Italian Grammar Analysis
English Adjectives: Order, Comparatives and 8 Exercises
An adjective describes a noun and never changes for number. Word order, -er/-est and more/most rules, common mistakes and 8 exercises solved step by step.
Recommended for: Grade 6 · Grade 7 · Grade 8
An adjective is a word that describes a noun or a pronoun: a tall building, a cold drink, she is happy. It tells you what kind, which one or how many. English adjectives have one big advantage: they never change for gender or number, so a red car and two red cars use the same word.
When you label an adjective, three questions cover most of what a teacher asks.
| Question | The possible answers |
|---|---|
| Which kind? | descriptive (red, kind) or a determiner-type word (this, my, three) |
| Which degree? | positive, comparative or superlative |
| Which position? | attributive (before the noun) or predicative (after a linking verb) |
Full example: tallest in Sam is the tallest boy = adjective, superlative degree of tall, attributive.
If you are working through all the word classes, start from the guide on the parts of speech and how to label them.
Where adjectives go
An adjective has two possible positions.
| Position | Rule | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Attributive | before the noun | the old bridge |
| Predicative | after a linking verb (be, seem, feel, look, become) | the bridge is old |
A predicative adjective is the nominal part of the predicate, explained in the guide on verbal and nominal predicates. Some adjectives only work in one position. Asleep, afraid, alone and alive usually stay after the verb (the baby is asleep), while main, mere and chief stay before the noun (the main road, not the road is main).
The order of adjectives
When two or more adjectives come before a noun, native speakers follow an order without thinking about it.
| Order | Category | Example |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Opinion | lovely, ugly, delicious |
| 2 | Size | big, tiny, tall |
| 3 | Age | old, new, young |
| 4 | Shape | round, square |
| 5 | Colour | red, blue |
| 6 | Origin | Italian, Brazilian |
| 7 | Material | wooden, leather |
| 8 | Purpose | running (shoes) |
A lovely big old round red Italian wooden table is grammatical but sounds heavy: in real English, three adjectives are about the limit. A number or a determiner comes first: three small red cars.
Comparatives and superlatives
Use the comparative to compare two things and the superlative to single out one among three or more.
| Type of adjective | Comparative | Superlative | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| One syllable | -er | -est | fast, faster, fastest |
| Ends in -e | -r | -st | nice, nicer, nicest |
| Consonant-vowel-consonant | double the consonant + -er | double + -est | big, bigger, biggest |
| Consonant + y | y becomes i + -er | -iest | happy, happier, happiest |
| Three or more syllables | more | most | beautiful, more beautiful, most beautiful |
| Some two-syllable words | -er or more | -est or most | clever, quiet, simple |
Do not double the final consonant after w, x or y: new → newer, grey → greyer.
Two other comparison patterns are worth knowing:
- Equality: as tall as. The negative is not as tall as (or not so tall as).
- Progressive: the sooner the better; more and more tired.
Irregular adjectives
| Positive | Comparative | Superlative |
|---|---|---|
| good | better | best |
| bad | worse | worst |
| far | farther / further | farthest / furthest |
| little | less | least |
| many / much | more | most |
Remember to use than after the comparative (taller than me) and the before the superlative (the tallest).
-ed and -ing adjectives
Many English adjectives come from verbs, and the two endings have different meanings.
| Ending | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| -ing | causes the feeling | a boring lesson, a shocking result |
| -ed | has the feeling | I am bored, she was shocked |
Compound adjectives and nouns used as adjectives
A compound adjective joins two words with a hyphen: a well-known actor, a long-term plan. If a number is inside, the noun stays singular: a ten-minute walk (not a ten-minutes walk), an eight-year-old girl.
A noun can also work as an adjective, and then it never takes a plural: a tennis ball, a shoe shop, a history book.
Proper adjectives, such as Italian, Brazilian and Shakespearean, always take a capital letter, just like the proper nouns they come from (see the guide on English nouns).
Adjectives used as nouns
With the, an adjective can stand for a group of people: the poor, the rich, the elderly. The verb is plural: the poor need help. They cannot take -s: not the poors.
Adjective or adverb?
Adjectives describe nouns, adverbs describe verbs, adjectives and other adverbs.
| Adjective | Adverb | Example |
|---|---|---|
| good | well | She is a good singer. She sings well. |
| quick | quickly | a quick answer, answer quickly |
| fast | fast | a fast car, he drives fast |
| hard | hard (not hardly) | a hard test, she works hard |
After linking verbs (be, seem, feel, look, taste), use an adjective, not an adverb: the soup tastes good, I feel bad.
The most common mistakes
- Double comparative: more taller, most easiest. The ending already marks the degree.
- Plural adjective: two reds cars. The adjective never takes -s.
- Wrong order: a wooden old table should be an old wooden table.
- Plural inside a compound: a two-hours film should be a two-hour film.
- -ed and -ing mixed up: I am boring means that you are a boring person; I am bored means that you are feeling bored.
- Good and well: good is an adjective, well is the adverb (she sings well).
- The more with three items: use the most when comparing three or more.
The exercises below follow the same order: first recognising adjectives, then forming degrees, then word order, and finally correcting mistakes.
Solved exercises
1. Find the adjectives in this sentence and say which noun each one describes: 'The tired students read an interesting book in a quiet room.' base
Show solution
- First find the nouns: students, book, room.
- Now look for words that say what kind of noun it is. tired describes students, interesting describes book, quiet describes room.
- The, an and a are not adjectives: they are articles (a type of determiner) and say nothing about quality.
Answer: tired (students), interesting (book), quiet (room).
2. Write the comparative and the superlative of: small, big, happy, nice, expensive, bad. base
Show solution
- small is a one-syllable word: add -er and -est. small, smaller, smallest.
- big ends in consonant-vowel-consonant, so the final consonant doubles: big, bigger, biggest.
- happy ends in consonant + y, so y becomes i: happy, happier, happiest.
- nice already ends in -e, so only -r and -st are added: nice, nicer, nicest.
- expensive has three syllables, so it uses more and most: more expensive, the most expensive.
- bad is irregular: bad, worse, the worst.
Answer: smaller / smallest; bigger / biggest; happier / happiest; nicer / nicest; more expensive / most expensive; worse / worst.
3. Say whether the adjective is attributive (before the noun) or predicative (after a linking verb), and correct the one wrong sentence: a) The old bridge collapsed. b) The bridge is old. c) The baby is asleep. d) We saw an asleep baby. base
Show solution
- a) old comes before the noun bridge: attributive.
- b) old follows the linking verb is: predicative.
- c) asleep follows is: predicative. This is the only position it allows.
- d) asleep cannot stand before a noun, so it is wrong. Use a different adjective (a sleeping baby) or move it after the verb (the baby was asleep).
Answer: a) attributive; b) predicative; c) predicative; d) wrong: say 'We saw a sleeping baby'.
4. Put the adjectives in the correct order: a) wooden / a / old / beautiful / table / round. b) red / three / small / plastic / cars. c) Italian / leather / new / black / shoes. intermedio
Show solution
- The usual order is: opinion, size, age, shape, colour, origin, material, then the noun. Numbers and articles come first.
- a) beautiful (opinion), old (age), round (shape), wooden (material): a beautiful old round wooden table.
- b) three (number), small (size), red (colour), plastic (material): three small red plastic cars.
- c) new (age), black (colour), Italian (origin), leather (material): new black Italian leather shoes.
Answer: a) a beautiful old round wooden table; b) three small red plastic cars; c) new black Italian leather shoes.
5. Choose the correct word: a) The film was so (bored / boring) that I fell asleep. b) I was (bored / boring) during the lesson. c) The news was (shocked / shocking). d) She looked (excited / exciting) when she opened the box. intermedio
Show solution
- -ing adjectives describe the thing or person that causes the feeling. -ed adjectives describe the person who feels it.
- a) the film causes the boredom: boring.
- b) I feel the boredom: bored.
- c) the news causes the shock: shocking.
- d) she feels the excitement: excited.
Answer: a) boring; b) bored; c) shocking; d) excited.
6. Rewrite with a hyphenated compound adjective before the noun: a) a film that lasts two hours; b) a girl who is eight years old; c) a rope that is 10 metres long. Then explain what is wrong with 'a two-hours film'. intermedio
Show solution
- A number + unit noun used as an adjective keeps the noun in the singular and takes hyphens.
- a) two hours becomes two-hour: a two-hour film.
- b) eight years old becomes eight-year-old: an eight-year-old girl.
- c) 10 metres long becomes 10-metre-long: a 10-metre-long rope.
- 'a two-hours film' is wrong because adjectives never take a plural -s, even when they contain a plural noun. Compare: the film lasts two hours (plural, no hyphen).
Answer: a) a two-hour film; b) an eight-year-old girl; c) a 10-metre-long rope. The plural -s is wrong because the compound works as an adjective.
7. Lena is 1.62 m tall, Tom is 1.70 m and Sam is 1.78 m. Write four comparisons using a comparative, a superlative and 'not as ... as', and calculate how many centimetres taller Tom is than Lena. avanzato
Show solution
- Comparative: Tom is taller than Lena (1.70 > 1.62).
- Superlative: Sam is the tallest of the three (1.78 is the maximum).
- Equality form negated: Lena is not as tall as Sam.
- Another comparison: Lena is shorter than Tom.
- Difference: 1.70 − 1.62 = 0.08 m, which is 8 cm.
Answer: Tom is taller than Lena; Sam is the tallest of the three; Lena is not as tall as Sam; Lena is shorter than Tom. Tom is 8 cm taller than Lena.
8. Correct the mistakes: a) She is more taller than me. b) This is the most easiest exercise. c) He is the more intelligent of the three boys. d) She sings good. e) I feel badly about it. avanzato
Show solution
- a) taller already contains the comparative ending, so more is a double comparative. Correct: She is taller than me (formal: than I am).
- b) easiest already contains the superlative ending. Correct: the easiest exercise.
- c) 'the more' is for two people. With three, use the superlative: the most intelligent of the three boys.
- d) good is an adjective and sing needs an adverb: She sings well.
- e) feel is a linking verb, so it takes an adjective, not an adverb: I feel bad about it.
Answer: a) taller than me; b) the easiest exercise; c) the most intelligent; d) She sings well; e) I feel bad about it.
FAQ
What is an adjective in English?
An adjective is a word that describes a noun or pronoun and tells you more about it: a tall building, a cold drink, she is happy. It answers questions like what kind? which one? how many? Unlike in many other languages, English adjectives never change for gender or number.
What is the correct order of adjectives?
The usual order is: opinion, size, age, shape, colour, origin, material, purpose, then the noun. So you say a lovely big old round brown French wooden table, not a wooden French brown table. Most people use at most three adjectives in a row.
Is it 'more better' or 'better'?
It is only better. Better is already the comparative of good, so more better is a double comparative and is wrong. The same goes for worse (not more worse), and for adjectives that take -er: write taller, not more taller.
When do I use -er and when do I use more?
Short adjectives of one syllable take -er and -est (fast, faster, fastest). Adjectives of two syllables ending in -y change y to i (happy, happier). Longer adjectives take more and most (beautiful, more beautiful). A few two-syllable words accept both, like clever and quiet.
Do adjectives have a plural form in English?
No. The adjective stays the same whether the noun is singular or plural: a red car, two red cars. This is a common source of mistakes for learners whose first language marks agreement, who write red cars as if the adjective needed an -s.