Adjective agreement Lesson Examples Exercises
Adjective agreement in English grammar refers to the agreement in form and placement of adjectives in relation to the nouns they modify. It is important in English to ensure that sentences are grammatically correct and convey the intended meaning.
For example, in English, "the red apple" and "the apples are red" are both correct, but the placement of the adjective "red" changes the emphasis of the sentence.
Examples of Adjective agreement
- The tall building stood out among the shorter ones. (The adjective 'tall' agrees with the noun 'building')
- She wore a bright yellow dress to the party. (The adjective 'bright' and 'yellow' agree with the noun 'dress' and are placed before it)
- The old car sputtered and coughed as it drove down the road. (The adjective 'old' agrees with the noun 'car')
- The juicy red apple was the perfect snack. (The adjective 'juicy' and 'red' agree with the noun 'apple' and are placed before it)
- He gave a thoughtful speech at the graduation. (The adjective 'thoughtful' agrees with the noun 'speech' and is placed before it)
- The children were playing with their new toys. (The adjective 'new' agrees with the noun 'toys' and is placed before it)
- She has a beautiful singing voice. (The adjective 'beautiful' agrees with the noun 'voice' and is placed before it)
- The large pizza was enough to feed the whole party. (The adjective 'large' agrees with the noun 'pizza' and is placed before it)
- The book is interesting, I'm enjoying reading it. (The adjective 'interesting' agrees with the noun 'book' and is placed after the linking verb 'is')
- The warm sun felt good on my skin. (The adjective 'warm' agrees with the noun 'sun' and is placed before it)
Special cases include:
- Adjectives that come after a linking verb, such as "The soup is hot."
- Adjectives that come before a noun, such as "A hot bowl of soup."
Common mistakes include:
- Using the wrong form of the adjective, such as "She is good" instead of "She is well."
- Not placing adjectives in the correct order, such as "The big red apple" instead of "The red big apple."
Types of questions used to practice adjective agreement include:
- Identifying the correct form of an adjective to match a noun.
- Identifying the correct placement of adjectives in a sentence.
- Rewriting sentences to change the emphasis of a sentence by adjusting the placement of adjectives.
Practical uses for adjective agreement include:
- Writing essays and other forms of written communication.
- Speaking in professional and informal settings.
- Understanding written and spoken content in English.
- Improving overall language proficiency in English.
Comprehension exercises:
- Complete the following sentence: "The ___ dog barked loudly."
- Identify the correct order of adjectives in the sentence "The small, red apple."
- Rewrite the sentence "The soup is hot" to change the emphasis on the temperature of the soup.
- In the sentence "The well-dressed man walked down the street" what is the adjective and what is the noun it modifies?
- Complete the following sentence: "The ___ flowers are in bloom."
Answers:
- The big
- The red, small apple
- "The hot soup"
- Adjective: well-dressed, noun: man
- The beautiful