Word Power: Describing with Adjectives

Read these two sentences: 'A dog sat on the mat.' 'A huge, fluffy dog sat on the old mat.' The second sentence is much more interesting! Something has been added to paint a clearer picture. Can you spot what was added? Those extra describing words are called adjectives, and today you are going to master them.

An adjective is a describing word. It tells you more about a noun. A noun is a person, place, animal, or thing — like 'dog', 'city', or 'apple'. Adjectives answer questions like: • What does it look like? (red, tiny, shiny) • What does it feel like? (rough, soft, cold) • What kind is it? (loud, quiet, ancient) • How many? (three, several, many) Adjectives usually sit just before the noun they describe. For example: 'She wore a sparkly dress.' Here, 'sparkly' describes the noun 'dress' — so 'sparkly' is the adjective. Sometimes an adjective comes after the verb 'to be'. For example: 'The soup is hot.' Here, 'hot' describes the noun 'soup' — so 'hot' is still an adjective. The more carefully you choose your adjectives, the more vivid your writing becomes. Instead of 'a big dog', you could write 'a towering dog' — and suddenly the reader can really see it!