Adjective Phrase
What Is an Adjective Phrase?
An adjective phrase, also known as an adjectival phrase, refers to a group of words comprising of an adjective. An adjective phrase tells more information about a noun or a pronoun.
You don’t need to have perfect grammar to master how adjective phrase works. We often use these phrases from time to time, without even our consent.
How Do You Recognize an Adjective Phrase?
The secret to finding an adjective phrase within a sentence is to first look at the first word. If you discover that the sentence starts with an adverb or preposition, then there is a possibility that you are looking for an adjective phrase.
What Does an Adjective Phrase Comprise of?
An adjective and an intensifier when used together in a sentence form an adjective phrase. An example of this could be:
- The brilliant, handsome man was spotted at the airport.
There are times when one adjective cannot be used to describe something fully. In such a scenario, an array of adjectives can be used together to give more information about a noun. An example of this might be: She wore a red, black, and white watch during her brother’s wedding.
In the sentence, “Dass is a nice boy”, we have only one adjective, namely, nice. Nevertheless, in the sentence, “David is a nice, intelligent, handsome boy,” we have an adjectival phrase describing more information about David.
The Role Played by Adjective Phrases in a Sentence
Adjective phrases do not only modify nouns but also pronouns. Let’s look at the following examples:
- She is from California.
- Ann is from California.
Every sentence contains an adjectival phrase. In the first sentence, the adjective phrase “from California” describes more information about the pronoun and the subject “She”. In the second sentence, the adjectival phrase “from California” describes more information about the noun and subject “Ann.”
The working of the adjective phrase is the same, even if the noun is a pronoun or not. So, if you intend to mitigate a noun to be more descriptive, you should opt for an adjective phrase. You can use multiple adjectives within a sentence. You can mitigate a noun by either starting a phrase with a preposition or an adverb.
Examples of Adjectival Phrases
The most effective way to learn such a phrase is by going through examples. Let’s look at an example of a sentence composed of an adjective and the other one composed of an adjectival phrase:
- The beautiful girl is from London.
- The girl who is so beautiful is from London.
The two sentences have the same meaning. The first sentence comprises of an adjective, while the second one comprises of an adjectival phrase.
Choosing adjective phrases correctly can make sentences more lively and bring on personality. A single adjective may not be descriptive enough, thus the need for an adjective phrase.
When planning to include some adjectival phrases in your writing, you should first go through a list of adjective phrases for more detailed information.
Adjective Phrases Describing People
Examples of adjective phrases used to describe people include:
- A person smarter than me needs to figure this out.
- Everyone was extremely delighted when the winner was announced.
- Mom said the cost of a car is way too high.
- Faster than a speeding bullet, Superman saved the day.
- Her eyes were incredibly mesmerizing to the young man.
- The highly emotive actor gave a wonderful performance.
- She is rather fond of skiing.
- By the end of the date, I was fairly bored with him.
- The overly enthusiastic fans painted their bodies with the team’s colors.
- The valedictorian was far too serious about her GPA.
- Weathered, muscular cowboys are featured in most western movies.
- The exhausted and overworked man took a well-deserved break.
- My remarkable and talented brother won a scholarship.
- I am very much enamored with him.
- Jorge was merely anxious to get on his way.
- Beaming with joy, her face lit up the room.
- She is the chief pediatric surgeon at the institute.
- Frustrated, overworked and underpaid employees picketed for hours.
- Young, otherwise healthy people are most likely to recover quickly.
Adjective Phrases Describing Other Nouns
Examples of adjective phrases used to describe nouns other than people include:
- The movie was not too terrible.
- The final exams were unbelievably difficult.
- This pie is very delicious and extremely expensive.
- The new outfit was very pricey but really beautiful.
- Students upset about the rising cost of tuition staged a rally.
- That complex has quite small but cheap apartments.
- That apple pie smells very tempting.
- Dining out is usually not very healthy.
- The extremely tired kitten fell asleep by her food dish.
- A dog covered in sticky and disgusting mud makes a mess in a car.
- A tapestry beautifully stitched by hand is worth the cost.
- That movie is absolutely unbelievably bad.
- I really wanted to paint the living room a deep eggplant shade of purple.
- Grass-fed organic beef is the best choice.
- She was proud of her son's incredible, groundbreaking experiment that won the science fair.
- The animal cowering in the corner was rescued and given a good home.
- The music from next door was annoyingly loud.
- I love the taste of a sweet juicy peach.
- The boys were annoyed about the excessively long lines.
- The dancing was exquisitely graceful.
- The candy was dark chocolate brown.
- That old food tastes awfully bad.
- The very small puppy carried the big stick.
- The cost of the car was quite affordable.