English Grammar Understanding the Basics

An adjective is a word that refers to a characteristic of a noun. How can you identify an adjective?

If you can put a word between the and a noun (like boy, or idea), then that word is an adjective.

For example, since we can say the tall boy, tall is an adjective. Similarly, we can say the silly boy, the interesting boy, and the young boy. Therefore, silly, interesting, and young are all adjectives.

A number of adjectives, all used in the phrase the –– boy are listed below. The adjectives are underlined:

1. the brilliant boy

2. the embarrassed boy

3. the blonde boy

4. the hungry boy

5. the delightful boy

Compare these phrases to *the very boy, *the a boy, and *the talk boy. Very, a, and talk are not adjectives.

What do adjectives actually do? Adjectives always tell us something about a noun. Another way of saying this is that they modify a noun. In the phrases we've just looked at, the underlined adjectives tell us something about, or modify, the noun boy.