Adjectives
Learn how adjectives describe nouns and pronouns, where they appear in a sentence, and how they change to make comparisons.
Describing people, places, things and ideas
An adjective adds detail to a noun or pronoun.
An adjective describes or adds detail to a noun or pronoun. It can tell you what kind, how many, which one, or whose something is.
In the sentence I saw a tall building., the word tall is an adjective. It describes the noun building, telling you something about its height.
This page covers where adjectives appear in a sentence, the order they follow when more than one is used, and how they change form to make comparisons.
Before you begin
Adjectives describe nouns and pronouns.
To get the most out of this lesson, it helps to already know what a noun is, since adjectives always relate to one.
If that idea is unfamiliar, reviewing it first may make this lesson easier to follow.
The central idea
An adjective adds information that a noun alone does not give.
Compare the same noun with and without an adjective.
01
Without an Adjective
The noun alone gives no detail about what kind it is.
I bought a car.
02
With an Adjective
The adjective tells you something specific about the noun.
I bought a red car.
The useful question is: What does this word tell us about the noun?
red car → colour
three cars → quantity
my car → whose
this car → which one
If a word answers a question like these about a noun, it is functioning as an adjective.
Where adjectives appear
Adjectives can appear before a noun, or after a linking verb.
Before the noun
She bought a comfortable chair.
This is the most common position for an adjective in English. It sits directly before the noun it describes.
After a linking verb
The chair is comfortable.
Here, the adjective follows the linking verb is and describes the subject of the sentence. Other linking verbs include seem, feel, look and become.
A few adjectives are limited to one position
The child was afraid. (not: the afraid child)
my former colleague (not: my colleague was former)
Most adjectives can appear in both positions, but a small number are generally used in only one of them.
The order of adjectives
When more than one adjective is used, English usually follows a general order.
Native speakers rarely stack many adjectives together, but when two or more do appear before a noun, they tend to follow this order: opinion, size, age, shape, colour, origin, material, purpose.
The general order
opinion → lovely
size → small
age → old
shape → round
colour → red
origin → Italian
material → wooden
purpose → dining
a lovely small old round red Italian wooden dining table
A sentence with this many adjectives together would be unusual. In everyday English, two or three adjectives together is far more typical.
A more natural example
She wore a beautiful blue dress.
Here, beautiful (opinion) comes before blue (colour), following the general order.
Adjectives ending in -ing and -ed
These two forms describe different things.
-ing adjectives describe the cause
The movie was boring.
The movie itself causes the feeling of boredom in someone.
-ed adjectives describe the feeling
I was bored during the movie.
Here, the adjective describes how the person feels as a result.
Common pairs
interesting / interested
exciting / excited
confusing / confused
tiring / tired
Comparative adjectives
Comparative adjectives compare two things.
Short adjectives: add -er
tall → taller
fast → faster
old → older
This building is taller than that one.
This pattern applies to most adjectives with one syllable, and some with two syllables.
Spelling changes for short adjectives
big → bigger (double the final consonant)
happy → happier (change -y to -i)
nice → nicer (just add -r)
Long adjectives: use more
beautiful → more beautiful
expensive → more expensive
interesting → more interesting
This coat is more expensive than that one.
Adjectives with two or more syllables generally use more rather than adding -er, with the exception of adjectives ending in -y.
Superlative adjectives
Superlative adjectives compare three or more things, identifying the extreme.
Short adjectives: add -est
tall → the tallest
big → the biggest
happy → the happiest
This is the tallest building in the city.
Superlative adjectives are almost always used with the, since they identify one specific example out of a group.
Long adjectives: use most
beautiful → the most beautiful
expensive → the most expensive
This is the most expensive coat in the shop.
Comparing equal things
The pattern “as…as” shows that two things are equal.
Equal
This bag is as heavy as that one.
Both bags weigh the same amount.
Not Equal
This bag is not as heavy as that one.
The first bag weighs less than the second.
Comparative
This bag is heavier than that one.
The two bags are directly unequal.
Irregular comparative and superlative forms
A small number of common adjectives do not follow the regular patterns.
Irregular forms to learn individually
good → better → the best
bad → worse → the worst
far → farther / further → the farthest / the furthest
little → less → the least
many / much → more → the most
This recipe is better than the last one I tried.
These forms cannot be produced by adding -er, -est, more or most, and need to be learned as they are.
A practical decision guide
Ask these questions before choosing an adjective form.
01
Are you comparing exactly two things?
Use the comparative form, with -er or more.
02
Are you comparing three or more things?
Use the superlative form, with -est or most, and usually the.
03
Is the adjective short or long?
Short adjectives usually take -er or -est; longer adjectives usually take more or most.
04
Is the adjective describing a cause or a feeling?
Use -ing for the cause and -ed for the feeling it produces.
Common errors
Mistakes are useful when you understand why they happen.
This road is more long than the other one.
This road is longer than the other one.
Long is a short, one-syllable adjective, so it takes -er rather than more.
She is the most tall student in the class.
She is the tallest student in the class.
Short adjectives use -est, not most, to form the superlative.
This is the most expensive of the two coats.
This is the more expensive of the two coats.
With exactly two items, English still uses the comparative form, not the superlative, even with the.
This movie is more good than the last one.
This movie is better than the last one.
Good is an irregular adjective, and its comparative form is better, not more good.
I was really boring during the lecture.
I was really bored during the lecture.
The speaker is describing their own feeling, so the -ed form is needed, not the -ing form.
Your turn
Practise choosing the correct adjective form.
These activities are part of the learning process. There are no scores, no grades and no limit on how many times you may try.
My brother is ___ than me.
✅ Exactly! Tall is a short adjective, and only two people are being compared.
❎ Not quite. Check the length of the adjective and how many people are being compared.
Only two people are being compared here, not three or more.
This is ___ beach I have ever seen.
✅ Exactly! This compares one beach against every beach ever seen, so the superlative is needed.
❎ Not quite. The phrase I have ever seen signals a comparison against many others.
Beautiful is a long adjective, and more than two beaches are being compared.
I am really ___ about the trip next week.
✅ Exactly! The speaker is describing their own feeling, so the -ed form is used.
❎ Not quite. Ask whether this word describes the speaker’s feeling, or the cause of a feeling.
The word I is the person having the feeling, not the cause of it.
This coffee tastes much ___ than the last one.
✅ Exactly! Good is irregular, and its comparative form is better.
❎ Not quite. Good does not follow the regular comparative pattern.
Good is one of a small group of irregular adjectives.
Try it another way
Complete the sentences.
Type the correct comparative or superlative form of the adjective shown.
✅ Exactly! Big doubles its final consonant before adding -er.
❎ Not quite. Remember the spelling change needed for short adjectives ending in a single vowel and consonant.
✅ Exactly! Difficult is a long adjective, so it forms the superlative with most.
❎ Not quite. This adjective has three syllables, so it does not simply add -est.
✅ Exactly! Bad is irregular, and its comparative form is worse.
❎ Not quite. Bad does not follow the regular comparative pattern.
Notice the difference
Correct the adjective mistake.
Rewrite each sentence using the correct adjective form.
This bridge is more long than the last one.
✅ Exactly! Long is short, so it takes -er rather than more.
❎ Not quite. Remember that short adjectives use -er, not more.
I felt boring during the meeting.
✅ Exactly! The speaker is describing their own feeling, so bored is correct.
❎ Not quite. Is the meeting causing the feeling, or is the speaker experiencing it?
Quick review
An adjective describes. Its form depends on what and how many.
Adjectives describe or add detail to a noun or pronoun, appearing before the noun or after a linking verb.
When more than one adjective is used, they generally follow the order: opinion, size, age, shape, colour, origin, material, purpose.
-ing adjectives describe a cause; -ed adjectives describe a feeling.
Short adjectives form comparisons with -er and -est; longer adjectives use more and most.
As…as shows that two things are equal.
A small group of common adjectives, such as good and bad, form irregular comparatives and superlatives.
Remember
The length of the adjective often decides the pattern.
Short adjectives usually change with -er and -est. Longer adjectives usually pair with more and most. A small set of common adjectives break both patterns and simply need to be learned.