Beginner level

Reciprocal Pronouns

A reciprocal pronoun is used to express a mutual action or relationship. The reciprocal pronouns are each other and one another.

LESSON 14

What Are Adjectives?

Adjectives describe nouns and pronouns. (Old, green, and cheerful are examples of adjectives.)

Easy Examples of Adjectives

In each example, the adjective is highlighted.

An adjective usually comes directly before the noun or pronoun it describes (or modifies, as they say).

• 
  old man
  
• 
  green coat
  
• 
  cheerful one
  

(When adjectives are used like this, they're called attributive adjectives.)

An adjective can come after the noun.

• 
  Jack is old.
  
• 
  It is green.
  

The Transition from Adjectives to "Determiners"

For centuries, the term "adjective" has been used for a word type now called determiners. Determiners are still classified as adjectives by most people but not everyone [evidence]. Determiners indicate qualities such as the following:

• 
  Possession (e.g., my dog)
  
• 
  Specificity (e.g., that dog)
  
• 
  Quantity (e.g., one dog)
  
• 
  Definiteness (e.g., a dog)
  

Regardless of whether you classify determiners as adjectives, this much is true: determiners are not like descriptive adjectives. Here are the four main differences between determiners and normal adjectives: