✏️ WritingLevel 1Lesson 21
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Adding Describing Words (Adjectives)

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Learning Objectives

  • 1Identify describing words (adjectives)
  • 2Explain what they do
  • 3Add one or two describing words to a plain sentence to improve it
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Mini Lesson

Read these two sentences: "I saw a dog." Now read this one: "I saw a big, fluffy, brown dog." Which one makes you picture the dog better? Describing words — called adjectives — do that job.

What is a describing word?

  • A describing word (adjective) tells you more about a noun.
  • It answers questions like: What size? What color? What does it feel like?
  • Examples: big, tiny, red, soft, round, loud, happy, cold.

Five types of describing words

  • Size: big, small, tall, tiny, huge, short.
  • Color: red, blue, golden, bright, dark, purple.
  • Texture / feel: soft, rough, smooth, fluffy, sticky.
  • Shape: round, flat, pointy, curly, straight.
  • Feeling / mood: happy, grumpy, tired, scared, cheerful.

How to add them to a sentence

  • Place the describing word before the noun it describes.
  • Example: a fluffy cat → not: a cat fluffy.
  • Two describing words joined by and paint an even richer picture.

One or two is enough

  • Too many describing words make a sentence hard to read.
  • Choose the best one or two — the ones that tell the reader the most.
  • Example: The huge, golden dragon roared. ← two strong words.
Before and after — adding describing wordsTwo sentence boxes. The first is a plain sentence without describing words. The second has describing words added, highlighted in green.Before and After✗ Without describing wordsThe dog ran.Hard to picture — which dog?✓ With describing wordsThebigbrowndog ranfast.Now I can picture it clearly!size · color · how it ran
Plain sentence vs. a vivid sentence with describing words circled.
Describing words word bank — size, color, feelingThree columns showing example describing words grouped by type — size, color, and feeling — each with three adjectives underneath.Describing Word BankSizebigsmalltallhow big?Colorredbluegreenwhat color?Feelinghappysadscaredhow feel?
Three common types of describing words with examples.
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Ask yourself: "Does this word tell me what the noun looks, feels, or acts like? If yes — it is a describing word!"

Vocabulary
Adjective
A describing word that tells you more about a noune.g. a fluffy cat · a tiny wizard · a golden ring
Noun
A person, place, animal, or thinge.g. dog, park, wizard, cake
Describing word
Another name for an adjective — it paints a picturee.g. big, red, soft, round, happy
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