Chapter IX: Adjectives

=24.= From the sentence, “The road led us to a gate, and that to a dooryard and a house,” we get a picture, but it is neither definite nor attractive. Contrast it with the picture that we get from this sentence, “The pleasant, elm-shaded road led us to a rustic gate, and that to a green dooryard, and a long, low, brown house.” The difference is caused by the descriptive words in the second sentence. Which words describe the road? the gate? the dooryard? the house?

These descriptive words go with nouns, and describe the object named by the noun. We call them =adjectives=. An adjective is a part of speech.

Adjectives are said to =modify= the nouns they go with, and are called =modifiers=.

=25.= Most adjectives describe objects by telling size, shape, color, texture, or other qualities. A few adjectives tell number or amount; as, _five_ minutes, _much_ patience. A few merely point out; as, _this_ meadow, _next_ Christmas. The words _a_, _an_, and _the_ are adjectives.

=26.= When several adjectives modify the same noun, they form a series, and are usually separated from each other by commas; as, “A hollow, booming, ominous cry rang out suddenly, and startled the dark edges of the forest.” In such a sentence as this, “Four little old French ladies rose to dance the minuet,” no commas should be used, because the adjectives modify more than the noun _ladies_. _Four_ modifies _little old French ladies_; _little_ modifies _old French ladies_; _old_ modifies _French ladies_; and _French_ modifies _ladies_.

=27.= Sometimes adjectives modify a pronoun instead of a noun, as in the sentence, “Tom missed the word, and I, happy and triumphant, took his place at the head.” How do we know that the adjectives _happy_ and _triumphant_ modify the pronoun _I_?

=Summary.=—An =adjective= is a word used to point out or describe an object and modify a noun or a pronoun.

Adjectives usually precede the nouns they modify but follow the pronouns.

When several adjectives modify a single noun, they are separated by commas.

A =modifier= is a word or a group of words that goes with another word to affect its meaning.

=Exercise 1.=—Select all the adjectives in the following sentences, and tell what they modify. Account for the punctuation.

1. On another side stood an old piano, a tinkling, rattling,
merrymaking old piano, played by a young lady with a melancholy
smile.

2. In the dark valley that ran down to a little river, Father
Wolf heard the dry, angry, snarly, singsong whine of a tiger.

3. A small girl, with twinkling eyes and a merry face, got up
and made her way to the front.

4. Only loving fingers could have taken those tiny, even
stitches.

5. Charles carried water for the circus men, while I, scornful
and lazy but envious, sat on the fence and watched him.

6. Mammy Tittleback is a splendid, great tortoise-shell cat.

7. I found myself sinking into some horrible, soft, slimy,
sticky substance.

8. Few ships come to Rivermouth now.

9. Cæsar has one of the finest, deepest-toned voices I ever
heard.

10. You can speak and smile cheerfully while you are enjoying
every comfort of a snug, warm fireside, but you should not
expect us, hungry, wet, and cold, to be in the same cheerful
mood.

11. Suddenly the church clock tolled a deep, dull, hollow,
melancholy “one.”

12. The next best thing to cold potato and cream is cold roast
chicken, and occasionally I found a good fat drumstick or a
curling neck from whose corrugated bones I nibbled savory
morsels.

=Exercise 2.=—Write sentences using the following words as adjectives. Make your sentences such that they reveal the meaning of the adjectives.

awkward
brilliant
clammy
false
glassy
graceful
greedy
huge
mild
moist
pathetic
shaggy
slight
sly
soggy

=Exercise 3.=—Write sentences containing the following nouns, each modified by two or more adjectives:—

cabbage
carpet
cloud
deed
garden
grapes
hand
hat
machine
mill
pupil
room
ship
story
teacher

=28.= In the following sentences, what word describes the statue? the bureau? the lamp? the rings?

A bronze statue of Benjamin Franklin stood in Lafayette Park.

The mahogany bureau contained a desk with many drawers and
pigeon holes.

We grew tired of the gorgeousness of our parlor lamp.

Indians of both sexes are fond of bracelets, necklaces, and
finger rings.

These four descriptive words are name words, hence by nature they are nouns; but in these sentences they are used as adjectives, and should therefore be called adjectives.

=Exercise 4.=—Write sentences in which the following nouns are used as adjectives:—

silver, copper, tin, iron, steel.

maple, oak, pine, hickory, cedar.

kitchen, hall, cellar, roof, library.

hand, head, foot, cheek, neck.

Think of ten other nouns that may be used as adjectives.