An ADJECTIVE is a word added to a noun to express its quality or kind,
or to restrict its meaning; as, a _good_ man, a _bad_ man, _a free_ man,
an _unfortunate_ man, _one_ man, _forty_ men.
In the phrases, a _good_ apple, a _bad_ apple, a _large_ apple, a
_small_ apple, a _red_ apple, a _white_ apple, a _green_ apple, a
_sweet_ apple, a _sour_ apple, a _bitter_ apple, a _round_ apple, a
_hard_ apple, a _soft_ apple, a _mellow_ apple, a _fair_ apple, a _May_
apple, an _early_ apple, a _late_ apple, a _winter_ apple, a _crab_
apple, a _thorn_ apple, a _well-tasted_ apple, an _ill-looking_ apple, a
_water-cored_ apple, you perceive that all those words in _italics_ are
adjectives, because each expresses some quality or property of the noun
apple, or it shows what _kind_ of an apple it is of which we are
speaking.
The distinction between a _noun_ and an _adjective_ is very clear. A
noun is the _name_ of a thing; but an adjective denotes simply the
_quality_ or _property_ of a thing. This is _fine cloth_. In this
example, the difference between the word denoting the _thing_, and that
denoting the _quality_ of it, is easily perceived. You certainly cannot
be at a loss to know, that the word _cloth_ expresses the _name_, and
_fine_, the _quality_, of the _thing_; consequently _fine_ must be an
_adjective_. If I say, He is a _wise_ man, a _prudent_ man, a _wicked_
man, or an _ungrateful_ man, the words in _italics_ are adjectives,
because each expresses a _quality_ of the noun man. And, if I say, He is
a _tall_ man, a _short_ man, a _white_ man, a _black_ man, or a
_persecuted_ man, the words, _tall, short, white, black_, and
_persecuted_, are also adjectives, because they tell what _kind_ of a
man he is of whom I am speaking, or they attribute to him some
particular property.
Some adjectives _restrict_ or _limit_ the signification of the nouns to
which they are joined, and are, therefore, sometimes called
_definitives_; as, _one_ era, _seven_ ages, the _first_ man, the _whole_
mass, _no_ trouble, _those_ men, _that_ book, _all_ regions.
Other adjectives _define_ or _describe_ nouns, or do both; as, _fine_
silk, _blue_ paper, a _heavy_ shower, _pure_ water, _green_ mountains,
_bland_ breezes, _gurgling_ rills, _glass_ window, _window_ glass,
_beaver_ hats, _chip_ bonnets, _blackberry_ ridge, _Monroe_ garden,
_Juniata_ iron, _Cincinnati_ steam-mill.
Some adjectives are _secondary_, and qualify other adjectives; as,
_pale_ red lining, _dark_ blue silk, _deep sea_ green sash, _soft_ iron
blooms, _red hot_ iron plate.
You will frequently find the adjective placed after the noun; as, "Those
_men_ are _tall_; A _lion_ is _bold_; The _weather_ is _calm_; The
_tree_ is three feet _thick_."
Should you ever be at a loss to distinguish an adjective from the other
parts of speech, the following sign will enable you to tell it. Any word
that will make sense with the word _thing_ added, or with any other noun
following it, is an adjective; as, a _high_ thing, a _low_ thing, a
_hot_ thing, a _cold_ thing, an _unfinished_ thing, a _new-fashioned_
thing:--or, a _pleasant_ prospect, a _long-deserted_ dwelling, an
_American_ soldier, a _Greek_ Testament. Are these words adjectives,
_distant, yonder, peaceful, long-sided, double-headed?_ A distant
_object_ or _thing_, yonder _hill_, &c. They are. They will make sense
with a noun after them. Adjectives sometimes become adverbs. This matter
will be explained in Lecture VI. In parsing, you may generally know an
adjective by its _qualifying a noun or pronoun_.
Most words ending in _ing_ are _present participles_. These are
frequently used as adjectives; therefore, most participles will make
sense with the addition of the word thing, or any other noun, after
them; as, a _pleasing_ thing, a _moving_ spectacle, _mouldering_ ruins.
In the Latin language, and many others, adjectives, like nouns, have
gender, number, and case; but in the English language, they have neither
gender, person, number, nor case. These properties belong to _creatures_
and _things_, and not to their _qualities_; therefore gender, person,
number, and case, are the properties of _nouns_, and _not_ of
adjectives.
Adjectives are varied only to express the degrees of comparison. They
have three degrees of comparison, the Positive, the Comparative, and the
Superlative.
The _positive degree_ expresses the quality of an object without any
increase or diminution; as, _good, wise, great_.
The _comparative degree_ increases or lessens the positive in
signification; as, _better, wiser, greater, less wise_.
The _superlative degree_ increases or lessens the positive to the
highest or lowest degree; as, _best, wisest, greatest, least wise_.