Here are some clear rules for identifying adjectives in a sentence:
1. Adjectives describe nouns or pronouns.
An adjective gives more information about a person, place, thing, or idea.
Example: The tall building — “tall” describes “building.”
John is a Guyanese man . Guyanese describes John.
2. They usually answer specific questions about the noun.
Ask: Which one? What kind? How many? How much?
Example: She wore a red dress. (What kind?)
I saw three birds. (How many?)
3. They can come before the noun.
Example: The old tree fell down. — “old” comes before “tree.”
4. They can come after a linking verb.
When an adjective follows a linking verb (like is, am, are, was, were, seems, feels, looks, becomes), it still describes the subject.
Example: The soup is hot. — “hot” describes “soup.”
5. Some adjectives are formed from other words.
Nouns, verbs, and other adjectives can be changed into adjectives by adding endings like -y, -ful, -less, -ous, -able, -ish, -al.
Example: storm → stormy, help → helpful, care → careless.
6. Not all describing words are adjectives.
Words that tell how something is done are adverbs, not adjectives. If the word describes a verb, it is not an adjective.
Example: She sings beautifully — “beautifully” describes “sings,” so it is an adverb, not an adjective.
7. Articles and possessives can act like adjectives.
Words like the, a, an and my, your, their can function as adjectives because they modify nouns.
Example: My cat is sleeping. — “my” tells which cat.