An adjective is a word which describes a thing, person, state, action, quality etc. Some examples include large, Italian, cold, surprising, occasional etc.
The main uses of adjectives are to :
1. Premodify (ie come before) nouns - It was an interesting lecture; She has a large house.
2. Act as subject complement after copulative verbs such as be, become, look, feel, seem etc. - He looked ill; It was difficult.
3. Act as object complement after verbs such as consider, make, believe, find, postmodifying (ie coming after) the noun/pronoun: Itmakes me angry; We thought the place expensive.
Adjectives which premodify nouns (1 above) are known as attributive adjectives, while those which act as complements (2 and 3 above) are known as predicative adjectives. Most adjectives can be both attributive and predictive - for example :
1. It was an easy exam.
2. The exam seemed easy.
3. She found the exam easy.
However, some can only be either attributive or predicative :
a) Attributive only - eg mere : I was shocked by the mere idea but not *The idea was mere
b) Predictive only - eg afraid : He felt afraid but not *an afraid man
