Most adjectives can be used in two positions: attributive adjectives occur before the noun they describe, while predicative adjectives are used after certain verbs:

a black cat [attributive]

The cat was black. [predicative]

There are some adjectives that can only be used in one position or the other. For example, these two sentences are grammatically correct:

✓ She was alone that evening. ['alone‘ = predicative ]

✓ It was a mere scratch. ['mere‘ = attributive]

These sentences, on the other hand, are not correct:

✗ I saw an alone woman. ['alone‘ cannot be used in the attributive position]

✗ The scratch was mere. ['mere‘ cannot be used in the predicative position]

Most adjectives are gradable. This means that their meaning can be modified (made stronger, weaker, or otherwise altered) by placing one or more adverbs in front of them. For example: an expensive house - a very expensive house - a fairly expensive house - an extremely expensive house

The adverbs very, fairly, and extremely tell where this particular house belongs on the scale of 'expensiveness‘. By using them, we can make a significant difference to the meaning of an adjective.

Non-gradable adjectives are those with meanings which cannot be modified by adverbs. For example: the western side of the mountain - electronic devices - a nuclear reactor

All the adjectives have two different forms: the comparative, and the superlative:

comparative superlative

sad sadder saddest

happy happier happiest

unusual more unusual most unusual