“The boy, red-headed, tall and hungry, was outside of my house” uses an adjective phrase as an appositive. AppositivesĪdjectives are often used in writing and speaking in the form of an “appositive,” a phrase supporting a noun or phrase by describing it. Adjective phrases can be used to complement the subject or object of a sentence too, such as in the sentence “You look tired but happy today.” “Tired” and “happy” both describe the subject of the sentence (“you”). Consider the sentence “My friend Sally is really fond of sandwiches.” In this sentence, the adjective phrase “really fond of sandwiches” describes Sally’s personality.

Complex Adjective PhrasesĪdjective phrases can be more than a string of adjectives. “Tall, red-headed, hungry looking” is an adjective phrase. “There was a tall, red-headed, hungry-looking boy outside” provides considerably more information about the boy than simply saying he’s tall. In their simplest form, adjective phrases are a combination of adjectives. Whereas adjectives use one word to describe a noun, adjective phrases use several words to add a more complex description of a noun.

In the above sentence, “tall” describes the boy, so it goes before the noun “boy.” Additionally, adjectives can be used after a noun with a “link verb,” like “be,” “look” or “feel.” You could say “The boy is tall” or “The girl looked sick.” Adjectives still describe the noun, even if they come after the noun. Adjectives usually go before the noun (person, place or thing) that they describe.

What do adjectives describe