What You Need to Know

Describing words (called adjectives) give us more information about nouns (people, places and things). They answer questions like: What colour? (the red ball), What size? (a tiny ant), What does it feel like? (a soft blanket). Using describing words makes our writing much more interesting and helps readers picture what we mean.

Key Concepts

Colour

red, blue, golden

Size

big, tiny, tall, short

Feeling

soft, rough, cold, warm

How Many

three, many, some, few

Describing words make sentences better:

Without describing word:

I saw a dog.

With describing word:

I saw a fluffy, brown dog.

Key Vocabulary

Adjective

The grammar word for a describing word — it tells us more about a noun, e.g. a happy child.

Noun

A person, place or thing — describing words tell us more about nouns, e.g. dog, house, flower.

Describing Word

A word that describes what something is like — its colour, size, shape, texture or feeling.

Expanded Noun Phrase

A noun with a describing word added, e.g. the shiny red apple instead of just the apple.

Knowledge Check

Select the correct answer for each question. Click "Check Answer" to see if you are right.

Question 1

Which word is a describing word in this sentence: "The tall giraffe ate some leaves."

tall ate giraffe leaves

Question 2

Which sentence has a describing word?

The bird flew. The colourful bird flew. A bird can fly. Birds fly south.

Question 3

Which of these is a describing word?

run apple fluffy quickly

Question 4

What do describing words tell us about?

Actions — what someone is doing Places — where something happens Numbers — how many there are Nouns — what something is like

Describing Words