Unit 31: Adjectives
Can-Do Objective: I can identify adjectives and understand which nouns they describe in a sentence.
1. Vocabulary (Từ vựng)
Study the following adjectives. Notice how they add details and descriptions to people, animals, places, and things.
| Word & POS | Definition | Translation | Contextual Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| spectacular (adjective) |
very impressive, beautiful, or dramatic | tuyệt vời, ngoạn mục | We took a trip to the spectacular zoo in San Diego. |
| scaly (adjective) |
covered with small, thin plates | có vảy | The first animals we visited were the scaly reptiles. |
| tropical (adjective) |
coming from the hot and wet parts of the world | nhiệt đới | We walked into a warm hut filled with tropical plants. |
| playful (adjective) |
full of fun and wanting to play | ham chơi, tinh nghịch | I like to watch the playful cubs in the cage. |
| giant (adjective) |
extremely large | khổng lồ | Then we saw giant elephants eating grass. |
| sugary (adjective) |
containing a lot of sugar | có nhiều đường, ngọt | The busy birds drink sugary nectar from the flowers. |
| hairy (adjective) |
covered with a lot of hair | nhiều lông | Did you know that some elephants are hairy? |
| loose (adjective) |
not firmly fixed or not in a cage | thả rông, lỏng lẻo | The hut housed loose hummingbirds flying around. |
| sunny (adjective) |
with a lot of bright light from the sun | nắng, có nắng | The sunny weather made for a beautiful day at the park. |
2. Grammar Focus (Ngữ pháp trọng tâm)
Point 1: Identifying Adjectives (Xác định Tính từ đứng trước Danh từ)
Adjectives are words that describe or modify nouns. They provide more information about an object’s size, shape, color, or condition. In English, they most frequently come right before the noun they are describing.
Structure: Adjective + Noun
Examples:
- The yellow marker did not show up on the board. (“Yellow” describes the noun “marker”)
- We saw two large cats at the zoo. (“Large” describes the noun “cats”)
- A small souvenir flag sat on the desk. (“Small” describes the noun “flag”)
Point 2: Adjectives after Linking Verbs (Tính từ đứng sau Động từ nối)
Adjectives do not always stay in front of nouns. They can also follow linking verbs (such as be, feel, look, seem, taste, smell, or become) to describe or clarify the state of the subject at the beginning of the sentence.
Structure: Subject + Linking Verb + Adjective
Examples:
- The algebra problem was really difficult. (“Difficult” describes the subject “algebra problem”)
- Abel felt awful and queasy on Friday. (“Awful” and “queasy” describe “Abel”)
- The disobedient dog became unruly and hyper. (“Unruly” and “hyper” describe “dog”)
3. Practice Exercises (Bài tập thực hành)
Exercise 1: Vocabulary Matching
Match the target English adjectives (1-7) with their correct definitions or translations (A-G).
- 1. spectacular
- 2. scaly
- 3. tropical
- 4. playful
- 5. giant
- 6. sugary
- 7. loose
- A. extremely large / khổng lồ
- B. covered with small, thin plates / có vảy
- C. full of fun and wanting to play / tinh nghịch
- D. not firmly fixed or not in a cage / thả rông
- E. very impressive, beautiful, or dramatic / tuyệt vời
- F. containing a lot of sugar / ngọt, nhiều đường
- G. coming from hot and wet parts of the world / nhiệt đới
? Click to see Answer Key & Explanation (Đáp án & Giải thích)
- 1 – E: spectacular means very impressive or beautiful (tuyệt vời, ngoạn mục).
- 2 – B: scaly means covered with small, thin plates like a snake or reptile (có vảy).
- 3 – G: tropical refers to hot and wet regions of the world (nhiệt đới).
- 4 – C: playful means full of fun and wanting to play (tinh nghịch, hiếu động).
- 5 – A: giant means extremely large (khổng lồ).
- 6 – F: sugary describes something containing a lot of sugar (ngọt, nhiều đường).
- 7 – D: loose means free, unchained, or not in a cage (thả rông, tự do).
Exercise 2: Contextual Gap Fill
Fill in each blank with the most appropriate adjective from the word bank. Use each word exactly once.
[ sunny • hairy • scaly • tropical • giant • spectacular • sugary ]
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1. The weather was bright and ________, so we spent the whole day walking outdoors.
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2. We stood amazed in front of the ________ enclosure, looking up at the trees that reached the roof.
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3. Lizards and snakes are known for having ________ skins that protect them from drying out.
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4. The view from the top of the mountain was absolutely ________; we could see the entire valley below.
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5. Some prehistoric mammoths were incredibly ________ to survive the freezing ice age conditions.
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6. Kids should avoid drinking too many ________ sodas because they can hurt their teeth.
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7. A ________ blue whale is the largest mammal ever known to live on Earth.
? Click to see Answer Key & Explanation (Đáp án & Giải thích)
- 1. sunny: “Bright and sunny” describes great outdoor weather with clear sunlight (thời tiết đầy nắng).
- 2. tropical: A tropical enclosure replicates hot and wet conditions with trees and lush flora (nhà kính nhiệt đới).
- 3. scaly: Reptiles like lizards and snakes have thin protective plates/skin (da có vảy).
- 4. spectacular: An impressive and dramatic mountain view is described as spectacular (ngoạn mục).
- 5. hairy: Mammoths had thick coats of hair, making them look hairy to withstand freezing weather (nhiều lông).
- 6. sugary: Sodas containing a high amount of processed sugars are sugary drinks (thức uống nhiều đường).
- 7. giant: “Giant” emphasizes the colossal, extremely large size of the blue whale (khổng lồ).
Exercise 3: Multiple Choice Selection
Choose the correct adjective or noun descriptor that perfectly fits the grammar rules and context.
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1. The yellow ________ did not show up clearly when the teacher wrote on the whiteboard.
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2. Abel felt ________ and queasy on Friday morning, so he stayed home from school.
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3. In the sentence “We saw two large cats at the zoo,” which word is an adjective?
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4. The algebra problem was really ________, taking us over an hour to solve.
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5. The disobedient puppy became ________ and hyperactive after staying indoors all afternoon.
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6. A small ________ flag sat quietly in the corner of the professor’s workspace desk.
? Click to see Answer Key & Explanation (Đáp án & Giải thích)
- 1. A (marker): The adjective “yellow” modifies a singular noun. “Marker” is correct based on the singular verb “did not show up”.
- 2. C (awful): The linking verb “felt” must be followed by an adjective. “Awful” (tồi tệ) perfectly pairs with “queasy” (buồn nôn).
- 3. D (large): “Large” is the adjective that specifies the physical size of the noun “cats”.
- 4. B (difficult): Following the linking verb “was” and adverb “really”, we need the descriptive adjective “difficult” (khó khăn).
- 5. A (unruly): “Became” is a linking verb that requires an adjective like “unruly” (ngỗ ngược, không nghe lời) to describe the puppy.
- 6. B (souvenir): “Souvenir” functions as a noun adjunct/modifier right before the principal noun “flag” to mean a keepsake flag.
Exercise 4: True or False (Grammar Analysis)
Determine if the statements about the underlined words are TRUE or FALSE based on the grammar charts above.
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1. In “The hut housed loose hummingbirds,” the word “loose” is an adjective modifying the noun “hummingbirds”.
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2. In “The algebra problem was really difficult,” the word “difficult” is a verb.
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3. In “We walked into a warm hut filled with tropical plants,” the word “tropical” comes right after the noun it describes.
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4. In “Abel felt awful and queasy,” “awful” is an adjective following a linking verb to describe the subject Abel.
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5. In “The busy birds drink sugary nectar,” the underlined word “nectar” is an adjective.
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6. In “The first animals we visited were the scaly reptiles,” the word “scaly” describes the noun “reptiles”.
? Click to see Answer Key & Explanation (Đáp án & Giải thích)
- 1. TRUE: “Loose” comes directly before the noun “hummingbirds” and describes their free status (thả tự do).
- 2. FALSE: “Difficult” is a descriptive adjective following the linking verb “was”, not a verb itself.
- 3. FALSE: “Tropical” comes *before* the noun “plants”, following the standard English Adjective + Noun rule.
- 4. TRUE: “Felt” is a linking verb expressing physical/mental state, so the adjective “awful” describes the subject Abel.
- 5. FALSE: “Nectar” (mật hoa) is a noun, while “sugary” is the adjective modifying it.
- 6. TRUE: “Scaly” is the descriptive adjective that directly modifies and gives attribute details to the noun “reptiles”.
Exercise 5: Sentence Reordering
Rearrange the scrambled words to construct a grammatically correct sentence following the structures learned.
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1. zoo / spectacular / to / took / a / trip / We / the / .Your answer: ____________________________________________________
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2. cats / large / saw / at / zoo / We / two / the / .Your answer: ____________________________________________________
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3. plants / filled / warm / with / hut / a / tropical / We / into / walked / .Your answer: ____________________________________________________
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4. hyper / disobedient / became / and / unruly / dog / The / .Your answer: ____________________________________________________
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5. sugary / birds / drink / flowers / the / nectar / Busy / from / .Your answer: ____________________________________________________
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6. elephants / hairy / that / know / some / are / you / Did / ?Your answer: ____________________________________________________
? Click to see Answer Key & Explanation (Đáp án & Giải thích)
- 1. We took a trip to the spectacular zoo.
Structure: Subject (We) + Verb (took) + Object noun phrase (the spectacular zoo). Adjective “spectacular” comes before noun “zoo”. - 2. We saw two large cats at the zoo.
Structure: Subject (We) + Verb (saw) + Quantity (two) + Adjective (large) + Noun (cats). - 3. We walked into a warm hut filled with tropical plants.
“Warm” modifies “hut” and “tropical” modifies “plants”. Both follow the Adjective + Noun rule. - 4. The disobedient dog became unruly and hyper.
“Disobedient” modifies “dog”. “Became” is the linking verb followed by adjectives “unruly” and “hyper”. - 5. Busy birds drink sugary nectar from the flowers.
“Busy” describes “birds” (Subject) and “sugary” describes “nectar” (Object). - 6. Did you know that some elephants are hairy?
Question format. “Are” acts as the linking verb (be) followed by the predicate adjective “hairy” describing elephants.
Exercise 6: Grammar Selection (Nouns vs Adjectives)
Identify the precise function of the bold words in brackets. Select whether they represent the [Adjective] or the [Noun being described].
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1. The first animals we visited were the scaly [ reptiles ].
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2. We stood near the fence to watch the [ playful ] cubs play with a ball.
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3. Then we saw giant [ elephants ] eating grass peacefully.
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4. The [ sunny ] weather made for a beautiful day at the community park.
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5. The yellow [ marker ] did not show up clearly on the white board surface.
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6. A small souvenir [ flag ] sat quietly on the student’s messy study desk.
? Click to see Answer Key & Explanation (Đáp án & Giải thích)
- 1. B (Noun being described): “Reptiles” is the animal group noun modified by the descriptor “scaly”.
- 2. A (Adjective): “Playful” acts as an adjective explaining the fun condition and nature of the cubs.
- 3. B (Noun being described): “Elephants” represents the primary plural noun modified by the descriptor adjective “giant”.
- 4. A (Adjective): “Sunny” describes the nature and condition of the noun “weather”.
- 5. B (Noun being described): “Marker” is the physical stationery object noun being modified by the color adjective “yellow”.
- 6. B (Noun being described): “Flag” is the item noun being qualified by the preceding sizes and modifiers “small souvenir”.
