by R. S. Karunaratne

Classification of 

An adjective is a word that adds something to the meaning of a noun.

Chamal is a clever boy.

Sheila is a beautiful girl.

We walked along the narrow road and reached a small temple.

Sunil climbed a tall tree to pluck some mangoes.

After the plane crash, the police started looking for the black box.

Manmohan Singh arrived in an Indian car.

In the above sentences the adjectives are placed before the nouns. However, the adjective may be used after nouns as in the following sentences.
Galle Road is narrow here.
The weather is fine in the month of April.
Roses are beautiful, wherever they bloom.
Ruhunu Kumari is always late.
The lecture is interesting.

When adjectives appear before nouns they are called noun modifiers. When adjectives are used after the verb they are known as complements.

Adjectives are classified into seven types according to the functions they perform.

i. Quality
You are wearing a beautiful sari. Father is an honest businessman.

ii. Quantity
Some friends visited me in hospital.
Jane has three daughters.
Students carry many books.

iii. Proper
Sunimal bought a Japanese car.
Indian goods are cheap.

iv. Demonstrative
This shirt is more expensive than that one.
Those apples are cheaper than these.

v. Interrogative
Whose bicycle are you riding?
Which is your pen?

vi. Participle
Wash your hands in running water.
Are you good at spoken English?

vii. Emphasizing
I saw the accident with my own eyes.

This is the very book I was looking for.

Comparative and superlative forms.

Adjectives of one syllable make their comparative and superlative forms by adding 'er' and 'est' to the positive.

Positive 	Comparative 	Superlative 
tall 		taller		tallest 
long 		longer 		longest 
short		shorter		shortest 
sweet 		sweeter 	sweetest 

For one-syllable adjectives ending in 'e' add 'r' and 'st' to form the comparative and superlative.

Positive 	Comparative	 Superlative 
fine 		finer		 finest 
brave		braver 		 bravest 
wise 		wiser 		 wisest 

If a one-syllable adjective ends in a vowel followed by a consonant, the consonant is doubled.

Positive 	Comparative 	Superlative 
big 		bigger		 biggest 
fat 		fatter 		 fattest 
hot 		hotter 		 hottest 
sad 		sadder 		 saddest 

If a one-syllable adjective ends in a consonant and 'y', 'y' is dropped and 'ier' and `iest' are added.

Positive	Comparative 	Superlative 
easy 		easier		 easiest 
dry 		drier		 driest 
holy		holier 		 holiest 
funny		funnier 	 funniest 

Following are irregular forms

Positive 	Comparative	 Superlative 
bad 		worse 		 worst 
good		better		 best 
little 		less 		 least 
much 		more 		 most 
many		more		 most 
far		farther		 farthest 
old 		older		 oldest 
old 		elder 		 eldest 

Adjectives of more than two syllables form their comparative and superlative by the addition of 'more' and 'most' respectively.

Positive 	Comparative 		Superlative 
beautiful	more beautiful 		most beautiful 
intelligent	more intelligent 	most intelligent 
important	more important 		most important 

Words are wonderful raw material for your speech and writing. Enrich your vocabulary with more and more new words and phrases.

Here’s a quiz to test your vocabulary. Check your answers with the solution.

1. The fish in the Beira Lake are being killed by pollutants in the water.
(a) a substance that pollutes the environment
(b) a chemical sprayed to kill insects
(c) garbage dumped into the lake

2. Maxwell is a hardbitten detective.
(a) bitten severely by a dog
(b) made hard by experience
(c) beaten up by thugs

3. SRK is a megastar in India.
(a) big star
(b) a tiny star
(c) a very famous performer

4. Shakespeare was a well-known playwright.
(a) one who wrote plays
(b) one who wrote while playing
(c) one who was a playful person

5. A robust young man was picked to play the main role of the film.
(a) tall
(b) weak
(c) vigorous

Solutions: 1. (a), 2. (b), 3. (c), 4. (a), 5. (c).