In a Nutshell

Saber utilizar adjetivos é importante para poderes teres conversas e escrever com mais significado em inglês. Neste resumo vais aprender como usar adjetivos e a diferença entre adjetivos comparativos e superlativos.

Info 1: How to use adjectives

Adjectives are used to add meaning/information to a substantive. They can be used to describe, for example:

an opinion (a feeling, a judgment, etc.);
a dimension (height, length, etc.);
a physical characteristic;
an age;
a colour;
an origin;
a material/composition.

In English, adjectives are invariable in terms of gender and quantity, meaning they are always the same for masculine, feminine, singular and plural substantives.

There are rules to follow regarding the positioning of adjectives in a sentence:

Situation	Format	Example
An adjective is used before the substantive (most common)	adjective + substantive	I got a *tasty* *meal* at the restaurant. She has a ginger cat.
An adjective is preceded by a linking verb (To be, To become, To get, To feel, To look, To taste, To sound, To smell, To seem)	subject/substantive + linking verb + adjective	*She* *looks beautiful* in that dress. The *blanket feels soft*.

If you use more than one adjective to describe one substantive, you have to obey a certain order:

Order	type of adjective	Examples
1	Opinion	Beautiful, kind, amazing.
2	Size	Small, short, tall.
3	Physical quality	Thin, fat, soft.
4	Shape	Round, oval, square.
5	Age	Old, young, ancient.
6	Colour	Green, blue, yellow.
7	Origin	Portuguese, Spanish, English.
8	Material	Cotton, plastic, stone.
9	Purpose	Drawing, cooking, cleaning.

Examples:

She was a kind, young, Portuguese woman.

It was a delicious, soft, chocolate cake.

I got a small, black, drawing pad for Christmas.

Tip: An adjective can also be made "stronger" by using preceding intensifiers such as very, so, too, really, quite and absolutely.

Info 2: Making comparisons with adjectives

Besides informing about a substantive, adjectives can also be used to compare qualities between more than one substantive. These types of adjectives are called comparative and superlative adjectives.

		Comparative adjectives
Definition		Used to compare one substantive to another and express how they differ regarding a certain quality.
Sentence construction		subject (substantive) + verb + comparative adjective + than + substantive
Adjective format	Most adjectives	Adjective(+ -er)
	Examples	Cooler, longer, older
	Adjectives ending in -e	Adjective(+ -r)
	Examples	Nicer, larger, finer
	Adjectives ending in -y	Adjective(-y + -ier)
	Examples	Heavier, tastier, prettier
	Adjectives ending in vowel-consonant	Adjective(+ double the last consonant + -er)
	Examples	Bigger, sadder, hot*ter*
	Adjectives with two or syllables (not ending in -y)	More + adjective
	Examples	More expensive, more athletic, more difficult
	Irregular	Better (good), worse (bad), less (little), more (much), further/farther (far)

		Superlative adjectives
Definition		Used to describe one substantive in comparison to a whole group to which the substantive belongs to. It expresses how the substantive has the most of a certain quality.
Sentence construction		subject (substantive) + verb + the + superlative adjective + substantive
Adjective format	Most adjectives	Adjective (+ -est)
	Examples	Coolest, longest, oldest
	Adjectives ending in -e	Adjective (+ -st)
	Examples	Nicest, largest, finest
	Adjectives ending in -y	Adjective (-y + -iest)
	Examples	Heaviest, tastiest, prettiest
	Adjectives ending in vowel-consonant	Adjective (+ double the last consonant + -est)
	Examples	Biggest, saddest, hottest
	Adjectives with two or syllables (not ending in -y)	Most + adjective
	Examples	Most expensive, most athletic, most difficult
	Irregular	Best (good), worst (bad), least (little), most (much), furthest/farthest (far)

Examples:

Let's use my car, it's bigger than yours.

I have the most beautiful cat!

This is the tastiest meal I've ever had.

Her computer is worse than mine.

Note: Comparative and superlative adjectives can also be preceded by intensifiers such as much, far, a lot for comparative adjectives and easily and by far for superlative adjectives.