GRAMMAR

FOR TOEFL
ADJECTIVES AND ADVERBS, PROBLEMS WITH
ADJECTIVE, AND PRACTICE
 CONTENTS
TABLE OF
01 ADJECTIVES AND
ADVERBS

02 PROBLEMS WITH
ADJECTIVE

03 PRACTICE
ADJECTIVES
AND
ADVERBS

01
Problem 1. Use basic adjective and adverb correctly

Adjectives and adverbs have very different uses. Adjectives describe nouns or
pronouns. On the other hand, adverbs describe verbs, adjectives, or other
adverbs.

Example:
Adjectives
• She is a beautiful woman.
• She is beautiful.

Adverbs
• She sings beautifully.
• She is a beautifully dressed woman.
• She is a truly beautifully dressed woman.
Problem 1. Use basic adjective and adverb correctly

Basic Use of Adjectives and Adverbs

Adjectives Adjectives describe nouns or pronouns.

Adverbs Adverbs describe verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs.

Decide if the following sentences are correct or incorrect
and find a clue that tells you if they should be adjectives
or adverbs.

1. He is driving an expensively sport car.

2. The car was not complete ready at 03.00.

3. There is a special program on television this evening.

4. It was difficult to believe that it was a truly story.

5. The production manager quietly requested a completely report of the
terribly incident.

6. The children finished their homework quickly so that they could watch
television.
Problem 2. Use adjectives after linking verbs

Generally an adverb will come directly after a verb because it describes the verb.
However, when it comes to linking verbs, they are followed by an adjective rather
than an adverb.

Examples:
Adverb: She spoke nicely.
Adjective: She looks nice.

List of linking verbs

appear be become feel look

prove seem smell taste sound

Problem 2. Use adjectives after linking verbs

However, it is possible to have an adverb directly after a linking verb, but only if the
adverb describes an adjective that follows.

Example:
He seems unusually nice.
She feels extremely happy right now.
Decide if the following sentences are correct or incorrect
and find a clue that tells you if they should be adjectives
or adverbs.

1. After she drank the lemonade, the cake tasted too sweetly to her.

2. She felt terrible depressed after the accident.

3. Even though we were not really hungry, the food smelled delicious.

4. He looked quite unhappily at the thought of leaving his job.

5. The neighbor appeared calmly in spite of the fact that his house was
on fire
Problem 3. position adjectives and adverbs correctly
There are two common errors of this type that you should beware of:
1. The position of adjectives with nouns they describe.
• The information important is on the first page. (X)
• The important information is on the first page. (V)

2. The position of adverbs with objects

• He has taken recently an English course. (X)
• He has recently taken an English course. (V)
• Recently he has taken an English course. (V)
• He has taken an English course recently. (V)

The position of adjectives and adverbs

Adjectives A one-word adjective comes before the noun it describes. It doesn’t come directly after.

Adverbs An adverb can appear in many positions. It can not be used between a verb and its object.
Decide if the following sentences are correct or incorrect
and find a clue that tells you if they correct or incorrect.

1. Mark always does his homework careful.

2. The grandparents speak proudly about their offspring.

3. The students had attended regularly all the lectures in the series.

4. She gave us generously the money.

5. He ate greedily the chocolate cake.

6. The firefighters worked feverishly and they put out immediately the fire .
Problem 4. Use predicate adjectives correctly

Certain adjectives appear only in the predicate of the sentence; that is, they appear after
verb such as be, and they can not appear directly in front of the nouns they describe.

Examples:
• The snake on the rock was asleep. (V)
• The asleep snake was on the rock. (X)
• The sleeping snake was on the rock. (V)

Predicate adjectives Forms used in front of a noun

alike like, similar
alive live, living
alone lone
afraid frightened
asleep sleeping
Decide if the following sentences are correct or incorrect
and find a clue that tells you if they should be predicate
adjectives or not.

1. We completed our two projects in an alike manner. ____

2. All of the crash victims were alive when they were found. ____

3. She tried to walk quietly by the asleep dogs without waking them. ____

4. According to the report, the president was shot by an alone gunman. ____

5. The frightened child cried for her mother. _____

Problem 5. Use –ed and –ing correctly

Verb forms ending with –ed and –ing can be used as adjectives. The different between –ed
and –ing is similar to the difference between passive and active. An –ing adjective means
that the noun it describes is doing the action. On the other hand, an –ed adjective means
that the noun it describes is receiving the action from the verb.

Examples:
• The woman cleans the car.
• The cleaning woman worked on the car.
• The woman put the cleaned car back in the garage.
Decide if the following sentences are correct or incorrect
and find a clue that tells you if they should use –ed or –
ing adjectives.

1. The shoppers were impressed by the reducing prices. ____

2. There is a fascinated movie at the theater tonight. ____

3. He can’t afford to take long vacations because he is a worked man. ____

4. For lunch at the restaurant, she ordered a mixed salad. ____

5. Today the bookkeeper will work on the unpaid bills. _____

Problem 6. Recognize -ly Adjectives

Generally when a word ends in –ly in English, it is an adverb. However, there are a few
words ending in –ly that are adjectives.

The manager turned in his weekly report

My daughter is so lovely

-ly adjectives

costly likely, unlikely Daily quarterly westerly

early lively hourly monthly easterly

friendly lonely nightly yearly northerly

kindly manly, girly weekly lovely southerly

TOEFL
PRACTICE

02
TOEFL Practice: Part A

1. Although agriculture is the ______ economic

2. A dirigible is a _____________ that can be
activity in Africa, it is accomplished almost
navigated by engines and propellers.
exclusively with primitive tools.
A. Gas-filling balloon
A. Led
B. Gas-filled balloon
B. Lead
C. Filling gas balloon
C. Leading
D. Filled gas balloon
D. Being led

3. Amphibians, which live both on land and 4. After learning all the details about the
water, have developed _____ apparatus such project, the contractor told them at the
as a webbed feet for movement in water. __________.
A. Specially A. Meeting planned
B. Specialize B. Meeting planning
C. Specializing C. Planned meeting
D. Specialized D. Planning meeting
TOEFL Practice: Part B
Choose the letter of the underlined word or group of words that is not correct.

1. Only recently have Gooden’s industrially designers and engineers been able to optimize Watertred’s unusual tread patterns for
A B C
mass production.
D
2. In spite of a tremendous amount of electronic gadgetry, air traffic control still depends heavy on people.
A B C D
3. Americans are destroying rapidly wetlands, faster than an acre every two minutes.
A B C D
4. Edelman stresses the mounting evidence showing that greatly variation on a microscopic scale is likely.
A B C D
5. Dolphins and chimps are like in that they have been shown to have language skills.
A B C D
6. Perhaps the most welcoming and friendly of the park’s wild places is the live oak forest that surrounds the district’s alone visitors’
A B C D
center in Gulf Breeze.
THANK YOU
AND LET’S
DISCUSS