VOCABULARY ACTIVITIES 1º

BACHILLER
UNIT 5 - ADJECTIVE OR ADVERB?

Adjectives and Adverbs

Adjectives are used to modify nouns. (e.g. The dog is loud. – What is the dog like? – loud)

Adverbs are used to modify verbs, adjectives or other adverbs. (e.g. The dog barks loudly. –
How does the dog bark? – loudly)

Adverbs

FORM :[adjective + ly]

There are also irregular adverbs such as "well" and "fast."

USE

 Adverbs can be used to modify verbs.

Examples:

 John walked quickly towards the door.

 Sally sat silently waiting for somebody else to speak first.
 Adverbs can be used to modify adjectives.

Examples:

 The redwood tree was impressively tall.

 The blouse was outrageously expensive.
 Adverbs can be used to modify other adverbs.

Examples:

 She spoke extremely confidently.

 The cheetah ran incredibly quickly.

Adjectives

FORM

There are many different adjective endings including "-ive," "-ous," "-y," "-ful," "-ent" and many
others. "Attractive," "envious," "lazy," "beautiful" and "intelligent" are all adjectives.

USE

 Adjectives can be used to modify nouns.

Examples:

 Jack drives a big car.

 Sally writes beautiful poems.
 Adjectives often follow linking verbs (described below).
Examples:

 Max is tall.
 Sandra seems mad

Linking Verbs

o to appear
o to be
o to become
o to feel
o to get
o to go
o to grow
o to look
o to prove
o to remain
o to seem
o to smell
o to sound
o to stay
o to taste
o to turn

USE

The linking verbs above are often followed by adjectives instead of adverbs. In such situations,
the adjective describes the subject of the sentence rather than the verb. Study the examples
below to learn the difference.

Examples:

 Mary seemed sad. Correct

 Mary seemed sadly. Not Correct
 The cake tastes good. Correct
 The cake tastes well. Not Correct
 The train is slow. Correct
 The train is slowly. Not Correct
 IMPORTANT

The verbs in the list above are not always used as linking verbs. Compare the examples below.

Examples:

 Sally grew angry.

"ANGRY" DESCRIBES SALLY. IN THIS SENTENCE, "TO GROW" IS BEING USED AS A LINKING
VERB MEANING "TO BECOME."
 The plant grew quickly.
"QUICKLY" DOES NOT DESCRIBE THE PLANT, IT DESCRIBES THE MANNER IN WHICH IT
GROWS. IN THIS SENTENCE, "TO GROW" IS NOT BEING USED AS A LINKING VERB.

Good or Well?

Good is an adjective, so you do not do good or live good, but you do well and live well.
Remember, though, that an adjective follows sense-verbs and be-verbs, so you also feel good,
look good, smell good, are good, have been good, etc. (Refer to rule #3 above for more
information about sense verbs and verbs of appearance.)

Confusion can occur because well can function either as an adverb or an adjective. When well
is used as an adjective, it means "not sick" or "in good health." For this specific sense of well,
it's OK to say you feel well or are well -- for example, after recovering from an illness. When not
 used in this health-related sense, however, well functions as an adverb; for example, "I did well
on my exam."

ADJECTIVES ADVERBS

SENSIBLE SENSIBLY

CONSTANT CONSTANTLY

ATTRACTIVE ATTRACTIVELY

COMPLETE COMPLETELY

EASY EASILY

FULL FULLY

BASIC BASICALLY

GOOD WELL

HARD HARD

FAST FAST

EARLY EARLY

LATE LATE
Write down the correct form of the word in brackets (adjective or adverb).

1. Tom is (slow) . He works .

2. Sue is a (careful) girl. She climbed up the ladder .

3. The dog is (angry) . It barks .

4. He acted (excellent) . He's an actor.

5. They learn English (easy) . They think English is an

language.

6. Max is a (good) singer. He sings .

7. It's (awful) cold today. The cold wind is .

8. Dogs rely on their noses as they can smell (extreme / good . If that is true,

why does dog food smell so (terrible) ?

9. The little boy looked (sad) . I went over to comfort him and he looked at me

10. I tasted the soup (careful) but it tasted (wonderful) .

ADVERBS OF DEGREE

Adverbs of degree tell us about the intensity or degree of an action, an

adjective or another adverb.

Common adverbs of degree:

Almost, nearly, quite, just, too, enough, hardly, scarcely, completely,

very, extremely, fairly, not at all, really, slightly, pretty

Adverbs of degree are usually placed:

1. before the adjective or adverb they are modifying:

e.g. The water was extremely cold.
2. before the main verb:
e.g. He was just leaving. She has almost finished.

Examples:

 She doesn't quite know what she'll do after university.

 They are completely exhausted from the trip.
 I am too tired to go out tonight.
 He hardly noticed what she was saying.

Enough, very, too

Enough as an adverb meaning 'to the necessary degree' goes after

adjectives and adverbs.

Example:

 Is your coffee hot enough? (adjective)

 He didn't work hard enough. (adverb)

It also goes before nouns, and means 'as much as is necessary'. In this
case it is not an adverb, but a 'determiner'.

Example:

 We have enough bread.

 They don't have enough food.

Too as an adverb meaning 'more than is necessary or useful' goes before

adjectives and adverbs, e.g.

 This coffee is too hot. (adjective)

 He works too hard. (adverb)

Enough and too with adjectives can be followed by 'for

someone/something'.

Example:

 The dress was big enough for me.

  She's not experienced enough for this job.
 The coffee was too hot for me.
 The dress was too small for her.

We can also use 'to + infinitive' after enough and too with
adjectives/adverb.

Example:

 The coffee was too hot to drink.

 He didn't work hard enough to pass the exam.
 She's not old enough to get married.
 You're too young to have grandchildren!

Very goes before an adverb or adjective to make it stronger.

Example:

 The girl was very beautiful. (adjective)

 He worked very quickly. (adverb)

If we want to make a negative form of an adjective or adverb, we can use

a word of opposite meaning, or not very.

Example:

 The girl was ugly OR The girl was not very beautiful
 He worked slowly OR He didn't work very quickly.

BE CAREFUL! There is a big difference between too and very.

 Very expresses a fact:

He speaks very quickly.
 Too suggests there is a problem:
He speaks too quickly (for me to understand).

Other adverbs like very

These common adverbs are used like very and not very, and are listed in
order of strength, from positive to negative:

extremely, completely, especially, particularly, really, pretty, rather,

quite, fairly, rather, not especially, not particularly, slightly,

Note: rather can be positive or negative, depending on the adjective or

adverb that follows:

Positive: The teacher was rather nice.

Negative: The film was rather disappointing.
 Adverbs of Degree Exercise

A Fill the gaps using the words in brackets.

1 She finished the day ____________________ exhausted. ( a bit / totally )

2 Tammy Payne isn't a good singer. She's ____________________ fantastic.
( absolutely / very )
3 The Serrano Towers in Valencia are ____________________ high. ( absolutely / pretty )
4 Jerez de la Frontera is a ____________________ interesting place. ( quite / rather )
5 That boy of yours is ____________________ lazy. ( absolutely / extremely )
6 It was ____________________ freezing this morning. ( a bit / absolutely )
7 Victoria, in my opinion, is ____________________ mad. ( completely / highly )
8 Scarlett Johansson looked ____________________ gorgeous at the Golden Globe
Awards ceremony. ( absolutely / totally )
9 María is ____________________ nice. ( absolutely / really )
10 Godella is a ____________________ pretty town. ( quite / rather )
11 Ecuador is a ____________________ great country. ( really / very )
12 It was a ____________________ simple invention. ( quite / remarkably )
13 Samantha is a ____________________ skilled computer technician. ( completely /
highly )
14 Sean lives a ____________________ stressful life. ( quite / very )
15 Gerard cooks ____________________ well. ( absolutely / fairly )
16 The concert was ____________________ wonderful. ( absolutely / extremely )
17 Rodin's sculptures are ____________________ well-known. ( absolutely / very )