Prentice Hall
Writing and Grammar
Chapter 16
Adjectives and Adverbs
Adjectives
• An adjective is a word that describes
something: a noun or pronoun.
• It answers the following questions:
– What Kind?  expensive toys, colorful caps
– Which One?  this man, these paddles
– How Many? How Much?  few cars, many people
Adjectives and Placement
• Adjectives usually come before the nouns they
modify.
– Kevin owns three arcades.
– Large, colorful graphics covered the screen.
• Adjectives can come after nouns, but this
order is less common.
– Kevin’s arcades are busy.
– Graphics, large and colorful, covered the screen.
Articles
• The is the definite article. It points to a specific
person, place, or thing.
• A and an are indefinite articles. They point to any
member of a group of similar people, places, or
things.
• There are only three articles in our language:
– A
– An
– The
Look at the articles:
• A white dog walked down the path.
• Several of the puppies growled ferociously.
• Usually an elephant doesn’t like mice!
Proper Adjectives
• A proper adjective is a proper noun used as an
adjective or is an adjective formed from a
proper noun. It will always be capitalized.
I used to live in Baltimore, Maryland. The
Baltimore newspaper was terrific!
If it rains in April, the old adage of “April
showers bring May flowers!” comes to mind.
Look at the proper adjectives:
• Table soccer, or foosball, began as a German
game.
• In European countries, it was a popular arcade
game.
• American business people imported the idea.
• An Oklahoma city hosted one of the first
championship matches.
• Croquet is a French word.
Pronouns as Adjectives /
Possessive Adjectives
• A personal pronoun can be used as an adjective if
it modifies a noun.
• A personal pronoun shows possession or
ownership of something and can also be called
possessive adjectives.
• The personal pronouns / possessive adjectives
are:
my
your
our
their
his
her
its
Look at personal pronouns:
• All students can leave their games here.
(Students is the antecedent of their, and their is showing possession of
games.
• Ben predicted his score in the game.
(Ben is the antecedent of his, and his is showing possession of score.)
• The club wants to increase its membership.
(Club is the antecedent of its, and its is showing possession of
membership.)
Demonstrative Adjectives
• When any of the four demonstrative
pronouns appear directly before the noun it
refers to, it becomes a demonstrative adjective.
• There are four demonstrative adjectives:
This and these refer to close items.
That and those refer to far away items.
Look at the demonstrative
adjectives:
•
•
•
•
•
That dog is mine.
Those hamburgers look great!
Those champions have great aim!
These dates will be difficult to keep open.
This book is about ghosts.
Demonstrative Pronouns /
Demonstrative Adjectives
• That is a difficult game.
(That is used as a pronoun. The word it refers to, game, is on the other
side of the verb.)
• That game is difficult.
(That is used as an adjective. It is referring to the noun game.)
• Try these.
(These is used as a pronoun. It isn’t referring to any noun or pronoun.)
• These darts are nicely balanced.
(These is used as an adjective. It is referring to the noun darts.)
• This is he.
(This is used as a pronoun. The word it refers to, he, is on the other side
of the verb.)
Adverbs
• An adverb is a word that modifies a verb, and
adjective, or another adverb.
Where?  He lives nearby.
I looked inside.
When?  Janice played yesterday.
It arrived early.
In What Way?  The musician performed well.
The dancers moved gracefully.
To What Extent?  Amy fully agrees with me.
I am totally opposed to it.
Examples of Adverbs Modifying:
• Adverb Modifying a Verb:
– The mother tenderly moved the pup.
• Adverb Modifying an Adjective:
– A very kind woman helped me.
• Adverb Modifying another Adverb:
– The male wolves hunt extremely well.
Adjective or Adverb?
• They turned right when they reached the tree.
(Adverb  right modifies turned, a verb.)
• This is the right spot to view the wolves safely.
(Adjective  right modifies spot, a noun.)
• The pack stopped short outside the forest.
(Adverb  short modifies stopped, a verb.)
• The pack made a short stop outside the forest.
(Adjective  short modifies stop, a noun.)