An adjective is a word that modifies a noun or a pronoun.

Descriptive adjectives are words that describe the quality or characteristic of a person, a place, a thing, an animal, an event, or an idea, such as its color, shape, taste, size, or trait.

Descriptive adjectives give a clearer picture of nouns or pronouns.

• A nurse is a caring person who attends to the sick.

• Mindanao has many verdant forests.

• Brushing your teeth three times a day makes them clean and strong.

• A turtle is a slow-moving animal with a hard shell as body covering.

• Christmas is a solemn occasion for Christians all over the world.

• To climb Mt. Apo is a fantastic idea.

The italicized words in the sentences above are adjectives. For example, the words caring and verdant describe the nouns, person and forests.

The adjectives in the sentences above tell the quality or attributes of a person, a place, a thing, an animal, an event, or an idea. These adjectives are called descriptive adjectives.

Descriptive adjectives give a clearer picture of a noun or a pronoun.

Example:

What descriptive adjectives can you give for the noun dog? Ask yourself these questions:

• What color is it?

• Is it big or small?

• How does it look?

You will probably come up with answers similar to these:

big, brown, furry

The words big, brown, and furry are all descriptive adjectives.

A descriptive adjective is usually found before the word it modifies.

It may also be found after the linking verb that connects to the word it modifies.

Example:

The big dog is brown.