Adjectives and Adverbs

What are they?

Adjectives tell something about nouns.

• Great class

• Good Mr. Smith

• Tail-wagging Christmas

• Attractive girl

• Tall girl

• Green jeep

See how colorless life would be without adjectives?

Try this- Write in your journal for 45 seconds about what is going through

your mind right now, and use no adjectives.

Adverbs

• Adverbs tell something about verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs

•Adverbs tell when, how, why or where things happened.

Most adverbs are formed by adding –ly to the adjective

• Adjective Adverb

• Sad sadly

• Easy easily

• Bold boldly

• Courageous courageously

Comparing with Adjectives to Adverbs

There are three levels of difference or comparison: positive, comparative (more) and superlative (most, the highest).

Adjectives of one syllable add –er to form the comparative, -est to

form the superlative.

• Positive Comparative Superlative

• Sad sadder saddest

• Bold bolder boldest

• Strong stronger strongest

• Fair fairer fairest

Adjectives with more than one syllable generally form the comparative by putting

more before the positive, and the superlative by putting most in front of the

positive.

• Positive Comparative Superlative• Beautiful more beautiful most

beautiful• Intelligent more intelligent most intelligent• Interesting more interesting most interesting

There are some exceptions. So learn them.

• Positive Comparative Superlative

• Bad worse worst

• Good better best

• Little less, lesser least• Much, many, some more most• Far further (farther) furthest(farthest)

Comparing adverbs

• When we compare adverbs, we typically just use the more and most forms.

• Positive Comparative Superlative

• Readily more readily most readily

• Easily more easily most easily

• When comparing two persons or things, use the comparative (more) form. When comparing three persons or things, use superlative (most). – Between Dr. Crowell and Mr. Smith, Mr. Smith

is the shorter of the two.– Dr. Winters is the shortest of all!

Don’t repeat!

• Do not use more and –er, or most and –est for the same word.

• The most saddest appearance

• The more better book

• The most best sunset

The adjectives, this that these and those, can be tricky when used with words like sort, type, kind.You should use this and that, which are singular,

because sort, kind, type are also singular.

• This kind That kind

• This type That type

• This sort That sort

In sentences with look, feel, taste, smell, and hear, you can run into difficulty. But

think about what you know about adjectives and adverbs.

• Which is correct?– The steak looks tender.

Or

– The steak looks tenderly.

• Tender is an adjective, it tells about the steak.

• Tenderly is an adverb. It would have to tell us how the steak “is looking” at something or somebody to be correct here.

The same thing hold true for the other sense words smell, taste, hear, and feel.

• A simple rule is that if you can substitute the word “is”, then use the adjective.

• The apple tastes (is) sour.

• The flower smells (is) sweet.

• Write a simple sentence with a person or thing. Use one of these 5 words: looks, smells, tastes, feels, hears. And then use one adjective.

• Draw a picture of the sentence you have created.

Good and Well

• Good is always an adjective.• Well is always an adverb.• Never use good to describe how

something is done.• He is a good boy.• He is good at basketball.• He shoots the ball well.• He runs well.

Well as an adjective

• Well can be used as an adjective when it is used to mean in good health.

• I feel well.

• Alexander’s ankle is well now. He needs to lose the limp.

Adverbs that can go both ways.

• Some adverbs have two forms, and it is ok to use either.

• Slow or slowly fair or fairly

• Quick or quickly direct or directly

• Close or closely deep or deeply

• Wrong or wrongly tight or tightly

• Drive slow (or slowly)!

• Come quick (or quickly).

• Send your email direct (or directly) to the school.

• He did the problem wrong (wrongly).

• Hold me tight (or tightly).

Which sounds better?

• The player drove the ball deep (not deeply) into centerfield.

• Hannah’s speech moved me deeply (not deep).

• Stay close to me.

• Examine your test closely.

• He played fair with his opponents.

• The money was distributed fairly.

Adverbs without an –ly ending

• A few short adverbs most frequently do not use the –ly ending:

• Hard high low• Right straight

• He hit the ball hard.• Swing low, sweet chariot• Drive right please.• The arrow flew straight to the center of the

target.

Have a nice Day!