Elementary School

1. Adjectives:
Words That Describe
Unit 4

2. Grammar 1: What Is an Adjective?
The beautiful flowers
filled the field.

3. Adjectives Tell
“What Kind?” “How Many?” and “Which One?”
• There may be two or
more adjectives
before a noun.
• When an adjective
tells how many, do
not use a comma to
separate them.
• Sometimes, adjectives
follow a linking verb.
• A word that describes
a noun or pronoun is
called an adjective.
• An adjective may be
found in a variety of
places in a sentence.
• Sometimes, they come
before the noun they
are describing.

4. Tip:
To find which word is an adjective, ask
“What kind?” “Which one?”
“How many?”

5. Tip:
• Example: She is a smart happy
girl.
• Example: She is a happy smart
girl.
• You can reverse them and still
have the same meaning, so put in
a comma between them.
• Could you put “and” between
them, and they still make sense?
• If the answer is “yes,” put in the
comma.
• Example: She is a smart and
happy girl.
• She is a smart, happy girl.
• When you have two
adjectives in front of a
noun, sometimes you
need to separate the
adjectives with a
comma, and
sometimes you don’t.
• To help you decide if
you need a comma or
not, try this:
• Could you put the
adjectives in reverse
order, and they still
would make sense?
• If the answer is “yes,”
put in the comma.

6. Tip:
When an adjectives tells “How many?” do
not use a comma.
Example: The three cute puppies chewed
my shoes.

7. Adjectives Before the Noun
• The tall girl wanted to play
basketball.
• The old car wouldn’t start
this morning.
• The ugly bug landed on my
hand.
• The cold rain fell from the
sky.

8. Adjectives After a Linking Verb
The road is bumpy.
The bus is cold.
The horse is fast
The puppy is lively.

9. Adjectives Used to Combine
Sentences
The race horse was fast. He was a tall
horse. He was active.
Example: The tall, active, race horse was
fast.

10. Grammar 2: Articles and
Demonstratives
A, an, and the are articles, a special
kind of adjective. A and an refer to
any person, place, or thing. The refers
to a particular one.
Use a before singular words that
begin with a consonant sound.

11. Articles and Demonstratives (con’d)
. Use an before singular
words that begin with a
vowel sound.
Examples: a cat, a pretty dog,
an apple, an hour (begins
with a consonant, but sounds
as if it starts with the vowel
o.

12. Demonstratives
This, that, these, and those are demonstrative
adjectives. A demonstrative adjective tells which
one. This and these refer to nouns close to the
speaker or writer. That and Those refer to nouns
farther away.
Example: This bus ride will be long.
Example: Give me that coat.
Use this or that before a singular word. Use these
and those before plural words.
Example: this chair those books

13. Grammar 3: Comparing with
Adjectives
• To compare two people,
places, or things (nouns),
add –er to the adjective.
• To compare three or more,
add
-est

14. Comparing with Adjectives Rules
1. One-syllable adjective Add –er or –est to the
adjective
cold
colder
coldest
2. Adjective ending with e Drop the e add –er or –est large
larger
largest
3. Adjective ending with a
consonant and y
Change the y to i and add
-er or –est
happy
happier
happiest

15. 4. One-syllable
adjective that ends
with a single vowel
and a consonant
Double the
consonant and add,
-er or-est
big
bigger
biggest
5. Some adjectives
with two syllables
and all adjectives
with more than
two syllables
Use more or most
instead of –er or
-est
beautiful
more beautiful
most beautiful
6. All adjectives-when
you’re talking
about less instead
of more
Use less or least
with the adjective
beautiful
less beautiful
least beautiful

16. Grammar 4: Comparing with
Good and Bad
The adjectives good and bad have
special forms for making
comparisons. These words do NOT
take the endings –er and
-est or use the words more or most
or less and least to make
comparisons.

17. Comparing with Good and Bad
Describing one
person, place, or
thing
Good Bad
Comparing two
persons, places, or
things
Better Worse
Comparing three or
more persons,
places, or things
Best Worst

18. Proper Adjectives
An adjective formed from a proper
noun is called a proper adjective.
Like a proper noun, a proper
adjective is capitalized.

19. Comparing with Proper Nouns
Italy Italian cooking
Mexico Mexican rug
Switzerland Swiss watch
South America South American bird

20. The End