The 11 types of adjectives: what they are and how they are used

Regardless of the language in which we are speaking, Human language has great richness and variety.. We have words with a large number of functions within the field of communication, such as nouns, verbs, prepositions, adverbs or adjectives. The latter make it possible to express or indicate the qualities of a stimulus or concept or to delimit what element is being talked about.

But the adjective category includes a large number of subcategories within itself, there are different types of adjectives that can be used when communicating. That is why in this article we are going to see some of these types.

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the adjective

The adjective concept refers to that set of words that allow obtaining more or less concrete or specific information about a name, indicating its qualities or the relationships of the noun with other elements. Adjectives tend to have the same gender and number as the noun they accompany, although in some cases the adjective is a single word that does not vary regardless of the characteristics of the noun to which it refers.

Main types of adjectives

There are different types of adjectives, which can be classified according to various criteria. Below we reflect some of the best known.

1. Adjectives

What today most of us consider adjectives per se, qualifying adjectives, are those that allow identify a quality or express a characteristic of the noun to which they refer.

Within the qualifying adjectives, different subtypes can be found based on different criteria. Among them are the following

1.1. Specifying or restrictive adjectives

Specific adjectives are those that indicate a quality that differentiates the noun to which it refers from other nouns. Examples of this are those adjectives that indicate color or shape.

1.2. nonrestrictive adjectives

It is about those adjectives whose meaning expresses a quality of the noun without therefore restricting or manifesting a difference that means that others cannot be.

1.3. explanatory adjectives

These types of adjectives refer to intrinsic qualities or directly associated with the concept to which they refer. Its incorporation into the noun phrase is actually redundant, and it can be eliminated without changing its meaning.

1.3. deictic or modal adjective

Adjective that allows to delimit the context in which the noun is circumscribed or appears.

1.4. Graduated adjectives of positive degree

They are called as such those adjectives that can be placed within a continuum and that they are limited to offering information about a quality of the noun

1.5. Comparative adjectives (or comparative degree)

These are adjectives that establish a comparison between the noun to which they refer and other concepts.

1.6. Elative adjectives (or superlative degree)

The use of elative adjectives allows obtaining information not only on a characteristic but on its intensity. A subtype would be superlatives, in which the degree is marked thanks to the incorporation of suffixes.

1.7. relational adjectives

Those adjectives that report on the relationship of the noun with some specific subject are called relational. They can be argumentative or classifying (which in turn are restrictive when delimiting an exclusive category).

1.8. noun adjectives

Substantive adjectives are those adjectives that in a given context are used as nouns. They are used when the characteristic is the most distinctive element that is used to designate the object.

1.9. adverbial adjectives

These are adjectives that are used as adverbs, having the same functions as these. In this case, they do not indicate the properties of the name, but rather the way in which the adjective is applied rather to the action carried out by this. In a sentence they could be used as adverbs ending in -mente.

1.10. intersective adjectives

Those adjectives that report two qualities at the same time, appearing together with a substantive adjective, are called as such.

1.11. Non-intersective adjectives

These are all those adjectives that are limited to expressing or indicating a quality even if they appear together with another particle that could be interpreted as qualitative.

2. The old determinative adjectives, now determinatives

Although it is not currently applied and they are considered independent categories, in the past there was a classification that divided adjectives into qualifiers and determiners. Today they are not considered adjectives.

The determinative adjectives, now determinative, are those words used to determine or specify the scope of the noun whom they accompany Within the determinants you can find different types.

2.1. numerals

Determiner adjectives that offer information about the existing quantity of the concept that is being talked about. They can be cardinal or ordinal.

2.2. possessive

These are those determinants that delimit the belonging or possession of the noun they accompany (me, yours, our...).

23. Demonstratives

Words that accompany the name and refer to the distance between the sender of the phrase and the object, entity or concept to which it refers. Examples would be this or that.

2.4. interrogative

These are determiners, or old determining adjectives, which are used in questions in such a way that precede or even replace the name and allow its identification. These are particles like what…? or how much???

2.5. exclamatives

These are those elements that accompany the noun and/or another adjective and serve to emphasize.

2.6. Articles

Articles are used to indicate whether the noun is determined or indeterminate.

2.7. indefinite

In a similar way to the numerals express an idea of ​​quantity with respect to the noun they accompany, but in an imprecise way (some, much, little...).