Adjectives

Participle Adjectives

Certain participles (such as 'bored' or 'boring') can function as adjectives. These are used a bit differently than regular adjectives. Typically, we use the past participle (ending in -ed) to describe how someone is feeling:

• I was really bored during the flight (NOT: I was really boring during the flight).
• She's interested in history (NOT: She's really interesting in history).
• John's frightened of spiders (NOT: John's frightening of spiders).

We generally use the present participle (ending in -ing) to refer to the person, thing, or situation that is responsible for the feeling:

• It was such a long, boring flight (so I was bored).
• I read a really interesting book about history (so I was interested).
• Many people find spiders frightening (so they're frightened when they see spiders).

Watch out! "I'm boring" is quite different from "I'm bored"! "I'm boring" means that I make other people feel bored. This is not ideal! Here are some examples where one person causes a feeling in another:

• I was talking to such a boring guy at the party. He talked about himself for an hour!
• She's a really interesting woman. She's lived all over the world and speaks five languages.
• My maths teacher at school was really frightening! He was always shouting at the students.

These participle adjectives make their comparative by using 'more' (not -er) and their superlative by using 'most' (not -est):

• I was more frightened of dogs than spiders when I was a child.
• That book is more boring than this one.
• I think Dr Smith's lesson was more interesting than Dr Brown's.

• For 24 hours on the flight to Australia, I was the most bored I've ever been.
• I think this is the most interesting talk we've heard today.
• It was the most frightening film that he'd ever seen.

List of common -ed and -ing adjectives

Adjectives and Adverbs

Adjectives

We use adjectives to describe nouns and pronouns. Adjectives can come before nouns or after linking verbs.

Before the noun:

• He dropped the hot plate.
• I have a black cat.
• The small boy ran down the street.
• What a beautiful view!

After a linking verb:

• He seems tired.
• The view is beautiful.
• The weather became cold.
• My cat is black.

Linking verbs are verbs like 'be', 'become' and 'seem' which are not actions but instead link the subject to an adjective, noun or phrase that gives us more information about the subject.

We make the comparative and superlative of adjectives by adding either '-er / -est' or using 'more / most'.

• She is tall.
• She is taller than her sister.
• She is the tallest person in the class.

Adverbs

Adverbs are used to describe verbs, adjectives or other adverbs. They are often (but not always) made by adding 'ly' to the adjective.

• I walked slowly ('slowly' tells us about the verb 'walk').
• They worked quickly.

We make the comparative and superlative forms of adverbs by using 'more / most'.

• She sang loudly.
• She sang more loudly than her friend.
• She sang most loudly in the class.

Adverb or adjective?

It's important to remember to use an adjective after a linking verb. However, this can be tricky as some verbs can be used as both normal verbs and as linking verbs. One test is to replace the verb with the same form of 'be' and see if the sentence still makes sense. If it does, the verb is being used as a linking verb and so needs an adjective, not an adverb.

• He smells the hot soup carefully. (Here we are talking about the action of smelling and using 'smell' as a normal verb, so we need an adverb.)
• The soup smells good. (Here we are using 'smell' as a linking verb, to describe the soup. We can replace 'smells' with 'is' and the sentence still makes sense. So, we need an adjective.)
• He looked tiredly at the dirty kitchen. (Here we are talking about the action of looking and using 'look' as a normal verb, so we use an adverb to describe the way of looking.)
• You look beautiful. (Here we are using 'look' as a linking verb, to give more information about the person. We can replace 'look' with 'are' and the sentence still makes sense. So we need an adjective.)

Irregular Forms

Normally, we make an adverb by adding 'ly' to an adjective.

• Careful (adjective): He is always careful.
• Carefully (adverb): She put the glasses down carefully.

• Quiet (adjective): This is a quiet room.
• Quietly (adverb): She spoke quietly.

• Bad (adjective): This coffee is bad!
• Badly (adverb): He sings badly!

If the adjective ends in 'y', we change 'y' to 'i' and add 'ly'. If the adjective ends in 'le', we drop 'e' and add 'y'.

• Happy (adjective): She looks very happy.
• Happily (adverb): He sang happily.

• Gentle (adjective): It's a gentle cat.
• Gently (adverb): He stroked the cat gently.

However, there are some exceptions.

• Fast (adjective): That's a fast car.
• Fast (adverb): She walks fast.

• Early (adjective): She was early for the meeting.
• Early (adverb): He arrived early.

• Late (adjective): He is always late!
• Late (adverb): He got up late this morning ('lately' is also an adverb but means 'recently').

• Good (adjective): That is a good book.
• Well (adverb): She did well on the exam ('well' can also be an adjective; see below).

• Hard (adjective): Maths is hard!
• Hard (adverb): She tried hard ('hardly' is also an adverb, but means 'almost none'; see below).

There are also some adjectives that end in 'ly' and don't have an adverb form. Instead we use 'in a ---way'. These are friendly, lovely, lonely, lively, and silly.

• He talked to me in a friendly way.

Good / Well

'Well' can be confusing because it is both the adverb form of 'good', and an adjective that means 'healthy and fine'.

• My mother is well ('well' is an adjective that means 'healthy and fine').
• He did the work well ('well' is an adverb meaning 'in a good way').

Of course, we also use 'good' as an adjective.

• This meal is good!
• He can speak good German.

Hard / hardly

'Hard' is both an adjective and an adverb.

• The table is hard (= adjective, meaning 'not soft' or 'difficult').
• She works hard (= adverb, meaning 'with a lot of effort').

'Hardly' is also an adverb, but it means 'almost nothing' or 'almost none'.

• She hardly works (= she does almost no work).
• I have hardly any money (= I have almost no money).

Late / lately

'Late' is an adjective and an adverb. There is also an adverb 'lately', which means 'recently'.

• I'm late (= adjective, meaning 'not on time').
• He came late (= adverb, meaning 'not on time').
• I've been working a lot lately (= an adverb meaning 'recently').

Comparative and Superlative Adjectives

To make the comparative form of adjectives (like 'bigger' or 'more expensive') and the superlative form (like 'biggest' or 'most expensive'), first we need to know how many syllables are in the adjective.

Adjectives with one syllable

Usually if an adjective has only one syllable, we add 'er' to make the comparative form. We add 'est' to make the superlative form.

• clean → cleaner / cleanest
• cold → colder / coldest
• small → smaller / smallest
• young → younger / youngest
• tall → taller / tallest

• wet → wetter / wettest
• big → bigger / biggest
• hot → hotter / hottest
• thin → thinner / thinnest

If the adjective ends in 'y', this often changes to 'i'.

• dry → drier / driest

If the adjective ends in 'e', we don't add another 'e', just 'r'.

• nice → nicer / nicest
• large → larger / largest

Even when the adjective has only one syllable, it's still not wrong to use 'more' or 'most'. It's possible to say 'more wet' or 'most tall'. This isn't incorrect.

There are a few adjectives that we have to use 'more' or 'most' with, even though they only have one syllable. We CAN'T add 'er' or 'est'.

• fun → more fun / most fun (NOT funner / funnest)
• real → more real / most real (NOT realer / realest)
• right → more right / most right (NOT righter / rightest)
• wrong → more wrong / most wrong (NOT wronger / wrongest)

Adjectives with two syllables

For adjectives with two syllables we generally use 'more' or 'most'.

• careful → more careful / most careful
• normal → more normal / most normal

But some two syllable adjectives can take 'er' or 'est'. It's also fine to use 'more' (for the comparative) or 'most' (for the superlative).

• clever → cleverer / cleverest
• simple → simpler / simplest
• narrow → narrower / narrowest
• quiet → quieter / quietest

Adjectives with two syllables that end in 'y' usually can add 'er' or 'est' (y generally changes to i). It's also fine to use 'more' or 'most'.

• dirty → dirtier / dirtiest
• pretty → prettier / prettiest
• happy → happier / happiest
• ugly → uglier / ugliest

Adjectives with more than two syllables

Adjectives with more than two syllables can only make their comparative by using 'more' and their superlative by using 'most'.

• beautiful → more beautiful / most beautiful
• intelligent → more intelligent / most intelligent
• interesting → more interesting / most interesting
• expensive → more expensive / most expensive

Irregular adjectives

There are also some irregular adjectives. We just need to learn these forms.

• good → better → best
• bad → worse → worst
• far → further → furthest
• little → less → least
• much → more → most