 Adjectives: modify nouns and pronouns
 They tell which, how many, and what kind of the noun or
pronoun
 Examples
 The girl wears a beautiful red cape.
 The hairy and scary wolf tries to eat her.
 Some words that are actually other parts of speech can
function as adjectives:
 Possessive nouns
 The girl’s cape is red.
 Articles
 The wolf is scary.
 Nouns
 Could you put this back on the book shelf?
 Verbs in the 2nd and 4th parts
 The scared girl ran away.
 The howling wolf chased after her.
 Before noun or pronoun (most common)
 The hairy and scary wolf chased after the girl.
 After noun or pronoun (use commas)
 The wolf, hairy and scary, chased after the girl.
 Hairy and scary, the wolf chased after the girl.
 In the predicate (follows a linking verb and describes the
subject)
 The wolf was hairy and scary as he chased after the girl.
 The wolf is hairy and scary.
 The wolf became scary when he started chasing the girl.
 3 degrees of comparison - positive (basic form),
comparative, and superlative – depending on how many
items are being compared
Degree
Example
Positive (Basic form):
Makes no comparison
That game is great.
Comparative:
Compares two
That game is greater than the other one.
Superlative:
Compares three or
more
This game is greatest of them all.
Adjectives
Positive
Comparative
Superlative
1 syllable
Hot
Hotter
Hottest
2 syllables
Famous
Pretty
More famous
Prettier
Most famous
Prettiest
3+ syllables
Reliable
More reliable
Most reliable
 Many, more, most  little, less, least
 Countable items: fewer & many
 Uncountable items: less & much
 Adverbs: modify verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs
 Tell how, when, where, and to what extent
 HOW: The girl sat down slowly.
 WHEN: I’ll be leaving soon.
 WHERE: I can’t find my book anywhere.
 TO WHAT EXTENT: I am rather excited about this lesson.
 When an adverb modifies a verb:
 I spent the whole day reading the book carefully.
 When an adverb modifies an adjective:
 She was very sad after reading the book.
 When an adverb modifies another adverb:
 My grandmother sat down quite slowly.
At the very beginning of a sentence, set off by a comma
Ex: Gingerly, my grandmother sat down.
Right before the verb:
Ex: My grandmother gingerly sat down.
Right after the verb:
Ex: My grandmother sat down gingerly.
almost
even
nearly
merely
hardly
just
only
scarcely
Why?
 Moving some adverbs can change their function and
the meaning of the sentence:
 Only Romeo enjoyed the party.
 Function: an adjective that modifies Romeo
 Meaning: No one but Romeo enjoyed the party
 Romeo only enjoyed the party.
 Function: an adverb that modifies enjoy
 Meaning: Romeo has enjoyed other things, especially
the party
 Romeo enjoyed only the party.
 Function: an adverb that modifies enjoy
 Meaning: The party is the only thing Romeo enjoyed
 Be careful not to confuse your readers or convey an
unintended meaning when using modifiers
 Confusing: Humbly Harry Potter accepts Voldemort’s
apology.
 Humbly seems to be modifying Harry Potter
 Not confusing: Harry Potter humbly accepts Voldemort’s
apology
 Humbly is clearly modifying accepts
 One meaning: Ron nearly missed the whole movie.
 Ron almost did not see the whole movie
 Another meaning: Ron missed nearly the whole movie.
 Ron missed most of the movie
 Try together: p. 202 #7-11
 Try alone: p. 202-03 #12-21
Homework: NY ELA Review book
- Read and answer all questions for “Self-Made Man”
- Next to the answer that you choose, write a phrase
justifying your choice of answer
 3 degrees of comparison - positive (basic form),
comparative, and superlative – depending on how many
items are being compared
Degree
Example
Positive (Basic form):
Makes no comparison
Cars travel fast.
Comparative:
Compares two
Trains travel faster than cars.
Superlative:
Compares three or
more
Planes travel fastest of all.
Adverb
Positive
Comparative
Superlative
1 syllable
Well
Better
Best
2 or more
syllables
Early
Clearly
Earlier
More clearly
Earliest
Most clearly
Positive
Comparative
Superlative
Well
Better
Best
Badly
Worse
Worst
Much
More
Most
Far
Farther
Farthest
Far
Further
Furthest
Little
Less
Least
*Farther vs. Further
- Farther/farthest = instances of physical distance
> I can throw the football farther than you
- Further/furthest = all other instances (metaphorical
distance)
> I want to research this topic a bit further.
 Negative = word that means “no” or “not”
 “Not” is often used as an adverb
 Other negatives: hardly, never, nowhere, barely, scarcely
 Double negative = incorrect use of two negative words
to express one negative idea
Negative
Neither
Never
Nobody
None
No one
Nothing
Nowhere
Positive
 Incorrect: I can’t hardly wait.
 Correct:
 Incorrect: Dude, I can’t find my car nowhere.
 Correct:
 Incorrect: Won’t nobody help me?
 Correct:
 Incorrect: There’s barely nobody here.
 Correct:
 Choose which adjective or adverb correctly completes
the sentence
1. “I hope I did (GOOD/WELL) on my English test!”
2. “That cosmic brownie was really (GOOD/WELL)!”
3. “That cookie was cooked really (GOOD/WELL)!”
 Choose which adjective or adverb correctly completes
the sentence
1. “I felt (BAD/BADLY) for Carl when Lori died”
2. “Shane didn’t feel (BAD/BADLY) for what he did”
3. “Room 207 smelled really (GOOD/WELL)”
– said Nobody Ever
 Choose which adjective or adverb correctly completes
the sentence
1. “I’m (REAL/REALLY) excited for Graduation”
2. “Are you (SURE/SURELY) about this?”
3. “The homework was (SURE/SURELY) difficult”
 Choose which adjective or adverb correctly completes
the sentence
1. “She did an (EXCEPTIONAL/EXCEPTIONALLY) job
on the project”
2. “She did (EXCEPTIONAL/EXCEPTIONALLY) well on
the project”
 Amorous (adjective): loving; pertaining to love
 Distraught (adjective): deeply distracted and agitated
 Pernicious (adjective): deadly, wicked
 Unsavory (adjective): unpleasant; unappealing;
disagreeable
 Valiant (adjective): courageous; brave
 Vile (adjective): wretchedly bad; repulsive or disgusting
*In your notes, record the following: part of speech,
definition, synonym, symbol or sketch, and an original
sentence that relates to R & J Acts 1-2.
 Do now review: p. 227-228 #72-95 and p. 233 #7-12
 Make up practice test:
 20 grammar questions
 Adjectives/Adverbs: identification (5), placement (5),
comparison (5), negatives (5)
 (at least) 10 vocabulary questions
 Vary the presentation: fill in the blanks, multiple choice with
synonyms/antonyms/sentences, writing sentences