It’s believed that the English language is made up of more words than any other language in the world. While impressive, it’s not hard to believe when you look at the number of adjectives we have and the number of synonyms we have for each word.
We English speakers like to describe our situation and surroundings in great detail. Bur for ESL students, the number of adjectives we use can be overwhelming. Take the word “pretty,” for example. We could also say:
Beautiful, attractive, lovely, appealing, cute, gorgeous, ravishing, stunning or alluring.
Of course, each adjective comes with its own unique nuance that changes the definition slightly—which is what makes adjectives great!
In order to attain a certain level of fluency and mobility within the English language, it’s important for ESL students to become familiar with the different types of adjectives. Students will need to have a firm grasp on adjectives in order to communicate successfully in English. Today, we’ll explore several categories of adjectives and how to teach adjectives in the ESL classroom.
Types of Adjectives Every ESL Student Should Be Familiar With
There are hundreds of commonly-used adjectives in the English language. To make it easier for students learning these words, try teaching adjectives in groups rather than individual, unrelated vocabulary words. Today, we’re going to look at some of these adjective categories and how you can teach them to your students. If you want a more in depth-look or quick review of the different types of adjectives, check out “7 Types of English Adjectives to Know.”
Positive Adjectives
Positive adjectives are adjectives that have an inherently positive meaning. They can be used to describe or further identify nouns and pronouns, and without positive adjectives, the English language is reduced to dry, basic sentences.
There are dozens upon dozens of positive adjectives. Words such as “grateful,” “important,” “motivated” and “pragmatic” are considered positive adjectives. It’s important for students to learn positive adjectives so that they can better express their thoughts and feelings about the world around them, people and different situations.
Note: Make sure students are aware that positive adjectives can be turned negative when “not” precedes the adjective. For example, the lecture was not engaging at all. Additionally, students should be aware that some adjectives have negative connotations and definitions themselves, such as “annoyed,” “furious” and “broken.”
Comparative Adjectives
Another important type of everyday adjective is the comparative adjective. Think about how often in our day-to-day lives we compare two or more things. For this reason, students need to become familiar with comparative adjectives and how to use them correctly in order to properly express their thoughts and ideas.
A useful formula for your students to use when thinking about comparative adjectives is: subject + verb + comparative adjective + than + object.
Remind your students that the suffix “-er” is added to the adjective to express the difference between the two nouns; for example, Your house is bigger than my house.
Superlative Adjectives
I like to think of superlative adjectives as related to comparative adjectives.
Your ESL students may also find it easier to understand superlative adjectives in relationship to comparative adjectives.
Similarly, to comparative adjectives, superlative adjectives are used to discuss a noun in relationship to other nouns. We use superlative adjectives to show that one object is the least or most, the smallest or greatest in terms of quality.
Encourage your students to memorize the following formula: subject + verb + the + superlative adjective + object. Remind your students that for regular superlative adjectives we add the suffix “-est” to the adjective. For example, The bus is the easiest way to get downtown.
Descriptive Adjectives
Descriptive adjectives are perhaps some of the most useful adjectives for ESL students to master. These are the adjectives used to describe the size, shape and color of places, people, things and ideas.
Descriptive adjectives allow writers and speakers to modify a noun and paint a vivid picture of that noun in the mind of the reader or listener. Descriptive adjectives include adjectives such as “blue,” “old,” “tall” and “soft.” For example, My brother has blond hair, but I have brown hair.