Adjectives as a part of speech, are expressions that modify, better describe, and tell more about nouns and pronouns, in sentences. Adjectives are used to add something to the meaning of a noun.

Types of Adjectives

Generally, adjectives answer the questions of: What kind? Which one or ones?, How many or How much?

Here are the types of adjectives.

Proper Adjective

A proper adjective is formed from a proper noun. They are nouns, which take a different form in sentences to modify other nouns. They are always capitalized and are mostly formed from names of countries, religions, and people.

Examples

1. She is working on getting a Canadian Visa.
2. The Chinese restaurant down the road is one of the best in town. 

Descriptive, Qualitative, or Attributive Adjective

This is a type of adjective that modifies a noun or pronoun by telling the features of the noun. It describes a noun or pronoun by calling it, by its attribute.

Example.

1. She has an orange bag.
2. He lives in a beautiful house.

Predicative Adjective

Predicative adjectives are the type of adjectives that modify the noun when it serves as the subject of the sentence. They come after the subject (noun or clause), they are modifying, and are linked to the subject, with the help of a verb.

It describes and modifies the subject of a sentence. 

Examples

1. Grace is generous.
2. The red car is very expensive.

Quantitative or Limiting Adjective

This type of adjective modifies a noun by indicating its number or quantity. 

It applies to the question statement of ‘how much’ and ‘how many.

Examples:

1. She’s coming over to stay over for a few days.
2. We had to wait a couple of hours before finally meeting him.

Demonstrative Adjective

These types of adjectives are used to describe the space or position of something or someone in time. They come immediately before the noun or pronoun they modify and tell which one it is specifically.

Example

1. Those bags cost $350.
2. I enjoyed reading this book.

Distributive Adjective

This type of adjective is used to refer to every member of a group, individually. It refers to separate things or attributes and it describes a specific member of a group, individually. 

Examples

1. Every guest presented a gift at the birthday party.
2. Eight members were seated on each chair.

Interrogative Adjective

This describes a noun that is used in a question. They modify nouns by asking questions.

Example

1. Where did you keep your pen?
2. Whose shoes are these?

Possessive Adjective

This adjective shows the ownership or possession of a noun, in a sentence. It modifies by showing that one thing, or person, belongs to another.

Example

1. He loves her smile.
2. They took his dog for a walk.

Types of Adjectives with Examples

Here are some ‘word’ examples of the types of Adjectives we discussed earlier.

• Proper Adjective

Australian, Nigerian, Shakespearean, Lagosians, etc.

• Descriptive Adjective

Words that define different types of colors( red, blue, etc), looks(beautiful, ugly, etc),  appearance ( neat, dirty, untidy, etc).

• Predicative Adjective

They come after the subject of the sentence. Examples: Beautiful, amazing, kind, loving, hardworking, strong, energetic, etc.

• Quantitative Adjective

Numbers(five, none, etc), Few, a little, couple, 

• Demonstrative Adjective

Its examples are those, this, that, those.

• Distributive Adjective

They include ch, every, either, neither, 

• Interrogative Adjective

These ask questions and examples are: when, where, who, what

• Possessive Adjective

They connote ownership and examples are: her, her, his, their, my.

Conclusion: 

In the everyday use of English, Adjectives play an important role, as a part of speech that modifies a noun or pronoun only. It does not modify a verb or another adjective. It generally tells the quality, quantity, attributes, of a noun. Adjectives help us better describe and communicate the state of nouns.