Adjectives and Adverbs

ADJECTIVES & ADVERBS PS-1
ADJECTIVE: An adjective is a word used to tell us something about a noun. It is a word that
answers one of these questions.
1. WHAT KIND? small toy (What kind of toy was it?)

old man (What kind of man was he?)
green tomato (What kind of tomato was it?)
2. HOW MANY? five pennies (How many pennies do you have?)

eight pounds (How many pounds?)
few children (How many children?)
3. WHICH ONE? short man (Which man?)

fat lady (Which lady?)
large animal (Which animal?)
Think through the following sentences.

N N
1. That little girl lifted these nine chairs.
WHICH GIRL? that girl (That is the adjective.)

WHAT KIND OF GIRL? little girl (Little is the adjective.)
WHICH CHAIRS? these chairs (These is the adjective.)
HOW MANY? nine chairs (Nine is the adjective.)
2. Several men were complaining about the football score.
How many men?

Which score? (The words a, an, the are articles and often are not
included in a discussion of adjectives.)
What kind of score?
POSITION OF ADJECTIVES
Adjectives come before the noun. = small boy

Adjectives come after the noun. = a man, big and strong.
They come after linking verbs. = The girl was calm. (You may need to review
linking verbs.)
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PRACTICE EXERCISE 1: Underline the adjectives in the following sentences and draw an arrow
to the noun it describes. Do Not Worry About Articles!
1. African clothes can be found at a downtown store.

2. Traveling to that vast continent takes many hours.
3. My former English teacher once visited one of its lush jungles.
4. She was surprised by the animal life, wild and incredible.
5. That adventurous instructor often commented on the green forests and diamond mines.
6. She was terrific!
ADVERB: An adverb is a word used to modify (describe) a verb, an adjective or another

adverb. An adverb answers the following questions about a verb, adjective, or another
adverb: How? When? Where? To what extent?
Directions: In order to find the adverbs, study the sentences and answers to the questions.
1. He came in late. (When did he come?) Late
2. Quickly he sat down. (How did he sit down?) Quickly
3. She ran home. (Where did she run?) Home
4. They left rather hurriedly. (To what extent did they hurry?) Rather
PRACTICE EXERCISE 2: Circle the adverbs in the following sentences.
1. Paul sat down slowly.
2. We are going abroad.
3. Silently, he crept into the house.
4. Hopefully, Janet waited for the mailman.
5. Claire has always been spoiled by her grandmother.
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6. The news was too good to be true.
7. His pain was less acute after he took the medication.
8. Quite easily, he adjusted the amount of medication.
9. Tara is a very happy individual.
10. He left so quickly that we didn't even miss him.
IMPORTANT WORDS TO REMEMBER:
real means genuine and is an adjective

really means actually and is an adverb
very means exceedingly and is an adverb
sure means certain and is an adjective
surely means certainly and is an adverb
most means the highest degree or nearly all and can be either an adjective or an adverb.
almost means nearly and is an adverb
PRACTICE EXERCISE 3: In each of the following sentences, underline the correct word in
parenthesis.
1. (Careful, Carefully) driving is important.

2. Paula waited (patient, patiently) for the response.
3. The storm ended (sudden, suddenly).
4. The river seems (calm, calmly) this morning.
5. Robert's directions are always (cheerful, cheerfully) given.
6. Although Tom played (good, well), he lost the match.
7. Do you always answer your phone (prompt, promptly)?
8. Pam always speaks (positive, positively) about her coworkers.
9. She is (happy, happily) in her new home.
10. He writes all letters (legible, legibly).
11. The waiting period is passing very (slow, slowly).
12. Cindy looked (angry, angrily).
13. Mr. Simms looked (angry, angrily) at her students.
14. The snow fell (silent, silently) through the night.
15. He really plays the piano (good, well).
16. The gossip seems very (foolish, foolishly) to me.
17. We were all (real, really) frightened by the storm warnings.
18. Last year's storm began (sudden, suddenly).
19. The teacher felt (bad, badly) this morning.
20. The packet on adjectives and adverbs is now (complete, completely) complete.
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ANSWERS
PRACTICE EXERCISE 1: The nouns which the adjectives modify are in parentheses.
1. African (clothes) downtown (store)
2. that, vast (continent) many (hours)
3. my, former, English (teacher) its, lush (jungles)
4. animal, wild, incredible (life)
5. that, adventurous (instructor) green (forests) diamond (mines)
6. terrific (she)
PRACTICE EXERCISE 2:
1. down, slowly 6. too
2. abroad 7. less
3. silently 8. quite, easily
4. hopefully 9. very
5. always 10. so, quickly
PRACTICE EXERCISE 3:
1. Careful Careful is an adjective that tells what kind of driving is important.
2. patiently Patiently (adv) tells how Paula waited.
3. suddenly Suddenly (adv) tells when the storm ended.
4. calm Calm (adj) describes the river.
5. cheerfully Cheerfully (adv) tells how the directions are given.
6. well Well (adv) tells how Tom played.
7. promptly Promptly (adv) tells when you answer the phone.
8. positively Positively (adv) tells how Pam speaks.
9. happy Happy (adj) describes she.
10. legibly Legibly (adv) tells how he writes.
11. slowly Slowly (adv) tells how he writes.
12. angry Angry (adj) describes Cindy.
13. angrily Angrily (adv) tells how Mr. Simms looked at her students.
14. silently Silently (adv) tells how the snow fell.
15. well Well (adv) tells how he played.
16. foolish Foolish (adj) describes the gossip.
17. really Really (adv) tells how frightened we were.
18. suddenly Suddenly (adv) tells when the storm began.
19. bad Bad (adj) describes the teacher.
20. completely Completely (adv) tells how complete the packet is!!!!
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Websites for Adjectives and Adverbs
http://www.ucalgary.ca/UofC/eduweb/grammar/course/speech/1_4e.htm
University of Calgary, Canada practice distinguishing between adjectives and
adverbs.
http://www.ucl.ac.uk/internet-grammar/adverbs/xadvb1.htm
Information and practice exercise on adjectives and adverbs.
http://www.slidermath.com/literacy/Adverb.shtml
English grammar and literacy website to help students learn difference
between adjectives and adverbs. Read the information, play the game, and
learn!!!!
http://www.grammarbook.com/grammar_quiz/adjectives_and_adverbs_1.asp
Take this quiz from The Blue Book of Grammar and see how well you do!!!!
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ADJECTIVES & ADVERBS PS-1

1. WHAT KIND? small toy (What kind of toy was it?)

2. HOW MANY? five pennies (How many pennies do you have?)

3. WHICH ONE? short man (Which man?)

Think through the following sentences.

WHICH GIRL? that girl (That is the adjective.)

2. Several men were complaining about the football score.

How many men?

Adjectives come before the noun. = small boy

Revised Summer 2012

1. African clothes can be found at a downtown store.

ADVERB: An adverb is a word used to modify (describe) a verb, an adjective or another

1. He came in late. (When did he come?) Late

2. Quickly he sat down. (How did he sit down?) Quickly

3. She ran home. (Where did she run?) Home

PRACTICE EXERCISE 2: Circle the adverbs in the following sentences.

1. Paul sat down slowly.

2. We are going abroad.

3. Silently, he crept into the house.

4. Hopefully, Janet waited for the mailman.

5. Claire has always been spoiled by her grandmother.

Revised Summer 2012

7. His pain was less acute after he took the medication.

8. Quite easily, he adjusted the amount of medication.

9. Tara is a very happy individual.

10. He left so quickly that we didn't even miss him.

IMPORTANT WORDS TO REMEMBER:

real means genuine and is an adjective

1. (Careful, Carefully) driving is important.

Revised Summer 2012

Revised Summer 2012

Websites for Adjectives and Adverbs

Revised Summer 2012

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