A Contrastive Study of English and Urdu Adjectives: A Cross-Linguistic Perspective

This study aims to identify key similarities and differences in the use of adjectives in the English and Urdu languages. Through a contrastive, cross-linguistic lens, the research explores multiple grammatical and syntactic dimensions of adjective usage, including their forms, placement, and morphological behaviour. The findings indicate that English and Urdu exhibit both parallel and divergent features in adjective usage. Both languages allow adjectives to function attributively and predicatively, representing a shared syntactic structure. However, differences emerge in the use of demonstrative adjectives. English uses distinct demonstratives—this, that, these, those—which vary for both number and distance, whereas Urdu uses yeh and woh, which vary only by proximity, not number. Despite these differences, demonstrative adjectives precede the noun in both languages, reflecting positional similarity. Regarding degrees of adjectives, English and Urdu exhibit functional parallels, though their comparative and superlative constructions differ morphologically. The study also reveals key contrasts in possessive adjectives. In English, possessive adjectives do not change with number or gender. In Urdu, possessive adjectives inflect for gender and number, particularly when used with masculine nouns. For feminine nouns, Urdu adjectives remain unchanged, aligning more closely with English behaviour. Furthermore, English uses gender-specific possessive adjectives—his, her, its—while Urdu employs a single possessive form—uski—for all third-person singular references, regardless of gender. Overall, the contrastive analysis highlights both linguistic universals and unique structural traits in English and Urdu adjective systems.