Last updated on March 11th, 2023 at 12:59 pm
To further our perfection in basic English grammar, we shall attempt some grammar exercises on adjectives and degrees of comparison. This will serve to quickly brush up our knowledge on them.
First, we shall have a cursory look at the meaning and types of adjectives and then jump on to the exercises.
If you want to go to the exercises immediately, click the last two items in the contents box.
Opening picture created on Canva
Page contents
Adjectives Basics
Consider the following sentences with special attention to the italicized words:
- ‘Robinson Crusoe’ is a good book to read.
- Noema is a tall girl.
- There are five balloons on each wall.
- How beautiful she is!
You will notice that each of the italicized words describes or modifies a noun or pronoun. Such words are known as adjectives.
Types of Adjectives
There are 7 types of adjectives. They are as follows (with examples):
-
Descriptive
They add a description to a noun/ pronoun.
A bunch of ripe bananas is hanging low. (‘ripe’ describes the noun ‘bananas’)
Harish lifted a weight of 250 kg. How strong he is! (‘strong’ describes the pronoun ‘he’)
-
Demonstrative
These adjectives describe the position of a noun or pronoun physically or with respect to time. Commonly used demonstrative adjectives are ‘this’, ‘that’, ‘these’, and ‘those’.
This mansion is ours. (‘This’ shows that the noun ‘mansion’ exists somewhere near.)
I often visit those good old days in my mind’s eye. (‘Those’ symbolizes that ‘good old days’ is a matter quite far in the past)
-
Quantitative
Such adjectives tell us about the number or quantity of the noun or pronoun. Their examples are ‘many’, ‘some’, ‘enough’, ‘numbers’ (like two, three etc.) and ‘any’.
She has twenty-five books on the subject. (‘twenty-five’ denotes a number)
Do you have enough pasta to give a treat to us? (‘enough’ shows a quantity)
-
Possessive
Words like her, his, mine, yours etc. depict possession. They are called possessive adjectives.
This is my discovery and I have a patent for it. (‘my’ shows possession for ‘discovery’)
The puppy whimpered. Its tail was shivering. (‘Its’ shows possession for ‘tail’)
-
Distributive
These adjectives show a part of a collection or group.
I think neither combination will work. (‘neither’ denotes ‘none’ of the group of combinations here.)
Each participant will get a tea set. (‘each’ denotes ‘every’ member belonging to the group of participants here.)
-
Interrogative
Such adjectives are used to interrogate or ask a question. e.g. whose, which, what.
Which manual has been compiled by you? (‘which’ interrogates the noun ‘manual’)
What method will you apply? (‘What’ asks a question about ‘method’)
-
Articles
The articles ‘a’, ‘an’, and ‘the’ are also used as adjectives.
There is a chimpanzee in the garden.
The man who entered the gate was Mr. David.
Everything begins with an idea.
Degrees of Comparison
You must have come across the degrees of comparison of adjectives.
Example: Suppose a person is of short height. Another person may be of a less height. We may attribute the word ‘shorter’ for his height. Another one may have a height which is even less than the height of the second one. We may say that the third man is of the shortest height.
These forms of adjectives (like ‘short’, ‘shorter’, ‘shortest’) that are called degrees of comparison. They are three in number:
- Positive degree
- Comparative degree
- Superlative degree
Some examples are as below:
| Sl. No. | Positive Degree | Comparative Degree | Superlative Degree |
| 1 | Tall | Taller | Tallest |
| 2 | Good | Better | Best |
| 3 | Beautiful | More beautiful | Most beautiful |
| 4 | Messy | Messier | Messiest |
| 5 | Oily | Oilier | Oiliest |
| 6 | Fine | Finer | Finest |
| 7 | Shy | Shyer | Shyest |
To learn the rules of formation of comparative and superlative degrees, read this article:
Degrees of Comparison – Types & Examples
Exercises on Adjectives
A. Read the following paragraph and find the adjectives present therein. Identify the type of each adjective:
Sonu has a beautiful kite. His light kite sometimes rises against the strong winds and goes invisible in the high skies. He is a magician with the art of kite-flying. His two brothers also know many skills but neither brother knows how to fly a kite. He said he would train them but did not mention which brother he would train. Many days have passed since then, but he has not lived up to his past promises.
Answers:
beautiful – descriptive
light – descriptive
strong – descriptive
invisible – descriptive
high – descriptive
two – quantitative
neither – distributive
which – interrogative
many – distributive
past – descriptive
B. Match the adjectives on the left side of the table with the correct adjective types on the right side:
| Adjective (Italics) | Adjective type |
| (A) How fast she is! | (i) Demonstrative |
| (B) Doesn’t your dog bark? | (ii) Quantitative |
| (C) All men are equal. | (iii) Descriptive |
| (D) That aspect of the case has not yet been explored. | (iv) Article |
| (E) The sun sets in the west. | (v) Interrogative |
| (F) Which procedure is the best for titration? | (vi)Distributive |
| (G) I doubt whether there was enough rice in the bowl. | (vii) Possessive |
Answers:
(A) Fast – (iii) Descriptive
(B) Your – (vii) Possessive
(C) All – (vi) Distributive
(D) That – (i) Demonstrative
(E) The – (iv) Article
(F) Which – (v) Interrogative
(G) Enough – (ii) Quantitative
Degrees of Comparison Exercises
C. Use comparative form of the italicized positive or superlative degree without changing the meaning of the sentence. An example has been worked out for you:
Example:
Positive degree: No other statue in the world is as tall as the Statue of Unity.
Comparative degree: Statue of Unity is taller than any other statue in the world.
(a) She is the most beautiful actress in the film industry.
(b) No other student in the class is so talented as Madhav.
(c) That was the messiest problem I ever faced.
(d) The battle of Chinhat was the earliest battle fought against the English by the Indians.
(e) Surat is one of the busiest towns in the Western India.
Answers:
(a) She is more beautiful than any other actress in the film industry.
(b) Madhav is more talented than all other students in the class.
(c) I never faced a messier problem than that.
(d) No other battle was fought against the English by the Indians earlier than the battle of Chinhat.
(e) Surat is busier than most towns in the Western India.
D. Correct (Or improve) the following sentences, if necessary. The errors lie in the degrees of comparison. If correct, leave the sentence as it is:
(a) They are in fact bad players than their opponents.
(b) The Taj Mahal is the most attractive wonders of the World for tourists.
(c) Nina is the shortest of all the girls.
(d) Hemen is mor fat than Ramesh.
(e) She heard a cry loud than the one she had heard earlier.
Answers:
(a) They are in fact worse players than their opponents.
(b) The Taj Mahal is one of the most attractive wonders of the World for tourists.
(c) Nina is the shortest of all the girls. (No error)
(d) Hemen is fatter than Ramesh.
(e) She heard a cry louder than the one she had heard earlier.
E. Fill up the gaps:
| Sl. No. | Positive Degree | Comparative Degree | Superlative Degree |
| 1 | Brief | … | … |
| 2 | … | … | Chewiest |
| 3 | … | Crunchier | … |
| 4 | Sincere | … | … |
| 5 | Blue | … | … |
| 6 | … | … | Most difficult |
| 7 | Sorry | … | … |
| 8 | … | … | Friendliest |
| 9 | Happily | … | … |
| 10 | … | slower | … |
Answers:
- Briefer, Briefest
- Chewy, Chewier
- Crunchy, Crunchiest
- Sincerer, Sincerest
- Bluer, Bluest
- Difficult, More difficult
- Sorrier, Sorriest
- Friendly, Friendlier
- More happily, Most happily
- Slow, Slowest
Solve exercises on Parts of Speech: