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Descriptive adjectives directly describe a noun or pronoun, and can be simple (e.g. “fast”) or compound (e.g. “windswept”). Proper nouns and participle verbs can also act as descriptive adjectives.
A descriptive adjective is a word that is used to directly describe another word; it typically lies immediately adjacent to what it describes. For example, in sentences like “the fast man”, “the lazy dog” and “my red car”, there are three simple descriptive adjectives in the form of “fast”, “lazy” and “red”. There are also compound adjectives that typically require two or more words together such as “ice water”; proper nouns can be used as adjectives in a sentence like “Roman haircut.” A descriptive adjective can also be a participle verb that acts like an adjective such as “running shoes” or “swimming instructor.”
While all adjectives are used to describe or modify something, a descriptive adjective is used directly with the word or phrase it modifies. This is in contrast to other types of adjectives such as the word “happy” in a sentence like “My dog is happy,” where it is a predicative adjective. A simple descriptive adjective is a word that is used with the object it is modifying. This type of word is one of the most common adjectives and is often easily identifiable; includes words like “quick” in “fast car” or “silly” in “silly dog.”
A compound descriptive adjective is also quite common and includes two or more words that are used together to act as a single descriptive phrase. These words are often hyphenated to indicate that only one idea is expressed by them. Simple examples of a compound descriptive adjective might include “windswept” in the phrase “windswept plains” or “hot” in “hot poker.” While these sentences function as adjectives, the words used within them are often nouns and verbs.
Proper adjectives use a proper noun to describe or modify something else. These are commonly used as a descriptive adjective and often mean something that comes from a particular nationality or to celebrate a holiday. Phrases like “Chinese food,” “Italian meatballs,” and “Christmas cards” all use an appropriate adjective to describe the other noun they accompany.
A participle verb can also be used as a descriptive adjective. Verbs in the participle form usually have the suffix “-ing” at the end of them. This is often seen in a sentence where the action of a verb describes something that is used in performing that action. For example, in the sentence “running shoes”, shoes are used for the act of running and therefore the participle form of the verb itself can be an adjective describing them.
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