FORM = COMPARISON

• like adverbs, adjectives are modifying words

  • they describe, alter, specify other words

• specifically, nouns and pronouns

• located immediately before the noun modified OR

• located after a LINKING VERB (is, am, are, was, were)

• Lewis Black, the hilarious comedian, performed on The Daily Show.

• Comedian Lewis Black is hilarious. 

• what kind of

• how many

• which one

• usually, grammarians place DEFINITE ARTICLES (a, an, the) under the category of Adjectives

• typically, NUMBERS are placed here as well, answering  how many (3) or which place (3rd)

• NOUNS can function as adjectives, too

  • The bookstore owner sold his business.

  • Here, the noun-as-adjective “bookstore” modifies “owner”—what kind of owner?
     

• COMPARATIVE Mode: comparing 2 items = (-er) OR (more + base form of adjective)

  • adjective with 1-2 syllables = -er

  • adjective with 3+ syllables = more + base form

  • For the last few years, April has been drier than March in the Northeast.

  • Between a Saturn and a Lexus, the latter will presumably be the more expensive car of the two.

• SUPERLATIVE Mode: comparing 3+ items = (-est) OR (most + base form)

  • adjective with 1-2 syllables = -est

  • adjective with 3+ syllables = most + base form

  • "April is the cruelest month..." (T.S. Eliot, The Wasteland)

  • Lexus models are typically the most expensive cars on the market today.

• some modifiers cannot be used in the comparative or superlative because they are absolute

• this means they cannot be decreased or increased

• so, NO (-er) OR (-est), NO (more + base form) OR (most + base form)

  • for example, something cannot be more/less perfect, truly/really/very unique, less fatal

  • it is like being pregnant: you either are or not; there is no in-between and there is no greater or lesser degree of being pregnant