Adjectives and Adverbs
Sentence Skills: A Workbook for
Writers, Form A
John Langan
©2002 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc
Adjectives and Adverbs
Adjectives
• Adjectives describe nouns or
pronouns.
– My neighbor is a successful private
investigator. ( The adjective
successful describes the noun unit
private investigator.)
Sentence Skills, Form A, 7E
©2002 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
Adjectives and Adverbs
Adjectives
• Adjectives are used to compare.
– For most short adjectives, we add -ER
when comparing two things, -EST
when comparing three or more things.
• His company is bigger than the firm
in Haddon Hills. The one in New
York City is the biggest.
Sentence Skills, Form A, 7E
©2002 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
Adjectives and Adverbs
Adjectives
• For adjectives of two or more
syllables, we add more when
comparing two things and most when
comparing three or more things.
Mr. Murphy is more educated than his
accountant, but his wife is the most
educated person in the group.
Sentence Skills, Form A, 7E
©2002 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
Adjectives and Adverbs
Two Mistakes to Avoid
1. Be careful that you do not use both -er ending
AND more or both -est ending AND most.
• INCORRECT:
The detective is
the most
smartest person
who works with
the agency.
Sentence Skills, Form A, 7E
• CORRECT:
The detective is
the smartest
person who
works with the
agency.
©2002 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
Adjectives and Adverbs
Two Mistakes to Avoid
2. Do not make mistakes with irregulars.
Comparative (two)
Bad
Worse
Superlative
(three or more)
Worst
Good, well
Better
Best
Little
Less
Least
Much
More
most
Sentence Skills, Form A, 7E
©2002 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
Adjectives and Adverbs
ADVERBS
• Adverbs describe verbs, other
adjectives, or other adverbs. Adverbs
usually end in -ly.
The private investigator acts quickly when he
is hired.
The absolutely priceless statue has
disappeared. (The adverb describes the adjective
priceless.)
Sentence Skills, Form A, 7E
©2002 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
Adjectives and Adverbs
ADVERBS
1. A common mistake is to use an adjective
instead of an adverb with a verb.
• INCORRECT:
• CORRECT:
The behavior of the
The behavior of the
wrongfully accused boy
wrongfully accused boy
changed real sudden
changed suddenly...
when the boy found a
private investigator…. Three mistakes to avoid with
adjectives and adverbs.
Sentence Skills, Form A, 7E
©2002 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
Adjectives and Adverbs
ADVERBS
2. Do not confuse good and well. The word good is
an adjective; it describes nouns. The word well is an adverb.
Detective Price did a good job on the
reports. ( Good describes the noun job.)
She phrased the questions well. (Well is
an adverb describing the verb phrased.)
Sentence Skills, Form A, 7E
©2002 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
Adjectives and Adverbs
ADVERBS
3. Do not use a noun as an adjective.
• CORRECT:
• NOT:
Technological
Technology
advancements
advancements
make it easier to make it easier to
investigate
investigate
fraud.
fraud.
Sentence Skills, Form A, 7E
©2002 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
Adjectives and Adverbs
Practice Exercises
Correct each of the following sentences.
• Although Sean does
not speak Spanish too
good, he went to visit
Costa Rica with his
high school classmates.
Sentence Skills, Form A, 7E
I speak
Spanish
well!
©2002 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
Adjectives and Adverbs
Practice Exercises
Correct each of the following sentences. ...how
• He was surprised to
see how quick his
Spanish improved
while he was visiting
Central America.
Sentence Skills, Form A, 7E
quickly my
Spanish...
©2002 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
Adjectives and Adverbs
Practice Exercises
Correct each of the following sentences.
• One day Sean and
his classmates rode
horses to a
breathtaking
beautiful waterfall.
Sentence Skills, Form A, 7E
breathtakingly
©2002 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
Adjectives and Adverbs
Practice Exercises
Correct each of the following sentences.
• Since Sean was
the taller of the six
boys on the trip,
he often attracted
attention.
Sentence Skills, Form A, 7E
tallest
©2002 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
Adjectives and Adverbs
Practice Exercises
Correct each of the following sentences.
• The students were
good hikers, so they
walked to view an
active volcano.
Sentence Skills, Form A, 7E
correct
©2002 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
Adjectives and Adverbs
Practice Exercises
Correct each of the following sentences.
• The people they
met on the
Pacific coast
swam well in the
ocean.
Sentence Skills, Form A, 7E
correct
©2002 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
Adjectives and Adverbs
Practice Exercises
Correct each of the following sentences.
• There are over 400
species of birds to see
in Costa Rica, and the
more interesting ones
to photograph are the
toucans.
Sentence Skills, Form A, 7E
most
interesting
©2002 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
Adjectives and Adverbs
Practice Exercises
Correct each of the following sentences.
• The most
biggest spiders
Sean has ever
seen were in
Costa Rica.
Sentence Skills, Form A, 7E
delete
“most”
©2002 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
Adjectives and Adverbs
Practice Exercises
Correct each of the following sentences.
• One biology
phenomenon was
the walking tree
which moves five to
eight inches per
year.
Sentence Skills, Form A, 7E
biological
phenomenon
©2002 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
Adjectives and Adverbs
Practice Exercises
Correct each of the following sentences.
• The students rode
on an aerial tram
that moved slow
over the canopy of
the rain forest.
Sentence Skills, Form A, 7E
moved
slowly
©2002 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.