THE ADJECTIVE

67. Read the following sentences :-

1. Sita is a clever girl. (Girl of what kind1?)

2. I don't like that boy, (Which boy ?)

3. He gave me five mangoes. (How many mangoes?)

4. There is little time for preparation. (How much time ?)

In sentence 1, ‘clever’ shows what kind of girl Sita is; or, in other words, ‘clever’ describes the girl Sita.

In sentence 2, ‘that’ points out which boy is meant.

In sentence 3, ‘five’ shows how many mangoes he gave me.

In sentence 4, ‘little’ shows how much time there is for preparation. A word used with a noun to describe or point out, the person, animal, place or thing which the noun names, or to tell the number or quantity, is called an Adjective. So we may define an Adjective as a word used with a noun to add something for its meaning. [Adjective means added to.]

68. Look at the following sentences:-

1. The lazy boy was punished.

2. The boy is lazy.

In sentence 1, the Adjective lazy is used along with the noun boy as an epithet or attribute. It is, therefore, said to be used Attributively.

In sentence 2, the Adjective lazy is used along with the verb is,and forms part of the Predicate. It is, therefore, said to be used Predicatively. Some Adjectives can be used only Predicatively; as, She is afraid of ghosts. I am quite well. 

Kinds of Adjectives

Adjectives may be divided into the following classes:- 69. Adjectives of Quality (or Descriptive Adjective) show the kind or quality of a person or thing; as, Kolkata is a large city. He is an honest man. The foolish old crow tried to sing. This is a Grammar of the English (Adjectives formed from Proper Nouns (e.g., French wines, Turkish tobacco, Indian tea, etc.) are sometimes called Proper Adjectives. They are generally classed with Adjectives of Quality) language. Adjectives of Quality answer the question : Of what kind ?

70. Adjectives of Quantity show how much of a thing is meant as, I ate some rice. He showed much patience. He has little intelligence. We have had enough exercise. He has lost all his wealth. You have no sense. He did not eat any rice. Take great care of your health. He claimed his half share of the booty. There has not been sufficient rain this year. The whole sum was expended.

71. Adjectives of Number (or Numeral Adjectives) show how many persons or things are meant, or in what order a person or thing stands; as, The hand has five fingers. Few cats like cold water. There are no pictures in this book. I have taught you many things. All men must die. Here are some ripe mangoes. Most boys like cricket. There are several mistakes in your exercise. Sunday is the first day of the week

. Adjectives of Number (or Numeral Adjectives) are of three kinds:- (i) Definite Numeral Adjectives, which denote an exact number; as, One, two, three, etc. -- These are called Cardinals. First, second, third, etc. -- These are called Ordinals.

[A Cardinal denotes how many, and an Ordinal the order of things in a series. It will be seen that Ordinals really do the work of Demonstrative Adjectives. See 74]

(ii) Indefinite Numeral Adjectives, which do not denote an exact number; as, All, no; many, few; some, any; certain, several, sundry.

(iii) Distributive Numeral Adjectives, which refer to each one of a number; as., Each boy must take his turn. India expects every man to do his duty. Every word of it is false. Either pen will do. On either side is a narrow lane. Neither accusation is true.

73. The same Adjective may be classed as of Quantity or Number, according to its use.

PERSONAL PRONOUNS

117. We may sayHari is absent, because Hari is ill. But it is better to avoid the repetition of the Noun Hari, and sayHari is absent, because he is ill.

A word that is thus used instead of a noun is called a Pronoun {Pronoun means for-anoun.]

Def.- A Pronoun is a word used instead of a Noun.

118. Read the following sentences :- I am young. We are young. You are young. They are young. He (she, it) is young. I, we, you, he, (she, it), they are called Personal Pronouns because they stand for the three persons. (i) the person speaking. .

Forms of the Personal Pronouns

119. The following are the different forms of the Personal Pronouns :-

FIRST PERSON (Masculine or Feminine) SINGULAR -- PLURAL Nominative -- I -- We Possessive -- my, mine -- our, ours Accusative -- me -- us

SECOND PERSON (Masculine or Feminine) SINGULAR/PLURAL Nominative -- You Possessive -- Your, Yours Accusative -- You

THIRD PERSON SINGULAR -- PLURAL Masculine -- Feminine -- Neuter -- All Genders Nominative -- he -- she -- it -- they Possessive -- his -- her, hers -- its -- their, theirs Accusative -- him -- her -- it -- them

Note 1.- It will be seen that the Possessive Cases of most of the Personal Pronouns have two forms. Of these the forms my, our, your, her, their, are called Possessive Adjectives because they are used with nouns and do the work of Adjectives; as, This is my book. Those are your books. That is her book. Possessive Adjectives are somethings called Pronominal Adjectives, as they are formed from Pronouns.

Note 2.- The word his is used both as an Adjective and as a Pronoun; as This is his book. (Possessive Adjective) This book is his. (Possessive Pronoun)

REFLEXIVE AND EMPHATIC PRONOUNS

132. When -self is added to my, your, him, her, it, and -selves to our, your, them, we get what are called Compound Personal Pronouns.

They are called Reflexive Pronouns when the action done by the subject turns back (reflects) upon the subject; as, I hurt myself. We hurt ourselves. You will hurt yourself. You hurt yourselves. He hurt himself. She hurt herself. They hurt themselves. The horse hurt itself. It will be noticed that each of these Reflexive Pronouns is used as the Object of a verb, and refers to the same person or thing as that denoted by the Subject of the verb.

133. Sometimes, in older English, especially in poetry, a simple pronoun was used reflexively; as;

Now I lay me down to sleep.

134. The word self is sometimes used as a Noun; as, To thine own self be true. He cares for nothing but self. He thinks much for self.

Emphatic Pronouns

135. Now look at the following sentences:-

I will do it myself. I myself saw him do it. We will see to it ourselves. You yourself can best explain. He himself said so. She herself says so. It was told so by the teacher himself. We saw the Prime Minister himself. The town itself is not very large. They themselves admitted their guilt. It will be seen that here Compound Personal Pronouns are used for the sake of emphasis, and are therefore called Emphatic Pronouns.

DEMONSTRATIVE, INDEFINITE AND DISTRIBUTIVE PRONOUNS

Each, either, neither are called Distributive Pronouns because they refer to persons or things one at a time. For this reason they are always singular and as such followed by the verb in the singular.

RELATIVE PRONOUNS

148. Read the following pairs of sentences:

1. I met Hari. Hari had just returned.

2. I have found the pen. I lost the pen.

3. Here is the book. You lent me the book

Compound Relative Pronouns

167. Pronouns formed by adding ever, so, or soever to who, which and what are called Compound Relative Pronouns.

They are:- Whoever, whoso, whosoever; whichever; whatever, whatsoever.

INTERROGATIVE PRONOUNS

169. Consider the following sentences :- Who is there? Who are you? About whom you are thinking? / Who are you thinking about?