Classes of Adjectives.

Adjectives may be divided into two classes-Limiting and Qualifying.

A Limiting Adjective is one that limits or defines the meaning of a noun without expressing any quality; as, one, twenty, this, that, either, neither, a, an, the, such, both. A Qualifying Adjective is one that expresses a quality; as, wise, good, little, beautiful.

Sub-Classes.

Limiting adjectives embrace Articles, Numeral Adjectives, and Pronominal Adjectives.

Articles.

The limiting adjectives the and a or an are called Articles.

The is called the Definite Article. It is used to point out some particular object; as, the teacher, the earth.

The may be used to limit a noun in either the singular or the plural number.

A or an is called the Indefinite Article, because it may limit any noun; as, a house, a book.

A or an is used to limit a noun in the singular number only.

A is used before nouns beginning with a consonant sound 1; as, a man, a unit.

An is used before nouns beginning with a vowel sound; as, an apple, an orange.

Remark. An is used by some writers before words beginning

with the sound of h when the word is accented on the second syllable; as, an historical sketch.

Note. A and an are both derived from the Anglo-Saxon ane, meaning one.

Numeral Adjectives.

Numeral Adjectives are those which express number; as, one, first, etc.

Numeral adjectives embrace Cardinals, Ordinals, and Multiplicatives.

Cardinals denote how many; as, four, eighty. Ordinals denote what order; as, fourth, eightieth. Multiplicatives denote how many fold; as, double or twofold, triple or threefold.

Pronominal Adjectives.

Pronominal Adjectives are those which may, without the use of an article, represent a noun understood; as, each, this, some.

Pronominal adjectives are of three kinds-Distributive, Demonstrative, and Indefinite.

Distributives are those which point out objects singly.
The distributives are each, every, either, neither.
They always limit nouns in the singular number.
Demonstratives are those which point out objects defi-

nitely.

The demonstratives are this, that, these, those, former, latter.

This and that limit nouns in the singular number, and these and those limit nouns in the plural.

Indefinites are those which point out objects indefinitely.

The indefinites are some, one, any, all, such, none, other, another.

Remarks on Adjectives.

Qualifying adjectives include Participial adjectives.

Participial adjectives are participles which are placed before nouns to qualify them; as, "The rising sun," "The running brook."

A Proper adjective is one derived from a proper name; as, American, English.

A Common adjective is one not derived from a proper name; as, good, wicked, large.

A Factitive adjective is one which is made by a verb to qualify its object; as, the word clean in the sentence "They washed their hands clean."

A Complex adjective consists of two or more words taken together to describe a noun; as, a pale blue sky; a sea green color; a cherry red silk; one hundred and two dollars.

A Compound adjective is a compound word used as an adjec tive; as, moth-eaten, good-natured.

A noun may be used as an adjective when it describes another noun; as, an iron chain; a gold ring.

An adjective may be used as a noun when it is used as a name; as, "The poor ye have always," "The good are happy," "She prefers blue to red."

When a pronominal adjective limits the noun expressed, it may be parsed simply as an adjective; as in the expression, "This difficult lesson."

When a pronominal adjective represents the noun understood, it may be parsed as a pronoun; as in the sentence, "This is a difficult lesson."

Exercise.

Name the adjective, and tell its class, in each of the following expressions: A new house. A good boy. Ten large horses. The first lesson. This old man. Those six red apples. A very small pony. One nice orange. These flowers are scarce. This rose is beautiful. The running brook teaches a lesson of industry. Three boys bought the gold chain for the teacher. This apple is larger than that. The knife cost seventy-five cents. My new carriage cost two hundred and fifty dollars. Strive to be an honest man. The diligent pupils succeed. An ill-mannered boy is not agreeable. Neither pupil has come this morning. Our nearest neighbor is a hard-working man. The wall was built solid. We painted the door white.

Comparison of Adjectives.

Comparison of adjectives is their variation to express different degrees of quality.

There are three degrees of comparison-the Positive, the Comparative, and the Superlative.

The Positive degree denotes a quality without a comparison; as, long, small; "Gold is hard."

The Comparative degree is used to express a higher or a lower degree of quality than is expressed by the positive; as, longer, smaller; "Steel is harder than gold.”

The Superlative degree is used to express the highest or the lowest degree of any quality; as, longest, smallest ; "The diamond is one of the hardest of substances."

Remark. The Comparative degree may be used—

1. When two objects have the same quality.

Ex.-Gold is heavier than silver.

2. To show two conditions of the same object.
Ex. We are wiser to-day than we were yesterday.
3. To show different qualities of the same object.
Ex. The child was more sick than fretful.

Words of one syllable form the comparative regularly by annexing -er to the positive, and the superlative by annexing -est; as, old, older, oldest; wise, wiser, wisest.

Dissyllables ending in -le and -y are compared like monosyllables; as, able, abler, ablest; pretty, prettier, prettiest.

Other words of more than one syllable form the comparative by prefixing more or less to the positive, and the superlative by prefixing most or least; as, beautiful, more beautiful, most beautiful; indolent, less indolent, least indolent.

Irregular Comparisons.

The following adjectives are compared irregularly: