LECTURE - 05

Part Contents Page

01 PRE-TASK 03

02 READING 04

03 GRAMMAR 05

04 COMMON MISTAKES 11

05 WRITING 12
 Part-I: Pre-task

Use vocabularies from the list below for describing any of your classmates:

Adjective Name
agreeable
brave
calm
delightful
eager
faithful
gentle
happy
jolly
kind
lively
nice
obedient
proud
thankful
victorious
witty
zealous

The words you have used to describe your classmates are adjectives. In today’s lesson we are going to learn
about adjectives in detail.

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 Part-II Reading

There are some concerning drawbacks of studying at a private university. Firstly, educational expenses are
very high at these universities. Sometimes it becomes really difficult for some students as well as their parents
to bear these high educational expenditures. Moreover, most of the private universities in Bangladesh do not
have their own campus. Some universities conduct their classes in a single building, or sometimes on a single
floor of a building. Additionally, the qualification of the faculty members of these institutions is questionable
most often. As no trustworthy procedure is followed while recruiting the teaching staff, less qualified
teachers get the opportunity to work at these educational institutions. Considering these disadvantages of
studying at a private university, some students prefer studying at public universities.

Exercise 5.1: Tick on the correct option:

a. Educational expense of private university tend to be-

□ excessive
□ reasonable
□ moderate

b. All private universities conduct their classes at their own campus.

□ True
□ False
□ Not given

c. “high educational expenditures”

Tick on the best suitable synonym of the underlined word:

□ expense
□ bear
□ own

d. “Sometimes it becomes really difficult for some students as well as their parents to bear these high
educational expenditures.”
The main verb of the above mentioned sentence is -
□ To bear
□ become
□ difficult

e. The qualification of the faculty members of private universities is questionable because-

□ Most of the faculty members cannot show any genuine certificate
□ The recruiting process of the teaching staff is not reliable
□ Most of the faculty members have degrees from universities abroad

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 Part-III Grammar

Adjective

An adjective is a word that describes a person or thing. It provides more details about a noun or a pronoun.
This information can be anything from color to size to temperature to personality.

Example:
Big, pretty, expensive, green, round, French, loud, quick, fat etc.

Example sentences:
She has big blue eyes.
The new car broke down.
The old lady was talking in a quiet voice.

Adjectives describe nouns by giving some information about a person’s or an object’s-

Size
Big, small, large, tiny, enormous, little, etc.

Age
Young, old, new, ancient, antique, etc.

Shape
Round, square, flat, straight, etc.

Color
Blue, red, white, black, dark, bright, yellowish, etc.

Origin
Italian, British, Mexican, western, southern, etc.

Material
Metal, wooden, plastic, golden, etc.

Feelings or qualities
Lonely, honest, brave, shy, calm etc.

Opinion or a judgment or a value

Good, bad, lovely, strange, beautiful, nice, brilliant, excellent, awful, important, wonderful, nasty, nice,
pretty, stupid, original, expensive, delicious, comfortable, uncomfortable, clever, intelligent, friendly etc.

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Exercise 5.2: Circle the adjectives from the following passages:
A. One day a small brown bear was walking slowly through the woods. He was sad because he had lost
his soft teddy. He lost it yesterday when he was running quickly through the dark wood. He had been
jumping over small stones, big logs and wet puddles. He was now looking for his teddy. He looked
under big bushes, tiny twigs and behind tall trees. He lifted up heavy stones and moved tiny pebbles,
but still no teddy. After a long time, he saw a very wet and dirty teddy sitting in a big puddle. The
small bear was very happy and skipped home with a huge smile on his face.

B. Good teachers have special qualities. First of all, good teachers are patient. They never rush their
students. Good teachers explain things without getting bored. In addition, they are organized. They
plan what happens in every class. Good teachers are also encouraging. They help students
understand the subject. Finally, good teachers are fair. They treat all students the same. These are
some of the most important qualities of good teachers.

The Order of Adjectives

A noun can have several adjectives describing it.

Examples:
"She bought a new red Italian table."

There are certain rules about the correct order of those adjectives.

This is the order you should generally follow:

Determiner -> opinion -> size -> age -> shape -> color
-> origin -> material -> a word describing purpose/function (DOSASCOMP)

Examples:
A nice little coffee shop
(Determiner -> opinion -> size -> purpose/function word)
My huge new swimming pool
(Determiner -> size -> age -> purpose/function word)
Several Chinese plastic cups
(Determiner -> origin -> material)
The round yellow ball
(Determiner -> shape -> color)
Adjectives of the same type:
When you have several adjectives of the same type, you should separate them with commas or a conjunction
(and, but).

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Examples:
A cheap, good meal
A happy, smart man
The beautiful, original painting
My nice and sweet cat
An expensive but important trip

Exercise 5.3: Correct the adjective order of the following phrases and rewrite them:
a. young a intelligent nice man ________________________________________________
b. uncomfortable a armchair nasty_____________________________________________
c. American black a big car___________________________________________________
d. horrible that dog big fierce _________________________________________________
e. red a dress nice __________________________________________________________

Degrees of Adjectives

Adjectives change in form when they show comparison. These various forms of adjectives are called degrees
of adjective. There are three Degrees of Adjectives-
1. Positive Degree
The positive degree of an adjective makes no comparison.
A tall building.
This is a beautiful car.
2. Comparative Degree
The comparative degree compares two people, things, activities or qualities.
She is a better student than her brother.
Hasib is stronger than Sahadat.
Sobuj seems healthier.
Oishi is more beautiful than Tuba.
3. Superlative Degree
The superlative degree compares a person, thing, activity or quality with the group.
This is the most beautiful car I have ever seen.
You are my best friend.
This is the worst day of my life.
Even the smallest donation helps.
Forming Comparative and superlative

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1. With one syllable adjective simply add -er or -est to the end of the word to make comparative or
superlative.
Example:
Longer-longest
Darker-darkest
Brighter-brightest
Quicker-quickest
Warmer-warmest
Colder-coldest
Older-oldest
Younger-youngest
Stronger-strongest
Smarter-smartest
weaker -weakest
neater-neatest
louder-loudest
2. When an one syllable adjective ends in a single vowel and a single consonant, you must double the final
consonant, then add -er or -est.
Examples:
Bigger-biggest
Fatter-fattest
Hotter-hottest
Sadder-saddest
Madder-maddest
thinner -thinnest

*Exception: We do not double the final letter when the adjective ends in –y, –w,-x:

Example:

greyer-greyest
slower-slowest
laxer-laxest
3. When the adjective ends in a y, you must change the y to an i, then add -er or -est to form the
comparative or the superlative.
Example:
Prettier-prettiest
angrier -angriest
happier-happiest
busier-busiest
lovelier-loveliest
sillier-silliest
sleepier-sleepiest
thirstier-thirstiest
uglier-ugliest

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4. For adjectives that end in e, you must only add -r to make a comparative and -st to make a superlative.
Examples:
Closer-closest
Wiser-wisest
Stranger-strangest
Huger-hugest
Ruder-rudest
Looser-loosest
Safer-safest
Cuter-cutest
Gentler-gentlest
Simpler-simplest
5. Adjectives with three or more syllables add the word "more" before them to become comparative, and
"most" to become superlative.
Most two-syllable adjectives will take "more" or "most," but if they end in -y, -er, -le, or -ow, they follow the
rules above.
Examples:
more interesting-most interesting
more complete-most complete
more beautiful-most beautiful
more important-most important
more dangerous-most dangerous
more colorful-most colorful
more exciting-most exciting
more complicated-most complicated
more boring-most boring
6. There are some very common adjectives that have irregular forms for their comparatives and superlatives.
Here are the most important ones for you to remember:
Adjective Comparative Superlative
good better best
bad worse worst
well better best
far farther /further farthest /furthest

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Exercise 5.4: Complete the following sentences using the appropriate form of the adjective:

1. She is …………………… than her sister.

a) pretty b) prettier c) prettiest
2. Mahi is a …………………….. girl.
a) nice b) nicer c) nicest
3. Sorno is the ……………………… girl in the class.
a) intelligent b) more intelligent c) most intelligent
4. Samad is an ………………….. person.
a) more interesting b) interesting c) most interesting
5. Russia is the ……………………. country in the world.
a) big b) bigger c) biggest
6. China is a ……………….. country.
a) large b) largest c) larger
7. China is …………………… than India.
a) big b) bigger c) biggest
8. This is the …………………… book I have ever read.
a) interesting b) more interesting c) most interesting
9. I am …………………. than you.
a) smart b) smarter c) smartest
10. Take the ………………….. of the two routes.
a) short b) shorter c) shortest

Part -IV: Common Mistakes

A very common mistake regarding the use of adjectives is the use of double comparatives:
Incorrect: She is more stronger than her sister.
Correct: She is stronger than her sister.
Avoid double comparatives. Adjectives of one syllable usually form their comparatives by adding –er to the
positive. Longer adjectives take more.
1. Incorrect: Children are more curiouser than adults.
Correct: Children are more curious than adults.
2. Incorrect: Cars are more powerfuler than rickshaws.
Correct: Cars are more powerful than rickshaws.
3. Incorrect: The flu is more worser than common cold.
Correct: The flu is worse than common cold.
4. Incorrect: Silver jewelry is more shiner than gold jewelry.
Correct: Silver jewelry is shinier than gold jewelry.

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 Part-V Writing
Adjectives can be used to add more detail about the noun and pronoun in a sentence thus making the
sentence more informative. When you write, you can make a sentence much more interesting if you add
descriptive words. In this writing section, we are going to practice using adjective in sentence:

Word Order: Adjective + Noun

Good writers avoid writing too many simple sentences about one subject. When you have two short
sentences about the same noun with an adjective, you can combine the sentences by putting the adjective
before the noun. This will make your writing more interesting.

a. I have a book. It is heavy.

-I have a heavy book.
b. This is my car. It is new.
-This is my new car.
c. Maliha goes to a college. The college is excellent.
-Maliha goes to an excellent college.
d. Nazia draws small pictures. She draws ink pictures.
-Nazia draws small ink pictures.

IMPORTANT: Make sure you put the adjective before the noun, not after.

✗ I have a car red with a top black.

✓ I have a red car with a black top.

✗ We ate a salad green with potatoes fried.

✓ We ate a green salad with fried potatoes.

Exercise 5.5: Combine the related sentences into one sentence. You will have to eliminate a few words.
Remember to use a capital letter at the beginning and a period at the end of each sentence.

1. Robi owns a car. The car is red.

______________________________________________________________________________
2. I do not like this weather. The weather is humid.
______________________________________________________________________________
3. Paris is a city in France. This city is beautiful.
______________________________________________________________________________
4. Ali has a job. The job is part-time.
______________________________________________________________________________
5. They like to drink soda. The soda is a diet.
______________________________________________________________________________
6. Nina reads folk tales. They are international.
______________________________________________________________________________

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7. My mother grows roses. The roses are big. The roses are beautiful.
______________________________________________________________________________
8. Jashim works for a company. The company is small. The company is independent.
______________________________________________________________________________
9. My grandparents live in a town. It is a farming town. The town is small.
______________________________________________________________________________
10. Shahin rents a house in Dhanmondi. The house is white.
______________________________________________________________________________

Exercise 5.6: Tick (√) the correct answer following the order of adjective:
1. She lost a ___ .
● small white cat
● cat small white
● white small cat
2. He drank __ coffee.
● hot black Italian
● black Italian hot
● Italian hot black
3. I visited a __ castle.
● spooky, haunted old German
● haunted, spooky German old
● German spooky, old haunted

4. I need a ___ computer desk.

● nice comfortable red
● comfortable, nice red
● red nice, comfortable
5. Radia had a ___ in her hair yesterday.
● nice yellow bow
● yellow nice bow
● bow nice yellow

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Exercise 5.7: Each exercise contains a comparative or superlative adjective in parentheses. Use this word
to write a sentence.
Example:
Sakib's first camera was not very expensive. His new camera cost him more. (more expensive)
-Sakib's new camera is more expensive than the first one.

a. Liakat is not very tall. His father is very tall. (shorter)

______________________________________________________________________________

b. The other detectives are smart. Inspector Rahat is smarter than all of them. (smartest)

______________________________________________________________________________

c. I am twenty-three years old. My mother is sixty-four years old. (older)

______________________________________________________________________________

d. There are lots of good radio hosts in the city. Hasib is better than all of them. (best)
______________________________________________________________________________

e. There were many great philosophers. I think Aristotle was better than all the others. (greatest)
______________________________________________________________________________

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