Adjectives Worksheets

These free adjectives worksheets help children in grades 1 to 3 find the describing words in a sentence. Each page has ten sentences from a bank of 60, such as “The little puppy chased a red ball,” and children circle every adjective. The maker also prints a cut-and-glue sort and a mixed page for nouns, verbs and adjectives, with answer keys, in color or black and white. Use them to teach describing words for color, size, feeling and sense.

Adjectives worksheets to print (PDF)

The pages below show a circle-the-adjectives sheet, a sort to cut out and glue, a sheet where children circle all three parts of speech and an answer key. Use the maker at the top of this page to change the number of pages, the font, black and white ink or the paper size, then press New sentences for a fresh set. Every sheet has an answer key.

Describing words worksheet: what is an adjective?

An adjective is a word that tells more about a noun: what kind, what color, what size or how many. Children find adjectives by finding the noun first and asking, What kind of ___? In “The hungry bear ate sweet honey,” hungry describes the bear and sweet describes the honey. Wikipedia’s adjective article has more detail. The sentence bank holds 42 different adjectives, which appear 47 times in all.

Find the adjective: three clues

1. Find the noun, then ask. “What kind of bear?” The answer, hungry, is the adjective.
2. Look before the noun. In the sentences here, the adjective comes right before the noun: a red ball, the old train.
3. Look after “is”. Adjectives can also follow a being verb: The soup is hot. This pattern appears in a few of the questions.

Adjectives for 2nd grade: the order of adjectives worksheet

When two or more adjectives describe one noun, English likes a certain order: a small red bag, never a red small bag. Grade 4 children are expected to order adjectives this way (L.4.1.d), and learning the pattern early gives grade 2 and 3 writers a head start. The usual order is:

1. Opinion (lovely, delicious)
2. Size (little, huge)
3. Age (old, new)
4. Shape (round, square)
5. Color (red, green)
6. Origin (Italian, Mexican)
7. Material (wooden, woolen)
8. Purpose (sleeping bag, cooking pot)

An easy example from the sheets is “the tall giraffe nibbled green leaves”: size before the noun, color before the noun, each on its own.

Comparing adjectives worksheet: adjectives that compare

Adjectives change their endings when we compare things, a topic children meet in grade 2 and 3. Add -er to compare two things and -est to compare three or more:

Adjectives worksheets for grade 2: a five-day plan

Circle the adjectives: common mistakes

• Circling the noun by mistake: ask “Which word tells what kind?” and circle only that one.
• Missing a second adjective: in “the old, noisy train” both words describe the train.
• Counting numbers and articles: the sheets use describing words for color, size, feeling and sense, so the and a are not circled.
• Mixing up adjectives and verbs: words like shooting in “shooting star” look like verbs but describe the star here.

Adjectives or adverbs?

Adjectives describe nouns, and adverbs describe verbs, adjectives or other adverbs, often ending in -ly: a quick fox (adjective) but the fox ran quickly (adverb). Grade 2 children choose between them (L.2.1.e). A simple test is to ask what the word describes: a noun means adjective, an action means adverb.

Teaching adjectives grade by grade

See the Common Core grade 4 language standards for the adjective order goal.

Adjectives activities for kids

• Adjective bag: pull a toy from a bag and describe it with three adjectives.
• Five senses walk: go outside and find something soft, loud, bright, sweet and rough.
• Boring to exciting: rewrite “The dog ran” with adjectives, then compare the sentences.
• Play online: the nouns, verbs and adjectives game asks children to tap adjectives and sort them from other words.

A quick adjective checklist

Before moving on, check that a child can find the noun, ask “What kind?”, and name the adjective. Then ask for one more describing word for the same noun, which turns finding adjectives into using them. Writing a sentence with two adjectives for every noun on the page is a strong follow-up task.

Adjectives worksheets: frequently asked questions

What grade learns adjectives worksheets for grade 2 and beyond?

Grade 1 uses common adjectives, grade 2 chooses between adjectives and adverbs, and grade 4 orders adjectives in a sentence.

Are numbers adjectives?

Words such as three and many can describe how many, so they work as adjectives. These sheets focus on color, size, feeling and sense words.

Can an adjective come after the noun?

Yes, after a being verb: The soup is hot. Most of the sentences on these sheets put the adjective before the noun, which is the pattern children meet first.

Do the worksheets have answer keys?

Yes. Every download includes an answer key page that lists the adjectives in each sentence.

More grammar practice

• nouns worksheets
• verbs worksheets
• parts of speech worksheets
• synonyms and antonyms worksheets for richer describing words
• The grammar worksheets hub