Adjectives

Adjectives normally describe things. They generally come in front of

nouns. They have one form and dont change for singular and plural or
before feminine and masculine nouns.
e.g. Ive got a lovely, new car This book is very interesting Hilary
Clinton is famous

- They can appear on their own without a noun after some verbs: be,
look, seem, appear, become, get.
e.g. This seems interesting, Youre becoming difficult, Its getting hot,
Be careful!

- Some adjectives e.g. alive, alike, ashamed, alone, asleep, awake,

afraid, can only be used after: be, seem, appear to, look.
e.g. Hes not awake Hes asleep This bill seems very expensive
He looks afraid He appears to be asleep You look wet! Is it
raining?

Order of adjectives

opinion / quality famous, interesting, beautiful, delicious, nice

size / length big, small, large, tiny, tall, short, long
age old, young
shape / width round, square, fat, wide, slim, thin, narrow
temperature hot, cold, warm, freezing
colour red, yellow, green, blue
where from Spanish, Italian
what its made of glass, metal, wooden, leather

- When there are 2 or more colour adjectives, we use and:

e.g. A black and white dress A red, white and blue flag
- Avoid using more than three adjectives together.

Gradable adjectives and intensifiers

- Some adjectives, e.g. those that describe age, size, beauty, can be
measured or graded, and are called gradable. We can use intensifiers e.g.
very, extremely with them.
e.g. This tree is extremely old Its a very beautiful painting
This problem is extremely difficult I feel very unhappy

- Other adjectives cannot be graded because the qualities they describe

are either present or absent.
e.g. This painting is superb This problem is impossible
We cannot say This painting is very superb

We cannot make comparitive forms of non-gradable.

We cannot say This problem is more impossible than that one

We can use the intensifiers; really, absolutely with non-gradable

adjectives.
e.g. This painting is really superb This problem is absolutely
impossible

- Typical non-gradable adjectives include: microscopic, enormous,

freezing, boiling, wonderful, terrible, excellent, perfect
- We say the first two days / the next few weeks / the last ten minutes
etc
e.g I didnt enjoy the first two days of the course (not the two first
days)
Theyll be away for the next few weeks. (not the few next weeks)

Adjectives ending in -ing and -ed

Some adjectives have two forms, one ending in -ing and one in -ed.

Something is: interesting, boring, frightening, terrifying, surprising,

confusing, tiring, disappointing, exciting, embarrassing, amazing,
astonishing, amusing, exhausting, annoying, disgusting

Someone feels: interested, bored, frightened, terrified, surprised,

confused, tired, disappointed, excited, embarrassed, amazed, astonished,
amused, exhausted, annoyed, disgusted

The -ing adjective tells us about the subject.

The -ed adjective tells us how somebody feels (about the subject)

Put the adjectives in brackets in the correct order:

1.a beautiful table (wooden/round) ...a beautiful round wooden

table.................................
2.an unusual ring
(gold) .....................................................................................
3.an old house
(beautiful) ...................................................................................
..
4.black gloves
(leather) ..................................................................................
...
5.an American film
(old) .....................................................................................
6.big clouds
(black) ..............................................................................
.......
7. a wide avenue
(long) .....................................................................................
8.a red car (old /
little) ....................................................................................
9.a new sweater (green /
nice) .....................................................................................
10. a metal box (black /
small) ....................................................................................
11. a little village (old /
lovely) ....................................................................................
12. an old painting (interesting /
French) ................................................................................
13. long hair (black /
beautiful) ....................................................................................
14. an enormous umbrella (red /
yellow) ................................................................................

Complete each sentence about paintings in a gallery so that it contains a

word from the list

afraid alike alive alone ashamed asleep awake dead

1.The boy in the painting doesnt seem to have woken up.

The boy in the painting seems to be ____________.
2. Both girls in this painting look the same.
The girls in this painting look ____________.
3.Im not sure that the person in this painting is alive.
I think the person in this painting is __________.
4.He isnt asleep, but looks as if he is in a dream.
He is _________ but looks as if he is in a dream.
5.Does this painting frighten you?
Are you ___________ of this painting?
6.Its a painting of a battle and most of the soldiers are dead.
Its a painting of a battle and very few soldiers are ________.

Put the adjectives in brackets in the correct order to complete the

sentence.
Then decide which city the speaker is talking about.

Write each possible intensifier at the end of the sentence. One, both or
neither may be possible.

1.This fish is (really, absolutely) fresh. ____________________

2.Unfortunately the food in the hotel was (very, extremely) terrible.
__________________
3.The mushroom soup was (very, absolutely) tasty. ____________________
4.I find raw fish (absolutely, very) impossible to eat. ____________________
5.This drink should be (very, completely) cold when it is served.
___________________
6.The cheese was good and (extremely, very) cheap. __________________-
7. Im afraid the meat is (very, really) salty. _____________________

Choose the correct word.

1.I was disappointing / disappointed with the film. I had expected it to be

better.
2.Are you interested / interesting in football?
3.The football match was very exciting / excited. I enjoyed it.
4.Ive got nothing to do. Im boring / bored.
5.I had never expected to get the job. I was really amazing/ amazed when
I was offered it.
6.She has really learnt very fast. She has made astonishing / astonished
progress.
7. The teachers explanation was confused / confusing. Most of the
students didnt understand it.
8.I didnt find the situation funny. I was not amused / amusing.
9.It was a really terrifying / terrified experience. Afterwards everybody
was very shocking / shocked.
10. Steve is very good at telling funny stories. He can be very amused /
amusing.

Write the following in another way using; the first .... / the next.... / the
last ..... .

1.The first day and the second day of the course

The first two days of the course.
2.Next week and the week after.
_______________________________ .
3.Yesterday and the day before.
______________________________ .
4.The first week and the second week of May.
________________________________________ .
5.Tomorrow and a few days after that.
____________________________________ .
6.Question 1, 2 and 3 in the exam.
____________________________________ .
7. The last day of our holiday and the two days before that.
___________________________________________________ .