Describing words

Also called Adjectives, Descriptors, Attribute words

Big, hot, broken, more: the words that say which one, what is wrong with it, and how much. Adjectives are the difference between naming and explaining.

What it is

Describing words are adjectives and the small words that behave like them: big, small, hot, cold, wet, dirty, broken, loud, fast, new, same, different, more, all, some, too. They attach to a noun and tell the listener which one or what state it is in.

They are the words of complaint and precision. "Drink" gets a drink. "Cold drink" gets the right one. "Drink too hot" gets it fixed. A person who can describe can be understood without a card for every possible thing, because "broken" plus a point covers every broken object in the house.

Who it can help

Anyone who has nouns and is ready for more than naming, from early combiners upward. They are especially powerful for people whose boards cannot hold a card for everything: "different" plus a point, or "same" plus a point, does the work of a hundred nouns. And for anyone reporting pain or discomfort, describers are the vocabulary of where and how much; see body parts and pain and communication.

A caution on the classroom habit of drilling them. Colours, sizes and shapes are often taught as a labelling exercise for years while the person still cannot say "wrong" or "broken". Teach the describers that change what happens next.

How it works

Adjectives are drawn by contrast, a big thing next to a small thing, which makes them harder to read than nouns and makes the label essential. Opposites are taught in pairs (hot and cold, big and little, wet and dry) because each helps explain the other.

Some of the most useful describers are about quantity and degree rather than quality: "more", "all", "some", "too", "a bit", "very". They modify feelings as well as objects; see feelings vocabulary and numbers and quantity.

On the Talk board, describing cards sit alongside the topic sets, so "hot" can follow "bath", "drink" or "me", and "too" plus "loud" is available in any room.

Getting started

This week, model one pair of opposites in real situations: "hot" and "cold" at the tap and the plate, "wet" and "dry" at the bath, "loud" and "quiet" with the television. Press and say them; do not test.

Add "broken", "wrong", "different" and "same" to any board that lacks them. They are the four adjectives a person uses to fix a situation rather than describe it.

When a person presses a noun, expand it with a describer instead of a question: they press "ball", you press "big ball" and hand it over. See expanding and recasting.

Where to get help

Speech and Language UK has family guidance on building vocabulary beyond nouns. Communication Matters for AAC. Ask a speech and language therapist which describers the person is ready for.