Common Adjectives

1. What are adjectives?

Adjectives describe nouns and pronouns (people, things, places, animals).
They give more information about something.
Examples:

• a small house
• a red dress
• a happy child
• an old car
• She is tall.

Adjectives help describe things more clearly.

2. Common types of adjectives

2.1 Size

Opposites	Example
big / small	a big dog / a small room
tall / short	a tall man / a short child
long / short	a long pencil / a short pencil

2.2 Color

Colors	Examples
blue, green, red	a blue bag / a red car
yellow, black, white	a yellow flower / a black cat

2.3 Age

Opposites	Examples
old / new	an old phone / a new teacher
young / old	a young child / an old man

2.4 Common Feelings

Feelings	Examples
happy / sad	a happy child / a sad student
tired / angry	a tired student / an angry customer

2.5 Opinion

Opposites	Examples
good / bad	a good movie / a bad movie
beautiful / ugly	a beautiful garden / an ugly building

2.6 Difficulty

Opposites	Examples
easy / difficult	an easy test / a difficult question

Hard is a common, more informal word for difficult.

3. How to use adjectives in sentences

3.1 Adjective + noun

Structure: (a/an/the) + adjective + noun (for singular nouns). We usually put the adjective before the noun.

Choose a or an from the sound at the start of the adjective, not the noun: an old car but a big apple.

Examples:

• “I have a small house.”
• “She is wearing a red dress.”
• “We watched a good movie.”
• “He has two big dogs.”

3.2 Noun + be + adjective

Structure: Noun + be + adjective
Use the adjective after the verb be (am/is/are).
Present be forms: I am, you/we/they are, he/she/it is.

Examples:

• “The house is small.”
• “The house is not big.”
• “Her dress is red.”
• “The children are happy.”

4. Adjectives do not change

Adjectives stay the same in singular and plural sentences.

Examples:

• “one big house”
• “two big houses”
• “one happy child”
• “three happy children”

5. Adding more detail

5.1 Using more than one adjective

When two or more adjectives come before a noun, they usually follow an order. A useful basic order is:

opinion + size + age + color + noun

You do not need to use every type.

• a big red dog (size + color)
• a small blue bag (size + color)
• a beautiful old house (opinion + age)
• a nice new black phone (opinion + age + color)

5.2 Using “very” and “really”

Use very and really before an adjective to make its meaning stronger:

• a very small house
• a really good movie
• “The test is very easy.”
• “The children are really tired.”

5.3 Common mistakes

6. Key takeaways

• Adjectives describe nouns.
• Adjectives usually come before nouns.
• Adjectives can also come after be.
• Adjectives do not change for plural nouns.
• With more than one adjective, size usually comes before color: a big red dog.
• Very and really go before an adjective and make its meaning stronger.