There are many ways to describe bananas!

Adjectives 01

This KS2 English quiz will test your skills on adjectives. Adjectives are often called 'describing words' because they are used to describe other words (usually nouns). Adjectives make our writing more descriptive: an 'old, rotten banana' is not the same as 'a banana' or a 'delicious, ripe banana'.

When you begin to use adjectives, it will enhance not just your writing but also your speech. Adjectives can turn an ordinary sentence into something much more interesting and will make the reader want to read more. Next time you write a piece of writing, whether it’s a story, poem or even a diary entry, use a few adjectives to bring your words to life!

See how well you understand adjectives by trying this quiz.

To see a larger image, click on the picture.

Find the adjectives in the sentence.
The sound of the drill was terribly loud.

sound

drill

terribly

loud

'Loud' describes the sound. 'Terribly' is an adverb and tells us HOW loud the sound is. If the sound was 'terrible and loud', both 'terrible' and 'loud' would be adjectives.

Find the adjectives in the sentence.
The frightened little dog couldn't stop shivering.

frightened, little

little, dog

couldn't, shivering

stop, shivering

'Frightened' and 'little' both describe the dog.

Find the adjectives in the sentence.
The shiny, new car drove slowly down the quiet street.

The, car, down

shiny, drove, street

new, slowly, street

shiny, new, quiet

'Shiny' and 'new' describe the car, while 'quiet' describes the street.

Find the adjectives in the sentence.
The old cat paused to lick its sticky paws.

old, sticky

cat, paws

The, lick

paused, paws

'Old' describes the cat and 'sticky' describes the cat's paws.

Find the adjectives in the sentence.
The plant began to look brown and shrivelled after weeks without water.

plant, look

began, weeks

brown, shrivelled

after, without

'Brown' and 'shrivelled' describe the plant.

Find the adjectives in the sentence.
Children often prefer sweet food to savoury.

Children, often

prefer, food

often, to

sweet, savoury

'Sweet' and 'savoury' both describe food in this sentence.

Find the adjectives in the sentence.
The forest was dark and spooky.

The, was

forest, spooky

was, and

dark, spooky

'Dark' and 'spooky' describe the forest.

Find the adjectives in the sentence.
The tattered blue dress hung on the abandoned washing-line.

The, blue, on

tattered, blue, abandoned

dress, hung, washing-line

on, the, abandoned

Adjectives are useful for making sentences vivid - we can imagine the 'tattered blue dress' and the 'abandoned washing-line' more easily than we can imagine a 'dress on a washing-line'.

Find the adjectives in the sentence.
They wanted sunny weather for an enjoyable picnic.