Adjectives and Adverbs

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Definitions:

Adjectives are words that describe nouns or pronouns. They may come before the word they describe (That is a cute puppy.) or they may follow the word they describe (That puppy is cute.).

Adverbs are words that modify everything but nouns and pronouns. They modify adjectives, verbs, and other adverbs. A word is an adverb if it answers how, when, or where.

The only adverbs that cause grammatical problems are those that answer the question how, so focus on thes

1.      Adjectives

A - Comparison with -er/-est

clean - cleaner - (the) cleanaest

We use -er/-est with the following adjectives:

1) adjectives with one syllable

Clean	cleaner	Cleanest
New	newer	Newest
Cheap	cheaper	Cheapest

2) adjectives with two syllables and the following endings:

2 - 1) adjectives with two syllables, ending in -y

Dirty	dirtier	dirtiest
Easy	easier	easiest
Happy	happier	happiest
Pretty	prettier	prettiest

2 - 2) adjectives with two syllables, ending in -er

Clever

cleverer

Cleverest

2 - 3) adjectives with two syllables, ending in -le

Simple

simpler

simplest

2 - 4) adjectives with two syllables, ending in -ow

Narrow

narrower

narrowest

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Spelling of the adjectives using the endings -er/-est

Large	larger	largest	leave out the silent -e
Big	bigger	biggest	Double the consonant after short vowel
Sad	sadder	saddest
Dirty	dirtier	dirtiest	Change -y to -i (consonant before -y)
Shy	shyer	shyest	Here -y is not changed to -i. (although consonant before -y)

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B - Comparison with more - most

difficult - more difficult - (the) most difficult

all adjectives with more than one syllable (except some adjectives with two syllables - see
2 - 1 to 2 - 4)

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C - Irregular adjectives

Good	better	best
Bad	worse	worst
Much	more	most	uncountable nouns
Many	more	most	countable nouns
Little	less	least
Little	smaller	smallest

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D - Special adjectives

Some ajdectives have two possible forms of comparison.

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
Simple	simpler / more simple	simplest / most simple
Stupid	stupider / more stupid	stupidest / most stupid
Subtle	subtler / more subtle	subtlest
Sure	surer / more sure	surest / most sure

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Difference in meaning with adjectives:

far	farther	farthest	Distance
	further	furthest	distance or time
late	later	latest
	latter	x
	X	last
old	older	oldest	people and things
	elder	eldest	people (family)
near	nearer	nearest	Distance
	X	next	Order

Sentences with comparisons

Adjectives - Comparison as ... as - Exercise

1. A=B

Our car is as fast as Peter's car.

2. A><B

a) John's car isn't as fast as our car. (A<B)

b) Our car is faster than John's car. (A>B)

Our car is faster than Peter's car.

Peter's car is slower than our car.

NOTE!

John is taller than me.

Max is as tall as me.

Do not mix up than with then.

2. The adverbs in English

Adverbs tell us in what way someone does something. Adverbs can modify verbs, adjectives or other adverbs.

Adjectives tell us something about a person or a thing. Adjectives can modify nouns or pronouns.

Adjective	Adverb
Mandy is a careful girl.	Mandy drives carefully.
Mandy is very careful.

Mandy is a careful driver. This sentence is about Mandy, the driver, so use the adjective.

Mandy drives carefully. This sentence is about her way of driving, so use the adverb.

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Form

Adjective + -ly

Adjective		Adverb
dangerous		dangerously
Careful		Carefully
Nice		Nicely
Easy		Easily
Horrible		Horribly
electronic		electronically
irregular forms
Good	Well
Fast	Fast
Hard	Hard

If the adjective ends in -le, the adverb ends in -ly.
Example: terrible - terribly

If the adjective ends in -e, then add -ly.
Example: safe - safely

Tip: Not all words ending in -ly are adverbs.

adjectives ending in -ly: friendly, silly, lonely, ugly
nouns, ending in -ly: ally, bully, Italy, melancholy
verbs, ending in -ly: apply, rely, supply

There is no adverb for an andjective ending in -ly.

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Types of adverbs

1) Adverbs of manner
quickly
kindly

2) Adverbs of degree
very
rather

3) Adverbs of frequency
often
sometimes

4) Adverbs of time
now
today

5) Adverbs of place
here
nowhere

 comparison of adverbs in English

There are three forms:

- positive
- comparative
- superlative

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A - Comparison with -er/-est

hard - harder - (the) hardest

We use -er/-est with the following adverbs:

1) all adverbs with one syllable

Fast	faster	fastest
High	higher	highest

2) The adverb: early

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B - Comparison with more - most

carefully - more carefully - (the) most carefully

adverbs ending on -ly (not: early)

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C - Irregular adverbs

Well	Better	Best
Badly	Worse	Worst
Much	More	Most
Little	Less	Least
Late	Later	Last
Far	farther further	farthest furthest

ATTENTION!
In informal English some adverbs are used without -ly (e.g. cheap, loud, quick). There are two forms of comparison possible, depending on the form af the adverb:
cheaply - more cheaply - most cheaply
cheap - cheaper - cheapest

The position of adverbs in sentences

We can put adverbs in different positions in sentences. There are three main positions but also a lot of exceptions.

In English we never put an adverb between the verb and the object.

We often play handball. - CORRECT

We play often handball. - WRONG

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The three main positions of adverbs in English sentences

1) Adverb at the beginning of a sentence

Unfortunately, we could not see Mount Snowdon.

2) Adverb in the middle of a sentence

The children often ride their bikes.

3) Adverb at the end of a sentence

Andy reads a comic every afternoon.

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More than one adverb at the end of a sentence

If there are more adverbs at the end of a sentence, the word order is normally:

Manner - Place - Time

Peter sang the song happily in the bathroom yesterday evening.

Adverbs of frequency

always, usually, regularly, normally, often, sometimes, occasionally, rarely, seldom, never are adverbs of frequency.

The position of these adverbs is:

before the main verb

		Adverb of frequency	Verb
I		Always	get up	at 6.45.
Peter	can	Usually	Play	football on Sundays.
Mandy	has	sometimes	Got	lots of homework.

after a form of to be am, are, is (was, were)

	Verb	Adverb of frequency
Susan	is	never	late.

The adverbs often, usually, sometimes and occasionally can go at the beginning of a sentence.
Sometimes I go swimming.
Often we surf the internet.

Somtimes these adverbs are put at the end of the sentence.
We read books occasionally.

The following adjectives and adverbs have the same form:

Adjective	Adverb
close	close
daily	daily
early	early
fair	fair
far	far
fast	fast
free	free
hard	hard
high	high
late	late
lively	lively
long	long
lovely	lovely
low	low
right	right
wide	wide
wrong	wrong

The following adverbs are not derived from adjectives:

Adverbs	Comment
here	adverb of place
there
today	adverb of time
now
then
still
soon
yet
often	adverb of frequency
sometimes
never
hard
hardly

These adverbs have two forms:

without -ly	with -ly
fair	fairly
free	freely
high	highly
late	lately
most	mostly
near	nearly
pretty	prettily
right	rightly
wrong	wrongly

Fill in the words in brackets as adjective or adverb like in the example.

Example: Peter works ______ (slow).

Answer: Peter works slowly.

1) He 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) She sings the song . (good)

8) He is a driver. (careful)

9) He drives the car . (careful)

10) The dog barks . (loud)

Fill in the comparative and superlative forms of the adjectives. Example: new - _____ - _______ Answer: new - newer – newest

1) old - - 2) bad - - 3) difficult - - 4) large - - 5) good - - 6) big - - 7) easy - - 8) much - - 9) little - - 10) interesting - -

Put in the adjective in bold from the first sentence into the second sentence in its correct form (comparative or superlative).

Example: I have a fast car, but my friend has a ______ car.

Answer: I have a fast car, but my friend has a faster car.

1) This is a nice cat. It's much than my friend's cat.

2) Here is Emily. She's six years old. Her brother is nine, so he is .

3) This is a difficult exercise. But the exercise with an asterisk (*) is the exercise on the worksheet.

4) He has an interesting hobby, but my sister has the hobby in the world.

5) In the last holidays I read a good book, but father gave me an even one last weekend.

6) School is boring, but homework is than school.

7) Skateboarding is a dangerous hobby. Bungee jumping is than skateboarding.

8) This magazine is cheap, but that one is .

9) We live in a small house, but my grandparents' house is even than ours.

10) Yesterday John told me a funny joke. This joke was the joke I've ever heard.

Use either as … as or not as … as in the sentecnes below. Example: Ben Nevis is __________ as Mont Blanc (not/high). Answer: Ben Nevis is not as high as Mont Blanc.

1) The blue car is the red car. (fast) 2) Peter is Fred. (not/tall) 3) The violin is the cello. (not/low) 4) This copy is the other one. (bad) 5) Oliver is Peter. (optimistic) 6) Today it's yesterday. (not/windy) 7) The tomato soup was the mushroom soup. (delicious) 8) Grapefruit juice is lemonade. (not/sweet) 9) Nick is Kevin. (brave) 10) Silver is gold. (not/heavy)