What is a Proper Adjective? Definition, Examples of Proper Adjectives

Proper adjective definition: A proper adjective is a modifier that is formed from a proper noun. Like adjectives, proper adjectives modify nouns and pronouns.

What is a Proper Adjective?

What does proper adjective mean? A proper adjective is a type of adjective. Proper adjective is a word that modifies nouns and pronouns and is formed from a proper noun.

A proper noun is the specific name used for any person, place, or thing.

Proper adjectives typically look like their original proper nouns but have some sort of alternative ending in order to make them adjectives.

Proper Adjective Examples:

proper noun: America

I live in America.

proper adjective: American

The Fourth of July is an American holiday.

proper noun: Italy

I was born in Italy.

proper adjective: Italian

I love Italian food.

Proper Adjectives List

Since proper adjectives are adjectives derived from proper nouns, there are hundreds, or even thousands of them.

Some common ones would be anything derived from a country or people group.

American / German / Italian / French / Spanish / Mexican / Colombian / Norwegian / Polish / Russian / Chinese / Korean / Japanese

As you can see, there are far too many proper adjectives to include on a single list.

Common Adjectives vs. Proper Adjectives

A common adjective is any adjective that is not a proper adjective. Most adjectives used in writing and speech are common adjectives.

Common adjectives are not capitalized. This is because they are everyday words, not derived from proper nouns.

Proper adjectives are derived from proper nouns. For this reason, they are capitalized.

Examples of Proper Adjectives:

We bought cheddar cheese.

the adjective “cheddar” is a common adjective

We bought French cheese.

the adjective “French” is a proper adjective because it is derived from the proper noun