Adjective

What are adjectives?

An adjective is a word like kind, happy, smart and intelligent. An adjective typically modifies a noun and denotes a temporary or permanent quality associated with that noun. For example, a smart boy is a boy who is distinguished from other boys by being smart.
Not all adjectives are used to denote a quality associated with a noun. For example, the adjective mere in ‘a mere child’ does not denote a quality of the child.
Kinds of adjectives
Adjectives may be divided into the following classes:
Adjectives of quality
Adjectives of quality refer to the kind or quality of a person or thing. They answer the question: ‘of what kind?’

• Tokyo is a large city. (Here the adjective large shows a certain quality associated with the city Tokyo.)
• Alice is a brilliant student. (Here the adjective brilliant shows a quality associated with the noun Alice.)

Note that adjectives formed from proper nouns are generally considered as adjectives of quality. Examples are: Persian carpets, French wines etc.
Adjectives of quantity
Adjectives of quantity answer the question ‘how much?’. Examples are: some, any, much, little, enough, all, no, half, whole etc.

• We need some rice.
• You have little patience.
• He has lost all his wealth.
• He did not eat any rice.

Adjectives of number
Adjectives of number answer the question ‘how many’. Examples are: many, one, two, first, tenth, all etc.

• Each hand has five fingers.
• Sunday is the first day of the week.
• All men must die.
• There are several mistakes in your essay.

Demonstrative adjectives
Demonstrative adjectives answer the question ‘which?’. Examples are: this, that, these, those and such.

• That boy is industrious.
• This bag is made of expensive leather.
• Those mangoes were very sweet.
• I hate such people.

Note that this and that are used with singular nouns. These and those are used with plural nouns.
Interrogative adjectives
When they are used with nouns to ask questions, the questions words what, which and whose are called interrogative adjectives.

• Whose bag is this?
• Which way shall we go?

Adjectives used without nouns

Adjectives are often used without nouns.
To refer to some well-known groups of people
The structure the + adjective is used to talk about some well-known groups of people. Examples are: the blind, the deaf, the unemployed, the rich, the poor, the young, the old, the dead etc.

• He is collecting money for the blind. (= He is collecting money for blind people.)
  
• Blessed are the meek.
• The government should do something for the poor.

Note that these expressions are always plural. The blind means all blind people. Similarly, the dead means all dead people. Adjectives are not normally used in this way without the.
Blessed are the meek. (NOT Blessed are meek.)
These expressions cannot be used with a possessive ‘s.
The problems of the blind should be properly addressed. OR Blind people’s problems should be properly addressed. (NOT The blind’s problems should be properly addressed.)
In a few fixed phrases, the + adjective can have a singular meaning. Examples include: the accused, the former, the latter, the deceased etc.

• The accused was released on bail.

Note that plural meanings are also possible.
Abstract ideas
An adjective can be used after the to refer to some abstract quality or idea.
She doesn’t believe in the supernatural.
The future (= futurity) is unknown to us.
Adjectives of nationality
Some adjectives of nationality ending in -sh or -ch can be used after the without nouns. These adjectives include Irish, Welsh, English, British, Spanish, French etc.
The Irish are proud of their sense of humor.
Note that the expressions the Irish, the English etc., are plural.The singular equivalents are for example an Irishman or an Englishwoman.

Degrees of Comparison

Read the following sentences:

1. John is tall.
2. Peter is taller than John.
3. Harry is the tallest of the three.

In sentence 1, the adjective tall merely says something about John’s height. It doesn’t state how tall John is. In sentence 2, the adjective taller is used to compare John’s height with Peter’s height.
In sentence 3, the adjective tallest is used to compare Harry’s height with the height of John and Peter.
We have thus seen that adjectives change in form to show comparison. These different forms of the adjective are called the degrees of comparison.
In the examples given above, the adjective tall is said to be in the positive degree. The adjective taller is said to be in the comparative degree and the adjective tallest is said to be in the superlative degree.
The positive degree of an adjective is the adjective in its simple form. It is used to denote the mere existence of some quality. Adjectives in the positive degree are used when no comparison is made.
The comparative degree of an adjective shows a higher degree of the quality than that is present in the positive degree. It is used when two things or two sets of things are compared.

• Peter is smarter than John.
• Which of the two sisters is the prettier?
• Apples are dearer than oranges.

The superlative degree of an adjective denotes the highest degree of the quality. It is used when more than two things or sets of things are compared.

• Peter is the smartest boy in the class.
• Iron is the most useful of all metals.
• Alice is the prettiest girl in the neighborhood.

Adjective Phrases

Sometimes a group of words does the work of an adjective.
Study the following examples.

• The mayor was a wealthy man.
• The mayor was a man of great wealth.

In sentence 1, the adjective wealthy says what sort of man the mayor was. In sentence 2, the group of words ‘of great wealth’ also says the same thing. It qualifies the noun man as an adjective does. It therefore does the work of an adjective and is called an adjective phrase.
Definition
An adjective phrase is a group of words that does the work of an adjective.

• The magistrate was a kind man. (Here the adjective kind modifies the noun man.)
• The magistrate was a man with a kind heart. (Here the adjective phrase ‘with a kind heart’ modifies the noun man.)
• They lived in a stone house.
• They lived in a house built of stone.
• The workers belonged to a hill tribe.
• The workers belonged to a tribe dwelling in the hills.

Study the following adjectives and the adjective phrases that are equivalent to them.

• A golden necklace – a necklace made of gold
• A white coat – a coat of white color
• A jungle track – a track through the jungle
• A deserted city – a city with no inhabitants
• The French flag – the flag of France
• A wooden hut – a hut built of wood
• A blank page – a page with no writing on it

Distributives

Each, every, either and neither are distributive adjectives. These are normally used with singular nouns.
Position
Distributives are placed immediately before the nouns they qualify.

• Each boy wore a hat.
• Neither answer is correct.
• Every child needs love.

Note
Each, either and neither can be used with plural nouns when they are followed by ‘of’

• Each of the boys wore a hat.
• Neither of the answers is correct.

Each
Each is used when we are talking about the members of a group as individuals.

• Each boy was given a watch.
• Each of the boys was given a watch.

Each and every
Each is preferred when we are thinking of people or things separately, one at a time. Every is similar to all. Every is preferred when we are thinking of people or things together.

• Each patient went to see the doctor. (In turn)
• He gave every patient the same medicine.

Either and Neither
Either and neither are used to talk about distribution between two things.
Either is used in affirmative clauses. Neither is used in negative clauses.

• Which shirt do you want? Either shirt will do.
• I will take either shirt, they are both good.
• Neither answer is correct.
• Neither of them came.

Attributive adjectives after nouns

Most adjectives can go in two main places in a sentence: in attributive position and predicative position.
In attributive position, an adjective comes before the noun it modifies.

• She is a nice girl.
• She married a rich businessman.

In predicative position, an adjective goes after the verb.

• She is nice.
• He looked upset.

While attributive adjectives usually go before the nouns, a few can be used after nouns. This, for example, happens in some fixed phrases.

• Secretary General
• Poet Laureate
• Attorney General
• Court martial

Some adjectives ending in -able/-ible can also be used after nouns.

• It is the only solution possible.
• Book all the tickets available.

After something, everything etc.
Adjectives come after words like something, everything, anything, nothing, somebody, anywhere etc.

• I would like to go somewhere quiet. (NOT I would like to go quiet somewhere.)
• I heard something interesting today. (NOT I heard interesting something today.)

In most expressions of measurement adjectives come after the measurement noun.

• ten years older (NOT Older ten years) (NOT ten older years)
• six feet deep
• two miles long

Verb + object + adjective
Adjectives can be placed after the object.

• You make me happy.
• Can you get the children ready for school?

Correct use of some adjectives

The adjective can be correctly used with a verb when some quality of the subject, rather the action of the verb, is to be expressed.

• These flowers smell sweet. (NOT These flowers smell sweetly.)
• It tastes sour. (NOT It tastes sourly.)

The plural forms these and those are often used with the singular nouns kind and sort.
Examples are: these kind of things
However, some grammarians insist that we should say: this kind of things
The words superior, inferior, senior, junior, prior, anterior, and posterior take to instead of than.

• He is senior to me.
• James is inferior to Peter is intelligence.

In comparing two things or classes of things the comparative should be used.

• Take the shorter of the two routes. (NOT Take the shortest of the two routes.)
• Of the two suggestions, the former is better. (NOT Of the two suggestions, the former is the best.)

This rule, however, is not strictly observed. In informal English, the superlative is often used when we talk about one of only two items.
When a comparison is made by means of a comparative, the thing that is compared must be excluded from the things with which it is compared.

• Hercules was stronger than any other man. (NOT Hercules was stronger than any man – this sentence would suggest that Hercules was stronger than Hercules himself, which, of course, is absurd.)

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This source is from http://www.englishgrammar.org/category/adjectives/