Intro to adjectives | The parts of speech | Grammar | Khan Academy

So grammarians, we have this class of words called adjectives, and what they do is they change stuff. Adjectives change stuff. Adjectives change stuff. They're part of this larger category of words that we call modifiers because that's what they do. They modify, they change things.

So let's say I were to draw you a bear—a kind of human-looking standing on two legs kind of bear. Sure, I could refer to this bear, and I could say the bear, but I can also refer to this bear with a description like the friendly bear. But if that bear were blue, for instance, I could describe the bear as the blue bear. In the blue bear, the word blue modifies bear. Blue is an adjective that describes bear.

So adjectives change stuff, and they describe stuff. And if that bear were a different color, it would be, you know, the red bear. And now that bear is red—actually more of a salmon color, frankly.

Let's put this into action with some sentences. Stephen is Connie's best friend. Now, what is the word that describes or changes another word in this sentence? If you guessed best, you are correct. Best modifies friend. So, Stephen is Connie's best friend. What is Stephen? A friend. What kind of friend is he? The best friend.

The enormous pie is not for sale. Now, what's the adjective in that sentence? If you guessed enormous, you would be correct. Enormous, which means very big, is modifying or changing the word pie.

Now, I thought a little bit of word origins might be kind of useful here. If we go back to the Latin—now you don't obviously need to speak Latin in order to make sense of English—but I thought it would be cool to look at what adjective literally means.

So the word part add comes from the Latin meaning to or toward or on, and the objective part comes from a Latin word yakere; it means to throw. So an adjective is something that's kind of thrown on or thrown on top of something because you don't necessarily need adjectives in order for a sentence to make sense the way that you need to have a verb or the way that you need to have a noun.

Adjectives are a little bit extra; they're thrown on top. You know, these sentences would work on their own without the adjectives in them: Stephen is Connie's friend. The pie is not for sale. You know, they would work. But what's nice about adjectives and modifiers of all kinds is that they add something extra; they add more detail. They change and describe stuff. That's what adjectives do.

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