adjectives

Adjectives describe things. They generally come in front of nouns. They have one form and do not
change for singular and piurai or before masculine and feminine nouns.
This subject can be interesting. Hilary Clinton is famous.
They can appear on their own without a noun after some verbs: be, look, seem, appear, become, get
This seems interesting. You're becoming difficu/t It's getting hot
Same adjectives eg alive, alike, ashamed, alone, asleep, awake, afraid, can anly be used after be, seem,
appear to, look.
He's not awake. He's asleep.
He looks afraid. He appears to be asleep.

order of adjectives
When we use more than one adjective, we use this generai arder. Note that a noun can do the work of
an adjective.

opinion / quality famous, interesting

size smal/, large
age old
shape round, square
temperature hot, cold
colour red, blue I
where it comes from Spanish, !talian
what it is made of glas5, metal
what it is for football

a famous old football stadium a smali round metal object

Avoid using more than three adjectives tagether.

gradable adjectives and intensifiers

Same adjectives, eg thase that describe age, size, beauty, can be measured ar graded, and are called
gradable. We can use intensifiers eg very, extremely with them.
This tree is extremely old. It's a very beautiful painting.
This problem 15extremely difficu/t I feel very unhappy.
Other adjectives cannat be graded because the qualities they describe are either present ar absent.
This painting is superb. This problem 15impossible.
We cannat say TRis painting is very superb.
We cannat make camparative farms af nan-gradable adjectives. Far example, we cannat say
TRis problem is more impossible tRan tRat one.
We can use the intensifiers really, absolutely wit h nan-gradable adjectives.
Thl5 painting is real/y superb. This problem is absolutely impossible.
Typical nan-gradable adjectives include: m icroscopic, enarmaU5, freezing, boiling, wonderful, terrible,
excellent, perfect

adjectives end ing in -ed and -ing

Same adjectives have twa farms, ane ending in -ed and ane in -ing.
Are you interested in painting?
Yes. I think Paula Rego's paintings are interesting.

Something is: interesting, baring, frightening, surprising, canfusing etc )

Someone feels: interested, bored, frightened, surprised, confused etc

You can see from the painting that the girl is really frightened.

G
1 Complete each sentence about paintings in a gallery sa that it contains a word from the list.

afraid alike alive alone ashamed awake dead

a The boy in the painting doesn't seem to have d He isn't asleep, but looks as if he is in a dream.
woken up. HeHH but looks as if he is
The boy in the paintingSe-e-MSlQQe-eSJe-e-9, in a dream.
b Both girls in this painting look the same. e Does this painting frighten you?
The girls in this painting .. .........................................................................
of this pa in ting?
c I'm not sure that the person in this painting is alive. f !t's a painting of a battle and most of the soldiers
I think the person in this painting are dead.
!t's a painting of a battle and very few soldiers
are H

2 Put the adjectives in brackets in the correct order to complete the sentence. Then decide which
city in the box the speaker is talking about.

Cairo Istanbul London Tokyo Moscow Paris Sydney Venice

a The best way to get around in the city is to get on e At the heart of the city is this ..
a "HHbiq,r~J bus. (red, big) LOl'1.dol'1. fortress which is still home to the president.
b The city is fun of palaces along (medieval, well-known)
the sides of the canals. (old, wonderful) t This is a city, not a centre for
c Just outside the city you soon see the historie buildings, but still a great place to visit.
shapes of the Pyramids. (busy, commercial)
(stone, vast) g This spectacular city where Europe and Asia
d From the top of the tower you me et has buildings, as wen as
can look across the French capital. (graceful, iron) ancient palaces. (modem, tan)

3 Write each possible intensifier at the end of the sentence. One, both ar neither may be possible.

a This fish is (really, absolutely) fresh. ......re-aIJt},absolule-ltj

b Unfortunately the food in the hotel was (very, extremely) terrible ...
c The mushroom soup was (very, absolutely) tasty.
d I find raw fish (absolutely, very) impossible to eat.
e This drink should be (very, completely) cold when it is served ...
t The cheese was good and (extremely, very) cheap ...
g I'm afraid the meat is (very, really) salty...

4 Underline the correct form.

There are some students who feel a depressed / depressing by studying, especially subjects which they find
b confused / confusing.They often leave their work until the last minute, and then find the amount they have to
do is simply c exhausted / exhausting, or they are d embarrassed / embarrassing to admit that they need help. They
VI
simply become more and more e worried / worrying, and then work even less than before. Or they blame the (J)
>
school system, because the subjects they are studying are just not f interested / interesting. However, you may be
u
+-'
(J)
g surprised / surprising to know that very few students feel this way, according to recent research. In fact, most
i
students don't find school work h annoying / annoyed at all.They are usually excited / exciting by the subjects
:.o
C'O

they are studying, and they feel j satisfied / satisfying when they do something wel!.
 adverbs
An adverb describes an action (a verb), saying how, when ar where something happens.
The girl was sitting uncomfortab/y on the flaar.
1'/1see yau tomorrow. Wait outside.

(FORM)
Some adverbs of manner (how) add -Iy to the adjective. Adjectives end ing -e drop -e. Adjectives end ing
in -y change -y to -i.

uncomfortable uncomfortably careful carefully

happy happily real really

irregular adverbs
Same adverbs have an irregular form, eg gaad --7 well.

adverbs with the same form as adjectives

fast hard high la te law right
\., early wrong )
Hard and hardly are often confused. Hardly means 'almost not'. Hard is an adverb form meaning 'using
a lot of energy'.
I can hard/y hear you! Are you working hard?

adjectives that look like adverbs

Some adjectives ending -Iy look like adverbs but are not, eg friendly, /ovely, lanely, likely, /ively, sil/y.

frequency adverbs
These describe how often something happens.
People often think that bats are birds, but they are mammals.

0% 10% 25% 75% 90% 100%

never rare/y sometimes o f ten usual/y a/ways

Put the frequency adverb between the subject and verb, but after be.
A painting often tel/s a story. What sort of films do you usual/y go and see?
Cartoon films are usual/y entertaining.

intensifiers (see Unit 35 on gradable adjectives)

Adverbs like very, really, extremely are used to make adjectives ar adverbs stronger.
I think this film is real/y terrible. Everyane has worked extreme/y carefully.

too, very
Too means more than is necessary, very means a lot. Compare the meanings:
I'm too tired, I can't work any more.
This is a very interesting painting.
Too is often used with to-infinitive to explain why something is not possible.
I'm too tired to work.

well, iII, bad, bad/y

Well and badly are adverbs and describe hawan action is performed.
She writes wel/. He plays tennis bad/y.
We II and iii are adjectives deseribing health.
I don 't fee/ well. You /ook iII.
With verbs like look, seem, feel we do not use an adverb.

e This fish smel/s bad. That /ooks good.

1 Decide whether the wards underlined are acting as adjectives ar adverbs.

a Some people think modern paintings are 'difficult'.

b They find them confusing because they are not 'pictures'
c They say that a good photograph would be better.
d At least, they say, a photo does show the real world.
e !t's also har d to persuade them that the artist worked hardo
f Some modern painting could easily have been painted by a child.
g Artists sometimes make the situation more difficult.
h They write explanations of their wark which can seem unnecessary.
They may not seem to have very much connection with the art.
Still, if the work seems interesting then it is warth looking at.

2 Camplete the sentence with an adverb farmed fram the adjective in brackets.

a The play begins rather (slow) Slomllj.... ... with e The whole show was (real)
a scene at a bus stop. entertaining and the singers and dancers showed
b Just as you think the main characters are going a lot of enthusiasm.
to live (happy) .. . ever after, the film f This is a (true) .. . ...great book. Go out
takes an unexpected twist. and buy it today.
c This book is (beautiful) . written, g This is an (incredible) good album,
but in the end the story is disappointing. with a lot of fantastic tracks.
d Mark's guitar playing is pretty go od, but he sings h Jim Carrey in the main role is (unbelievable)
so (bad) .... .. that I just wanted him ...............
funny.
to stop.

3 Putthe frequency adverb in brackets inta the mast apprapriate space in the sentence.
Decide whether the statement describes a gaad listener, ar a bad listener.

a I Q:fl~l\ finish . . sentences for other people. (often)

Good ar bad listener?
b Other people .. . seem to be comfartable when they talk to me. (usually)
Good ar bad listener?
c When people talk to me, I look at the floar. (sometimes)
Good or bad listener?
d If I don't .. .............................
like a person's voice, I ... ..pay attention to them. (never)
Good or bad listener?
e I.. ...try to be sympathetic when .. .... people talk about their problems. (usually)
Good ar bad listener?
f I.. . try to give people my complete attention when they speak to me. (always)
Good ar bad listener?
g I.. . .....interrupt people befare they have.. finished what they are saying. (rarely)
Good ar bad listener?
h I.. . laugh at what .. ..........people say to me, and upset them. (sometimes)
Good ar bad listener?
 4 Make an adverb end ing in -ty from the word in brackets, and use it to complete the sentence.

a Cholera is a disease spread by dirty water, ~

either when people drink the water, or eat
food which has been washed in the water,
and not.prope.dtj cooked. (praper)
b ..'HHHHHHH' until the mid 19th century,
people believed that the disease travelled
thraugh the air. (unfortunate)
c In the crawded cities of 19th-century Britain,
cholera spread .. (easy)
d Most doctorSH believed that
fresh air and a better diet would prevent the
disease. (wrong)
e Huge fires were lit in the
streets to drive away the infection, and the
clothes of victims were also burned. (usual)
f The streets were also cleaned ..
with powerful chemicals. (thoraugh)
g However, people continued to suffer
(dreadful) He managed to prave that in an area where
h In 1854, a doctor in London, John Snow, deaths fram cholera were highest, the
..praved that cholera spread water was responsible for
thraugh infected drinking water. (definite) cholera infection. (entire)
He did this by collecting Impravements mad e to sewers and supplies
statistics about the infection in one part of of drinking water later led to a decrease y\>,\1-

London. (careful) in deaths fram cholera. o"" -

...J
\:l

5 Use the prompts to make a question wit h the frequency adverb in brackets.

a you / take the lead in graup discussions? e you / feel that nobody is interested in what
(usually) you say? (sometimes)
. QO..tj 04 ..f!..$.~eH.tj
..leke. ..lhe. ..Je.eJ...
i'(1, ....

diS~~$$ioVL$ ? ?

b you / feel / unable to say anything f you / find ways of keeping other people's
interesting? (sometimes) attention? (usually)

? ?
c you / change / your opinion after you hear g you / avoid saying what you really think?
what others say? (often) (often)

? ?
d you / listen carefully to what all the others are h you / encourage other members of the graup
saying? (always) to speak? (always)

e ? ?
6 Underline the correct word.

I I
a recommend this book. think it's too / very interesting.
b This is a too / very unusual film, and probably won't appeal to everyone.
c This book has more than 700 pages, so it's too / very long to read in an afternoon!
d I liked this film because it is too / ve/y funny, and it made me laugh a lot.
e What I like most about this book is that the characters are too / very true-to-life.
f This film is too / very romantic, and it really made me cry!
g I couldn't understand this book at all! The language is just too / ve/y difficult.
h There are some too / very good scenes in this film, but on the whole I didn't like it.

7 Decide whether the word underlined is used as an

adjective or adverb.

a We had a lovely time in the hotel.

.?lcije.,clfve.,
b All the staff greeted us warmly.

c And they spoke to us very politely.

d Most people we met in the town were very friendly.

e You certainly never feellonely in a place like this!

f The night life is also very lively.

g We are very likely to go back next year.

h We would certainly thoroughly recommend it.

8 Complete the sentence with wel/, il/, bad, bad/y, hard, or hard/y.

a Last Thursday I woke up feeling . ..;11.

b When I got up I realized I could walk.
c I had exercisedd in the gym the night before.
d My left ankle seemed to bed swollen.
e I didn't feel at all but I had to go to the doctor's.
f I found itd to walk there, but I managed it in the end.
g The ddd .....news was that I needed an x-ray and had to go to the hospital.
h The doctor there told me there was nothing seriously wrong. I could ..d believe iti

1 Write a sentence for each adverb.

careful/y 5/0 w/y happi/y bad/y hard

2 Check that your answers to Exercise 8 are correct. Translate
your answers into your own language.
Need more practice? Go to the Review on page 192.