Fantastic!
This is the best adjective for Flow students!
But, this is the first time we study Adjectives together. So, there is a lot to learn and practice, and the first question is:
What is an Adjective?
Yes, my friends! Adjectives are the responsible for giving Qualities and Characteristics to Nouns (or Substantives). We have four important details to study here, and Part 1 will focus on them. But first... Let's check some songs to get a Flow on Adjectives.
Examples:
- It's a beautiful day...
- Nobody said it was easy...
- All your perfect imperfections...
- You're beautiful, it's true...
- If I was a rich girl...
Don't forget to practice the Adjectives, and to play with these songs to improve your Flow! And now, let's start Part 1 and discover the essential details on this lesson!
Part 1 - The Rules of the Adjectives:
Ok! Time to start...
Rule number 1
Adjectives have NO GENDER.
Masculine = Feminine
(The car is new. The house is new.)
Rule number 2
Adjectives have NO NUMBER.
Singular = Plural
(The student is intelligent. The students are intelligent.)
Rule number 3
They are used BEFORE NOUNS.
First, the characteristics. Then, the noun (or substantive).
(They visited a new restaurant. / I'd like a cold beer.)
Rule number 4
Or, They are used with LINKING VERBS.
(The store is open now. / The band is ready to play.)
These are the 4 rules! Very simple, right?
Now, let's explore these rules with some examples, ok?
Examples:
- The actresses on the movie were very beautiful. (Feminine, Plural, Linking Verb)
- He will buy a new phone that is very expensive. (Masculine, Singular, Before Noun / Linking Verb)
- The weather is cloudy and hot today. (Masculine, Singular, Linking Verb)
- The book had a beautiful and inspiring story! I really liked it. (Feminine, Singular, Before Noun)
- My teacher is not online now. I wanted to discuss about some complicated exercises on the book. (Masc./Fem., Sing., Linking V. || Masc., Plural, Before Nouns)
- ...
And if you still have questions about it, don't worry. We will practice with lots of exercises, and check many more examples, too!
Part 2 - Adjective Order
Here, we will learn a Mnemonic to remember this order and never forget!
Of course, the best way to fix this idea in your mind is by practicing, AND...
Listen to your Flow!
Flow is best way to discover if you are following the correct order or not. For example... Practice saying this little sentence:
I have some american interesting books to read.
Done!? Now, let's check a different order for the three characteristics we used to describe the books:
I have some interesting american books to read.
Listen to your Flow... Which sentence sounds better, the first, or the second one?
Well... If your answer was "The second", your Flow is very good! But, if you think the first sentence is best, worry not... We will practice a lot, and make your Flow perfect!
Here is our mnemonics:
Not so difficult, is it?
Before we discuss more about this topic, have something in your mind: It is not common to have more than 3 Adjectives about the same noun at one time. Normally, we have one, two, or three Adjectives. If you have more characteristics to give to a specific noun, try to divide your ideas into two or more sentences, and it will sound much better!
But, it's time to do some practice, and check how to organize your Adjectives, and listen to your Flow!
- I've bought five beautiful wooden chairs on the online store.
- His new golden watch is very expensive.
- That old cylindrical building near the office will be demolished.
- The girl with curly blue hair dresses very elegant baggy clothes.
- That funny young boy goes to the gym every day.
- ...
Part 3 - Special types of Adjectives
We will divide this part into 2 categories, ok? Most of these "Special Adjectives" are constructed with the addition of Suffixes. And, they can be considered "special" because all the Adjectives using a specific Suffix have a very similar idea, and knowing this detail can help a lot when you are learning English. But, enough talking... It's time to start:
Category 1 - Using -ing or Past Participle
Yes, guys... The -ing suffix is a very important particle for creating Adjectives. For example, "Interesting" is an Adjective created from the verb "To interest" connected with this suffix. And the Past Participle is also a very important part here. Again... The Adjective "Interested" comes from the verb "To interest". Simple, isn't it?
But, what is VERY important about these types of Adjectives is that each category usually has a similar meaning. For example, all the Adjectives finishing in -ing usually have the idea of "Cause", while the ones in the Past Participle have the idea of "Consequence". We will check some examples now to verify this affirmative.
Try to discover the meaning of the Adjectives below:
Could you guess all the meanings?
Well, let's see them being used, and make this idea even clearer in your mind.
Examples:
- The new "House of Cards" season is very interesting. I am very interested in the storyline.
- We are taking managing lessons this month.
- The surprise party was prepared by her siblings. She got very excited when she discovered about it.
- Studying languages is never boring. You have new words, new structures, new cultures... You never feel bored.
- Running is an amazing exercise for the body because it's very complete.
- Not being selected for the job was frustrating for him. He was a little blue at first, but now he is very motivated to find a new one.
- ...
Did you perceive the different ideas of "-ing" and "Past Participle", and also the similarities in the different examples? Usually, when we use "-ing", we are talking about the Causes, about how something makes you feel.
On the other hand, whenever you use an Adjective from Past Participle, the idea you show is similar to the Consequence, or to how someone feels about something.
It is a little strange in the beginning, but when you adapt to this idea, it will help you understand English much more!
And, the -ing and Past Participles are not the only ones responsible for creating Adjectives. We have some different Suffixes that combine, too. Let's check them!
Category 2 - Using other Suffixes
There are many other Suffixes that can create Adjectives, and sometimes the Prefixes can join this party, too. If we talk about them individually, this lesson will get gigant-ic! So, let's try to understand the ideas, check some examples... And after, you explore the songs that you like, the films and series that you watch, the texts that you read... And discover more and more about this mechnism.
Ok?
The most common Suffixes are listed below. Can you remember more words that use them? I believe you can make a big list if you try!
What a resourceful list, huh!?
And, with the help of the examples above, let's work with the sentences below:
- She bought an unbreakable protection for her cellphone.
- My friend suggested a very practical solution for the problem, and it was awesome to save our time.
- The manager was powerless to change the director's deadlines.
- Almost every woman in the party was wearing a purplish dress.
- The new watch I bough isn't resistant to water, so I need to be very protective of it.
- That famous author will give a speech tomorrow. His ideas are very inspirational.
- ...
Did you get the hang of it now? The more you connect with English, the more adapted you'll be to these Suffixes, and you will discover a huge variety of words to explore.
Let's start this process now, ok?
And here, we close our lesson. First, let's make a quick review of all we discussed. Then, you can practice with the final exercises to consolidate more and more this topic. And finally, remember to watch our video review, and share your ideas with the Community and with your Flow teacher!
So, here we go!
On Part 1, we discussed the 4 Rules to use an Adjective, right?
I believe you remember them, so... Follow me:
- They have NO GENDER;
- They have NO NUMBER;
- They can appear BEFORE NOUNS;
- They can appear with LINKING VERBS.
Then, on Part 2, we organized the Adjectives in the best Flow... Following the mnemonics of Adjective Order. Remember that?
N - O - S - A - S - C - O - M - P
Number comes first... Then, Opinion... And, we finish with the Facts, which are Size, Age, Shape, Color, Origin, Material, and finally, Purpose.
And Part 3 was responsible for introducing some Special Types of Adjectives, right?
We had 3 major groups here:
- Using the -ing Suffix to create "Cause" Adjectives;
- Using the Past Participle to create "Consequence" Adjectives;
- Using many other Suffixes to create many new types of Adjectives.
Time to put it all to practice!
And, don't hesitate on checking our Video Review as well. It can help you consolidate these ideas, and also some interesting tips and insights to improve your English!
This lesson brings a very important part of our studies, and it is very important to dedicate your time here. If any interesting comments and doubts appear, don't forget to interact with the Community, and discuss with your Flow teacher as well!
Hope you learned a lot, and loved this lesson!
Bye!
Credits:
Created with images by designfoto - "microphone music sing"