Adjectives, Summaries of French

Download Adjectives and more Summaries French in PDF only on Docsity! WHAT IS AN ADJECTIVE? An adjective is a word that modifies a noun or pronoun to make the sentence clearer and more specific. Adjectives answer the following questions: What kind? How many? Which one? ⇒ If an adjective is placed after the noun or pronoun it modifies , it follows the form to be: ⇒ A compound adjective is formed when two words are used as one expression to modify the same noun. A hyphen is placed between the two words when they precede the noun be- ing modified: ⇒ In most cases, a hyphen is not used between the two words when they follow the noun be- ing modified: * For more information on compound adjectives, refer to the skills page on Hyphens. He was always forgetful. Here the adjective forgetful modifies the pronoun “he.” lush and green. Ireland is Here both lush and green are adjectives modifying Ireland. ⇒ Adjectives can also be placed before the nouns they modify: The colorful She looks very Here the adjective beautiful modifies the pronoun “she.” ⇒ Adjectives can also follow sense or appearance verbs such as look, taste, smell, feel, and sound: The night air from the ocean smells crisp. Here the adjective crisp modifies the air. sunset can be seen in the photograph. beautiful tonight. Here the adjective colorful modifies the sunset. author. Here the compound adjective well -known modifies author. Her friend is a well-known Her friend is well known as an author. ⇒ A series of adjectives is formed when you are using two or more adjectives to describe the same noun or pronoun. A series of adjectives requires commas if the order of the adjec- tives can be rearranged without changing the meaning of the sentence: ⇒ If the order of adjectives in a series cannot be rearranged, then no commas are needed: The big, juicy, delicious hamburger was on the grill. Here the adjectives big, juicy, and delicious form a series modifying the hamburger. The juicy, delicious, big hamburger was on the grill. Rearranging the order of adjectives in this series does not change the meaning of the sentence, so commas are required. Her five large Siamese cats were meowing. The sentence does not make any sense if you rearrange the order of the adjectives in this series, so no commas are required. Her large Siamese five cats were meowing. ⇒ Proper adjectives are formed from proper nouns and are always capitalized: The French woman was getting on the plane. Here the adjective French modifies the woman. The church on the corner is Episcopalian. Here the adjective Episcopalian modifies the church ⇒ Comparative adjectives are used to show the difference between two nouns or pronouns by stating that one has more of something than the other. These adjectives are usually formed by adding –er and are followed by the word “than” to show comparison: ⇒ Some comparative adjectives are formed by adding the words “more” or “less” in front of the adjective and are followed by the word “than” to show comparison. This rule applies to adjectives that are two syllables or more and do not end in –y: The frame we bought is smaller than the picture we took. Here, the comparative adjective small- er is showing the difference between the frame and the picture. This year’s Chemistry exam was more difficult than last year’s. Here, the comparative adjective more difficult is showing the differ- ence between both exams.