Adjective of Quality — Definition, Rules and Examples

An adjective of quality answers the question: "Of what kind?"

It provides details about a noun's characteristics, such as its size, shape, colour, taste, behaviour, or physical state.

Examples of words: beautiful, brave, red, tall, heavy, kind, sour, square, old, intelligent.

To find the adjective of quality, ask "Of what kind?" about the noun.

1. The brave soldier fought in the war. (What kind of soldier? Brave.)
2. She wore a beautiful red dress. (What kind of dress? Beautiful and red.)
3. The heavy box is hard to lift. (What kind of box? Heavy.)
4. Raman is an honest man. (What kind of man? Honest.)
5. It was a dark, stormy night. (What kind of night? Dark and stormy.)

Adjectives of quality can be placed in two positions in a sentence:

1. Attributive Position: Placed immediately before the noun it describes.

• Example: He is a good boy. (Describes 'boy')
• Example: I bought a cold drink.

2. Predicative Position: Placed after a linking verb (like is, am, are, was, seem, look), separated from the noun.

• Example: The boy is good. (Describes 'boy' but comes after 'is')
• Example: The weather looks cold.

Adjectives of quality are the type of adjectives that can change their degree to show comparison:

1. Positive Degree: Ram is a tall boy.
2. Comparative Degree: Ram is taller than Shyam.
3. Superlative Degree: Ram is the tallest boy in the class.