grammar

[Unregistered]

what is a simple way to identify a and explain a adjective

[mykwyner]

An adjective is a word used to describe a noun.

A green chair.
An angry dog.
A hot day.

[Dr. Jamshid Ibrahim]

Adjectives are misleading and subjective:
1. An adjective can be used attributively (describes a noun):
A beautiful house
2. An adjective can be used predicatively after link verbs:
The house is beautiful.

The adjective ill cannot be used attributively in the meaning unwell:
The man is ill. But not: an ill man
Sick makes up for it.

An adjective reflects the speaker's preference. Adjectives can make a text more interesting. Try to use more specific adjectives ie adjectives like happy, good, bad are overused. Voltaire said the adjective is the enemy of the noun. Beware of adjectives..

[RonBee]

Adjectives are misleading and subjective:

Misleading? How so?

~R

[Dr. Jamshid Ibrahim]

Misleading? How so?

~R

I meant misleading and difficult:
1. The adjective is either an attribute or a predicate (link verbs). If you say just adjective it is not clear what you mean.
2. The adjective is misleading in that it is a subjective perspective.
3. Those which end in -ly can be confused with adverbs.
4. Adjectives can be a class of their own or derived (present and past participles): running water, home-made
5. The overuse of general adjectives

[Anglika]

Why make life more difficult that you need? A simple answer here was best for the questioner.

[Dr. Jamshid Ibrahim]

Why make life more difficult that you need? A simple answer here was best for the questioner.

I think the poster certainly needs to know the attributive and predicative use of adjectives so that adjectives like ill are used properly (a sick woman instead of an ill woman). The word "adjective" is simply not enough. Making life more difficult as you put it was my answer to Ron's question. Additionally more people will profit from a detailed answer.

[Anglika]

While appreciating that you have a very deep experience and much knowledge to impart, if someone asks for a simple answer, then I feel that is what will benefit them.

Over-explaining can lead to obfuscation and confusion.

[mykwyner]

Maybe I was wrong to offer the student a simple explanation when all he asked for was a simple explanation. Here is a more comprehensive one:

Sometimes the same adjective or adjectival phrase can be used both attributively as a pre-modifier (the self-aggrandizing gas bag) and predicatively as a complement to copular verbs (he is self-aggrandizing) and in some cases as an object (they think him self-aggrandizing). Let's not forget something really important to beginning learners, the semantic difference between restrictive and non-restrictive modification as it applies to adjectives that modify nouns and noun phrases. The adjective self-aggrandizing in self-aggrandizing gas bag is restrictive if it distinguishes one type of gas bag from all others e.g. self-effacing gas bags; it is non-restrictive if there is only one gas bag in question, or if self-aggrandizement is a characteristic of all gas bags.

[Dr. Jamshid Ibrahim]

mykwyner: You are right to provide more details and I don't think there is a simple way to explain an adjective as the original poster might have thought. In addition any over-simplification or cursory answer misses the point. The adjective is an important word or phrase which adds information to the noun or restrict its application.