Adjectives

The point

An adjective describes a noun. It usually sits before the noun, or after be: a red car, The car is red. It does not take a plural -s.

Form and use

An adjective describes a noun. It can stand before the noun, or after be as the complement. a quiet room. The room is quiet. Before the noun, it is part of the noun phrase. After be, it completes the subject. It tells what the subject is like. It is not an object.

An adjective never takes a plural -s. The noun already shows number. a red car. two red cars. The cars are red. Reds cars and The cars are reds are wrong. Words like two, these, and those mark number. The adjective stays unchanged.

Several adjectives before a noun follow a usual order: opinion, size, age, shape, color, origin, material, then the noun. A full line is rare: a nice small old round blue French metal box. Two or three is normal: a small blue box, an old French clock. Opinion comes first: a beautiful large table. A comma fits two opinions of the same type: a kind, quiet neighbor. Do not put a comma between size and color.

Some adjectives normally follow be and do not sit before the noun. Afraid and asleep are two of them. She is afraid. The baby is asleep. An afraid child and an asleep baby are not ordinary lines. Before a noun, choose another word, such as a frightened child or a sleeping baby. Some adjectives normally sit only before the noun. Main and only are two of them. the main reason. the only key. The reason is main is wrong. The key is only does not mean the single key.

Don't translate it like this

The adjective comes before the noun.

Short examples