Beginner level

Interrogative Determiners. The most common interrogative determiners (called "interrogative adjectives" in traditional grammar) are which, what, and whose. They are used to ask questions.

• 
  If you decide that you're indecisive, which one are you?
  
• 
  What hair colour do they put on bald person's driving licence?
  

Nouns Used as Adjectives

Many words that are usually nouns can function as adjectives. For example:

• 
  autumn colours
  
• 
  boat race
  
• 
  computer shop
  
• 
  Devon cream
  
• 
  electricity board
  
• 
  fruit fly
  
• 
  Order_of_Adjectives'>The Order of Adjectives
  
• 
  When two or more adjectives are strung together, they should be ordered according to the following list:
  

Order	Category	Examples
1	Determiner	the, my, those
2	Number	one, two, ninety-nine
3	Opinion	lovely, attractive, rare
4	Size	small, medium, large
5	Physical Quality	thin, lumpy, cluttered
6	Shape	round, square, triangular
7	Age	young, middle-aged, old
8	Colour	red, white, blue
9	Origin	British, German, Russian
10	Material	wood, metal, plastic
11	Type	L-shaped, two-sided, all-purpose
12	Purpose	cooking, supporting, tendering
13	Attributive Noun	service, improvement, head

Here is an example of a 14-adjective string (shaded) that is ordered correctly:

• 
  my two lovely XL thin tubular new white Spanish metallic hinged correcting knee braces.
  

Regardless of how many adjectives are used (more than 3 is rare), the established order is still followed.

• 
  That's a lovely, mixing bowl
  

(1: Determiner 2: Opinion 3: Purpose)

• 
  Who's nicked my two black, wooden spoons?
  

(1: Number 2: Colour 3: Material)

• 
  Give your ticket to the Italian old waiter. 
  

(Age comes before origin. Therefore, the old Italian waiter would have been better.)

Compound Adjectives

Not all adjectives are single words...far from it. Often, a single adjective will comprise two or more words. A single adjective with more than one word is called a compound adjective. For example:

• 
  Happiness is having a large, loving, caring, close-knit family in another city. (Comedian George Burns)
  
• 
  Be a good-looking corpse. Leave a good-looking tattoo. (Actor Ed Westwick)
  
• 
  I like the busted-nose look. (Actor Peter Dinklage)
  

Compound adjectives are usually grouped with hyphens to show they are one adjective. 

Forming Comparatives and Superlatives of Adjectives

The rules for forming comparatives (e.g., better, more handsome, prettier) and superlatives (e.g., best, most handsome, prettiest) from adjectives are explained below. As they are quite complicated, some people form double comparatives (e.g., more better, more handsomer, more prettier) or double superlatives (e.g., bestest, most handsomest, most prettiest). These double forms are serious grammar errors.

LESSON 15