Explain the meaning of Adjectives
What does it mean to "modify" a word?
Modifiers are words that add information to the sentence base. The word modify means "to change" or "to alter." Modifiers are words that change or alter your mental image of the sentence.
Imagine a wagon. Do you have a mental image or picture in your mind of the wagon? Now make it a covered wagon. Did your picture change? If it changed, it is because the modifier "covered" changed your picture.
Modifiers are important in language because they help us express to others the picture we wish them to see. Modifiers help others understand our point of view.
Modifiers come in two varieties: adjectives and adverbs.
What are adjectives?
Adjectives modify nouns or pronouns. They describe which one(s), what kind(s), or how many of the noun. Adjectives can describe the color, shape, size, texture, weight, flavor, attitude, etc. of the noun. Adjectives often come before the noun that they describe. "The," "a," and "an" are special forms of adjectives called articles.
Examples
1. blue ribbon
"Blue" indicates the kind of ribbon.
2. fast runner
"Fast" indicates the kind of runner.
3. three medals
"Three" indicates how many medals.
4. Wilma's award
"Wilma's" indicates the kind of award.
5. the car
"The" describes "car."
Historically, "the" is derived from the demonstrative adjective "that" and "a" is derived from the adjective "one." Therefore, from an historical standpoint, articles were adjectives prior to receiving their own classification. However, adjectives and articles are treated separately in Linguistic Science and ESL teaching because they behave differently in these cases. However, the differences are relevant only to linguists and ESL learners, and probably have limited meaning to native speakers. For this reason, most teachers see no reason to make a huge distinction. Although open to debate, most teachers agree that articles are a type of adjective. You might wish to ask your teacher about the issue.