Adjectives and Adverbs
Adjectives
We use adjectives to describe nouns and pronouns. Adjectives can come before nouns or after linking verbs.
Before the noun:
He bought a brand new car.
What a brilliant story!
After a linking verb :
He seems disappointed.
Dogs are loyal.
The skyscrapers became old.
(Note: Linking verbs are verbs like ‘be’, ‘become’ and ‘seem’ which are not actions but instead link the subject to an adjective, noun or phrase that gives us more information about the subject.)
We make the comparative and superlative of adjectives by adding either ‘-er / -est’ or using ‘more / most’.
She is smart.
She is smarter than her sister.
She is the smartest person in the class.
- Adverbs are used to describe verbs, adjectives or other adverbs. They are often (but not always) made by adding ‘ly’ to the adjective.
I type slowly (‘slowly’ tells us about the verb ‘walk’).
They worked quickly.
We make the comparative and superlative forms of adverbs by using ‘more / most’.
She dances gracefully.
She dances more gracefully than her friend.
She dances most gracefully in the class.
- Adverb or Adjective?It’s important to remember to use an adjective after a linking verb. However, this can be tricky as some verbs can be used as both normal verbs and as linking verbs :
- She tasted the hot soup carefully. (Here we are talking about the action of ‘tasting’ and using taste as a normal verb, so we need an adverb.)
- The soup tastes good. (Here we are using ‘taste’ as a linking verb, to describe the soup. We can replace ‘tastes’ with ‘is’ and the sentence still makes sense. So, we need an adjective.)
- Irregular formsNormally, we make an adverb by adding ‘ly’ to an adjective.
This is a quiet room. (adjective) She spoke quietly (adverb)
This juice is bad. (adjective) He sings badly (adverb)
If the adjective ends in ‘y’, we change ‘y’ to ‘i’ and add ‘ly’. If the adjective ends in ‘le’, we drop ‘e’ and add ‘y’.
He looks very happy. (adjective) They danced happily. (adverb)
It’s a gentle dog. (adjective) She stroked the dog gently. (adverb)
- However, there are some exceptions:
adjective adverb
That’s a fast car. She drives fast.
She was early for our appointment. She arrived early.
He is always late. He got up late this morning.
(‘lately’ is also an adverb but means “recently)
The story is good. She did well on the exam.
Math is hard. She studies hard.
(‘hardly’ is also an adverb, but means ‘almost none’)
- There are also some adjectives that end in ‘ly’ and don’t have an adverb form. Instead we use ‘in a —way’. These are friendly, lovely, lonely, lively, and silly.
He talked to me in a friendly way.
- Good / well‘Well’ can be confusing because it is both the adverb form of ‘good’, and an adjective that means ‘healthy and fine’.
My grandmother is well (‘well’ is an adjective that means ‘healthy and fine’).
She did the work well (‘well’ is an adverb meaning ‘in a good way’).
- Of course, we also use ‘good’ as an adjective.
This dish is good!
He can speak good Japanese.
- Hard / hardly‘Hard’ is both an adjective and an adverb.
The bed is hard. (= adjective, meaning ‘not soft’ or ‘difficult’).
He works hard. (= adverb, meaning ‘with a lot of effort’).
‘Hardly’ is also an adverb, but it means ‘almost nothing’ or ‘almost none’.
She hardly works. (= She does almost no work).
We have hardly any money. (= We have almost no money).
- Late / lately‘Late’ is an adjective and an adverb. There is also an adverb ‘lately’, which means ‘recently’.
I’m late. (= adjective, meaning ‘not on time’).
He arrived late. (= adverb, meaning ‘not on time’).
I’ve been working a lot lately. (= an adverb meaning ‘recently’).