ADJECTIVE/ ADVERB

What is an adjective? When do you have to use an adverb?  Which adjectives are irregular? And which rules are there for comparison of adjectives and adverbs? Please choose which rules you want to read more about:

> adjective or adverb

> how to form adverbs (+ irregular adverbs)

> comparison of adjectives & adverbs

> "so" & "such"

> adjectives with "-ing" or "-ed"

> downloadable grammar sheets (PDF)

 

>> Test yourself! Go to the exercises...

 

ADJECTIVES

Adjectives are used to describe persons, animals, things and places (= nouns). They say how someone or something is.

- Paula is beautiful. Paula is a beautiful girl.
- My computer is new. I have a new computer.
- Dogs are clever. Dogs are clever animals.

 

ADVERBS OF MANNER

Adverbs of Manner are used to describe actions. They say how something is done; how somebody does something.

- Alicia sings beautifully. (She sings in a beautiful way/manner.)
- The wind blows strongly. (It blows in a strong way/manner.)

 

ADVERBS OF DEGREE

Adverbs of Degree (as opposed to Adverbs of Manner) are not used to describe actions. They describe other adjectives or adverbs. They are used to make a statement stronger or weaker.

stronger:
- Linda is absolutely wonderful. (How wonderful is she? > Absolutely wonderful.)
- We ran really quickly. (How quickly did we run? > Really quickly.)

weaker:
- The book is hardly interesting. (How interesting is it? > Hardly interesting.

ADJECTIVE OR ADVERB?

Adjectives describe:

- things
- persons
- animals
- places
(= nouns)

 

Adverbs describe:

- other adverbs, adjectives, verbs or complete sentences

 

"HOW IS IT DONE?"

"HOW DOES SHE/ HE DO IT?"

"HOW BEAUTIFUL/ BORING/ ... IS IT?"

 

Be careful when the verb of a sentence is "look", "taste" or "smell"!

 

She looks happy. (She is happy.)

The soup tastes good. (It is good.)

The parfume smells sweet. (It is sweet.)

She looked at us angrily.

He tasted the drink carefully.

The dog smelled at the bag carefully.

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HOW TO FORM ADVERBS:

Normally, adverbs are formed by adding "ly" at the end of an adjective.

- quick > quickly
- patient > patiently
- beautiful > beautifully

Exceptions:
Some adverbs are irregular!

- good > well
- fast > fast
- loud > loud or loudly

- friendly > in a friendly way

In some cases, adding "ly" to an adjective changes the original meaning of the word.

- hard (1 with effort; 2 opposite of soft)
  1 He tried hard to catch the ball.
2 She fell hard on the ground.

- near (not far away)
  She lives near the park.

- high (opposite of low)
  They threw the ball high up in the air.

- late (opposite of early)
  We came a bit late.

- wide (opposite of narrow)
  She opened her arms wide.

- hardly (scarcely; almost not)
  I could hardly sleep last night.

- nearly (almost)
  I nearly slipped on the ice.

- highly (very; extremely)
  Lisa Simpson is highly intelligent.

- lately (recently)
  We have learned a lot lately.

- widely (generally)
  He is widely seen as a gangster.

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COMPARISON OF ADJECTIVES

In order to compare adjectives, you must distinguish between three forms of adjectives:

- positive           (1st form)
- comparative   (2nd form)
- superlative      (3rd form)

There are two ways to form the comparative and the superlative of adjectives.

For all adjectives with one syllable and adjectives with two syllables which end in 'y', 'le', 'ow' and 'er' you must add 'er' and 'est' at the end of the positive form of the adjective to form the comparative and the superlative. In some cases, there are minor changes in spelling (e.g. 'y' becomes 'ier' and 'iest'; 't' or 'p' becomes 'tt' or 'pp'):

fast - faster - fastest
narrow - narrower - narrowest

friendly - friendlier - friendliest
hot - hotter - hottest
hip - hipper - hippest

For all other adjectives with two or more syllables you must put "more" and "most" before the positive form of the adjective to form the comparative or the superlative:

boring - more boring - most boring
beautiful - more beautiful - most beautiful

Additionally, there are some adjectives with irregular comparatives and superlatives:

good - better - best
bad - worse - worst

many - more - most
much - more - most

little - less - least               (used for amounts; opposite of much)
little - smaller - smallest   (used for size; opposite of big)

far - farther - farthest        (used to describe a distance; oppostite of near)
far - further - furthest        (used to refer to time, sequence or amount; ~more)

old - older - oldest            (general)
old - elder - eldest            (for relatives)

as ... as

To express that two persons/things/... are the same, you use "as ... as" and the positive (1st) form of the adjective:

- My sister is as old as your sister.
- A car is as fast as a motorbike.
- London is as beautiful as Rome.

not as ... as

To express that two persons/things/... are not the same, you use "not as ... as" and the positive form of the adjective:

- My sister is not as old as my mother.
- A car is not as fast as an airplane.
- London is not as big as New York.

You can also use "not so ... as" - however, this is not always considered to be grammatically correct!

- Mexico is not so big as China.

more ... than / 'comparative' (2nd form) + than

To express that one of two persons/things/... is not the same as the other, you use "more ... than" or the comparative form of the adjective + "than":

- My sister is more intelligent than my brother.
- A car is faster than a bike.
- Linda is happier than Jenny.

the most ... / the + superlative (3rd form)

To express that someone/something is different from (better/worse/bigger... than) all the others, you use "the most ..." or "the" + the superlative:

- My girlfriend is the most beautiful girl in the world.
- His car is the fastest car of all.
- Linda is the best in our class.

 

COMPARISON OF ADVERBS

As with adjectives, you must distinguish between three forms of adverbs:

- positive           (1st form)
- comparative   (2nd form)
- superlative      (3rd form)

However, the comparative and superlative of all adverbs are formed with "more" and "most":

sadly - more sadly - most sadly
beautifully - more beautifully - most beautifully

There are also some adverbs with irregular comparatives and superlatives:

well - better - best
fast - faster - fastest
in a friendly way - in a friendlier way - in the most friendly way

All other rules concerning the comparison of adverbs are the same as for adjectives.

 

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"SO" & "SUCH"

The words "so" and "such" can be used in combination with adjectives or adverbs to emphasize a statement.

"so" is always used before an adjective or an adverb:

- You are so beautiful.
- She was walking so slowly.

"such a" + adjective / "such an" + adjective is used before a person/thing ... (noun):

- He is such an arrogant person.
- This is such a funny game.
- London is such a beautiful city.

 

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ADJECTIVES WITH "-ING" OR "-ED"

Some adjectives can be formed by adding the suffix "-ing" or "-ed" to a verb.

"-ing" describes how someone/something is, i.e. what he/she/it does or which effect he/she/it causes:

- You are boring.                 (You bore other people; the effect is that others fall asleep)
- The book is interesting.  (The book interests others; the effect is that others like it)

"-ed" describes how someone feels or what has been done to someone/ something:

- He is bored.                  (He feels bored.)
- The drink is spiked.      (It has been spiked.)

With irregular verbs, the irregular 3rd form (past participle) is used instead of "-er":

- The house is sold.       (It has been sold.)

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DOWNLOADABLE GRAMMAR SHEETS (PDF)

- adjective or adverb     [in German!]

- adjectives - adverbs of manner - adverbs of degree

- adjectives - adverbs of manner - adverbs of degree (with exercises)    [in German!]

- adjectives and adverbs - exceptions     [in German!]

The English Page offers numerous resources for learners of English as a Second Language (ESL).

On this site (www.englishpage.de.vu or englishpage.iris-solutions.org) learners can find all the Grammar Rules and explanations in English, German and Spanish, as well as a great variety of exercises to train and test their Grammar skills: All English tenses (Present Tense Simple, Present Tense Progressive, Past Tense Simple, Past Tense Progressive, Present Perfect Tenses, Past Perfect Tenses, Future Tenses - will & going to future, Mixed tenses); Active or Passive, Indirect Speech (= Reported Speech), Conditionals (if-sentences), Relative Clauses and Contact Clauses, Adjective or Adverb, some - any and other determiners, Gerund or Infinitive, rules for Questions and Negation, Modal Verbs (can, may, must, shall, might...) and of course Irregular Verbs, as well as linking words and other grammar topics are all included in the Grammar section! Start learning English TODAY! Test your knowledge of ESL on downloadable grammar exercise sheets in PDF format and revise the rules!