What is an Adjective?

Students will: Identify adjectives and the nouns they describe.

What is an adjective? A word that describes a noun or a pronoun. The large church was crowded. Adjectives can also describe “what kind.” Spotted fawns were resting. They looked peaceful. They can also identify “how many.” Three elephants were eating. Monkeys did several tricks.

Adjectives appear in a variety of places in a sentence. They may come before the noun they are describing. Example: Powerful lions stared boldly at us. Adjectives may also come after a linking verb. Example: Giraffes seemed gentle and shy.

When two or more adjectives are listed together, you should usually use a comma to separate them. Large, colorful parrots screeched. When one of these adjectives tells how many, do not use a comma. Example: Two white geese honked loudly.

The two cubs are small and playful. One enormous hippo swam in deep water. The beautiful, proud peacock has many feathers. The owls have speckled wings and sharp claws.

The giraffes have long, knobby legs. Several monkeys are cute and frisky. The heavy elephant has a slow, swaying walk. The snouts of the crocodiles are long and narrow.

What animal is gray, has two large ears, four legs, a long, skinny tail, and a trunk? A mouse on vacation What rodent is huge and hairless? A hippopota mouse

What do big gray hippos have that nothing else has? They have little gray hippos. What has a thousand needles but cannot sew? A porcupine.

No fishing bait is sold at that general store. His best friend sends him unusual baseball cards. Dad likes Vermont maple syrup on his pancakes.

One famous athlete spoke to a small middle school. After the hockey game, several players ate a large meal. Does your uncle drive an old black truck with shiny chrome wheels.

Small, rusty nails lay on the broken bench. These jelly doughnuts are good. During our zoo trip, we saw many monkeys.

The red brick house was built in ten months. Their little turtle now lives near a marshy pond. An orange tissue box is on that counter.

Workbook pages: 69-70