Adjectives · Grade 1

An adjective describes a noun: it tells us what something is like. a tall girl, a red bus, The soup is hot. In English an adjective comes before the noun, or after verbs like is and looks. When there are several, they go in a fixed order.

Key facts

  • An adjective goes before its noun: a red car (not a car red), or after be, look, feel, seem: She looks happy.
  • Adjectives don't change for the plural: a big dog, two big dogs.
  • Several adjectives usually go in this order: opinion, size, age, shape, colour, origin, material, then the noun: a lovely little old red wooden box.
  • Adjectives ending in -ed describe how someone feels: I was bored. Adjectives ending in -ing describe what causes the feeling: The film was boring.
  • Precise adjectives make writing better: enormous, freezing and delighted say more than big, cold and happy.

Worked examples

Example 1

Find the adjective: She quickly opened the heavy door.

Answer: heavy

Example 2

Put in order: red / a / big / bus

Answer: a big red bus

Example 3

Choose: The trip was very (tiring / tired).

Answer: tiring

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