Adjectives

What Is An Adjective?
Adjective is a word used to describe a noun. We can usually identify an
adjective by asking specific questions like how many, what color, which one, or
what type.
Example: It is a large tree.
The word in bold is the adjective, and it describes the noun ‘tree’.

Adjective Examples
English Adjectives can be identified by their endings. Common adjective
endings are as follows:

 -able/-ible: credible, achievable, gullible, capable, illegible, sensible, remarkable,

horrible
 -al: annual, functional, individual, logical, essential
 -ful: awful, cheerful, doubtful, faithful, forceful
 -ic: terrific, cubic, manic, rustic
 -ive: intensive, adaptive, attractive, dismissive, inventive, persuasive
 -less: doubtless, endless, fearless, helpless, homeless, breathless, careless, groundless,
restless
 -ous: adventurous, famous, generous, courageous, dangerous, tremendous, fabulous

Though, a large number of adjectives are different…

 hot  great
 dark  doubtful

 smart  cold
 cool  crowded
 common  careless
 complete  noisy
 quiet
 large
 real
 deep
 pink
 thin
 silent
 far
 simple
 attractive  etc

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The Position of Adjectives in a Sentence
To ensure that you have a properly formed and grammatically correct
sentence, it is important to position the adjectives in the correct place. We are
now going to take a look at where the adjective should be placed within a
sentence in order to make it sound as authentic as possible.

1. An adjective is placed before the noun it is modifying: Adjective + Noun

Example:
 She is a pretty girl.
 Today, we will have heavy rain.
 It is a hot day.

2. Adjectives can be placed after linking verbs (is, am, are, was, were, been,
become, seem, appear, go, get, grow, and turn) and certain verbs
(look, sound, smell, taste, feel, keep)
Example:
 My daughter is beautiful.
 I feel amazing after my spa day.
 He has become lazy having not had a job for weeks.
 The dog appears aggressive.

Adverbs

An adverb is a word that can modify a verb, adjective, and adverb. There are
five types of adverb you should familiarize yourself with: adverbs of manner,
adverbs of degree, adverbs of frequency, adverb of time, and adverbs of place.

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 Adverbs of Manner
Adverbs of Manner tell us the manner or way in which something happens.
They answer the question "how?". Adverbs of Manner mainly modify verbs.
This type comprises the most common adverbs: (adjective + ly).
Some examples of adverbs of manner: beautifully, generously, happily, neatly,
patiently, softly, quickly, etc

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Examples in sentences:

 He speaks slowly. (How does he speak?)

 They helped us cheerfully. (How did they help us?)
 James Bond drives his cars fast. (How does James Bond drive his
cars?)
 The little girl skipped happily down the road. (How did she skip?)

Note: Remember that not all words ended with –ly are adverbs.
For example:
- lovely (adjective)
- friendly (adjective)
- stately (adjective)
- etc

 Noun + ly : adjective
Adjective + ly: adverb

 Adverbs of Degree
Adverbs of Degree tell us the degree or extent to which something happens.
They answer the question "how much?" or "to what degree?". Adverbs of
Degree can modify verbs, adjectives and other adverbs.
Some examples of adverbs of degree: almost, enough, hardly, nearly, quite,
very, too, extremely, terribly, really, entirely etc.

Examples if the sentence:

 She entirely agrees with him. (How much does she agree with him?)
 Mary is very beautiful. (To what degree is Mary beautiful? How beautiful
is Mary?)
 He drove quite dangerously. (To what degree did he drive dangerously?
How dangerously did he drive?)

 Adverbs of Frequency
Adverbs of frequency let us know how often something occurs. These adverbs
tend to appear right before the main verb in the sentence or at the end of the
clause. Popular adverbs in this category include: always, usually, rarely,

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seldom, never, sometimes, usually, often, occasionally, frequently,
normally, every day, every week, every month, etc.
Examples in sentences:

 I always read a book before bed. (How often do you read a book before
bed?)
 He normally walks his dog at this time. (How often does he walk his
dog at this time?)
 She usually shops at the Korean market in town. (How often does she
shop there?)
 We never stay up past ten o'clock. (How often do you stay up that late?)
 She sweeps the floor every night. (How often does she sweep the
floor?)

 Adverbs of Time
Adverbs of time tell us something about the time that something happens.
Adverbs of time mainly modify verbs. Adverbs of time include: already,
immediately, lately, now, recently, soon, tomorrow, yesterday, etc.
They can answer the question "When?":

 He came yesterday. (When did he come?)

 I want it now. (When do I want it?)
 They recently relocated to Santa Fe. (When did they relocate?)

 Adverbs of Place
Adverbs of Place tell us the place where something happens. They answer
the question "where?". Adverbs of Place mainly modify verbs. Adverbs of
place include: above, below, anywhere, everywhere, here, there, inside,
outside, nowhere, etc.

Examples in sentences:
 Please sit here. (Where should I sit?)
 They looked everywhere. (Where did they look?)
 Two cars were parked outside. (Where were two cars parked?)

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Exercise 1
Identify adjectives and adverbs in the following sentences.

1. The boy quickly moved away from the fire.

2. He gave a surprisingly easy test.
3. Her expensive coat is beautiful.
4. I tried desperately to reach you all day yesterday.
5. He speaks English well
6. Ted is very intelligent for his age.
7. It was raining heavily yesterday.
8. Ed often walks fast.

Exercise 2
Use the words in parentheses as adjectives or adverb to fill in the
blank.
1. He quickly reads a book. (quick)
2. Mandy is a _______ girl. (pretty)
3. The class is _______ loud today. (terrible)
4. Max is a _______ singer. (good)
5. You can _______ open this tin. (easy)
6. It’s a _______ day today. (terrible)
7. Your flat seems _______ today. (tidy)
8. He drives the car _______ (careful)
9. She sings the song _______. (good)
10. She is a very _______ person. (warm)