Adjectives Introduction

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Shmoop is patient. Shmoop is kind.

Oops. Sorry. We meant love is patient and kind—guess we need to brush up on our Corinthians.

Do over. Ahem.

Shmoop is the best of times, Shmoop is the worst of times.

Oh. That's wrong for two reasons. (1) The quote from A Tale of Two Cities refers to "it" instead of "Shmoop" (and totally comma splices it); and (2) Shmoop is the best of times… period.

But these missteps in the wild world of quoting lead us to our grammar topic du jour: adjectives. Yup: like best, worst, patient, and kind.

Adjectives are words that modify nouns and pronouns by identifying, describing, quantifying, or limiting them.

Adjectives answer the following questions:

  • Which one?
  • How many?
  • What kind?

Adjectives come in three different forms: positive, comparative, and superlative; and two primary types: descriptive and limiting.

Continue on your way through this adjective extravaganza to satisfy your curious, inquisitive, and beautiful mind with more fascinating, revelatory, and useful information. (See what we did there?)

Quiz Yourself on Adjectives

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What type of adjective is featured in the following sentence?


Goldilocks told the officers that the first bowl of porridge was too hot, the second bowl was too cold, and the third bowl was just right.


(A) Cardinal
(B) Ordinal
(C) Indefinite
(D) Interrogative

Which sentence uses the word its incorrectly?

(A) The puppy in the pet store window had no idea that its tail was not an outrageously entertaining toy.
(B) After two years of ruling the pond, the duck was not going to let the goose take over its territory.
(C) The cat's purr is so sweet that you almost forget about the fact that its a seriously dangerous animal.
(D) I was mad at the hamster for biting my finger, so I took revenge by stealing its running wheel.

Which of these sentences is grammatically incorrect?

(A) I wish we'd spent less money on the catering for our wedding reception.
(B) Maybe if we had, they would have provided more filet mignon and less calamari platters.
(C) In that case, fewer guests would have come down with food poisoning.
(D) They could have spent more time on the dance floor and less in the bathroom.

You know that your grandpa has been feeling lonely ever since he moved to Chakwaktolik, Alaska all by his lonesome, so you decide to write him a nice email. Among all the updates on your life, you accidentally include a grammatical error. Gasp! What was it?

(A) Your plants are thriving in this month-long stint of beautiful weather we're having.
(B) You're the best grandpa ever!
(C) I wear your fuzzy sweater sometimes.
(D) You're face looks quite frightening in this photo of you running away from the moose.

Which of the following sentences needs to be corrected?

(A) Xavier spent his Spring Break learning how to tap dance at Miss Mamie's, a dance studio downtown.
(B) His parents, both retired professional ballroom dancers, guaranteed him it was a good way to meet girls.
(C) They assured him that he'd be grateful for an experience one day, but Xavier isn't so sure.
(D) So far, all the "girls" that he has met are so old they remember the Eisenhower administration.

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