Klingon doesn't have adjectives in the same way English does. Instead, Klingon uses descriptive verbs to express qualities or states (like be big, be tired). When describing a noun, the descriptive verb is placed directly after it:
- puq Doy' - tired child (puq - child, Doy' - be tired)
- Dujmey tIn - big ships (Dujmey - ships, tIn - be big)
The emphatic rover -qu' (section 4.3) can be added to verbs used adjectivally, typically translating as "very":
- Dujmey tInqu' - very big ships
- wanI' ramqu' - a very trivial event (wanI' - event, ram - be trivial)
Other rovers, specifically -be' ("not") and -Ha' ("undo, misdo"), can also modify verbs functioning adjectivally:
- puq Doybe' - not tired child
- HoD QuchHa' - an unhappy captain (HoD - captain, QuchHa' - be unhappy)
When a Type 5 noun suffix (section 3.3.5) is attached to a noun described by a verb, it must come after the descriptive verb. The verb in these constructions can only take the rovers -qu', -be', or -Ha', and no other suffix:
- veng tInDaq - in the big city (veng - city, tIn - be big, -Daq - locative)
- veng tInqu'Daq - in the very big city
- HoD QuchHa'Daq - on the unhappy captain
When using multiple descriptive verbs ("adjectives") for one noun, use one of the following constructions:
- SuD Dargh 'ej wov - the tea is green and bright (SuD - be green, wov - be bright)
- SuDbogh Dargh 'ej wovbogh - the tea that is green and bright
Remember, descriptive verbs used in an adjectival role accept only the suffixes -qu' ("very"), -Ha' ("undo"), and -be' ("not").