Identifying Proper Adjectives

Adjectives describe nouns. They usually tell us what kind, which one, or how many.

Proper adjectives are adjectives that we capitalize because they’re specific.

Example

Carter loves Italian food.

(Italian describes food)

Jackie studies Russian literature.

(Russian describes literature)

Zoe owns Brazilian sneakers.

(Brazilian describes sneakers)

Proper adjectives come from proper nouns.

Example

Giovanni’s suit is from Australia.

(Australia is a proper noun)

Giovanni owns an Australian suit.

(Australian describes suit)