The indefinite adjectives are those adjectives that do not describe the noun but specify its scope, with the peculiarity that do not precisely, but only approximate. For example: One day I got to know Europe.
They are part of the group of determinative adjectives , which do not provide descriptive information in terms of appearance, but rather specify something quantitative or distance, or even a relationship of belonging between the speaking subject and the object.
A typical contrast between the indefinite determinative adjectives and the others (the defined ones) is the one that occurs in cooking recipes.
There it is common to find expressions such as four eggs ( cardinal numeral adjective , very specific in terms of quantity) and a lot of sugar (undefined adjective, which provides little precise information) at the same time .
In general, indefinite adjectives acquire the function of adjective under certain syntactic positions in the sentence framework, but they can also be, for example, nouns or adverbs .
Examples of indefinite adjectives
Some | The rest | So many |
Any | Too many | Everyone |
Some | Scarce | A |
Both of them | A lots of | Nails |
Enough | None | Nails |
Each | Others | One |
Certain | Few | Some |
Any | Such | Various |
Examples of sentences with indefinite adjectives
- Any child distinguishes the rich from the tasteless.
- Such a scare I will not soon forget.
- Such an experience caused quite a stir.
- Many young people change careers in the first year.
- Fernández and Braccamonte must stay; the other patients can go now.
- One day I woke up totally confused.
- Some elderly people neglect their diet.
- Each person will draw their own conclusions.
- Do not forget to bring enough.
- One of these days you will be surprised.
- It has been several days since you moved.
- Few employees are willing to work overtime.
- Both parents must be attentive to the emotional needs of the child.
- Every parent should know that a “no” on time is beneficial for their child.
- I make the chicken milanesas, other women buy them ready-made.
- Laziness has already claimed too many lives.
- I just had to wait a few minutes for him.
- The neighbors are tired of so many robberies.
- No senior officer should allow such conduct in a subordinate.
- I’m late, we continue the talk another day.