Unit in the yard

R EADING
GRAMMAR

What Is an Adjective?

Adjectives are words that describe the qualities or states of being of nouns: enormous, doglike, silly, yellow, fun, fast. They can also describe the quantity of nouns: many, few, millions, eleven.

Adjectives modify nouns

As you may already know, adjectives are words that modify (describe) nouns. Adjectives do not modify verbs or adverbs or other adjectives.
Margot wore a beautiful hat to the pie-eating contest.
Furry dogs may overheat in the summertime.
My cake should have sixteen candles.
The scariest villain of all time is Darth Vader.
In the sentences above, the adjectives are easy to spot because they come immediately before the nouns they modify.
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But adjectives can modify nouns even without appearing right before them in a sentence. Acting as what’s called a subjective complement with the help of a linking verb, a predicate adjective modifies the subject of a sentence. A linking verb is a verb like to be, to feel, to seem, or to taste that, rather than describing an action, helps to describe a state of being or a sensory experience.
That cow sure is happy.
It smells gross in the locker room.
Driving is faster than walking.

Uses of adjectives

Adjectives tell the reader what kind of something you’re talking about, or how much or how many of something you’re talking about.
Please use three white flowers in the arrangement.
Three and white are modifying flowers.
Often, when adjectives are used together, you should separate them with a comma or conjunction. See “Coordinate adjectives” below for more detail.
I’m looking for a small, good-tempered dog to keep as a pet.
My new dog is small and good-tempered.