Adjectives and Adverbs

What is an adjective? Adjectives are words that describe nouns or pronouns. They may come before the word they describe (That is a cute puppy.) or they may follow the word they describe (That puppy is cute.) Adjectives modify nouns or pronouns. To modify means to change in some way.

Questions Adjectives Answer Which one? What kind? How many?

What kind? "I ate a meal." Meal is a noun. We don't know what kind of meal; all we know is that someone ate a meal. "I ate an enormous lunch." Lunch is a noun, and enormous is an adjective that modifies it. It tells us what kind of meal the person ate.

Which one? "The tall girl is riding a new bike." Tall tells us which girl we're talking about.

How many? "Fifteen students passed the midterm exam; twelve students passed the final exam." Fifteen and twelve both tell us how many students passed.

What is an adverb? Adverbs are words that modify adjectives, verbs, and other adverbs. The easiest adverbs to recognize are those that end in -ly. Some adjectives end with -ly also but remember that adjectives can modify only nouns and pronouns.

Questions Adverbs Answer When? (now, later, yesterday) Where?(there, up, ahead) Why?(now, later, soon) How?(suddenly, carefully, sadly) To what extent? (completely, totally, fully) Under what condition? (absolutely, amiably, irrationally)

The most common question that adverbs answer is how. "She sang beautifully." Beautifully is an adverb that modifies sang. It tells us how she sang. "That woman is extremely nice." Nice is an adjective that modifies the noun woman. Extremely is an adverb that modifies nice; it tells us how nice she is. How nice is she? She's extremely nice.

– Explorers eagerly chase adventure. Eagerly is an adverb because it is modifying the verb, chase. – Some explorers visit amazingly beautiful places. Amazingly is an adverb because it is modifying the adjective, beautiful. – Others quite bravely explore the unknown- space. Quite is an adverb because it is modifying the adverb, bravely, which is modifying the verb explore.

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