What Is The Relation Between Nouns And Adjectives In English?

Relation between Nouns and Adjectives

A noun is a word that names something. It can be a person, place, animal or thing.

Example — Raghav studies at Jai Hind College.

Raghav is a noun as it is the name of a person.

Jai Hind College is a noun as it is the name of a place.

Nouns are of various types –

1. Proper Nouns
2. Common Nouns
3. Collective Nouns
4. Abstract Nouns
5. Material Nouns
6. Countable Nouns
7. Uncountable Nouns
8. Possessive Nouns

Read more about nouns here.

Adjectives are words that describe the qualities of nouns. They modify nouns.

Example — Raghav is a smart boy.
“What kind of a boy is Raghav?” “He is a smart boy.”
Smart is the describing word for Raghav.

The campus of Jai Hind College is very small.
“How is the campus of Jai Hind College?” “It is very small.”
Small is the describing word for the college.

Adjectives are of five types –

1. Adjectives of quality
2. Demonstrative adjectives
3. Adjectives of quantity
4. Interrogative adjectives
5. Adjectives of number

Read more about adjectives here.

Nouns as Adjectives

Nouns can also be used as adjectives. This is where the confusion arises.

Sometimes words that originally nouns, are used to modify other nouns.

Example –
1. She saw a beautiful racehorse.

In this sentence — beautiful is the adjective. But the noun ‘race’ is also acting as an adjective as the primary noun in this sentence is ‘horse’

2. Her shoelaces were in a strange neon colour.

Here, lace is the main noun. ‘Shoe’ which is another noun is being used to describe the main noun.

3. The cat broke the empty coffee jar.

In this sentence, the jar is the main noun. Coffee acts as an adjective-noun. And, empty is the real adjective.

A tip here is to remember that modifier nouns are always used before the main noun.

Examples –

1. Racecar
2. Toothbrush
3. Science fair
4. Tennis shoes
5. Cricket ball
6. Ferry boat

Nouns as adjectives are always used in the singular form.

Example –

1. News reporter
2. Customs duty
3. Sports club
4. Research club
5. Research department
6. News room

We hope this article has given you a clear idea of the relation between nouns and adjectives