An indefinite article is a limiting adjective that precedes an unspecified thing, person, or idea. In English, the only indefinite articles are a and an. The article always comes first in its noun phrase, sometimes preceding other adjectives in the phrase (for example, a precedes the adjective black in a black dog). [Read more...]
Coordinate adjectives are adjectives that appear in sequence with one another to modify the same noun. For example, the adjectives in the phrases bright, sunny day and dark and stormy night are coordinate adjectives. As shown in these examples, coordinate adjectives should be separated with either commas or and. [Read more...]
Postpositive adjectives are adjectives that follow the nouns they modify. Such constructions evince the influence that Romance languages, especially French, have had and still have on English. French, Spanish, and Italian all use postpositive adjectives as a rule. [Read more...]
A phrasal adjective (also known as an adjective phrase or compound adjective) is a phrase that modifies a noun. [Read more...]
Participles are versatile adjectives (sometimes adverbs) formed by adding -ing or -ed to the stem of an infinitive verb. [Read more...]
In English, the only definite article is the. It precedes singular and plural nouns and noun phrases. It’s used in three main contexts. [Read more...]
A predicate adjective is a descriptive word that follows a linking verb and tells something about the subject of the verb. [Read more...]
Uncomparable adjectives denote absolute states or conditions. Modifiers like more and less do not apply to them, and they don’t have comparative and superlative forms. Here are some of the most common uncomparable adjectives: [Read more...]
You may already know words like asinine (meaning like or relating to an ass), canine (meaning like or relating to a dog), and bovine (meaning like or relating to a cow). But there are many more animal adjectives than these. Usually derived from Latin words for animals, these adjectives can occasionally be useful if you can remember them (or if you have a handy list to refer to).
adjective animal
| accipitrine | hawk |
| anserine | goose |
| aquiline | eagle |
| asinine | ass |
| avine | bird |
| bovine | cow |
| bubaline | buffalo |
| cameline | camel |
| cancrine | crab |
| canine | dog |
| caprine | goat |
| corvine | deer |
| corvine | crow, raven |
| crocodiline | crocodile |
| elephantine | elephant |
| equine | horse |
| falconine | falcon |
| feline | cat |
| ferine | any wild animal |
| hippopotamine | hippopotamus |
| hircine | goat |
| hirundine | swallow |
| hystricine | porcupine |
| lacertine | lizard |
| larine | gull |
| leonine | lion |
| leporine | hare |
| lumbricine | earthworm |
| lupine | wolf |
| murine | mouse |
| ovine | sheep |
| pardine | leopard, panther |
| passerine | sparrow |
| pavonine | peacock |
| picine | woodpecker |
| piscine | fish |
| porcine | pig |
| pteropine | bat |
| ranine | frog |
| scolopendrine | centipede |
| serpentine | serpent |
| soricine | shrew |
| struthionine | ostrich |
| suilline | swine |
| taurine | bull |
| tigrine | tiger |
| ursine | bear |
| vespine | wasp |
| viperine | viper |
| vituline | calf |
| viverrine | mongoose |
| vulpine | fox |
| vulturine | vulture |
| zebrine | zebra |
| zibeline | sable |
A proper adjective is an adjective derived from a proper noun. They usually begin with capital letters—for example: [Read more...]
Nouns sometimes function as adjectives. For example, in each of these phrases, the first word is usually a noun but here functions as an adjective modifying the second word: city government, article writer, bicycle thief, Sunday picnic, pumpkin pie. [Read more...]