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material is used as a type of defining adjective, to help identify what type of object isbeing described.e.g. Mexican straw hatsan American pearl necklaceSee Exercises 5 and 6.vi. Defining adjectivesWhen a word preceding a noun does not merely describe the object being referred to,but helps to define or identify the type of object meant, the word preceding the nouncan be called a defining adjective. The defining adjectives in the following examplesare underlined.e.g. an enjoyable birthday partya fine YQ!!.I}g manthe new telephone directoryDefining adjectives are combined with nouns to form fixed expressions, in order to referto certain types of things. In the above examples, birthday party, young man andtelephone directory are fixed expressions which are commonly used to refer to certaintypes of things.In many such expressions, the defining adjectives are words which are usually used asnouns. For instance, in the above examples, birthday, and telephone are words whichare usually used as nouns. In such cases, the fixed expressions are sometimes thought ofas compound nouns.Many words which are used as gerunds can also be used as defining adjectives, asillustrated in the following examples.e.g. black hiking bootsour drinking waterIn this type of fixed expression, it is also possible for two words to be used together asdefining adjectives. In the following examples, the words used as defining adjectivesare underlined.e.g. a roller skating rinka hot water bottleDefining adjectives usually immediately precede the nouns they modify. Many definingadjectives indicate the purpose for which the object being referred to is used. In thefollowing examples, the defining adjectives are underlined.e.g. an cartona coat hangera dish clothAn egg carton is a carton used for storing eggs, a coat hanger is an object used forhanging up coats, and a dish cloth is a cloth used for washing dishes.As can be seen in these examples, when a word usually used as a countable noun is usedas a defining adjective, it is normally the singular form of the word which is used. Thus,in the preceding examples, the singular forms egg, coat and dish are used.