1) Adjectives are used to describe nouns and provide additional information about their qualities, characteristics, or properties. 2) Adjectives have a standard form and do not change based on the noun's gender or number. They can be placed before or after nouns and certain linking verbs. 3) Comparisons of adjectives involve forms like "more/less" to show differences or "as...as" to show similarities, as well as irregular comparatives like "better/best" and superlatives involving "the."

1. FORM AND FUNCTION OF ADJECTIVES
FUNCTION
Adjectives tell us more about a noun.
They can:
Describe feelings or qualities:
He is a lonely man
They are honest people
Give nationality or origin:
Pierre is French
This clock is German
Our house is Victorian
Tell more about a thing's characteristics:
A wooden table.
The knife is sharp.
Tell us about age:
He's a young man
My coat is very old
Tell us about size and measurement:
John is a tall man.
This is a very long film.
Tell us about colour:
Paul wore a red shirt.
The sunset was crimson and gold.
Tell us about material/what something is made of:
It was a wooden table
She wore a cotton dress
Tell us about shape:
A rectangular box
A square envelope
Express a judgement or a value:

2. A fantastic film
Grammar is boring
FORM AND FUNCTION OF ADJECTIVES
FORM
1. Adjectives are invariable:
They do not change their form depending on the gender or number of the noun.
A hot potat Some hotpotatoes
o
2. To emphasise or strengthen the meaning of an adjective use 'very' or 'really':
A very hot potato Some really hot potatoes.
(BUT see also Modifiers/Adverbs)
3. Position of adjectives:
a) Usually in front of a noun: A beautiful girl.
b) After verbs like "to be", "to seem" , "to look", "to taste":
• The girl is beautiful
• You look tired
• This meat tastes funny.
c) After the noun: in some fixed expressions:
• The Princess Royal
• The President elect
• a court martial
the adjectives involved, present, concerned:
1. I want to see the people involved/concerned (= the people who
have something to do with the matter)
2. Here is a list of the people present (= the people who were in the
building or at the meeting)
Be careful! When these adjectives are used before the noun they have a different
meaning:
• An involved discussion = detailed, complex
• A concerned father = worried, anxious
• The present situation = current, happening now

3. COMPARISON OF ADJECTIVES
AS + ADJECTIVE + AS
To compare people, places, events or things, when there is no difference, use as
+ adjective + as:
• Peter is 24 years old. John is 24 years old. Peter is as old as John.
More examples:
• Moscow is as cold as St. Petersburg in the winter.
• Ramona is as happy as Raphael.
• Einstein is as famous as Darwin.
• A tiger is as dangerous as a lion.
COMPARISON OF ADJECTIVES
NOT AS + ADJECTIVE + AS
Difference can also be shown by using not so/as ...as:
• Mont Blanc is not as high as Mount Everest
• Norway is not as sunny as Thailand
• A bicycle is not as expensive as a car
• Arthur is not as intelligent as Albert
COMPARISON OF ADJECTIVES
COMPARISONS OF QUANTITY
To show difference: more, less, fewer + than
To show no difference: as much as , as many as, as few as, as little as

4. COMPARISON OF ADJECTIVES
COMPARISONS OF QUANTITY
To show difference: more, less, fewer + than
Examples:
With countable nouns: more / fewer
• Eloise has more children than Chantal.
• Chantal has fewer children than Eloise.
• There are fewer dogs in Cardiff than in Bristol
• I have visited fewer countries than my friend has.
• He has read fewer books than she has.
With uncountable nouns: more / less
• Eloise has more money than Chantal.
• Chantal has less money than Eloise.
• I spend less time on homework than you do.
• Cats drink less water than dogs.
• This new dictionary gives more informationthan the old one.
So, the rule is:
MORE + nouns that are countable or uncountable
FEWER + countable nouns
LESS + uncountable nouns
To show no difference see next page.
COMPARISON OF ADJECTIVES
COMPARISONS OF QUANTITY
To show no difference: as much as , as many as, as few as, as little as
• as many as / as few as + countable nouns
• as much as / as little as + uncountable nouns
Examples:
With countable nouns:
• They have as many children as us.
• We have as many customers as them.
• Tom has as few books as Jane.
• There are as few houses in his village as in mine.
• You know as many people as I do.

5. • I have visited the States as many times as he has.
With uncountable nouns:
• John eats as much food as Peter.
• Jim has as little food as Sam.
• You've heard as much news as I have.
• He's had as much success as his brother has.
• They've got as little water as we have.
COMPARISON OF ADJECTIVES
FORMING THE COMPARATIVE AND SUPERLATIVE

6. Number of syllables
Comparative
Superlative
one syllable
+ -er
+ -est
tall
taller
tallest
one syllable with the
spelling consonant +
single vowel +
consonant:double
the final consonant:
fat
fatter
fattest
big
bigger
biggest
sad

7. COMPARISON OF ADJECTIVES
IRREGULAR COMPARATIVES AND SUPERLATIVES
These adjectives have completely irregular comparative and superlative forms:
Adjective Comparative Superlative
good better best
bad worse worst
little less least
much more most
far further / farther furthest / farthest
COMPARISON OF ADJECTIVES
THE + SUPERLATIVE
'the' is placed before the superlative:
For example:
• He is the richest man in the world.
• That is the biggest crocodile I have ever seen.
• She is the tallest girl in her class.
COMPARISON OF ADJECTIVES
COMPARATIVE + THAN
To compare the difference between two people, things or events.
Examples:
• Mt. Everest is higher than Mt. Blanc.
• Thailand is sunnier than Norway.
• A car is more expensive than a bicycle.
• Albert is more intelligent than Arthur.