SFL/METU
DBE
Repeat Group
November, 2016
ADJECTIVES AND ADVERBS
The extract below has been taken from a text about animals that survive in a habitat which
they do not belong to and destroy its ecosystem. Read the extract and decide if the words in
bold are adjectives or adverbs. What do they modify?
ANIMAL INVADERS
Imagine you run a small food shop in your local neighborhood. Suddenly, a giant supermarket
opens for business opposite your shop. What happens to you and your business?
In the natural world, things are often the same. The red squirrel was living happily in England
when, in the 1880s, many people brought grey squirrels from North America as pets. Since then,
these pets have escaped into the wild. They now eat the same food as the red squirrels. Moreover,
they…
ADJECTIVES
Adjectives modify nouns and they are used before the noun they modify.
e.g. Richard is a careless man.
adjective
noun
Adjectives are sometimes used after certain verbs. Below is a list of some of these verbs.
Verb + Adjective
be
look
remain
become
sound
smell
appear
feel
taste
seem
get
+ adjective
e.g. David is extremely clever.
Because she had to wait, she became angry.
The city appeared calm after the previous night's fighting.
The exam did not seem difficult.
That new film doesn't sound very interesting.
ADVERBS
a) Adverbs can modify verbs.
e.g.
Richard talks carelessly.
verb adverb
b) Adverbs can modify adjectives.
e.g.
Robert was terribly upset yesterday.
adverb adjective
c) Adverbs can modify other adverbs.
e.g.
Richard talks very carelessly.
adverb adverb
d) Adverbs sometimes modify the whole sentence.
Among some commonly used sentence adverbs are (un)fortunately, probably, obviously,
normally, sadly, and (not) surprisingly.
e.g.
Sadly, Richard talks very carelessly. (It is sad that Richard talks very carelessly.)
1
Forming Adverbs
Many adverbs end in -ly. More precisely, they are formed by adding -ly to an adjective.
However, not all adverbs end in -ly. There are some irregular adverbs.
The following is the list of some irregular adverbs.
ADJECTIVE
straight
e.g. The teacher drew a straight line on the board.
ADVERB
straight
e.g. As he was drunk, he couldn’t walk straight.
early
e.g. I’ll catch the early train.
fast
e.g. My brother loves fast cars.
hard
e.g. This exercise is really hard.
early
e.g. I woke up early this morning.
fast
e.g. He drives too fast.
hard
e.g. Jim is a workaholic. He works very hard.
late
e.g. I'm watching the late film.
good
e.g. Susan is a good pianist
late
e.g. My train arrived late, as usual.
well
e.g. Susan plays the piano well.
* Note that some adjectives also end in -ly, such as costly, deadly, friendly, lively, lovely, and ugly.
COMMONLY CONFUSED ADVERBS
Adding –ly to some adverbs changes the meaning of these words.
hard: with great effort
e.g. He works hard to earn a living.
"Hard" is an adverb of manner; therefore, it is
used after the verb or the object of a sentence.
late: after the expected, arranged or usual
time
e.g. The bus arrived late.
high: at or to a position or level that is a
long way up from the ground or from the
bottom
e.g. I can't jump any higher.
She never got very high in the company.
near:
1. at a short distance away
e.g. A bomb exploded somewhere near.
2. a short time away in the future
e.g. The exams are drawing near
deep: a long way down from the top or
surface
e.g. The submarine sailed deep under the ice
cap.
hardly: almost not; almost none
e.g. The children were so excited that
they could hardly speak.
"Hardly" has a negative meaning and it is
used in the same place as "not".
lately: recently; in the recent past
e.g. I haven 't been sleeping well lately.
Highly:
1. very
e.g. My mother's skin is highly sensitive.
2. at or to a high standard, level or amount
e.g., Japan has a highly developed
economy.
nearly: almost; not quite; not completely
e.g. I've worked here for nearly two years.
They're nearly always late.
The audience was nearly all men.
deeply: extremely
e.g. He found her comments deeply offensive.
I’m deeply grateful to you.
2
Exercise 1. Read the following sentences, and decide whether the underlined words are
adjectives or adverbs. Then, write ADJ (adjective) or ADV (adverb) next to statement.
1. ____
Tim is drunk, so he can’t walk on a straight line.
2. ____
I can’t drive straight because the road is icy.
3. ____
He came early and waited for the shop to open.
4. ____
The early train leaves just before 6 o’clock.
5. ____
She spends 4 hours studying English. She studies hard.
6. ____
It was a hard race but Chimokel won the race.
7. ____
Chimokel runs fast.
8. ____
Nevin Yanıt is a fast runner.
9. ____
I don’t want to be late for class.
10. ____
My plane landed late, so I missed the meeting.
Exercise 2. Read the sentences below and circle the correct form of the words in brackets.
1. In his book Arctic Light, photographer and author Uri Golman describes the (incredible /
incredibly) beautiful scenery in Greenland.
2. The lagoon which surrounds Bora Bora Island isn’t very (deep / deeply).
3. London offers real (well /good) sights for tourists.
4. It seems (certain / certainly) that the first humans came from Ethiopia in East Africa.
5. All around the world organizations like Animal Aid International work ( hard / hardly) to save
animals that are suffering.
6. Many zoos keep animals in (terrible / terribly) (bad / badly) conditions.
Exercise 3. Fill in the blanks using the correct forms of the given words.
1.
He always does his homework ____________________ (careful).
2.
I haven’t watched a good movie ____________________ (late).
3.
Come ____________________ (quick). We need your help.
4.
You should drive ____________________ (slow) along this road.
5.
This is an ____________ (easy) exercise. I can answer all these questions _____________
(easy).
6.
Helen works very ____________________ (hard) in her new job.
7.
You walk very ____________________ (fast).
8.
They are both ______________ (serious) students and they both study English very
_______________ (serious).
9.
This pillow looks very ____________________ (soft).
10. Helen is a ________________ (beautiful) girl and she is also very good at music. She plays the
violin ________________ (beautiful).
3
Exercise 4. Read the rest of the text on Animal Invaders and fill in the blanks with the
adjective or adverb forms of the words in brackets.
ANIMAL INVADERS
Imagine you run a small food shop in your local neighborhood. Suddenly, a giant supermarket
opens for business opposite your shop. What happens to you and your business?
In the natural world, things are often the same. The red squirrel was living happily in England
when, in the 1880s, many people brought grey squirrels from North America as pets. Since then,
these pets have escaped into the wild. They now eat the same food as the red squirrels. Moreover
they eat it more (1)________________ (quick) than the red squirrels. Consequently, now there aren't
many native squirrels in England and they are in danger of extinction.
There are many invaders that don't cause extinctions, but they destroy
plants and affect the economy (2)________________ (bad). For example,
European red deer are destroying the forests in South America
(3)________________ (severe) because they eat the young trees. Rabbits
have spread from Europe and now eat farmers' crops all over the world.
These kinds of invaders are (4)________________ (constant) causing
problems for humans, unlike the grey squirrels, which
(5)________________ (hard) damage plants and the economy.
Few invaders are (6)________________ (large) land animals; most of them are fish or small animals
like insects. There are thousands of these invaders and these smaller animals often mean that farmers
lose (7)________________ (huge) amounts of money. The apple snail from South America doesn't
cause a (8)________________ (great) damage in Europe, but in southeast Asia it damages the
economy (9)________________ (serious) because it loves to eat rice plants.
There are very few (10)________________ (positive) sides to these animal invasions. However, in
Britain today, one invasion story offers some hope. Chinese mitten crabs first came on ships from
China. These crabs destroy local environments (11)________________ (large) and attack fish in fish
farms. However, in China these crabs are an (12)________________ (expensive) food, so, now,
Britain is selling them back to China. The crabs are travelling on ships again, but this time they are
food, not invaders; and this time they are helping the British economy, not harming it.
Comparative Adjectives and Adverbs:

-r
The comparative form is used to compare two things or people.
e.g. It is hotter there than in this city.
Complete the table by giving more examples of comparative adjectives with your teacher.
-er
-ier
-(double
consonant) er
later
faster
happier
hotter
__________ __________ __________ _____________
__________ __________ __________ _____________
__________ __________ __________ _____________
more + adjective
less
more beautiful
________________
________________
________________
irregular adj.s
bad - worse
good - better
far - farther/further
many/much-more
4

Complete the table by giving more examples of comparative adverbs with your teacher.
more + adverb
less
more beautifully
less slowly
________________
________________
irregular adverbs
badly – worse
well – better
one-syllable adverbs
fast – faster
hard – harder
Using References in Comparisons:
THE ONE / THAT – singular reference
The school in this city is more popular than the school in my hometown.
The school in this city is more popular than the one in my hometown.
The school in this city is more popular than that in my hometown.
THE ONES / THOSE – plural reference
The teachers in this school are better than the teachers in my previous school.
The teachers in this school are better than the ones in my previous school.
The teachers in this school are better than those in my previous school.
Superlative Adjectives and Adverbs:

The superlative form is used to compare more than 2 things or people.
e.g. That’s one of the most important jobs in the world.

Complete the table by giving more examples of superlative adjectives with your teacher.
-st
-est
-iest
the safest
_________
_________
_________
the fastest
_________
_________
_________
the happiest
_________
_________
_________

-(double
consonant) est
the hottest
___________
___________
___________
the most
the least + adj.
the most beautiful
________________
________________
________________
irregular adj.s
bad – the worst
good – the best
much/many – the most
little – the least
far– the farthest/furthest
Complete the table by giving more examples of superlative adverbs with your teacher.
the most + adverb
the least
the most slowly
the least quickly
________________
________________
irregular adverbs
badly – the worst
well – the best
one-syllable adverbs
fast – the fastest
hard – the hardest
5
Using Articles/ Possessive Nouns and Determiners/ Prepositions with Superlatives:
 We use ‘the’ before the superlative structure:
I’m the most intelligent man in the world.
 When we use a possessive noun or adjective before the superlative, ‘the’ is not used:
Istanbul is Turkey’s most crowded city.
(Istanbul is Turkey’s the most crowded city. X)
 The preposition ‘in’ is used with ‘places, organizations, and groups of people’:
That’s one of the most important jobs in the world.
 The preposition ‘of’ is used with ‘a period of time’:
I’ve already had the best years of my life.
 The word ‘member’ is an exception, and it is always used with the preposition ‘of’:
I’m the tallest member of the family.
Exercise 5. Rewrite the following.
1.
His handwriting is worse than mine.
My handwriting ____________________________________________________________.
2.
He has a neater handwriting than Mary.
He writes ________________________________________________________Mary does.
3.
Gold is more valuable than silver.
Silver ____________________________________________________________________.
4.
My English is not as fluent as my sister's.
My sister __________ ___________________________________________________ I do.
5.
It's easy to park a car. However, parking a truck is not so easy.
A car can be parked ___________________________________________________.
6.
I feel confident when I speak on the phone but not in public.
I speak ____________________________________________________________ I do in public.
6
Exercise 6. Below is an article from a newspaper on a survey among drivers. Fill in the blanks
with the given word either as an ADJECTIVE or an ADVERB. BE CAREFUL! You may need
to use them in their SIMPLE, COMPARATIVE or SUPERLATIVE forms. You may also need
to add words where necessary.
Of all the Drivers
Recently, a survey was carried out in order to determine the good and the bad drivers. The survey
included young drivers, old drivers, male drivers and female drivers. Well, which drivers are
(1)___________________ (safe) of all? Here is the answer:
According to the survey, young drivers are very likely to have an accident because they are
(2)___________________ (experienced). Old drivers, on the other hand, have more experience, so
they have fewer accidents.
Gender makes a difference, too. Male drivers have the most number of accidents. That is because
they are (3)___________________ (extreme) aggressive when they are behind the wheel. Moreover,
they (4)___________________ (hard) pay any attention to the road signs and obey the traffic lights.
One finding of the survey was also very (5)___________________ (interesting); passengers also
have an effect on the driver. When young male drivers have their friends in the car, they drive very
(6) ___________________ (bad), but when they have their wife or girlfriend in the car, they drive
(7)___________________ (dangerous) they do when they have friends in the car. In other words,
they are always (8)___________________ (careful) and they obey all the rules. Women, on the other
hand, are not affected by the relationships with their passengers. They always drive
(9)___________________ (good) they normally do when they have people in their car.
COMPARISON WITH (NOT) AS ... AS
In addition to the comparative forms of adjectives and adverbs, it is also possible to make a
comparison with (not) as … as to talk about similarities and differences. The structure can also be
used in the following ways:
AS + adj/adv + AS
NOT AS /SO + adj/adv + AS
(not) AS + many + count.
noun + AS
(not) AS + much +
uncount.noun + AS
We use as + adj/adv + as to
show similarity.
We use not as/so + adj/adv +
as to show difference.
We use as + many/ much +
noun + as to talk about
quantities.
* The Titanic was as big as her older sister
Olympic.
* The Titanic was decorated as beautifully
as the Olympic.
* The Olympic wasn’t as impressive as
the Titanic.
* The radio operators on the Titanic
didn’t take the warnings as seriously
as the ones in the Amerika and the
Mesaba.
* There weren’t as many lifeboats as
people needed.
* The construction of the Titanic took as
much time as the construction of the
Olympic.
7
Exercise 7. Complete the sentences using the clues given in parentheses without changing the
meaning.
1.
Crisps are not as nutritious as nuts. (less)
Crisps are _______________________________________ nuts.
2.
Istanbul is more expensive than Ankara. (as…as)
Ankara _______________________________________ .
3.
Fernandez is the most skillful player in the team. (as…as)
No one else in the team _______________________________________.
4.
John and Mary have received the same number of job offers. (many)
Mary has received _______________________________________ John.
5.
The cinema was nearer than we thought. (far)
The cinema _______________________________________ we thought.
6.
This building is older than the theatre. (so…as)
The theatre _______________________________________ this building.
7.
No one plays the piano as well as Fazıl Say. (better)
Fazıl Say _______________________________________anyone else.
8.
We have got the same number of brothers. (many)
I’ve got _______________________________________.
9.
Airships aren’t as dangerous as they used to be. (than)
Airships _______________________________________ they used to be.
10. Today I feel happier than ever. (as…as)
I have never _______________________________________ today.
8