THE ADJECTIVE
An Adjective is a word used to qualify a noun or pronoun.
Example : Ramya is a clever girl
There are two different ways in which an adjective can be used.
(i) Attributive
(ii) Predicative
Attributive : An Adjective is used attributively if it is placed immediately before the noun it qualifies.
Ex: Sweet words the poet sang
Predicative: An Adjective is used predicatively if it is used after the verb.
Ex: His voice was sweet.
Degree of Comparison
Adjectives change in form (tall, taller, tallest) to show the comparison. They are called the three degrees of comparison.
Positive Degree: No other girl in the class as tall a Ramya.
Comparative Degree: Ramya is taller than any other girl in the class.
Superlative Degree: Ramya is the tallest girl in the class.
Correct Use of ADJECTIVES
1) While comparing the objects, we should see that a noun is compared with another but not with the some other word.
Ex: The climate of Mumbai is better than that of Bangalore
2) In a comparison, the conjunction ‘than’ should be followed by ‘any other’.
Ex: Latha is taller than anyother girl in the class.
3) Double comparative and superlatives should not be used.
Ex: She is cleverer than his sister.
4) The following comparative objectives should be used ‘to’ in comparisons but not ‘than’.
Junior, senior, anterior, posterior, inferior, superior, prior, prefer, etc.
5) The monosyllable words like hot, easy, tall, small should not be used more / most in comparisons.
Ex: She is taller than Lalitha.
6) Two adjectives which refer to the some noun or pronoun joined by a conjunction must be in the same degree of comparison.
Ex: Nehru is the noblest and wisest of all national leaders.
7) When we compare two qualities in the same person, we should say.
Ex: Latha is more strong than wise.
8) After comparatively/ relatively an adjective under positive degree should be used.
Ex: The climate is comparatively hot today.
9) More/most should not be used with excellent, unique, perfect, major, complete, round, golden etc.
Ex: The book is excellent
10) If the first of two or more adjective is a superlative, the other should also be superlative.
Ex: Lakshmi is one of the best and most hard-work teacher of our school.
11) ‘Later’ and ‘Latest’ refer to time. ‘latter’ and ‘last’ refer to position.
Ex: Rekha is later than I expected.
Do you know the latest news?
The last song is colorfully picturised.
The latter chapters are lacking in interest.
12) Farther means more distant.
Further means additional
Ex: It is farther than I thought
You will hear further details later
13) Fewer is used of numbers.
Less is used of quantity.
Ex: No fewer than 10 boys took part in it.
Less noise, please.
14) One, Two, Three etc. are called cardinal numbers.
First, Second, Third etc are called ordinal numbers.
The cardinal number is used in the first place.
Ex: the first three pages of this book are very interesting.
15) Elder/Eldest should be used with the members of the same family.
Older/Oldest these comparative adjective denote the age of person/thing.
Ex: He is the oldest man in the village.
16) Few, a few, the few have different means.
Few is negative and means not many.
A few is affirmative and means some, not none.
The few means not many, but all that there are.
Ex: Few people can keep a secret.
Only a few people could understand his language. The few books he has are well used.
17) Nearest and Next
Nearest denotes relationship or distance.
Next indicates position or order.
Ex: She has many nearest friend.
Latha is the next person to go.
18) Some adjectives can be used only in the positive and in the superlative. They are:
Positive superlative
Top Topmost
Northern Northernmost
Southern Southernmost
Eastern Easternmost
Western Westernmost
EXERCISE
Correct the Following
There are no less than fifty cows in the field.
Much efforts bring their reward
I prefer country life than urban existence
She knows many languages, but her speech is inferior than her written work.
This is the eldest school in Kakinada.
Owing to his departure, I cannot give you a farther report on his activities.
I am sorry that I have arrived so later.
Each of us loves our home.
He can easily afford it, as he has little money and a few expenses.
This is the wisest course of the two.
She is senior than me in service.
Ravi is not lonely for he has few friends.
Many man has attended the function.
Latha is greater than any student in the class.
The five first chapters of this book are very interesting.
Maya is more taller than Manya
He is my oldest brother.
Every man know this.
Usually the rich people hate poor.
Lasya is the most youngest in the family.
The population of vizag is greater than Kakinada.
Heath is more preferable than wealth.
Every novelist accepts that the works of Saratbabu are more excellent.
Sumanth is the richest and most generous man of our town.
Gold is more precious than any metal.