Harvey's Elementary Grammar and Composition · Lesson 20 · Part 1: Part I: The elementary course

19. The adjective

Goal: Your child can find adjectives and sort them into descriptive and definitive.

⏱ About 25 minutes · 7 steps

Open it at the Internet Archive ↗

You'll need

  • The book, open to this lesson
  • Paper and a pencil (or a slate)

What's in the book

Lesson 20 is an oral lesson on words that describe or point out nouns. It defines adjectives and their two classes. Page 32 has a remark on adjectives from proper nouns, exercises placing adjectives before nouns, and nine sentences to mark.

The lesson, step by step

  1. Review

    Ask: What is a quality-word? Give three.

  2. Words that go with nouns

    Say "white chalk" and "this book" and "two boys." Ask what each first word does. One describes, one points out, one counts.

  3. The definitions

    Read:

    An Adjective is a word used to describe or define a noun.

    A Descriptive Adjective describes a noun by expressing some quality belonging to it; as, good, white.

    A Definitive Adjective limits or defines a noun without expressing any of its qualities; as, this, few.

  4. Oral practice

    Point to things in the room. Your child adds a descriptive adjective ("the soft pillow") and then a definitive one ("that pillow," "two pillows").

  5. The book's sentences

    Point out the adjectives and say which kind:

    Both horses are lame.

    Ripe peaches are plentiful.

    That large cat caught this beautiful bird.

    Page 32 also asks your child to place adjectives before nouns, with models like "Much money" and "Sundry books."

  6. Check together

    Check with the answers. The book also notes that adjectives from proper nouns take capitals, as in American cotton and French customs.

  7. Use it today

    The book says to point out the adjectives in your reading lesson. Find five today.

Answers to the book's problems

1 Both (definitive), lame (descriptive). 2 Ripe, plentiful (descriptive). 3 Large, expensive (descriptive). 4 either (definitive). 5 That (definitive), kind (descriptive). 6 Every (definitive), square (descriptive). 7 This (definitive), hard (descriptive). 8 brave, severe (descriptive). 9 That, this (definitive); large, beautiful (descriptive). (The words a and the are taken up in the next lesson.)

Worked out for this site from the scan. If a number in your copy differs, trust the book.

@teddyrookbook GitHub