Adjectives & their kinds
Definition of an Adjective
According to the Cambridge Dictionary, an adjective is defined as “a word that describes a noun or pronoun.” The Collins Dictionary gives a more elaborate definition. According to it, “an adjective is a word such as ‘big’, ‘ dead’, or ‘ financial’ that describes a person or thing, or gives extra information about them. Adjectives usually come before nouns or after link verbs.”
The Oxford Learner’s Dictionary defines an adjective as “a word that describes a person or thing, for example ‘big’, ‘red’ and ‘clever’ in a big house, red wine and a clever idea.” An adjective is “a word belonging to one of the major form classes in any of numerous languages and typically serving as a modifier of a noun to denote a quality of the thing named, to indicate its quantity or extent, or to specify a thing as distinct from something else”, according to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary.
Forms of Adjectives – Degrees of Comparison
Did you know that adjectives can be used to compare similar qualities of different subjects that perform the same action. There are three forms of adjectives or rather three degrees of comparison. The are:
Positive Degree of Comparison:
The positive form or the positive degree of comparison is the form of the adjective used in the original form. For example: This book is interesting. This form of adjective is used when there is no other subject to be compared.
Comparative Degree of Comparison:
The comparative form of the adjective is used when two subjects performing the same action or possessing the same quality are compared. For example: The book I read yesterday was more interesting than the one I read today.
Superlative Degree of Comparison:
The superlative degree of comparison is used when comparing the same quality of two or more subjects and to represent that a subject is superior to two or more subjects in performing an action. For example: This fantasy novel is the most interesting book that I have ever read.