At its most basic, an adjective is a word that modifies a noun or a pronoun, often helping describe a quality about them. They are among the most useful parts of speech and can bring color to otherwise lifeless facts.
For instance, adjectives allow “a computer” to be “fast”, “powerful” and “compact”. Oddly enough, not all the world’s languages have adjectives. Can you imagine how drab English will be without them?
Adjectives come in different types. Here’s a brief overview on a few of the most important ones that will likely figure in your everyday writing:
Attributive adjectives. This type of adjective typically come right before the nouns they modify, such as “large dog” or “small computer.”
Predicative adjectives. This variety of adjective usually acts as a major component of the sentence, along with the subject, as in “The dog is large” and “The computer is small.”
Absolute adjectives. This type of modifier changes the meaning of either the subject or a nearby noun, as in “The dog, with its large frame, bullied its way into the door.”
Substantive adjectives. This is a type of modifier that serves its purpose as a freestanding noun, denoting a subject implicitly, as in “You buy the red dress, I’ll buy the blue.”
The better you get at writing, the more daring you should get with your adjectives. Don’t be afraid of making mistakes along the way. That’s what English writing software is designed to help you with – identifying errors and teaching you how to do it right.
