What are Proper Adjectives and How to Use Them?

Proper Adjectives are used as modifiers which are basically derived from proper nouns. Like other adjectives proper adjectives are also used to qualify nouns or pronouns. We will understand the meaning, definition, usage, and examples of proper adjectives in this blog article.

What are Proper Nouns?

Before understanding proper adjectives let us quickly revise what are proper nouns. Proper nouns. The proper noun is the name of a specific person, place, or thing. Proper nouns are often regarded as proper names. Proper nouns are always capitalized while writing.

For example: Rahul lives near to my house.

In this Sentence, Rahul is the particular name of the person so it is a proper noun and is capitalized while writing.

What are Proper Adjectives?

So, Proper adjectives are the words that are used to modify nouns or pronouns derived from proper nouns. They are also capitalized in the way we write proper nouns.

For example: Italian coffee is the best coffee in the world.

In this sentence, Italian is a proper adjective, Italian is derived from the word Italy which is a Proper noun basically a name of a particular country. The prefix ian added to the word makes it a proper adjective and is used here to qualify coffee which is the noun in the sentence.

List of Proper Adjectives as Place Names

Proper adjectives are generally formed by adding suffixes such as Ian, an, or ist to proper nouns. However, there are exceptions, sometimes they are identical to proper nouns, but the difference is only in the parts of speech. Proper Adjectives are of two types based on the names of the place, and the name of the person. Some of them are listed below-:

Suffixes	Proper Noun	Proper Adjective
an	Europe	European
ian	Iran	Iranian
ese	China	Chinese
ist	Method	Methodist
ish	Spain	Spanish
n	Russia	Russian
esque	Roman	Romanesque
ic	Iceland	Icelandic
i	Iraq	Iraqi

List of Proper Adjectives as People Names 

Proper adjectives can also be derived from the names of famous personalities such as scientists, artists, political leaders, authors, etc.

The nouns and pronouns which are derived from the names of the person are called Eponymous.

Proper Noun	Proper Adjective	Examples
Gautam Buddha	Buddhist	I went to a Buddhist monk in Ladakh.
Shakespearean	Shakespearean	We were delighted to see the Shakespearean actors on stage.
Charles Darwin	Darwinian	Darwinian Theory of Biological Evolution is quite interesting.
Jesus Christ	Christian	Christianity is the world’s largest religion.

Proper Adjectives with Prefixes 

Let us know understand the usage of proper adjectives if they are derived using prefixes instead of suffixes.

Case 1 

When a prefix is added to the proper noun to make it a proper adjective it is not capitalized.

For example: pre-Christian 

Albanian and Ancient Greek are few pre-Christian religions.

Case 2

Capitalization is only done when the adjective with a prefix is used at the beginning of the sentence.

For example:pan-European

Pan-European is the economic community among Europeans.

Case 3

When both prefix and adjective are derived from the proper noun such as Austro-Hungarian. In this prefix, Austro is extracted from the proper noun Austria and Hungarian from the proper noun Hungary. So in this case both prefix and adjective will be capitalized.

For example: Austro-Hungarian

Exercise on Proper Adjectives 

Identify Proper Adjectives in the following sentences:

1. The Australian Chocolate is very scrumptious.

2. I love to eat Chinese food.

3. French Fries is my favorite snack.

4. We got all the cool stuff at the Indian boutique.

5. They relished the Mexican meal last night.

Fill in the blanks with proper adjectives.

1._________ revolution took place in 1917.(Russia)

2._________pyramids are the largest in the world. (Egypt)

3._________empire is the oldest empire in India. (Maurya)

4._________ culture is the oldest in the world.(India)

5._________ food is the best food in the world.(Italy)

Learn More About Adjective: Definition, Usage, Example, Forms, and Types here!

Answers

Identify Proper Adjectives in the following sentences:

1. The Australian Chocolate is very scrumptious.

2. I love to eat Chinese food.

3. French Fries is my favourite snack.

4. We got all the cool stuff at the Indian boutique.

5. They relished the Mexican meal last night.

Fill in the blanks with proper adjectives.

1. The Russian Revolution took place in 1917. (Russia)

2. The Egyptian pyramids are the largest in the world. (Egypt)

3. The Mauryan Empire is the oldest empire in India. (Maurya)

4. Indian culture is the oldest in the world. (India)

5. Italian food is the best food in the world. (Italy)

Check Out the Complete List of Adjectives from A to Z

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

I

J

K

L

M

N

O

P

Q

R

S

T

U

V

W

X

Y

Z

Explore more Exciting Reads on Adjectives Here!

Types of Adjectives
Descriptive Adjectives	Demonstrative Adjectives
Interrogative Adjectives	Numerical Adjectives
Possessive Adjectives	Proper Adjectives
Article Adjectives	Quantifier Adjectives
Compound Adjectives	Predicative Adjectives
Attributive Adjectives	Comparative Adjectives
Superlative Adjectives	Degree of Comparision

FAQs

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