Adjectives
Brijbox English · Learn the idea
An adjective gives us more information about a noun.
It can tell us what something is like: a rough stone, a tiny seed, a cheerful child.
An adjective can come before a noun or later in the sentence: the soft blanket; the blanket is soft.
Look at these examples
A red kite flew.
Red describes the noun kite. It tells us its colour.
The tunnel is dark.
Dark describes the tunnel, even though it comes after is.
A friendly dog waited.
Friendly describes the dog. It is an adjective, even though it ends in -ly.
Remember
Find the noun. Ask which word tells you more about it.
Your turn
Say or write your answers. An adult can read the questions aloud.
1. A tiny frog jumped.
Which word describes the frog? jumped / frog / tiny
2. The towel feels rough.
Which word is an adjective? rough / feels / towel
3. The hungry puppy waited.
Which noun does hungry describe? waited / puppy / The
4. The friendly guide smiled.
What job does friendly do? It tells us how the guide smiled. / It names the person. / It describes the guide.
Make your own sentences
Help someone imagine a mysterious box. Write a sentence with two adjectives describing the box. Write another sentence telling what is inside. Choose a useful adjective for that thing too.
Grown-up guide
Focus on useful details, not adding as many adjectives as possible. Ask the child to connect each adjective to its noun.
Practice answers
1. tiny. Tiny is the adjective. Frog is the noun it describes.
2. rough. Rough describes the towel. An adjective does not have to sit before its noun.
3. puppy. Hungry describes the puppy. Puppy is the noun.
4. It describes the guide. Friendly describes the noun guide, so it is an adjective. An -ly ending alone does not tell us a word’s job.
Check the child’s own writing
- Can I point to the noun each adjective describes?
- Do my adjectives help the reader imagine the objects?
One possible example: A small wooden box sat on the shelf. Inside was a shiny key.
Try another day
Choose one adjective in a book. Replace it with another and explain how the picture changes.
These are starter lessons. Use the child’s explanation and independent sentences to choose what to revisit. Finishing a page is not a mastery result.