4. Adjectives & Determiners

The purpose of this module is to introduce the basics of adjectives and determiners. Each section is linked to an interactive activity, and the module concludes with comprehensive activities as well as key points and key concepts for review purposes. All interactive activities are in 4A. Adjectives & Determiners Grammar Activities and all corpus analysis activities are in 4B. Adjectives & Determiners Corpus Activities.

4.1 What is an adjective?

An adjective describes a noun. It is a descriptor, a word that describes a quality of something (a noun). It answers the question ‘what kind of’ or ‘what sort of’ (noun), for example:

A big dog. A stray dog. A good dog. 

A quick search in the COCA will display the many adjectives used to describe dogs. For example, the search ADJ dog reveals the top twenty most frequent adjectives used as an adjective prior to the noun dog.

The Every Adjective has a Noun Test. To test whether a word is an adjective, ask whether it modifies (i.e., describes) a noun. In English, an adjective usually comes before the noun it modifies, although it can also come after a linking verb and still modify the noun. For example:

The dog is big.

A noun can be modified by more than one adjective, for example:

The big, red dog is named Clifford.

⇒ Go to Activity 4.1

⇒ Go to Corpus Analysis Activity 4.1

4.1.1 Adjective morphology

Adjectives are typified by certain suffixes, and can be derived from other parts of speech using them. Some common ones include: –able/-ible, -al, -ful, -ic, -ish, -ive, -less, -like, -ous, and -y. For example, the verb ‘believe’ can be made into an adjective meaning ‘can be believed’ with the suffix ‘-able‘ – ‘believable‘, or the noun ‘beauty‘ can be made into an adjective meaning ‘full of beauty’ with the suffix ‘-ful‘ – ‘beautiful‘. 

Since adjectives are an open class like nouns, we can use some of the suffixes productively to create new (or very rarely heard) descriptive adjectives that can be understood by their parts.

• The monster had a leg-like appendage on its head.
• The landscape was calm and snowful.
• This road is very rollercoastery.
• Are you feeling at least happyish today?

The following corpus data reveals how productive the suffix –ish can be for the formation of descriptive adjectives. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the suffix is most frequently used in fiction writing.

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⇒ Go to Corpus Analysis Activity 4.1.1

4.1.2 Gradability

Adjectives can be gradable or non-gradable. A gradable adjective means there are relative degrees of the quality it describes, for example, ‘hot’ is gradable, because there is ‘extremely hot’, ‘hot’, or ‘a little hot’. A non-gradable adjective is either-or, like ‘dead’ or ‘complete’.

The Gradability Test. To test whether an adjective is gradable, try using ‘very’ in front of it and see if it makes sense, e.g. ‘very hot’ makes sense but ‘very dead’ does not, so ‘hot’ is gradable and ‘dead’ is non-gradable.

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4.1.3 Comparability

Gradable adjectives have three forms: base, comparative, and superlative

The base form is the bare adjective, e.g. ‘hot’, ‘unbelievable’

The comparative form uses 1. the suffix -er or 2. the word ‘more‘ in front of the adjective

1. ‘hotter’, ‘happier’
2. ‘more unbelievable’, ‘more shocking’

The superlative form uses the determiner ‘the‘ and 1) the suffix –est or 2) the word ‘most’ in front of the adjective

1. ‘the hottest’, ‘the happiest’
2. ‘the most unbelievable’, ‘the most shocking‘

The only irregular comparative and superlative forms are: ‘good/better/best’ and ‘bad/worse/worst’

In written Standard American English,

• one syllable adjectives get –er/-est, with some spelling changes, e.g. ‘fat -> fatter’, ‘nice -> nicest’
• two syllable adjectives if they end in -y get –er/-est, after changing the y to i, e.g. ‘fancy -> fancier’
• two syllable adjectives, if they don’t end in -y, and adjectives of more than two syllables get more/most, e.g. ‘most beautiful’

However, in spoken registers and in non-standard varieties, more/most can be used with all adjectives, e.g. ‘more funny’, ‘most weird’, and sometimes is added to er/est forms for emphasis, e.g. ‘the most prettiest’

⇒ Go to Activity 4.1.3

⇒ Go to Corpus Analysis Activity 4.1.3

4.2 What is a determiner?

A determiner is a word that introduces a noun phrase. It modifies the noun, answering the question, “which specific (noun)?”

the dog, that cat, a horse, these birds, every rabbit, my fish, a few pigs, twenty chickens

Some determiners can also be pronouns, especially quantifiers and demonstratives, e.g.:

• These are troubling times. (‘these’ is a pronoun, functioning as a subject by itself)
• These stories are interesting. (‘these’ is a determiner modifying ‘stories’)

Determiners are obligatory (required) with singular count nouns, e.g.:

• Have you seen the cat?
• Have you ever seen a cat?
• Do you have cats?
• Have you seen cat?

If you don’t use a determiner with a singular count noun, it may be interpreted as a mass noun, and vice-versa, e.g.:

• This basement smells like dog! (in general) vs. This basement smells like that dog (we know which one)
• Would you like grape? (flavor) vs. Would you like a grape? (just one)
• I got a chocolate for Easter. (just one) vs. I got chocolate for Easter. (unspecified amount)

The First Word Test. To test whether a word is a determiner, ask whether it modifies (i.e., determines or specifies) a noun. Determiners are usually the first word or words of a noun phrase, and unless the noun is proper, non-count, or plural, they are obligatory.

⇒ Go to Activity 4.2

⇒ Go to Corpus Analysis Activity 4.2

4.2.1 Determiner Types

Determiners are a closed class of function words, which means there are a limited number and we cannot invent new ones, as we can with nouns and adjectives. You can memorize them all if you want. Different types include:

• quantifiers like ‘all’ and ‘every’
• partitives like ‘a few of‘ and ‘a bit of‘
• multipliers and fractions like ‘double‘ and ‘one-half‘
• articles like ‘the’ and ‘a’
• demonstrative determiners like ‘this’ and ‘that’
• possessive determiners like ‘my’ and ‘your’, and
• numbers

If we use more than one determiner before a noun they occur in a specific order. Quantifiers, partitives, multipliers, and fractions are pre-determiners, articles, demonstratives, and possessives are central determiners, and numbers are post-determiners. For example:

Give me a few of those six eggs. (‘a few of‘ is a pre-DET, ‘those‘ is a central DET, and ‘six‘ is a post-DET)

Each of his four songs were hits. (‘each of‘ is a pre-DET, ‘his‘ is a central DET, and ‘four‘ is a post-DET)

⇒ Go to Activity 4.2.1

⇒ Go to Corpus Analysis Activity 4.2.1

4.2.2 The definite article

The definite article ‘the‘ is used to introduce a noun that is known to the listener or reader. ‘The‘ is the only definite article in English, for both singular and plural. Other languages have more, e.g. Spanish has el, la, las, and los. In English, the rules for using ‘the’ are rather complicated and difficult to master for learners of English.

• Textual uses are when the referent noun was already mentioned, usually with an indefinite article, e.g. I went to a concert yesterday with friends. They were disappointed, but I thought the concert was great.
• Situational uses are when the speaker knows the referent and expects the listener does too, e.g. How do we get to the airport from here? (compare with ‘How do we get to an airport?’)
• Structural uses are when the reference is about to be clarified, e.g. Look at the cat on top of the roof. (compare with ‘Look, a cat, on top of the roof!’)
• Cultural uses follow conventions with singular rules that must be learned explicitly, e.g.
  • the Grand Canyon but Lake Michigan (oceans, rivers, canyons, and mountains get ‘the’, but lakes and ponds do not)
  • play (the) guitar but play football (instruments optionally get ‘the’, but sports do not)
  • the flu but cancer (some illnesses get ‘the’, but some do not)

Textual and situational uses are the most common uses. For example, if someone says the president, the university, the state, or the city, you might assume they mean the president, university, state, or city that you share with them, if they aren’t making textual reference. If they say the car, the kids, or the cat, however, without having made a textual reference beforehand, you would wonder and maybe ask, ‘which one?’

Demonstrative determiners this, that, these, those, all, both, and relative what, whatever, which, and whichever also are definite because they establish reference (they answer ‘which?’), but they are not articles.

⇒ Go to Activity 4.2.2

⇒ Go to Corpus Analysis Activity 4.2.2

4.2.3 Indefinite articles & determiners

A speaker or writer uses the indefinite article ‘a’ or ‘an’ (for before vowel sounds) when they introduce a new noun and it is singular, count, and not unique. It basically means ‘one’ or ‘any‘.

• Can you give me an idea of what time?

An indefinite determiner can also be used to introduce a new noun, e.g. any, a few, a little, a lot, each, every, either, neither, no, another, several, many, much, more, most, etc.

• Do you have any money?

To express indefiniteness in plural or non-count we use ‘some’, or nothing (ø)

• I need some love.
• Some cats were under the bed.
• I need (ø) love. 
• (ø) Cats were everywhere.

compare this to the definite:

• They deserve all the love in the world. (structural ‘the’)
• The cats were under the bed. (textual or situational ‘the’)

If you use an indefinite article, you are not referring to a specific referent, but any from a group:

• I need a vacation. (it doesn’t matter where, any vacation will do)
• There were a few people there. (it doesn’t matter which people or exactly how many)

A useful mnemonic: Definite is for referring to the old and indefinite is for introducing a new noun or ø new nouns.

⇒ Go to Activity 4.2.3

4.2.4 Where are the articles in headlines?

In most news and media headlines, definite and indefinite articles are often dropped. Originally this was to save costs on paper, since it allowed more words to be fit onto one page. Even though paper costs have become no longer an issue, media organizations have continued to omit in/definite articles in headlines, since a statement without articles sounds urgent and immediate. The convention is now followed in other genres to convey a feeling of urgency and directness, for example, e-mail subject lines and advertisements.

For example, a Dec 8, 2022 New York Times headline read: “Bill to Protect Same-Sex Marriage Rights Clears Congress“. In standard English this would be ‘A Bill…’, because it is introducing the information for the first time. In the same issue, another headline read: “F.T.C. Sues to Block Microsoft’s $69 Billion Acquisition of Activision“. In standard English this would be ‘The F.T.C….‘, because in this situational use, all readers know which Federal Trade Commission is being referred to  (the USA’s F.T.C.). 

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4.3 Adjectives and nouns

In sentences, adjectives can be:

• attributive – used directly before the noun they modify, e.g. an open window
• predicative – used after a linking verb like ‘be’ to describe the noun, e.g. the window is open
• post-positive (rare) – used directly after the noun, e.g. time immemorial

4.3.1 Attributive uses

An attributive use of an adjective is pre-nominal, i.e., it comes before the noun it modifies (describes), e.g. ‘the yellow bus’. Attributive adjectives are part of a noun phrase, sometimes along with determiners.

Adjectives in English have a particular order when used together. If you learned English from an early age you may intuit this order, but if you learned English when older you may have had to study this order explicitly to learn it well. The order is:

opinion, size, age, shape, color, origin, material, purpose 

Usually in spoken language we do not use more than 4 or 5 in a row, e.g.:

• an old white plastic mixing bowl
• a young Spanish French teacher

If a string of adjectives are the same category, they can be separated with ‘and’, and commas if more than two:

• black and white
• yellow, green, and red

The order of adjectives in the same category is often conventional. Which ‘sounds’ more natural, young and old or old and young? thick and thin or thin and thick? 

⇒ Go to Activity 4.3.1

⇒ Go to Corpus Analysis Activity 4.3.1

4.3.2 Predicative uses

A predicate or predicative adjective is an adjective that is used after a linking verb. It modifies the subject of the sentence, serving as a subject complement.

• The restaurant was closed.
• The kids were getting restless.
• She looks happy.

A ‘dummy it’ can serve as a subject for a predicate adjective looking for a subject complement. This can be used to introduce an adjective before the noun or clause that it modifies.

• It seemed obvious that she wasn’t interested. (‘It’ is the subject, and ‘that she wasn’t interested’ is a subordinate clause)
• That she wasn’t interested seemed obvious. (‘That she wasn’t interested’ is the subject)

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⇒ Go to Corpus Analysis Activity 4.3.2

4.3.3 Attributive vs. predicative uses

While an attribute adjective can be removed without affecting grammaticality, a predicate adjective cannot be removed, for example:

• The little kitten seemed sad.
• The kitten seemed sad. (attributive adjective removed, no problem)
• The little kitten seemed. (predicate adjective removed, big problem)

In SAE, some adjectives beginning with an ‘a-’ should only be used predicatively, not attributively, e.g.:

• The boy was afraid.
• The afraid boy left.
• She was alive.
• An alive woman walked out of the tomb.

Some adjectives are only used attributively, e.g.:

• The former first lady visited the school.
• The first lady who visited the school was former.

Some adjectives can change their meaning if they’re used attributively vs. predicatively, e.g.:

• He was an old friend, but he wasn’t particularly old.

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⇒ Go to Corpus Analysis Activity 4.3.3

4.3.4 Post-positive uses

While they are relatively rare, a post-positive adjective comes directly after the noun it modifies, e.g.:

• guns ablaze
• food aplenty
• revolution redux

Post-positives are found in set phrases and some names, e.g.:

• battle royale
• time immemorial
• code red
• poet laureate
• Amnesty International
• Henry the Eighth
• Chicken Little

⇒ Go to Activity 4.3.4

⇒ Go to Corpus Analysis Activity 4.3.4

4.4 Adjectives and determiners in sentences

4.4.1 What can modify an adjective?

Adjectives modify nouns, and adverbs modify verbs and adjectives. A determiner technically modifies a noun, not an adjective.

• The first day went quickly. (‘the’ and ‘first’ modify ‘day’ and ‘quickly’ modifies ‘went’)
• It was a very bad day. (‘very’ modifies ‘bad’, which modifies ‘day’; ‘a’ modifies ‘day’)

Adjectives can also be modified by prepositional phrases

• She was sick with grief.  (‘with grief’ modifies ‘sick’)

An adjective phrase of more than one adjective can exist on its own as a subject complement, sometimes with a modifying adverb, e.g.

• The weather was very cold and rainy. (‘very’ modifies both ‘cold’ and ‘rainy’)

4.4.2 Adjectives and determiners in noun phrases

Determiners are usually the first word or words of a noun phrase. If there is no determiner, it is because the head noun of the phrase is plural, non-count, or proper. There might be, but doesn’t have to be, an adjective or adjectives in-between the determiner and the noun. The parentheses here means that part of speech is optional, and the asterisk means multiple uses are possible.

NP = (DET) + (ADJ*) + N + (post-nominal modifier)

There might also be a post-nominal modifier, which can be one or more prepositional phrase, which is a PREP + NP. This means there can be one or more NPs embedded in a single NP.

For example in this sentence, there are 4 determiners: that, the, our, and five:

• • That quick brown fox jumped over the back of our lazy white dog with five black spots.

There are five adjectives: quick, brown, lazy, white, and black:

• • That quick brown fox jumped over the back of our lazy white dog with five black spots.

There are four nouns: fox, back, dog, and spots:

• • That quick brown fox jumped over the back of our lazy white dog with five black spots.

And there are three prepositions: over, of, and with:

• • That quick brown fox jumped over the back of our lazy white dog with five black spots.

These combine into four noun phrases, the fourth of which is embedded in the third, which is embedded in the second:

1. 1. That quick brown fox, comprised of DET + ADJ + ADJ + N. This NP is the subject.
   2. the back of our lazy white dog with five black spots, comprised of DET + N + PREP + DET + ADJ + ADJ + PREP + DET + ADJ + N. This NP is the complement or object of the preposition ‘over‘, and it contains 2 embedded NPs (#3 & #4). 
   3. our lazy white dog with five black spots, comprised of DET + ADJ + ADJ + PREP + DET + ADJ + N. This NP is the complement or object of the preposition ‘of‘. With the preposition, it is a post-nominal modifier of ‘back‘. It contains one embedded NP (#4).
   4. five black spots, comprised of DET + ADJ + N. This NP is the complement or object of the preposition ‘with‘. With the preposition, it is a post-nominal modifier of ‘dog‘.

The embedded phrases can also be shown with brackets, e.g.:

[That quick brown fox] jumped over [the back of [our lazy white dog with [five black spots]]].

Notice that the four DETs start each of the four NPs.

⇒ Go to Activity 4.4

⇒ Go to Corpus Analysis Activity 4.4

4.5 Adjectives in language power techniques

Adjectives are useful because they describe qualities and quantities of the things, people, and places around us. Authors might think this means they’re useful for writing, although many argue that we shouldn’t overuse them, e.g. Jennifer Baker in this piece, The Case Against Adjectives. However, this also means they can be useful for making claims and arguments — they indicate value judgements and perspectives, and if used strategically, they can imply that listeners or readers should share in those perspectives.

Adjectives are used in many language power techniques, but they’re especially notable in the use of name-calling and hyperbole. Their power in naming is apparent when we consider them in attributive vs. predicative uses. Consider the differences in the effects of:

the autistic child

vs.

the child is autistic

In the first, the adjective ‘autistic’ acts definitively, and some would argue, defines our understanding of the noun ‘child’ because it is attributive. In the second, the adjective is predicative, serving as a subject complement that is potentially incomplete and amendable with other words and phrases (e.g. ‘and smart’). In other words, once a noun is mentioned it is made concrete (or ‘reified’), and whatever follows cannot define it as powerfully as attributive descriptors can. The ‘people first’ movement has embraced this explanation, arguing that we shouldn’t use attributive adjectives this way to describe people with disabilities.

This also explains the power of derogatory epithets, for example, those used by President Donald Trump to describe his enemies, like ‘Sleepy Joe’ for Joe Biden, ‘Crooked Hillary’ for Hillary Clinton, or ‘Lyin’ Ted’ for Ted Cruz. By using these names repeatedly, Trump ‘reifies’ these qualities in his audience’s minds as defining who his enemies are, to his advantage. The danger is that name-calling can lead to negative stereotyping and ultimately scapegoating.

Adjectives are also used in hyperbole — the exaggeration of facts about an event, idea, or person that garners an emotional response like fear, shock, concern, or amusement from the audience. Hyperbole can work in several ways:

by using intensifiers, i.e. adverbs that intensify an adjective’s power, e.g.:

That’s a really fantastic idea. 

by using unqualified comparatives, e.g.

This toothpaste will make your teeth whiter, brighter, and stronger.

or unprovable superlatives, e.g.

This legislation is the most dangerous I’ve ever seen. 

Hyperbole is used in political rhetoric, in advertising, and in general conversation–it may be a particularly US American trait. To detect hyperbole, identify the adjectives and ask ‘in comparison to what?’, and if the answer is vague or unspecific, the statement is probably hyperbolic and meant to garner an emotional response and persuade you about something rather than to express truth.

Module author: Jonathon Reinhardt

Last updated: 6 December 2023

This module is part of Critical Language Awareness: Language Power Techniques and English Grammar, an open educational resource offered by the Clarify Initiative, a privately funded project with the goal of raising critical language awareness and media literacy among students of language and throughout society.