Proper adjectives are modifiers formed from proper nouns. They usually modify the names of countries, cities, or regions, brands, religions, or sometimes individuals. We all know that proper nouns are nouns that name specific organizations, places, people, ideas, or things. Proper adjectives take these proper nouns and modify them to work as adjectives. Note that, similar to proper nouns, the first letter of proper adjectives are also capitalized.
What are the Examples of Proper Adjectives?
Let’s follow the below-mentioned examples to clearly understand the idea of proper adjectives.
Proper Noun
Proper Adjective
Example of Proper Adjective in Sentence.
Name of Place
China
Chinese
Do you love Chinese food?
Italy
Italian
Italian silk has a high quality.
Asia
Asian
Do you have any plan to visit Asian countries?
Britain
British
She studies in a British school.
Name of Person
Buddha
Buddhist
Have you travelled any Buddhist temple?
Darwin
Darwinian
Are you aware of the concept of Darwinian evolution?
Marx
Marxist
They are researching on Marxist theory.
Christ
Christian
Christian churches of Diu are a nice place to visit.
Name of Brand
Reliance
Reliance
His new Reliance phone has some unique features.
Nikkon
Nikkon
Aharsi is too excited to see his new Nikkon camera on his birthday.
Proper adjectives are required to describe something directly, efficiently, and explicitly. Sentences can be constructed without proper adjectives but proper adjectives make sentences simpler, shorter, and easy to read. For example, the sentence “Rahim loves Chinese food.” can be written as “Rahim loves the food that comes from China” without using a proper adjective. You can easily understand the importance of proper adjectives from the above two sentences. Proper adjectives are widely used in an artistic or academic context.
How do you form a Proper Adjective?
As already mentioned that proper adjectives are derived from proper nouns. Usually at the end of the noun -ian, -an, -esque, -ic, -ish, -like, -istic, etc are added to form a proper adjective. The following table provides some of the examples of proper adjectives formed using the above suffixes.
-ian/-ean/-an
-ic
-i
-ish
-ese
Korean
Hispanic
Pakistani
Irish
Japanese
American
Nordic
Iraqi
Spanish
Sudanese
Australian
Greenlandic
Saudi
Turkish
Portuguese
Moroccan
Icelandic
Israeli
Danish
Lebanese
Some Rules related to Proper Adjectives
When a prefix is attached to a proper adjective, the prefix is not capitalized. Example: The search for a pan-European culture is not going to diminish soon.
When the prefix starts the sentence or the prefix itself is formed from a proper noun then it should be capitalized. Example: Anti-Western sentiments are prevalent in China. Firan likes Afro-Caribbean dance moves.
For proper adjectives with hyphenated forms, only the proper adjective is capitalized. Example: You should have taken a French-speaking guide.
