Parsing of Adjectives

Parsing adjectives is a way of analyzing and breaking down adjectives in a sentence to understand their role, form, and function. It helps learners identify the type of adjective, its agreement with the noun it describes, and its position in the sentence. Let’s explore this topic in a simple yet detailed manner so you can master parsing adjectives with ease!

Table of Contents

1. What Is Parsing of Adjectives?
2. How to Parse Adjectives: Step-by-Step Guide
3. Types of Adjectives for Parsing
4. Examples of Parsing Adjectives
5. Practice Parsing Adjectives
6. Frequently Asked Questions on Parsing Adjectives

What Is Parsing of Adjectives?

Parsing an adjective means identifying:

• • The type of adjective (e.g., descriptive, demonstrative, possessive).
  • The word it modifies (the noun or pronoun).
  • Its degree of comparison (positive, comparative, or superlative).
  • Its position in the sentence (attributive or predicative).

This process helps you analyze how an adjective contributes to the meaning and structure of a sentence.

How to Parse Adjectives: Step-by-Step Guide

1. Identify the Adjective
Find the word in the sentence that describes or modifies a noun or pronoun.
Example: The beautiful garden is blooming.

• • Adjective: beautiful

2. Determine the Noun or Pronoun Modified
Identify the noun or pronoun that the adjective is describing.

• • In the example, “beautiful” modifies the noun “garden.”

3. Classify the Type of Adjective
Decide what kind of adjective it is:

• • Is it descriptive, demonstrative, possessive, interrogative, or another type?
  • Beautiful is a descriptive adjective.

4. Check the Degree of Comparison
Determine whether the adjective is in the positive, comparative, or superlative form.

• • Beautiful is in the positive degree.

5. Analyze Its Position
Look at its placement in the sentence:

• • Attributive: Directly before the noun (beautiful garden).
  • Predicative: After a linking verb (The garden is beautiful).
  • In this case, ‘beautiful’ is an attributive adjective.

Types of Adjectives for Parsing

Adjectives can belong to various types, each with a unique role. While parsing, you’ll classify them based on these categories:

1. Descriptive Adjectives
Describe the quality, size, shape, or other characteristics of a noun.

• • Example: The tall tree provides shade.
    • Parsing: tall is a descriptive adjective modifying tree.

2. Demonstrative Adjectives
Point out specific nouns. Examples: this, that, these, those.

• • Example: I like this book.
    • Parsing: this is a demonstrative adjective modifying book.

3. Possessive Adjectives
Show ownership. Examples: my, your, his, her, our, their.

• • Example: Her cat is very playful.
    • Parsing: ‘Her’ is a possessive adjective modifying ‘cat’.

4. Interrogative Adjectives
Used in questions. Examples: which, what, whose.

• • Example: Which dress do you like?
    • Parsing: Which is an interrogative adjective modifying dress.

5. Numeral Adjectives
Indicate numbers or order. Examples: one, two, first, second.

• • Example: He has three dogs.
    • Parsing: three is a numeral adjective modifying dogs.

6. Indefinite Adjectives
Indicate an unspecified quantity. Examples: some, many, few, several.

• • Example: Many students attended the seminar.
    • Parsing: Many is an indefinite adjective modifying students.

Examples of Parsing Adjectives

Let’s parse the adjectives in the following sentences:

1. Sentence: The red apple looks delicious.

• • Adjective: red
  • Type: Descriptive
  • Modifies: apple
  • Degree: Positive
  • Position: Attributive

2. Sentence: She bought three dresses.

• • Adjective: three
  • Type: Numeral
  • Modifies: dresses
  • Degree: Positive
  • Position: Attributive

3. Sentence: This car is faster than that one.

• • Adjective 1: This
    • Type: Demonstrative
    • Modifies: car
    • Degree: Positive
    • Position: Attributive

• • Adjective 2: faster
    • Type: Descriptive
    • Modifies: car
    • Degree: Comparative
    • Position: Predicative

Practice Parsing Adjectives

Parse the adjectives in the following sentences:

1. The big house at the corner belongs to my uncle.

2. Several birds were perched on the old tree.

3. Whose bag is lying on the floor?

4. That new phone is very expensive.

5. He bought five apples and two oranges.

Answers

1. big – Descriptive; modifies house; positive degree; attributive.

2. Several – Indefinite; modifies birds; positive degree; attributive.
old – Descriptive; modifies tree; positive degree; attributive.

3. Whose – Interrogative; modifies bag; positive degree; attributive.

4. That – Demonstrative; modifies phone; positive degree; attributive.
new – Descriptive; modifies phone; positive degree; attributive.
expensive – Descriptive; modifies phone; positive degree; predicative.

5. five – Numeral; modifies apples; positive degree; attributive.
two – Numeral; modifies oranges; positive degree; attributive.

Frequently Asked Questions on Parsing Adjectives

Q1: What does it mean to parse an adjective?
Parsing an adjective means analyzing its type, the noun or pronoun it modifies, its degree of comparison, and its position in the sentence.

Q2: What types of adjectives can be parsed?
All types, including descriptive, demonstrative, possessive, numeral, interrogative, and indefinite adjectives, can be parsed.

Q3: Why is parsing adjectives important?
Parsing adjectives helps improve your understanding of grammar and makes it easier to construct meaningful and grammatically correct sentences.

Q4: What’s the difference between attributive and predicative adjectives?

• • Attributive: Comes before the noun (The green car).
  • Predicative: Comes after a linking verb (The car is green).