{"id":4078,"date":"2013-06-27T17:21:32","date_gmt":"2013-06-27T17:21:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.mometrix.com\/academy\/?page_id=4078"},"modified":"2026-03-25T11:06:33","modified_gmt":"2026-03-25T16:06:33","slug":"what-is-an-adjective","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.mometrix.com\/academy\/what-is-an-adjective\/","title":{"rendered":"Adjectives"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\t\t\t<div id=\"mmDeferVideoEncompass_8-tN8gUSGdA\" style=\"position: relative;\">\n\t\t\t<picture>\n\t\t\t\t<source srcset=\"https:\/\/www.mometrix.com\/academy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/circle-play-duotone.webp\" type=\"image\/webp\">\n\t\t\t\t<source srcset=\"https:\/\/www.mometrix.com\/academy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/circle-play-duotone.png\" type=\"image\/jpeg\"> \n\t\t\t\t<img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"eager\" id=\"videoThumbnailImage_8-tN8gUSGdA\" data-source-videoID=\"8-tN8gUSGdA\" src=\"https:\/\/www.mometrix.com\/academy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/circle-play-duotone.png\" alt=\"Adjectives Video\" height=\"464\" width=\"825\" class=\"size-full\" data-matomo-title = \"Adjectives\">\n\t\t\t<\/picture>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<style>img#videoThumbnailImage_8-tN8gUSGdA:hover {cursor:pointer;} img#videoThumbnailImage_8-tN8gUSGdA {background-size:contain;background-image:url(\"https:\/\/www.mometrix.com\/academy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/updated-adjectives-64bffaaddddb2.webp\");}<\/style>\n\t\t\t<script defer>\n\t\t\t  jQuery(\"img#videoThumbnailImage_8-tN8gUSGdA\").click(function() {\n\t\t\t\tlet videoId = jQuery(this).attr(\"data-source-videoID\");\n\t\t\t\tlet helpTag = '<div id=\"mmDeferVideoYTMessage_8-tN8gUSGdA\" style=\"display: none;position: absolute;top: -24px;width: 100%;text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-style: italic;font-size: small;border-top: 1px solid #fc0;\">Having trouble? <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v='+videoId+'\" target=\"_blank\">Click here to watch on YouTube.<\/a><\/span><\/div>';\n\t\t\t\tlet tag = document.createElement(\"iframe\");\n\t\t\t\ttag.id = \"yt\" + videoId;\n\t\t\t\ttag.src = \"https:\/\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\/embed\/\" + videoId + \"?autoplay=1&controls=1&wmode=opaque&rel=0&egm=0&iv_load_policy=3&hd=0&enablejsapi=1\";\n\t\t\t\ttag.frameborder = 0;\n\t\t\t\ttag.allow = \"autoplay; fullscreen\";\n\t\t\t\ttag.width = this.width;\n\t\t\t\ttag.height = this.height;\n\t\t\t\ttag.setAttribute(\"data-matomo-title\",\"Adjectives\");\n\t\t\t\tjQuery(\"div#mmDeferVideoEncompass_8-tN8gUSGdA\").html(tag);\n\t\t\t\tjQuery(\"div#mmDeferVideoEncompass_8-tN8gUSGdA\").prepend(helpTag);\n\t\t\t\tsetTimeout(function(){jQuery(\"div#mmDeferVideoYTMessage_8-tN8gUSGdA\").css(\"display\", \"block\");}, 2000);\n\t\t\t  });\n\t\t\t  \n\t\t\t<\/script>\n\t\t\n<p><script>\nfunction gHO_Function() {\n  var x = document.getElementById(\"gHO\");\n  if (x.style.display === \"none\") {\n    x.style.display = \"block\";\n  } else {\n    x.style.display = \"none\";\n  }\n}\n<\/script><\/p>\n<div class=\"moc-toc hide-on-desktop hide-on-tablet\">\n<div><button onclick=\"gHO_Function()\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.mometrix.com\/academy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/toc2.svg\" width=\"16\" height=\"16\" alt=\"show or hide table of contents\"><\/button><\/p>\n<p>On this page<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<nav id=\"gHO\" style=\"display:none;\">\n<ul>\n<li class=\"toc-h2\"><a href=\"#What_is_an_Adjective\" class=\"smooth-scroll\">What is an Adjective?<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"toc-h2\"><a href=\"#Frequently_Asked_Questions\" class=\"smooth-scroll\">Frequently Asked Questions<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"toc-h2\"><a href=\"#What_is_an_Adjective_PDF\" class=\"smooth-scroll\">What is an Adjective? PDF<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/nav>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"accordion\"><input id=\"transcript\" type=\"checkbox\" class=\"spoiler_button\" \/><label for=\"transcript\">Transcript<\/label><input id=\"FAQs\" type=\"checkbox\" class=\"spoiler_button\" \/><label for=\"FAQs\">FAQs<\/label><input id=\"factsheet\" type=\"checkbox\" class=\"spoiler_button\" \/><label for=\"factsheet\">Fact Sheet<\/label>\n<div class=\"spoiler\" id=\"transcript-spoiler\">\n<h2><span id=\"What_is_an_Adjective\" class=\"m-toc-anchor\"><\/span>What is an Adjective?<\/h2>\n<h3><span id=\"Example_1\" class=\"m-toc-anchor\"><\/span>Example #1<\/h3>\n<div class=\"transcriptcallout\">The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.<\/div>\n<p>\n&nbsp;<br \/>\nThis silly sentence contains all of the letters of the alphabet, and you might notice it is also stuffed full of adjectives. In this video, we\u2019ll talk about what adjectives are and how to use them in a sentence.<\/p>\n<p>An <strong>adjective<\/strong> is a word that describes a <a class=\"ylist\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mometrix.com\/academy\/what-is-a-noun\/\">noun<\/a>. It can describe something\u2019s size, color, age, origin, material, or shape. Adjectives can be used to make the subject simpler to understand and to shed light on what an author wants their ideas to truly convey.<\/p>\n<p>The adjectives used in the sentence about the fox and the dog are <em>quick<\/em> and <em>brown<\/em>, describing the fox, and <em>lazy<\/em>, which describes the dog. <\/p>\n<h3><span id=\"Example_2\" class=\"m-toc-anchor\"><\/span>Example #2<\/h3>\n<p>\nHere is another example: <\/p>\n<div class=\"transcriptcallout\">She is the smartest student in the class.<\/div>\n<p>\n&nbsp;<br \/>\n<em>Student<\/em> is the noun and smartest is describing what kind of student she is, so <em>smartest<\/em> is the adjective.<\/p>\n<h3><span id=\"Example_3\" class=\"m-toc-anchor\"><\/span>Example #3<\/h3>\n<p>\nShakespeare has been credited for adding hundreds of new words to the English language when he was writing, and many of those were adjectives. An example of Shakespearean adjectives can be found here:<\/p>\n<div class=\"transcriptcallout\" style=\"text-align: left;\">\u201cThou cold-blooded slave, hast thou not spoke like thunder on my side, been sworn my soldier, bidding me depend upon thy stars, thy fortune and thy strength, and dost thou now fall over to my fores?\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: right; margin-bottom: 0em;\">\u2013 King John<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>\n&nbsp;<br \/>\n<em>Cold-blooded<\/em> is an adjective that describes the slave. It helps us to know what type of person the slave was. <em>Cold-blooded<\/em> is a word that had been used to describe snakes and reptiles, but Shakespeare used it for the first time to describe a person.<\/p>\n<h3><span id=\"Example_4\" class=\"m-toc-anchor\"><\/span>Example #4<\/h3>\n<p>\nHere is an example from the book <em>Little Women<\/em>:<\/p>\n<div class=\"transcriptcallout\" style=\"text-align: left;\">\u201cShe remembered her mother\u2019s promise and, slipping her hand under her pillow, drew out a little crimson-covered book.\u201d<\/div>\n<p>\n&nbsp;<br \/>\n<em>Crimson-covered<\/em> describes the color of the fabric that was covering the book.<\/p>\n<p>As you can see, using adjectives can make your sentences and ideas come to life. Instead of just saying that the firework display was beautiful, you can make it much more exciting and easier to envision what the fireworks actually looked like by saying:<\/p>\n<div class=\"transcriptcallout\" style=\"text-align: left;\">The fireworks this year were bursting brightly overhead as the bright, dazzling sparkles lit up the sky.<\/div>\n<p>\n&nbsp;<br \/>\n<em>Bright<\/em> and <em>dazzling<\/em> are just two of the many, many adjectives that make writing so descriptive and fun to read! <\/p>\n<p>I hope that we have helped you understand more about adjectives. Thanks so much for watching. See you next time and, as always, happy studying!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"spoiler\" id=\"FAQs-spoiler\">\n<h2 style=\"text-align:center\"><span id=\"Frequently_Asked_Questions\" class=\"m-toc-anchor\"><\/span>Frequently Asked Questions<\/h2>\n<div class=\"faq-list\">\n<div class=\"qa_wrap\">\n<div class=\"q_item text_bold\">\n<h4 class=\"letter\">Q<\/h4>\n<p style=\"line-height: unset;\">What is an adjective?<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"a_item\">\n<h4 class=\"letter text_bold\">A<\/h4>\n<p>An adjective is a word that describes a noun, adverb, or other adjective. For example, <em>green<\/em>, <em>small<\/em>, <em>magical<\/em>, <em>old<\/em>, and <em>quick<\/em> are words that can be used as adjectives.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"qa_wrap\">\n<div class=\"q_item text_bold\">\n<h4 class=\"letter\">Q<\/h4>\n<p style=\"line-height: unset;\">What is a predicate adjective?<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"a_item\">\n<h4 class=\"letter text_bold\">A<\/h4>\n<p>First, remember that the predicate of a sentence is the part of the sentence that explains what the subject is doing. A predicate adjective is an adjective that appears in the predicate of a sentence (usually immediately following the verb) and describes the subject of a sentence. Here are a few examples with the predicate adjective bolded and the subjects they are describing underlined:<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">\u201c<span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Jorge<\/span> was <strong>exhausted<\/strong> after school.\u201d<br \/>\u201cThis <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">blanket<\/span> is <strong>soft<\/strong>.\u201d<br \/>\u201cThat <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">pizza<\/span> smells <strong>delicious<\/strong>!\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"qa_wrap\">\n<div class=\"q_item text_bold\">\n<h4 class=\"letter\">Q<\/h4>\n<p style=\"line-height: unset;\">What is a superlative adjective?<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"a_item\">\n<h4 class=\"letter text_bold\">A<\/h4>\n<p>A superlative adjective is an adjective that is used to describe a noun using the most extreme high or extreme low quality. For example, <em>tallest<\/em>, <em>shortest<\/em>, <em>best<\/em>, <em>worst<\/em>, <em>biggest<\/em>, and <em>smallest<\/em> are all examples of superlative adjectives.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"qa_wrap\">\n<div class=\"q_item text_bold\">\n<h4 class=\"letter\">Q<\/h4>\n<p style=\"line-height: unset;\">What is a coordinate adjective?<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"a_item\">\n<h4 class=\"letter text_bold\">A<\/h4>\n<p>Coordinate adjectives are adjectives that are used together to modify the same word. These adjectives are often either separated by the word <em>and<\/em> or by a comma. Here are a few examples:<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">\u201cThey walked down the <strong>long<\/strong>, <strong>narrow<\/strong> path.\u201d<br \/>\u201cThat is a <strong>large<\/strong> and <strong>expensive<\/strong> house!\u201d<br \/>\u201cThere are <strong>three<\/strong> <strong>soft<\/strong> pillows on my couch.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"qa_wrap\">\n<div class=\"q_item text_bold\">\n<h4 class=\"letter\">Q<\/h4>\n<p style=\"line-height: unset;\">Is &quot;the&quot; an adjective?<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"a_item\">\n<h4 class=\"letter text_bold\">A<\/h4>\n<p>Yes, the word <em>the<\/em> is an adjective. <em>The<\/em> is known as an article, along with the words <em>a<\/em> and <em>an<\/em>. Articles describe whether something is specific or general. The article <em>the<\/em> is used to describe something specific.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">\u201cLet\u2019s read <strong>a<\/strong> book.\u201d<br \/>\u201cCan I have <strong>an<\/strong> apple?\u201d<br \/>\u201cPlease shut <strong>the<\/strong> door.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"spoiler\" id=\"factsheet-spoiler\">\n<h2 style=\"text-align:center\"><span id=\"What_is_an_Adjective_PDF\" class=\"m-toc-anchor\"><\/span>What is an Adjective? PDF<\/h2>\n<div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<img width=\"1979\" height=\"2560\" src=\"https:\/\/www.mometrix.com\/academy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Adjectives-Fact-Sheet-Cover-Image-scaled.webp\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"An educational poster explains adjectives, giving examples highlighting them in brown and green boxes, and describing coordinate and compound adjectives with sample sentences.\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.mometrix.com\/academy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Adjectives-Fact-Sheet-Cover-Image-scaled.webp 1979w, https:\/\/www.mometrix.com\/academy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Adjectives-Fact-Sheet-Cover-Image-232x300.webp 232w, https:\/\/www.mometrix.com\/academy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Adjectives-Fact-Sheet-Cover-Image-792x1024.webp 792w, https:\/\/www.mometrix.com\/academy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Adjectives-Fact-Sheet-Cover-Image-768x993.webp 768w, https:\/\/www.mometrix.com\/academy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Adjectives-Fact-Sheet-Cover-Image-1187x1536.webp 1187w, https:\/\/www.mometrix.com\/academy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Adjectives-Fact-Sheet-Cover-Image-1583x2048.webp 1583w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1979px) 100vw, 1979px\" \/><\/p>\n<div class=\"sub_categories\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.mometrix.com\/academy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Adjectives-Fact-Sheet.pdf\"><span id=\"Adjectives_PDF_Download\" class=\"m-toc-anchor\"><\/span>Adjectives PDF Download<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"home-buttons\">\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.mometrix.com\/academy\/parts-of-a-sentence\/\">Return to Parts of a Sentence Videos<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Return to Parts of a Sentence Videos<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":186632,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":{"0":"post-4078","1":"page","2":"type-page","3":"status-publish","4":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"page_category-parts-of-a-sentence-videos","7":"page_category-video-pages-for-study-course-sidebar-ad","8":"page_type-video","9":"content_type-fact-sheet","10":"subject_matter-english"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mometrix.com\/academy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4078","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mometrix.com\/academy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mometrix.com\/academy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mometrix.com\/academy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mometrix.com\/academy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4078"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.mometrix.com\/academy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4078\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":281615,"href":"https:\/\/www.mometrix.com\/academy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4078\/revisions\/281615"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mometrix.com\/academy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/186632"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mometrix.com\/academy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4078"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}