Practice in Identifying Adjectives

This exercise will give you practice in recognizing adjectives--the part of speech that modifies (or qualifies the meaning of) nouns. To learn more about adjectives in English, see: Adding Adjectives and Adverbs to the Basic Sentence UnitPractice in Turning Adjectives Into AdverbsSentence Building with Adjectives and AdverbsSentence Combining With Adjectives and Adverbs Instructions The sentences in this exercise have been adapted from those in two paragraphs of E.L. Doctorows novel Worlds Fair (1985). (To read Doctorows original sentences, go to Ritual in Doctorows Worlds Fair.) See if you can identify all the adjectives in these 12 sentences. When youre done, compare your responses with the answers on page two. Grandmas room I regarded as a dark den of primitive rites and practices.She had two wobbly old candlesticks.Grandma lit the white candles and waved her hands over the flames.Grandma kept her room clean and tidy.She had a very impressive hope chest covered with a shawl and on her dresser a hairbrush and comb.There was a plain rocking chair under a lamp so she could read her prayer book.And on an end table beside the chair was a flat box packed with a medicinal leaf that was shredded like tobacco.This was the centerpiece of her most consistent and mysterious ritual.She removed the lid from this blue box and turned it on its back and used it to burn a pinch of the leaf.It made tiny pops and hisses as it burned.She turned her chair toward it and sat inhaling the thin wisps of smoke.The smell was pungent, as if from the underworld. Here are the answers to the  Exercise in Identifying Adjectives. Adjectives are in bold print. Grandmas room I regarded as a  dark  den of  primitive  rites and practices.She had  two wobbly old  candlesticks.Grandma lit the  white  candles and waved her hands over the flames.Grandma kept her room  clean  and  tidy.She had a very  impressive  hope chest covered with a  shawl  and on her dresser a hairbrush and comb.There was a  plain  rocking chair under a lamp so she could read her prayer book.And on an end table beside the chair was a  flat  box packed with a  medicinal  leaf that was shredded like tobacco.This was the centerpiece of her most  consistent  and  mysterious  ritual.She removed the lid from this  blue  box and turned it on its back and used it to burn a pinch of the leaf.It made  tiny  pops and hisses as it burned.She turned her chair toward it and sat inhaling the  thin  wisps of smoke.The smell was  pungent, as if from the underworld. See also:  Exercise in Identifying Adverbs