Proper Adjectives

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Proper Adjectives

A proper adjective is a word formed from a proper noun that modifies a noun or pronoun. Usually, they are formed using the names of people, or countries, or religions.

Reminder…a proper noun is a specific name for a person, place, or thing, and is ALWAYS capitalized.

    Shakespearean sonnets
    French baguette
    Catholic uniform

How are they formed?

Sometimes, proper adjectives can be used in the same proper noun format to describe a word.

    New York pizza
    Philadelphia cheesesteak
    Methodist church

What makes proper adjectives special is that sometimes you have to put a special ending on them in order to make them an adjective.

For example, the proper noun Europe can become a proper adjective with the addition of the suffix -an - European.

And there are loads of different endings to use!

What are some examples?

Countries/Locations

-ian/-ean/-ern/-an/-n-ic-ese-i-ish
AmericanArabicBurmeseIraqiDanish
AustralianGreenlandicChineseIsraeliEnglish
EuropeanHispanicJapanesePakistaniFinnish
KoreanIcelandicLebaneseSaudiIrish
MartianIslamicMalteseSomaliPolish
Middle EasternNordicPortugueseYemeniScottish
ParisianVietnameseSpanish
PennsylvanianTurkish

Names of People

Proper NounEndingProper Adjective
Charles Darwin-ianDarwinian
Jesus Christ-ianChristian
Queen Elizabeth-anElizabethan
Sigmund Freud-ianFreudian
Kafka-esqueKafkaesque
Immanuel Kant-ianKantian
Niccolo Machiavelli-anMachiavellian
George Orwell-ianOrwellian
William Shakespeare-anShakespearean

Religions

ReligionProper Adjective
HumanistHumanistic
JudaismJewish
IslamIslamic

QUICK TIP!

When attaching a prefix to a proper adjective, you DON’T capitalize the prefix, but DO capitalize the proper adjective.

Example:
• In pre-Shakespearean times, the art of drama still entertained the masses.
• Even though we love our country, anti-American sentiments are still alive.

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