Adjectives & Possessive Adjectives – 23 Common Grammar Topics in the Cambridge Starters Exam

1. Adjectives

1.1 👉 Is a word that describes a noun or pronoun (person, place, thing, or idea). It gives more information about the noun. They make sentences more detailed and colorful. An adjective describes qualities, characteristics, or states of people, animals, objects, or things. For example, big, happy, blue.

1.2 👉 Position of adjectives:
– Before a noun: Adjectives usually come before the noun they describe.
🌸 A beautiful flower
🏠 A small house
📚 An interesting book
🐶 A cute dog

– After the verb ‘to be’: Adjectives can also come after verbs like “to be” (am, is, are, was, were, etc.).
🌤️ The weather is nice.
🎒 They are excited about the trip.
📖 The book was interesting.
🌸 The flowers were beautiful.

1.3 👉 Types of adjectives:
⏩ Descriptive adjectives (Tính từ miêu tả): Dùng để miêu tả đặc điểm hoặc tính chất của người hoặc vật.
↪️Opinion (Ý kiến): beautiful, lovely, wonderful, amazing, awful, fantastic, terrible, horrible, delightful, excellent, dreadful, marvelous, brilliant, outstanding, impressive.
↪️Size (Kích thước): big, small, large, tiny, enormous, huge, massive, petite, gigantic, miniature, vast, tall, short, narrow, wide.
↪️Age (Tuổi tác): old, new, young, ancient, modern, elderly, youthful, recent, outdated, prehistoric, adolescent, middle-aged, mature, teenage, aged.
↪️Shape (Hình dáng): round, square, oval, triangular, rectangular, circular, cubic, hexagonal, flat, curved, spherical, cylindrical, conical, pyramidal, oblong.
↪️Material (Chất liệu): wooden, plastic, metal, cotton, glass, leather, silk, wool, rubber, ceramic, stone, paper, clay, concrete, fabric.
↪️Feelings (Cảm xúc): happy, sad, angry, excited, nervous, scared, joyful, disappointed, frustrated, anxious, thrilled, upset, calm, content, depressed, terrified.
↪️Qualities (Đặc điểm): fast, slow, cold, hot, strong, weak, intelligent, clever, foolish, warm, bright, dark, lazy, active, hard, soft.
↪️Temperature (Nhiệt độ): hot, cold, warm, cool, freezing, boiling, scorching, chilly, icy, lukewarm, mild, humid, frosty, sweltering, crisp.
↪️Touch/Texture (Cảm giác/kết cấu): soft, hard, rough, smooth, sticky, bumpy, silky, fuzzy, slippery, gritty, oily, slimy, velvety, spongy, firm.
↪️Speed (Tốc độ): fast, slow, quick, rapid, sluggish, swift, steady, brisk, speedy, crawling, sluggish, leisurely, hasty, galloping, delayed.
↪️Sound (Âm thanh): loud, quiet, noisy, silent, deafening, soft, faint, thunderous, melodic, shrill, high-pitched, muffled, booming, whispering, echoing.
↪️Time (Thời gian): early, late, punctual, brief, long, instant, timeless, delayed, gradual, swift, short, sudden, temporary, rapid, overdue.
↪️Condition (Tình trạng): clean, dirty, wet, dry, messy, tidy, spotless, damp, dusty, grimy, cluttered, organized, polished, moist, stained.
↪️Appearance (Ngoại hình): handsome, pretty, ugly, attractive, plain, gorgeous, stunning, hideous, beautiful, fair, elegant, lovely, glamorous, charming, unattractive.
↪️Personality (Tính cách): friendly, kind, mean, generous, selfish, rude, polite, humble, arrogant, brave, shy, honest, loyal, adventurous, considerate.
↪️Distance (Khoảng cách): near, far, close, distant, remote, adjacent, nearby, faraway, accessible, outlying, immediate, close-by, reachable, next-door, isolated.
↪️Amount (Số lượng): full, empty, whole, partial, abundant, scarce, bountiful, minimal, adequate, sufficient, overflowing, complete, deficient, packed, limited.
⏩ Quantitative adjectives (Tính từ chỉ số lượng): Dùng để biểu thị số lượng của danh từ.
Many, few, several, little, much, each, every, some, any, enough, all, whole
⏩ Color adjectives: red, blue, green, yellow, purple, pink, orange, black, white, brown, gray, gold
⏩ Demonstrative Adjectives (Tính từ chỉ định): Dùng để xác định cụ thể một người hoặc vật nào đó.
This, that, these, those
⏩ Possessive Adjectives (Tính từ sở hữu): Dùng để chỉ sự sở hữu, cho biết người hoặc vật nào đó thuộc về ai.
My, your, his, her, its, our, their, one’s, whose, their own
⏩ Distributive Adjectives (Tính từ phân phối): Dùng để chỉ từng người hoặc từng vật riêng lẻ trong một nhóm.
Each, every, either (một trong hai), neither (không ai trong hai), either, any, all, both, half, one, none
⏩ Proper Adjectives (Tính từ riêng): Được hình thành từ tên riêng, chỉ nguồn gốc, quốc tịch.
American (người Mỹ), Vietnamese (người Việt).

1.4 👉 Adjective rules
– Adjectives do not change form for singular or plural nouns; they stay the same.
– Using multiple adjectives: When using more than one adjective to describe a noun, they follow a specific order:
▶️Opinion – beautiful, lovely▶️Size – big, small▶️Age – old, new▶️Shape – round, square▶️Color – red, blue▶️Origin – Vietnamese, American▶️Material – wooden, plastic
Example:
🌸 She wore a beautiful, long, red dress. (Cô ấy mặc một chiếc váy đỏ, dài, đẹp.)
🏡 They live in a lovely, small, old, white house. (Họ sống trong một ngôi nhà nhỏ, cũ, màu trắng, rất đáng yêu.)
📦 I bought a large, square, wooden box. (Tôi đã mua một chiếc hộp gỗ lớn, hình vuông.)
🐕 He has a cute, tiny, young, brown puppy. (Anh ấy có một chú chó con nâu, nhỏ xíu, dễ thương.)
✈️ We visited an impressive, modern, tall American building. (Chúng tôi đã thăm một tòa nhà cao, hiện đại, ấn tượng của Mỹ.)
🛋️ The store sells elegant, comfortable, new, grey chairs. (Cửa hàng bán những chiếc ghế xám, mới, thoải mái, thanh lịch.)
📚 She has a big, heavy, old French book. (Cô ấy có một quyển sách Pháp lớn, nặng, cũ.)
🍎 He gave me a fresh, juicy, red apple. (Anh ấy đưa cho tôi một quả táo đỏ, mọng nước, tươi ngon.)
👗 I found a beautiful, light, vintage floral dress. (Tôi đã tìm thấy một chiếc váy hoa cổ điển, nhẹ nhàng, tuyệt đẹp.)
🚗 They rented a sleek, fast, black, German car. (Họ đã thuê một chiếc xe hơi đen, nhanh, bóng bẩy của Đức.)

1.5 👉 Common adjectives in the Starters exam
– Colors: red, blue, green.
– Size: big, small, short.
– Feelings: happy, sad, angry.
– Qualities: fast, slow, cold.

2. Possessive Adjectives

👉 Are used to show ownership or a relationship between people or things. These adjectives modify nouns and indicate who something belongs to. Common examples include “my,” “your,” “his,” “her,” “its,” “our,” and “their.” They always come before a noun and do not change their form, whether the noun is singular or plural. For example, in the sentence “This is my car,” the word “my” shows that the car belongs to me. In “They love their cat,” “their” indicates that the cat belongs to them. It’s important to use the correct possessive adjective to make the sentence clear and accurate.

➡️My:
📚 My book is on the table.
👭 My friend is coming over later.
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 My parents are very kind.
📱 My phone needs charging.
➡️Your:
✏️ Your pencil is on the desk.
🧥 I like your jacket.
📄 Did you finish your homework?
🚗 Your car looks new.
➡️His:
🎩 His hat is red.
🚴‍♂️ I saw his bike in the yard.
🏀 His brother is very tall.
📝 The teacher liked his project.
➡️Her:
👗 Her dress is beautiful.
💻 She brought her laptop to class.
😊 Her smile is bright.
📖 I borrowed her book.
➡️Its:
🐕 The dog wagged its tail.
🌳 The tree lost its leaves.
🛞 The car is missing its tire.
🐈 The cat licked its paw.
➡️Our:
🏡 Our house is near the park.
🍽️ We invited our friends to dinner.
🏆 Our team won the match.
🍴 This is our favorite restaurant.
➡️Their:
🚗 Their car is parked outside.
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 I met their parents yesterday.
🐶 Their dog is very friendly.
🏠 They love their new home.