The Timpson Lyceum · Beginning Grammar (2026)

Adjectives, Articles & Participles – Lesson 4 (Grammar)

Overview

Lesson 3 took up the verb, the word that does the asserting. This lesson takes up the word that does the describing: the adjective. An adjective is what lets a sentence talk about this book rather than books in general, or a red rose rather than a rose. The lesson defines the adjective, splits it into two kinds, and then treats the three small words — a, an, the — that form a special class of their own, the articles. It closes with the participle, a word made from a verb that does the work of an adjective or a noun while keeping its verb form, and so belongs to two parts of speech at once. With the adjective added, three of the eight parts of speech are now in hand.

Key Concepts

From predicating to attaching

• In The rose is red, the quality word red is predicated of rose by the copula is. Drop the copula and join the word straight to the noun and you get a red rose.
• Nothing is asserted any longer. Red now limits the noun: the subject is not roses in general but one particular red rose, and the sentence is free to go on and say something else about it.
• A quality word can therefore be either predicated of a noun or attached directly to it.
• Other words attach the same way while naming no quality at all — they only point out or number: this book, two apples.
• An adjective is a word used to describe or define a noun. Any word joined to a noun to describe it, point it out, or number it is an adjective.
• Examples: white chalk, brave soldier, sour apples, kind father, this book, that road, two boys, many houses.

Two kinds of adjectives

• Descriptive — describes the noun by giving it a quality: good, white, brave, ripe, smooth, beautiful, diligent.
• Definitive — points out which noun is meant, or counts it, without giving any quality: this, that, these, either, four, many.
• The difference is what the word tells you. Sour apple tells you something about the apple; this apple tells you only which apple is meant.
• Every quality word is descriptive; every pointing-out or numbering word is definitive.
• Sundry is a borderline case: in older usage it counts, and so is definitive, though modern usage has drifted toward the sense of varied or miscellaneous, which would make it descriptive.
• An adjective derived from a proper noun keeps its capital: American cotton, French customs. In these the noun is cotton and customs; American and French are adjectives describing them.

The articles

• A, an and the are definitive adjectives, and this small group has its own name: the articles. Every article is a definitive adjective.
• The is the definite article. It points to one particular object, and the hearer knows which one: the horse, check the phone.
• A / an is the indefinite article. It points to any one of a kind: Have you seen a horse? asks about horses in general, where Did you see the horse? asks about one already in mind.
• A and an are two forms of the same word, and the rules of English decide which form to use.

Choosing between a and an

• Use a before a subvocal or an aspirate — the consonant sounds. A subvocal is a consonant sounded with the vocal cords vibrating; an aspirate is one sounded with breath alone.
• Use an before a vocal — a vowel sound.
• The sound decides, not the letter. Spelling is beside the point; say the word and listen to how it begins.
  • hour is spelled with h, but the h is silent and the word opens on a vowel sound: an hour.
  • university is spelled with a vowel, but opens on a y sound: a university.
  • Likewise an heir (silent h), a European traveler (y sound), a ewe (y sound).
• A useful test: think like a child who cannot yet spell. Asked to write hour, he would start with an o, because he is attending to the sound.

Commas between adjectives

• When two or more adjectives describe the same noun in the same way, separate them with commas: a cold, dreary, endless night.
• Never put a comma between the last adjective and its noun. In a kind, gentle man the comma falls after kind only; gentle is followed straight by man.
• Coordinate adjectives are of the same type and take the commas. The test: they can take and between them, or be written in either order, with no change in effect. A cold and dreary night, a dreary cold night and a cold, dreary night all say the same thing.
• Cumulative adjectives are of different types, cannot be reordered, and take no commas: a little old wooden chair. Reversing them — a wooden old little chair — sounds wrong at once.
• Cumulative adjectives follow a fixed sequence, remembered by OSASCOMP: opinion, size, age, shape, color, origin, material, purpose. Hence a lovely little old round red French wooden writing desk — one adjective per slot, and no commas anywhere in it.
• This is a strong tendency rather than a strict rule, and it is one most speakers follow without ever having been taught it.

Common mistakes with adjectives

• Go by sound, even when the spelling misleads: a one-way street (w sound), an honest man (silent h), an X-ray (e sound), a ukulele (y sound).
• Use this and that with singular nouns, these and those with plural ones: this kind of shoe, not these kind of shoe.
• Say those before a noun, never them: those puppies, not them puppies.
• Do not slip an extra a into kind of or sort of: that kind of book, not that kind of a book.

The participle

• In James saw the man plowing, the subject is James, the verb is saw, and the object is the man. That leaves plowing, which is doing two things at once: describing the man, as an adjective would, and telling what the man is doing, as a verb would.
• Every word is supposed to fall under one part of speech, but this one partakes of two. The name says so — participle is from the Latin for partaking of.
• A participle is a word derived from a verb, partaking of the properties of a verb and of an adjective or a noun. It is always made from a verb and always keeps a verb form.
• Examples: James saw the man plowing. The boy is riding. The letter is written. Twinkling stars.

The three participles

• A present participle can describe like an adjective as readily as it can report an action: twinkling stars, a running brook.
• A compound participle is recognized by its opening word: having, or having been. In Having recited, we were dismissed, the reciting was over before the main verb were dismissed.

The participial noun

• A participial noun is a word made from a verb, used as the name of an action. It comes from a verb, but in the sentence it is a noun. The same form is also called a participle noun.
• I like skating — skating names the activity and serves as the object of like.
• Miss Gray teaches writing. He was in danger of losing his life.
• The test is whether the word names an action or describes. Swimming is good exercise names an activity and is the subject of the sentence, so swimming is a participial noun. The boy swimming across grew tired describes the boy, so swimming is an ordinary participle.

Participles and the eight parts of speech

• A participle is always made from a verb, but in a sentence it settles into one of three parts of speech: it can do a verb's work, an adjective's work, or a noun's work.
  • As a verb — telling an action: Look at Dash playing.
  • As an adjective — describing a noun: A rippling stream flows by the cottage.
  • As a noun — naming an action: Playing is fun.
• When it does a verb's or an adjective's work it is called simply a participle; only when it does a noun's work does it get the separate name participial noun.

Worked Example

Part (a): descriptive or definitive?

1. ripe — descriptive. It names a quality of the fruit.
2. four — definitive. It counts, and tells nothing about the thing counted.
3. brave — descriptive.
4. these — definitive. It points out which ones.
5. smooth — descriptive.
6. either — definitive. It points out: this one or that one.
7. many — definitive. It numbers, if loosely.
8. beautiful — descriptive.
9. sundry — definitive in the older sense of several, though modern usage pulls it toward varied, which would be descriptive.
10. diligent — descriptive.

Part (b): a or an? Judge by the first sound.

1. egg — an egg. Opens on a vowel sound.
2. hour — an hour. The h is silent, so the word opens on a vowel sound.
3. cart — a cart. A consonant sound.
4. honor — an honor. Silent h again.
5. eagle — an eagle.
6. house — a house. Here the h is sounded.
7. orange — an orange.
8. university — a university. It opens on a y sound, which is a consonant sound.
9. heir — an heir. Silent h.
10. ewe — a ewe. It opens on a y sound, as university does.

Part (c): comma or no comma?

1. a cold, dreary night — comma. A cold and dreary night and a dreary cold night say the same thing, so the adjectives are coordinate.
2. a big black dog — no comma. A black big dog is wrong, so they are cumulative (size, then color).
3. a brave, honest man — comma. Both are opinion words, and either order will serve.
4. an old stone bridge — no comma. Age, then material.
5. a dark, stormy sky — comma.
6. a tall wooden fence — no comma. Size, then material.
7. a kind, gentle teacher — comma.
8. a red silk dress — no comma. Color, then material.

Part (d): name the participle and give its kind.

1. The boy, laughing, ran away. — laughing, present. The main verb is ran.
2. The lesson, studied carefully, was recited. — studied, perfect. The studying is over.
3. Having recited, we were dismissed. — having recited, compound. It is finished before the main verb were dismissed.
4. Look at Dash playing with Rose. — playing, present.
5. This note, written in haste, reached me. — written, perfect. The main verb is reached, which is transitive with me as its object.
6. Having finished the task, I will rest. — having finished, compound.
7. The boy passed on, whistling as before. — whistling, present.
8. The fort, situated on a high hill, was taken. — situated, perfect.
9. Having eaten, the dog slept by the fire. — having eaten, compound.
10. The children ran home, shouting with joy. — shouting, present.
11. The broken cup lay upon the floor. — broken, perfect.
12. Having been dismissed, the class hurried out. — having been dismissed, compound. All three words together make up the participle.

Part (e): participle, or participial noun?

1. I like skating. — participial noun. It names the activity and is the object of like.
2. The boy swimming across grew tired. — participle. It describes the boy.
3. Reading improves the mind. — participial noun. It is the subject.
4. She sat by the fire reading. — participle. It tells what she was doing.
5. He grew tired of waiting. — participial noun. It names the thing he tired of.
6. The hunters pressed on, hoping for game. — participle. The main verb is pressed.

Summary

• An adjective is a word used to describe or define a noun — joined to it to describe it, point it out, or number it. A quality word may be predicated of a noun or attached directly to it; attached, it limits the noun rather than asserting anything.
• Adjectives are of two kinds: descriptive, giving a quality, and definitive, pointing out or counting without giving one. Adjectives made from proper nouns keep their capitals.
• A, an and the are definitive adjectives called articles. The is definite and names one particular object; a / an is indefinite and names any one of a kind.
• Use a before a consonant sound and an before a vowel sound — the sound decides, not the letter: an hour, a university, an heir, a ewe.
• Adjectives of the same type are coordinate: they take and, reverse freely, and are separated by commas. Adjectives of different types are cumulative: they follow the fixed OSASCOMP order, cannot be reordered, and take no commas. Never place a comma between the last adjective and its noun.
• A participle is a word derived from a verb which partakes of the properties of a verb and of an adjective or a noun. The three kinds are present (-ing, going on), perfect (-ed, -en, -t, finished), and compound (having, having been, finished before the main verb).
• A participial noun is a word made from a verb used as the name of an action. The test is whether the word names an action or describes: naming makes it a participial noun, describing leaves it an ordinary participle.