Lesson 4. Adjectives and adverbs

Do you always know whether to use happy or happily, good or well, prettier or more pretty? Do you know the differences in form and use between adjectives and adverbs, and between comparative and superlative forms? This Lesson will help you when you wonder whether to use an -er ending or the word more to make a comparison. It will help you when you are not sure where to position adjectives and adverbs in a sentence.

A. Adjectives

1. Use adjectives to modify nouns or pronouns.

I like a tidy room. I keep my room tidy. It is tidy.

2. Adjectives have no plural form. Use the same form with singular or plural nouns.

a different story, some different stories

3. Always use a capital letter with an adjective describing nationality.

a Turkish restaurant, a Korean wedding

4. The -ing form of the verb and the past participle form can be used as adjectives.

an exciting movie The movie is exciting.

аn educated man That man is educated.

5. With a compound adjective that contains a number, use hyphens and a singular form.

They sent their nephew a twenty-dollar bill. She has a six-year-old son.

6. Compound adjectives of physical description use the -ed form:

left-handed, bow-legged, broad-shouldered dark-haired

Some adjectives are regularly used with prepositions.

I am afraid of ghosts. I confess that I am proud of winning the race.

Whenever you come across an adjective + preposition structure in your reading, make a note of the preposition that goes with the adjective and write them both down.

B. Position of Adjectives in a Series

Adjectives in a series tend to occur in a certain order, though there are frequent exceptions. In the following chart, you will see that opinion adjectives come before physical-description adjectives that come before nationality adjectives, and so on.

They demolished three beautiful old houses.

I sold my long blue silk evening gown.

We ate a delicious French meal.

Use a comma only between opinion adjectives.

He wrote a well organized, insightful paper.

C. Adverbs

1. Many adverbs are formed by adding -ly to an adjective. Use an ly adverb to modify a verb, adjective, or a clause.

She speaks quietly. The suit he wore was quietly tasteful. Quietly, she made her way across the room.

2. Adding -ly to an adjective to create an adverb may also create a change in spelling, as in the following examples.

A few adjectives already end in ly, far example, friendly, lovely, lively, fatherly.

For an adverbial sense, use the adjective in the phrase “in a… way."

She spoke to me in a friendly way.

3. Not all adverbs are derived from adjectives. Here are some common adverbs that indicate place or time: here, (here, nowhere, anywhere, somewhere, already, soon, now, then.

4. Some adverbs, called “adverbs of frequency” tell how often or regularly an action occurs; never, rarely, seldom, sometimes, occasionally, often, always and also once a week, twice a month, etc.

5. Adverbs modify not only verbs. They are also often used to modify an adjective or another adverb. Here are a few of the more frequent such adverbs; very, extremely terribly, fairly, somewhat, too, almost, quite. Bill Gates is very rich. He runs his company quite efficiently.

Some adverbs are used almost exclusively with certain adjectives.

You should learn and use these adjective-adverb combinations. A good dictionary should be able to give you this information.

Task 1. Insert the appropriate adjective or adverb in the blanks in the following sentences.

1. A servant thought that Charles Darwin was ___ (idle/idly) because he stared at an anthill for an hour.

2. Darwin wanted to observe every creature in ___ (minute/ minutely) detail.

3. He studied ants and turtles ___ (particular/particularly) ___ (close/closely).

4. Darwin always held a ____ (powerful/powerfully) affection for family.

5. He wanted to observe ___ (accurate/accurately) human beings' emotions.

6. Darwin argued that love, affection, morality, and sympathy had ___ (gradual/gradually) developed from our primate.

7. Even baboons can feel ___ (evil, evilly) passions.

8. When corroding the proofs for his book The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Lower Animals, Darwin ___(emphatic/emphatically) deleted (he word "lower."

Tricky Adjective and Adverb Forms

1. Some adverbs do not add -ly to the adjective form.

They seem to be good writers. They write well.

He is a fast swimmer. He swims fast

She is a hard worker. She works hard.

Take care with hard and hardly. The adverb farm hardly does exist, but it is not associated with the adjective hard and it has negative connotations, It means

’scarcely' or '‘almost not at all.”

He hardly ever offers to help.

I’d hardly describe her looks as beautiful!

2. After linking verbs such as feel, seem, and income, use an adjective.

The teachers feel bad.

Some verbs (such as appear, look, see, smell, taste) can be used as either linking verbs or action verbs.

She looked sad when she heard the news, look – linking verb)

She looked sadly around the room, (look – action verb)

Never place an adverb between a verb and the direct object. The following sentence is incorrect in English.

The teacher reviewed systematically the lenses.

He is certainly very intelligent/ he is very intelligent, certainly

3. Another type of adverb that can move around in the sentence is one that modifies the whole sentence, for example, fortunately, actually, obviously, certainly, and recently.

Certainly, he is very intelligent.

He is certainly very intelligent.

He is very intelligent, certailnly.

4. The adverb only also has the ability to move around in the sentence, but its position changes the meaning of the sentence.

In the following sentence – the context of which is a bus accident – the word only can be inserted at each one of the points (1-6) indicated. Except for when it appears at points 4 and 6. the position of only changes the meaning of the sentence. Can you work out the fixe different meanings of this sentence, depending on the position of only?

(1) The (2) passenger (3) hint (4) his (5) arm (6).

5. Many adverbs of frequency (such as always, sometimes, often, seldom, usually, frequently) modify the whole sentence and not just the verb. They usually occur in the middle position in a sentence after the subject.

He always behaves tactfully, (before a main verb)

He has always spoken tactfully to his boss, (after the first auxiliary verb)

He is always tactful, (after be as the main verb)

6. Adverbial phrases are best placed at the end of a sentence.

She approached me in a very friendly manner.

My friend works out in the gym three times a week.

Task 2. Use an insertion mark (_?) to indicate where to place the given adverb in the sentence.

Example: Tom Hanks makes political speeches, (sometimes)

Answer: Tom Hanks sometimes makes political speeches.

1. Tom Hanks plays romantic roles, (frequently)

2. He acts very well, (usually)

3. He has played a villain a few times, (only)

4. He prepares for each role, (apparently, with a great deal of care)

5. In the film Castaway, he managed to alter his body, (drastically)

6. He has won an Oscar twice even though he has been nominated many times, (only)

7. He was grateful to receive the Oscar for Best Actor two years in a row – 1994 and 1995. (extremely)

8. Hanks accepts the Oscar, (always, graciously)

Comparisons

1. To form comparative and superlative forms of most one-syllabic adjectives, add -er and -est endings.

cool cooler coolest

warm warmer warmest

2. Comparative forms are usually followed by the word than, Superlative forms are almost always preceded by the word the.

In Brazil, January is warmer than July.

In Canada, July is the warmest month.

One-syllable adjectives ending In a single vowel + a single consonant double the consonant when adding the -er and -est endings,

big bigger biggest

hot hotter hottest

3. To form comparative and superlative forms of most adjectives of more than one syllable, use more and most (or less and least).

famous more famous most famous

efficient less efficient least efficient

Two-syllable adjectives ending in -y or -le are the exception to this rule- For Inject Ives ending in -y_t change the у to / and add the -er or -est ending. For adjectives ending in -ie, just add r or st to the ending.

pretty prettier prettiest

simple simpler simplest

Do not use both the -er form and more or both the -esf form and most.

My car is more faster than yours.

My car is the most fastest on the block.

To form the comparative and superlative forms of ly adverbs, use more and most (or less and least).

carefully more carefully most carefully.

4. Some adjectives and adverbs have irregular forms for the comparative and superlative: good/ well -better- best bad/badly – worse – worst

Task 3. Choose the correct words in italics. If both options are correct, choose both.

1. The colour scheme for the party is red orange/ red and orange.

2. Dieter had always wanted an expensive German/ a German expensive sports car.

3. The old cottage has brick and stone/ brick stone walls and a charming thatched roof.

4. It was a challenging, difficult, demanding/ difficult and demanding course.

5. We found the hotel to be a welcome though/ and pricey haven from the noise and confusion of the surrounding streets.

6. Many of these stone large/ large stone structures date from the early Bronze Age.

7. We can seat up to ten people at our oval and mahogany/ oval mahogany dining table.

8. I'm fed up with these mindless, boring and sentimental/ boring, sentimental TV talent shows.

9. We will never submit to their outrageous yet/ and unreasonable demands.

10. Nineteenth-century novels tend to be full of long, detailed/ long and detailed descriptive passages.

Task 4. Complete the sentences, using suitable comparative and superlative forms of the adjectives in the box. Add than or the if necessary, as in the example.

1. And now we come to the award for ...................... actor in a leading role.

2. It's been raining non-stop. I think this will be ...................July on record!

3. The authenticity of dialogue and setting often makes low-budget films seem the somewhat artificial version of reality in Hollywood movies.

4. In medieval times people rarely travelled far. For most peasants, ............ destination would be the local market town.

5. This skirt's much too tight on the hips. I need something with a .............. fit.

6. The pianist was awful! I think that's ..................... performance I've ever heard.

7. I don't mind the Mediterranean summer because it's a ............... heat than you find in the tropics.

8. I like all Mozart's operas but I think Don Giovanni is the one I am ......... on.

9. We've inherited two paintings. Of the two, I'd say the landscape is ............. .

10. I know all theft is wrong, but don't you agree that it's .............. to steal from an individual than from a company?

11. ___ I've ever been was when Joe and I were flying over the Himalayas and we hit a storm; it was absolutely petrifying.

12. That play was so tedious. I was ___ watching that than I was when I spent three hours trapped in that lift last year!

Task 5. Underline the best word.

1. Don't cat the fish. It smells bad/badly.

2. It's a two-hours / Two-hour train journey from here lo Manchester.

3. I stumbled across man asleep/ sleeping man іn the doorway,

4. I hey ran home through the rain, and when they arrived were sheer/soaking wet.

5. As fаr as Maria was concerned, it was a losing /lost opportunity.

6. Tom opened the door and found a very large / enormous parcel on the doorstep.

7. I read that article, but I thought it was mere/complete rubbish!

8. The smell of baking-fresh /freshly bаked bread made me feel hungry,

9. That suitcase looks really heavy/heavily.

10. What's the matter with you? You look worrying/ worried.

Task 6. Complete the text with a word from the list in each gap.

aware be able clear hopeful impossible possible

surprised unusual unwilling unwise

Science news

Scientists carrying out research in swamps in Sumatra have discovered the world's smallest fish. The female is only 7.9 mm. It was thought to be a ___ that any living organism should survive in the swamps, as the water is extremely acidic. It is also very low in minerals and this is thought to explain why it is b ___ for larger species to develop. Researchers examining satellite data from the Antarctic have been с ___ to find that there are large lakes and rivers beneath the ice sheets. 'It's d ___ that Antarctic ice is moving much faster than we supposed,” said Professor Susan Graham from the Antarctic Survey. She was e ___ to say whether this would mean a more rapid rise in sea levels due to melting ice. 'It's f ___ to predict at this stage exactly what this discovery means, but it makes us g ___ . that Antarctic ice could be melting faster than we had thought'. Scientists at NASA believe that they may h ___ to detect earthquake from space before they happen. It' I ___ to monitor the build up of energy in the Earth's crust, and scientists are j ___ that this Information can be interpreted by computer programs which will give approximate predictions of future quakes.

(Grammar Troublespots:114)

Task 7. Complete the sentence with one word in each gap.

1. Budapest is one of the ___ beautiful cities in the world.

2. You haven't really worked hard ___ to get a higher mark.

3. The more exercise you take, the ___ you will feel.

4. Quite honestly, I don’t think this is as hard an examination ___ it used to be.

5. This is ___ the most beautiful beach in the Mediterranean. Don't you think so?

6. I've done just ___ as much shopping as anyone can do in one day!

7. The film was every ___ as entertaining as I expected it to be.

8. Most of Winterson's books are good, but I think this one is the best of ___all.

9. The boat drifted ___and no one noticed Sue had fallen into the sea.

10. The hotel was a ___ more expensive than I expected, so I looked for a cheaper one.

11. This crossword puzzle isn't quite as easy ___ I thought it was.

12. Helen's paintings were far and ___ the best in the exhibition.

Home assignment: Academic Vocabulary in Use Units 4, 5.