Adjectives and Opposites Worksheets
25 worksheets and 1 lesson · Nouns, adjectives & little words
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Adjectives & opposites worksheets
25 printable worksheets with answer keys; the 24 most used, easiest level first.
Adjectives & opposites lessons
1 ready lesson for the four skills: teach on the board, set online or print.
About Adjectives & opposites
Adjectives describe nouns. In English they usually come before the noun or after linking verbs such as be, look and seem, and they never take a plural ending: two old houses, not two olds houses. Pairs of opposites (hot/cold, cheap/expensive, easy/difficult) give young learners and beginners a quick way to build vocabulary in useful sets.
Most of this topic is taught at Kids, A1 and A2, with order of adjectives (a lovely old wooden table), -ed/-ing adjectives (bored/boring) and more precise, gradable and extreme adjectives following at B1–B2. Typical errors are adding -s to adjectives, putting them after the noun, and confusing I'm boring with I'm bored.
This page collects printable adjectives worksheets with answer keys, which you can print as PDF or set online with a class link.
Teaching tips: Adjectives & opposites
- Teach opposites in pairs with a picture or mime for each, then play quick-fire 'say the opposite' to recycle them.
- Watch for learners who make adjectives agree with the noun, as in reds apples; point out that English adjectives never change for number.
- When introducing order, give a simple rule of thumb (opinion before fact) rather than a long list, and limit examples to two or three adjectives.
- Contrast -ed and -ing forms with a feelings/cause pair on the board: The movie was boring, so I was bored.
- Have learners describe a classmate's photo using at least three adjectives, then swap and guess whose photo it is.
Questions teachers ask
What is the correct order of adjectives in English?
The usual order is opinion, size, age, shape, color, origin, material, purpose, as in a beautiful small old round red Italian glass vase. In practice native speakers rarely use more than two or three adjectives before one noun.
When should I teach -ed and -ing adjectives?
They typically appear at A2–B1. -ed adjectives describe how someone feels (interested), while -ing adjectives describe the thing that causes the feeling (interesting).
Are opposites worksheets suitable for young learners?
Yes. Opposite pairs such as big/small and happy/sad are core vocabulary at Starters and Movers level and work well with pictures, matching and coloring tasks.