ADJECTIVES AND ADVERBS

I. ADJECTIVES

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 DEGREES OF COMPARISON Adjectives
POSITIVE COMPARATIVE SUPERLATIVE

bright brighter the brightest

big bigger the biggest

new newer the newest

shy shyer the shyest

dirty dirtier the dirtiest

clever cleverer the cleverest

simple simpler the simplest

narrow narrower the narrowest

active more active the most active

famous more famous the most famous

popular more popular the most popular

difficult more difficult the most difficult

 SPECIAL ADJECTIVES – 2 possible forms:

POSITIVE COMPARATIVE SUPERLATIVE

clever cleverer/more clever cleverest/most clever
common commoner/more common commonest/most common
likely likelier/more likely likeliest/most likely

pleasant pleasanter/more pleasant pleasantest/most pleasant

polite politer/more polite politest/most polite

quiet quieter/more quiet quietest/most quiet

simple simpler/more simple simplest/most simple

stupid stupider/more stupid stupidest/most stupid

subtle subtler/more subtle subtlest/most subtle

sure surer/more sure surest/most sure

POSITIVE  IRREGULAR COMPARISONS

COMPARATIVE SUPERLATIVE COMMENT

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 bad
evil worse the worst
ill

good
better the best
well

farther the farthest place or distance

far
further the furthest distance or time

later the latest

Time
(more recent) (the most recent)
late
latter the last
order in a series
(the second of the two) (the final)

much
more the most
many

the nearest space

near nearer
the next time or sequence

age
older the oldest
old people and things

elder the eldest seniority – people

less quantity
little the least
lesser quality

rank, quality,
the foremost
former importance
fore
(the first of two) sequence in a
the first
series

THE COMPARATIVE

THE COMPARATIVE THE COMPARATIVE

OF INFERIORITY OF EQUALITY

MONOSYLLABIC not so/as … as as … as

SIMILES = expressions of likeness that exist between 2 objects;
ADJ. This pen is not so/as long as
= comparatives of equality;
that one. This pen is as long as that one.
as hot as an oven, This problem is as difficult as
DISYLLABIC ADJ.as cool as alesscucumber,
… thanas tough as leather, as busy as a bee, as
silly as a goose, as blind as a bat, as sweet as honey, asthe others.
pretty as a picture, as clear as
This problem is less difficult
a crystal, as dark as midnight, as strong as an ox, as nervous as a cat, as good as
gold, as ugly as sin, as than
high the others.
as the sky, as thin as paper, as slippery as an eel, as silent
as a grave, as drunk as a lord, as hungry as a wolf, as fresh as a rose, as old as hills
PROGRESSIVE COMBINED CONTRASTIVE

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 COMPARISON COMPARISON COMPARISON

- repeating the - two comparative forms more

comparative twice/ three with the → to describe I’m more sad than
times → to describe how how a change in one disappointed.
something thing causes a change Her eyes are more
increases/decreases in another green than grey.

darker and darker, more The harder he studies, not so much … as

and more exciting, more
and more interesting,
better and better, slower
and slower, etc.
Her visits to the country
to see her son became
rarer and rarer.
the better he knows. rather … than
The more you know, the
more you forget/ I’m not so much
The more you forget, the disappointed as sad.
less you know/
The less you know, the Her eyes are green
less you forget/ rather than grey.
The less you forget, the
more you know/
Why study?!

THE SUPERLATIVE

THE NEGATIVE SUPERLATIVE

the least + adj.

The hot dog is the least expensive.

THE ABSOLUTE SUPERLATIVE

very + adj.
(extremely/awfully/quite/bitterly/terribly/most/highly/greatly)

He is a very good student.

UNGRADABLE
She is an extremely interesting ADJECTIVES
woman.
- no degrees of comparison; represents the limits of a scale:
ultra/super/over + adj.

oversensitive, overconfident,
absolute impossible ultramodern,
main supernatural
priceless
We have an ultramodern flat.
adequate inevitable final principal

complete sufficient minor unanimous

devoid manifest entire stationary

pregnant unbroken ideal paramount

unique perpetual chief universal

fabulous preferable whole unavoidable

boiling irrevocable fatal

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ORDER OF ADJECTIVES
• NOSASCOMP = Number/Quantity, Opinion/ Quality, Size, Age, Shape, Color,
Origin, Material, Purpose/Qualifier

I love that really big old green antique car that always parked at the end of the street.
My sister adopted a beautiful big white bulldog.
The playroom has four square round plastic tables.
I bought some charming Victorian silver ornaments at the flea market.
I've just bought this fantastic new mobile phone.

II. ADVERBS
 FORM
NOT FORMED FROM OTHER just, well, soon, too, quite, still
WORDS

FIXED PHRASES kind of, of course, at last

 ADJ. + –LY basic→basically; real→really;

terrible→terribly; easy→easily
FORMED
 NOUN/PREP. + home → homeward; after →
FROM
–WARD(S)/–WISE/ afterwards; clock → clockwise;
OTHER
– WAYS side + ways → sideways, etc.
WORDS
 COMPOUNDS some + times → sometimes;
down + stairs → downstairs

close, dead, fast, fine, pretty, long,

SAME FORM AS ADJ. low, short, wrong, wide, straight,
little, far, next, etc.

 SAME BASE, DIFFERENT MEANINGS

DIRECT = without stopping DIRECTLY = immediately/very soon

He flew direct to Paris. I’ll be with you directly.

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LATE = not on time/not early LATELY = recently
The plane arrived late. She’s been rather ill lately.

HIGH = to a great height HIGHLY = extremely

He lifted it high over his head. Arsenic is highly toxic.

HARD= with a lot of effort/severely HARDLY = scarcely, almost not

He worked hard for this exam. We hardly know our neighbours.

RIGHT = direction/correctly RIGHTLY = correctly in my opinion

Turn right at the crossroads! The tribunal rightly condemned the war
Do it right this time! criminals.

FREE = without paying FREELY = without limitation/control

We got into the concert free. Children play freely in the garden.

DEEP = to a great depth/distance DEEPLY = thoroughly

They explored deep into the jungle. I’m deeply ashamed of my mistake!

CLEAN = completely/entirely CLEANLY = in a clean manner

I clean forgot to buy bread. The engine burns very cleanly.

CLEAR = right (before prep.) CLEARLY = in a clear manner

The stranger got clear away. This time I heard him clearly.

EASY = in certain phrases EASILY = in an easy manner;

Just go easy! clearly/beyond doubt; very probably
Take it easy! We could do that exercise easily./He is
easily the best student in the class.
It may easily rain in this afternoon.

MOST= to a great extend MOSTLY = on the whole/mainly

What annoyed me most was his mark. Mostly, I go to the library rather than buy
books.

NEAR = at a small distance from NEARLY = almost

They live quite near. They have nearly finished.

SHORT = suddenly/abruptly SHORTLY = soon

He stopped short when he saw her. Shortly after that the police arrived.

 KINDS
 Adv. of Manner:
She moved slowly and spoke quietly./Tom drives fast.
The brothers were badly injured in the fight.

 Adv. of Place:
She has lived on the island all her life./Please sit here.
She still lives there now./They looked everywhere.

 Adv. of Frequency:
She takes the boat to the mainland every day.
She often goes by herself./Peter seldom reads a book.
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 Adv. of Time:
  Adv. of Degree:
The water was extremely cold./He drove quite dangerously.
He was just leaving./She entirely agrees with him.
This cake is absolutely wonderful./Ann is very beautiful.

 Viewpoint/Attitude/Sentence Adv.:
He definitely/surely left the house this morning./He is probably/certainly a smart man.
Obviously, I’ll need some help with this./Hopefully, that will never happen again.

 Focusing Adv.:
Even Al could do that exercise./Only Nick smelt the rose.
I wouldn’t particularly like to move to a modern house.

II.2. POSITION AND ORDER

 POSITION: – 3 main positions;
These days I probably take my health much more seriously.
↑ ↑ ↑
front mid final

• initial position (before the SB):

Unfortunately, we could not see Mount Snowdon.

I’ve been incredibly busy this week. Yesterday I worked more than twelve hours.

• middle position (btw. the SB & the VB.; after to be):

The children often ride their bikes./She always arrives by taxi./He is probably in the park.

• end position (at the end of the sentence):

Andy reads a comic every afternoon./I get paid monthly.

 ORDER

VERB MANNER PLACE FREQUENCY TIME PURPOSE

Beth fast in the pool every morning before dawn to keep in

swims shape.

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 Dad quickly into town every afternoon before supper to get a
walks magazine.

Mary in her room every day after lunch.

naps

Tom dutifully around the every evening before dinner to prepare for
runs track the marathon.

II.3. DEGREES OF COMPARISON

THE COMPARATIVE THE SUPERLATIVE

THE COMPARATIVE OF SUPERIORITY THE ABSOLUTE SUPERLATIVE

I get up earlier than you do. I get up very early.
He speaks English more fluently than me. He speaks English very fluently.

THE COMPARATIVE OF EQUALITY THE RELATIVE SUPERLATIVE

I get up as early as you do. I get up the earliest.
He speaks English as fluently as me. He speaks English the most fluently of all.

THE COMPARATIVE OF INFERIORITY THE NEGATIVE SUPERLATIVE

I do not get up so/as early as you do. I get up the least early.
She worked less confidently after her She worked the least confidently of all after
accident. her accident.