Adjectives/adverbs
Adjectives - word order: When there are two or more adjectives before a noun there are
some complicated "rules" for the order in which they should appear. These are the most
important:
1. opinion adjectives come before fact adjectives
2. fact adjectives appear as follows: size - age - colour - origin - material
Here are some examples:
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Q1.
a silly old man (an old silly man )
a beautiful blue butterfly (a blue beautiful butterfly )
an interesting historical film (a historical interesting film)
a huge metal box (a metal huge box )
a new red dress (a red new dress )
little Russian dolls (Russian little dolls )
Which is the usual order of adjectives?
She is wearing red beautiful shoes
She is wearing beautiful red shoes.
Q2.
Which is the usual order of adjectives?
He is just an old silly man.
He is just a silly old man.
Q3.
Which is the usual order of adjectives?
She bought a new powerful computer.
She bought a powerful new computer.
Q4.
Which is the usual order of adjectives?
They have just moved into a modern big house.
They have just moved into a big modern house.
Q5.
Which is the usual order of adjectives?
Last night I watched an interesting German film.
Last night I watched a German interesting film.
Q6.
Which is the usual order of adjectives?
I need a new electronic dictionary.
I need an electronic new dictionary.
Q7.
Which is the usual order of adjectives?
My cellar is full of black big spiders.
My cellar is full of big black spiders.
Q8.
Which is the usual order of adjectives?
She was carrying a new beautiful bag.
She was carrying a beautiful new bag.
Q9.
Which is the usual order of adjectives?
I hate this awful wet weather.
I hate this wet awful weather.
Q10.
Which is the usual order of adjectives?
I like that small glass coffee table.
I like that glass small coffee table.
I like that coffee glass small table.
Q11.
Which is the usual order of adjectives?
There is a red horrible insect on your back.
There is a horrible red insect on your back.
Q12.
Which is the usual order of adjectives?
Sim City is a new exciting computer game.
Sim City is a new computer exciting game.
Sim City is an exciting new computer game.
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Q13.
Which is the usual order of adjectives?
I ate hot delicious soup for lunch.
I ate delicious hot soup for lunch.
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Q14.
Which is the usual order of adjectives?
They live in a wonderful old wooden house.
They live in an old wonderful wooden house.
They live in a wooden wonderful old house.
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Q15.
Which is the usual order of adjectives?
They are a heavy loud metal band.
They are a loud heavy metal band.
They are a metal heavy loud band.
Adjectives: -ed or -ing? English contains numerous -ed or -ing adjective pairs derived from
verbs. To avoid mixing these up, remember that the -ed adjectives are used to describe how
you feel, and the -ing adjectives are used for what it is that makes you feel that way. Here
are some examples:
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Q1.
I feel tired. - Working in the garden all day is very tiring.
I am bored. - This grammar lesson is boring.
She was disappointed. - Her math test score was disappointing.
I'm interested in Ancient Egypt. - I think Ancient Egypt is interesting.
He was shocked. - He found your behaviour shocking.
I'm very confused by this film. - This film is very confusing.
This wet weather is so ......
depressed
depressing
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Q2.
I will be very ..... if she does well in her test.
surprised
surprising
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Q3.
My new job is extremely ......
tired
tiring
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Q4.
I come home extremely ..... at the end of each day.
tired
tiring
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Q5.
He's such a ..... person. He never wants to go out.
bored
boring
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Q6.
I'm ...... I have no idea what to do.
confused
confusing
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Q7.
Did you hear the ..... news about the accident?
shocked
shocking
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Q8.
I'm not very ..... in sport.
interested
interesting
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Q9.
I didn't find his joke very ......
amused
amusing
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Q10.
I am ..... of spiders.
frightened
frightening
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Q11.
I am ..... with my grade in the grammar test.
disappointed
disappointing
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Q12.
The film is very ......
excited
exciting
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Q13.
I am ..... about my test grades. They are all quite bad.
depressed
depressing
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Q14.
It was not ..... she failed her tests. She never studied.
surprised
surprising
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Q15.
I'm getting ..... with this book. Nothing ever happens.
bored
boring
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Q16.
These instructions are extremely ...... Can you help me?
confused
confusing
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Q17.
I'm ..... that he could do something so stupid and dangerous.
shocked
shocking
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Q18.
I don't find sport at all ......
interested
interesting
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Q19.
I was not ..... to be kept waiting so long.
amused
amusing
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Q20.
Our new science teacher is very ...... We sit there like mice!
frightened
frightening
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Q21.
It was very ..... not to be selected for the basketball team.
disappointed
disappointing
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Q22.
I am ..... about the tennis tournament tomorrow.
excited
exciting
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Q23.
The news was quite ......
puzzled
puzzling
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Q24.
His behaviour has been very ..... in recent weeks.
puzzled
puzzling
Adjective or adverb? In English most (but not all) adverbs have a different form (spelling)
than their corresponding adjective. It is important, therefore, that you know whether you
need an adjective or an adverb in the sentences you want to say or write. Generally,
adjectives are used to describe nouns and adverbs are used with verbs to say how things are
done. In the following examples, the adjectives are red and the adverbs are blue:
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He's a beautiful singer. - He sings beautifully.
She's a very quick runner. - She can run very quickly.
He's a careless writer. - He writes carelessly.
She's a good worker. - She works well.
Adverbs are also used to give extra information about adjectives (or other adverbs), as in the
following examples:
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I am extremely happy in my new job.
She's in hospital with a seriously injured neck.
It's incredibly easy to make a mistake when knitting.
The girl climbed dangerously high up the tree.
Because of the thick fog I drove extremely carefully.
After certain verbs (e.g. be, become, seem, look, taste, smell, etc.) the adjective, not the
adverb, is used:
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She doesn't seem happy today.
Don't be stupid!
This meat tastes bad.
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Those flowers smell strange.
Q1. She's such a ..... dancer.
good
well
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Q2.
He passed his test ......
easy
easily
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Q3.
She is a very ..... worker.
slow
slowly
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Q4.
My mother speaks ..... German.
perfect
perfectly
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Q5.
It was raining very ......
heavy
heavily
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Q6.
We'll have an accident if you don't drive more ......
careful
carefully
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Q7.
I've never seen her dance so ......
good
well
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Q8.
I am ..... sure that I am right.
real
really
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Q9.
Can you speak more ....., please?
loud
loudly
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Q10.
Please be ...... I'm trying to read.
quiet
quietly
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Q11.
That was a ..... thing to say.
stupid
stupidly
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Q12.
She was smiling ......
happy
happily
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Q13.
You were very ..... to lose the game.
unlucky
unluckily
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Q14.
This soup tastes ......
good
well
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Q15.
He smiled at me ......
friendly
in a friendly way
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Q16.
She looked at me ......
calm
calmly
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Q17.
She looked ....., but I'm sure she was feeling very nervous.
calm
calmly
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Q18.
You always work very ......
hard
hardly
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Q19.
She often comes ..... to class.
late
lately
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Q20.
I did really ..... in the mathematics test.
bad
badly
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Q21.
I'm ..... sorry I'm late.
extreme
extremely
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Q22.
She is a very ..... girl.
good-looking
well-looking
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Q23.
He has a very ..... job.
good-paid
well-paid
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Q24.
You are ..... right.
absolute
absolutely
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Q25.
She can run ..... than me.
quicker
more quickly
ADJECTIVE
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An adjective is a word that describes a noun.
It tells us more about a particular person, place, or thing.
Adjectives also make it easy to understand which thing you're talking about.
Adjectives can modify nouns or pronouns.
.
ADVERB
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An adverb is a word that describes a verb (the action), adjectives or other
adverbs.
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Adverbs tell us how, when, or where something happened.
Adjective
Adverb
Kendy is a careful girl.
She is very careful.
Kendy drives carefully.
(How does she drive?
I am a slow walker. (How am
I?)
I walk slowly. (How do I
walk?
Kendyis a careful driver. This sentence is about Mandy, the driver. The adjective describes
the person.
Kendy drives carefully. This sentence is about her way of driving. Th adverb describes how
she drives.
Use of adverbs
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to modify verbs:
The soccer team played badly last Saturday.
to modify adjectives:
It was an extemely bad match.
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The woman is quite pretty.
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to modify adverbs:
The soccer team played extremely badly last Wednesday.
to modify quantities:
There are quite a lot of people here.
to modify sentences:
Unfortunately, the flight to Dallas had been cancelled.
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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)
Form
Adjective + -ly
Adjective
Adverb
dangerous
dangerously
careful
carefully
nice
nicely
horrible
horribly
easy
easily
electronic
electronically
Irregular forms
good
well
fast
fast
hard
hard
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If the adjective ends in -y, change -y to -i. Then add -ly.
happy - happily
but: shy - shyly
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
Adjective or Adverb after special verbs
Both adjectives and adverbs may be used after look, smell, and taste.
Adjective
Adverb
You look tired.
She looked at me angrily.
The pizza tastes good / delicious.
She tasted the soup suspiciously.
The room smells bad / awful.
She smelt the flowers happily.
Write down the correct form of the word in brackets (adjective or adverb).
1. Tom is (slow)
slow
2. Danny is a (careful)
. He works
slow ly
.
student.. He did his homework
.
3. The dog is (angry)
. It barks
4. They learn English (easy)
5. Jennifer is a (good)
6. It's (awful)
.
. They think English is an
singer. She sings
cold today. The wind is
7. My father is a (careful )
8. The little girl looked (sad)
9. The students talk (loud)
language.
.
.
driver. He always drives
. She looked at me
. The class is (terrible)
.
.
loud today.