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The 11 types of adjectives: what they are and how they are used to enrich the language

The 11 types of adjectives: what they are and how they are used to enrich the language

March 26, 2024

Regardless of the language in which we are speaking, human language has great richness and variety . We have words with a large number of functions within the field of communication, such as nouns, verbs, prepositions, adverbs or adjectives. The latter allow to express or indicate the qualities of a stimulus or concept or to delimit what element is being talked about.

But the category of adjective includes a lot of subcategories within itself, There are different types of adjectives which can be used when communicating. That is why in this article we are going to see some of these types.


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The adjective

The adjective concept refers to that set of words that allow obtaining more or less concrete or specific information of a name, pointing out its qualities or the relations of the noun with other elements . Adjectives tend to have the same gender and number as the noun they accompany, although in some cases the adjective is a single word that does not vary independently of the characteristics of the name it refers to.

Main types of adjectives

There are different types of adjectives, which can be classified according to different criteria. Below we reflect some of the best known.


1. Qualifying adjectives

What most of us today consider adjectives per se, the qualifying adjectives, are those that allow identify a quality or express a characteristic of the noun to which they refer.

Within the qualifying adjectives different subtypes can be found depending on different criteria. Among them, the following stand out

1.1. Specific or restrictive adjectives

The specific adjectives are those that point out a quality that differentiates the noun referred to from others . Examples are those adjectives that indicate color or shape.

1.2. Adjectives not restrictive

It is about those adjectives whose meaning expresses a quality of the noun without thereby restricting or manifesting a difference that makes others unable to be so.


1.3. Explanatory adjectives

This type of adjectives refers to intrinsic qualities or directly associated with the concept to which they refer . Its incorporation into the noun phrase is actually redundant, and can be eliminated without changing its meaning.

1.3. Adjective deictic or modal

Adjective that allows to delimit the context in which the noun is circumscribed or appears.

1.4. Adjectives graduates of positive degree

They are called as such those adjectives that can be placed within a continuum and that are limited to offer information about a quality of the noun

1.5. Comparative adjectives (or comparative degree)

These are adjectives that establish a comparison between the noun they refer to and other concepts.

1.6. Elative adjectives (or superlative degree)

The use of elastic adjectives allows to obtain information not only about a characteristic but about its intensity . A subtype would be the superlatives, in which the degree is marked thanks to the incorporation of suffixes.

1.7. Relational adjectives

They are called as relational those adjectives that inform about the relation of the noun with a specific subject. They can be plot or classifiers (which in turn are restrictive when defining an exclusive category).

1.8. Substantive adjectives

They are called substantive adjectives to those adjectives that in a given context are used as nouns. They are used when the characteristic is the most distinctive element that is used to designate the object .

1.9. Adverbial adjectives

These are adjectives that are used as adverbs, having the same functions as these. In this case they do not indicate the properties of the name but the way in which the adjective is applied rather to the action carried out by this . In a sentence they could be used as adverbs ending in -mente.

1.10. Intersective adjectives

They are called as such those adjectives that report two qualities at the same time, appearing next to a noun noun adjective.

1.11. Non-intersective adjectives

It is all those adjectives that are limited to express or indicate a quality although they appear together with another particle that could be interpreted as qualitative .

2. The old determinative adjectives, now decisive

Although at present it does not apply and are considered independent categories, formerly there was a classification that divided adjectives into qualifiers and determinatives. Nowadays they are not considered adjectives.

The determinative adjectives, now determining, are those words that are used to determine or specify the scope of the noun who accompany. Within the determinants you can find different types.

2.1. Numerals

Determining adjectives that offer information about the existing quantity of the concept of which one is speaking. They can be cardinal or ordinal .

2.2. Possessives

These are the determinants that define the ownership or possession of the noun they accompany (me, yours, ours ...).

2.3. Demonstrative

Words that accompany the name and they refer to the distance between the sender of the sentence and the object , entity or concept to which it refers. Examples would be this or that.

2.4. Interrogatives

These are the determinants, or old determinative adjectives, that are used in the questions so that precede or even replace the name and allow the identification of this one. It's about particles like what ...? or how much ...?

2.5. Exclamatory

It is about those elements that accompany the noun and / or another adjective and they serve to give emphasis .

2.6. Articles

The articles are used to indicate whether the noun is determined or indeterminate.

2.7. Indefinite

Similar to the numerals they express an idea of ​​quantity Regarding the noun they accompany, but in a very imprecise way (some, a lot, a little ...).


Adjectives for Kids | Language Arts Video Lesson (March 2024).


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