Introduction
Descriptive adjectives give detail about the qualities of a noun - what it looks, feels, or seems like. They are the largest and most varied group of adjectives, covering size, shape, age, colour, origin, material, and general opinion.
| Category | Examples |
|---|---|
| Opinion/quality | beautiful, boring, difficult, wonderful |
| Size | big, small, tiny, enormous |
| Shape | round, square, flat, curved |
| Age | old, young, new, ancient |
| Colour | red, blue, dark, pale |
| Origin | French, Italian, northern |
| Material | wooden, metal, plastic, silk |
- She lives in a beautiful old wooden house.
- We bought a small round red table for the balcony.
Forming Adjectives with Suffixes
Many descriptive adjectives are a noun or verb plus a suffix. Learn the suffixes and you can often guess what a new word means.
| Suffix | Meaning | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| -ful | full of | beautiful, careful, powerful, hopeful |
| -less | without | careless, hopeless, useless, homeless |
| -ous / -ious | having a quality | dangerous, famous, anxious, precious |
| -al | relating to | natural, political, musical, cultural |
| -ic | relating to / having | dramatic, historic, scientific, toxic |
| -ive | tending to / having | creative, active, sensitive, defensive |
| -able / -ible | capable of being | comfortable, reliable, flexible, responsible |
| -ish | somewhat / relating to | childish, reddish, Swedish, foolish |
| -y | having quality of | windy, cloudy, tricky, greedy |
| -en | made of / like | wooden, golden, woollen |
Opposite Pairs: -ful and -less
Many adjectives can be formed with both -ful (positive, having the quality) and -less (negative, without the quality).
| -ful (with) | -less (without) |
|---|---|
| careful | careless |
| hopeful | hopeless |
| powerful | powerless |
| useful | useless |
| meaningful | meaningless |
| thoughtful | thoughtless |
-able/-ible: Spelling Rules
The -able and -ible suffixes both mean 'capable of being' or 'worthy of being'. Sadly, there's no reliable rule for choosing between them.
| -able (more common) | -ible |
|---|---|
| comfortable, reliable | responsible, possible |
| agreeable, enjoyable | flexible, visible |
| lovable, readable | accessible, compatible |
| manageable, noticeable | credible, edible |
Practice
fame + ___ = famous
care + ___ = full of care
Which word means 'without hope'?
Which suffix pairs with 'agree' to mean 'capable of being agreed to'?
create + ___ = tending to create; having a certain quality
danger + ___ = having a quality of danger
Which word means 'without use'?
power + ___ = full of power
child + ___ = somewhat childlike
wind + ___ = having quality of wind
science scientific. Which suffix forms this adjective?
wood + ___ = made of wood
Which word has no -less counterpart?
access + ___ = capable of being accessed
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