Adjectives And Adverbs

Using Adjectives and Adverbs Correctly What are adjectives?

•Adjectives modify nouns or pronouns •These words are all adjectives A hot day A happy camper A silly twit

A big, bloody mess (both “big” and “bloody” modify “mess”) She is creative (“creative” is a subject complement that

follows the linking verb “is”) A boring course (present participle used as an adjective

So what are adverbs?

•Adverbs modify verbs, adjectives and other adverbs •Many adverbs end with ly •Many adverbs answer the question “How?” •These are adverbs Eating quickly (modifying a verb) Trying very hard (modifying an adverb) A really big show (modifying an adjective)

Recognizing Adjectives & Adverbs •Many

words have both an adjective and adverb form Adjective Happy kids Smooth rock Good night Efficient workers Casual dress Quick meeting Hopeful children Real butter

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Adverb Playing happily Running smoothly Eating Well Working efficiently Dressing casually Talking quickly Waiting hopefully Really hot

Comparatives and Superlatives •Most

adverbs and adjectives also have a comparative and superlative form Simple Hot Good Exciting Careful •

Comparative Hotter Better More exciting Less careful

Superlative Hottest Best Most exciting Least careful

Use the comparative form to compare two things Sally is the larger of the twins (not largest)

• Use the superlative form to compare three or more August was the hottest month of the year

Double Comparatives •Don’t use “more” or “most” with –er or –est XYesterday was more hotter than today XThat was the most dirtiest story I ever heard XYou are the bestest teacher

Absolute Concepts •Don’t

use comparatives or superlatives with absolute concepts •Absolutes have only two possibilities, on or off, yes or no, with nothing in between XThe most perfect student in the class XA very unique idea (say “very unusual” instead)

•These

words express absolute concepts that cannot be modified More priceless Sort of dead Quite unique Quite on A little bit pregnant Completely anonymous Very unanimous Extremely perfect Most favourite

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Don’t use adjectives when adverbs are needed XYou did a real nice job –(an

adjective can’t modify another adjective) You did a really nice job –(the adverb “really” modifies “nice”) XHe did good He did well XFuel injection helps the car run efficient Fuel injection helps the car run efficiently XCome quick! Come quickly! XHopefully, it won’t rain (an adverb explains how something will happen) I hope that it won’t rain

Don’t use needless adverbs •Before

using any of these words, check to see if they add anything to the sentence •Really,

very, absolutely, extremely, quite, actually, somewhat, rather •I am really happy to see you •Grammar is very boring •You are absolutely correct •Her language was extremely crude •You are quite intelligent •Context

will help you decide whether to retain the underlined words •Keep them only if they add to the meaning XBill

Gates is very rich. I hope he gives me some money. Most college instructors are poor; their students are very poor.

•Note:

the terms “good success” and “real good success” have been reserved for sports broadcasters; do not use them

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Compound Adjectives •Two or more adjectives often appear together separated

with commas

Lance’s tiny, tight swimsuit showed off his hairy belly •The words “tiny” and “tight” each work separately to

modify “swimsuit” •Connect the words with a hyphen when they function

together before a noun

Lance’s gold-plated piercings stood out against his bright-red

sunburn •“Gold-plated” and “bright-red” are compound adjectives

Compound Adjectives •Do not hyphenate the words when they come after the

noun they modify •Notice the difference in these examples No Hyphen Hyphenated Lance was well known Lance was a well-known along the boardwalk jerk His SUV was fully He drove a fullyequipped equipped SUV Lance worked full time on Lance was a full-time chick his tan magnet

Misplaced Modifiers •Put adjectives and adverbs close to the words they

modify •Notice how the meaning is affected by the improper placement XAn old pile of clothes is on the floor A pile of old clothes is on the floor XI almost believe you are finished I believe you are almost finished XThe winners will only be contacted Only the winners will be contacted XI can’t quite do this as well as Fred I can’t do this quite as well as Fred

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