Adjectives - Lesson Three
This is the third lesson related to adjectives. Adjectives can be used modify nouns. It helps you be more specific with the noun you use. For example, look at this dialogue:
A: Hello, can I have a book please?
B: Which book do you want?
A: The red book please.
B: Here you are.
The noun (book) does not have an adjective attached to it.
Character B does not know which book.
Now, the noun (book) has been modified with an adjective (red) - now we have a more accurate description. Character A wants a red book.
Vocabulary
Let's try these:
red cat
black dog
yellow fish
Positive - Present tense
Subject + verb 'be' + expanded noun phrase.
It is a yellow fish.
Let's break it down:
Start with the basic sentence. It is 'a' fish because there is one.
It is a fish.
Add the adjective before the noun.
It is a yellow fish.
Try these:
You must say them out loud for learning to happen.
Positive - Past tense
Subject + verb 'be' + expanded noun phrase.
It was a yellow fish.
We change the verb 'be' into its past tense form.
Let's break it down:
Start with the basic sentence. It is 'a' fish because there is one.
It was a fish.
Add the adjective before the noun.
It was a yellow fish.
Try these:
You must say them out loud for learning to happen.
Negative
Adjectives are used to modify, or change, a noun. Making the sentence negative means that the noun does not possess the adjective.
Let's try these:
not a blue cat
not a green dog
not a white fish
Present tense
Subject + Verb 'be' + not + expanded noun phrase.
It is not a blue fish.
Try these:
You must say them out loud for learning to happen.
Past tense
Try these:
You must say them out loud for learning to happen.
Subject + Verb 'be' + not + expanded noun phrase.
It was not a blue snake.
Plurals
So far we have look at sentences with one animal:
It is a red cat.
What if we are describing two or more nouns? We change the subject to a plural (they) and change the verb 'be' because of that change. We also remove the singular 'a' and add an 's'.
It is a red cat.
They are red cats.
It is a white snake.
They are white snakes.
It is a yellow bird.
They are yellow birds.
Questions (?)
To form questions we swap the verb 'be' and the subject. The tense of the verb 'be' can also change.
Is it a black dog?
Was it a black dog?
Are they black dogs?
Were they black dogs?
With have / has
We have combined an adjective with a noun (black dog). Now we will use these in sentences using the verb 'have' / 'has'.
Subject + have / has + expanded noun phrase
Vocabulary
Adjectives Exercises
Subject + have / has + expanded noun phrase
She + has + blue + eyes.
She has blue eyes.
She has red hair.
She has long hair.
Subject + have / has + expanded noun phrase
He + has + brown + eyes.
He has brown eyes.
He has curly hair.
He has a short beard.
Subject + have / has + expanded noun phrase
They + have + short + hair.
They have short hair.
They have straight hair.
Hair: She _____ _____ _____
Hair: ____ _____ _____ _____
Eyes: ____ _____ _____ _____
Answer
She has long hair.
Answer
She has long hair.
Answer
She has brown eyes.
Hair: I _____ brown _____
Answer
I have brown hair.
Answer
I have short hair.
Hair: I _____ short _____
Answer
I have green eyes.
Eyes: ____ _____ green _____
To extend your sentences you can combine adjectives together. Look at this structure:
Subject + have / has + (determiner) + adjective adjective + noun
Subject + have / has + adjective adjective + noun
She has long black hair.
She has big brown eyes.
Hair: ____ _____ [length] [colour] _____
Eyes: ____ _____ [size] [colour] _____
Answer
She has long red hair.
Answer
She has big green eyes.
Hair: ____ _____ [length] [straight / curly] [colour] _____
Answer
They have long straight blonde hair.
Joining nouns
We can list nouns using commas and 'and' at the end.
I have a pen, a notebook and a laptop.
We can add adjectives to the list of nouns.
Subject + have / has + adjective noun, adjective noun and adjective noun.
She has long hair and brown eyes.
We can have two adjectives.
She has long brown hair and big brown eyes.
She has ______ ______ hair and ______ ______ eyes.
Answer
She has long red hair and big green eyes.
He _____ ______ ______ hair, ______ eyes and a ______ beard.
Answer
He has long curly hair, brown eyes and a short beard.