Download ADJECTIVES AND ADVERBS Modifiers (“describing words

ADJECTIVES AND ADVERBS
 Modifiers (“describing words”)
 Adjectives and adverbs
o Can be single words or can be phrases
(often prepositional phrases do double duty
as adjectives and adverbs)
 Adjectives modify (or “describe”) nouns and
pronouns
 Adjectives tend to answer the questions
Which one? In a way, adjectives give up a
way to distinguish one noun (person,
place, thing) from another.
 Which car? The fast car…. not the
slow one… or the red one… or one
in the parking garage … the
expensive one… but the fast one
 Which roses? The yellow, longstemmed roses gathered in a bunch
… not the red, miniature roses
collected in that vase
 Which dog? The black dog… not
the white one… not the shaggy
one… not the lopped-eared one…
not friendly one… not the friendly,
shaggy, black dog… not the one in a
bad mood… the little one that my
mother has owned for years… not
the barking, little dog in the yard
 Which movie? The scary movie on
the TV in the living room… not the
boring movie with bad acting… not
the one that had bad reviews last
week… not the PG-13 movie… not
the R-rated movie…
 Other questions that adjectives
“answer:” What’s it like? What color is it?
How does it look? What kind of ----? What
does it sounds like? How big is it? What
does it feel like? What does it taste like?
what it smells like, how heavy is it, what
color it is
 Examples: John’s sloppy room, brandnew television set, an adorable dress,
etc.
 Many adjectives are formed from other
root words. Common suffixes for
adjectives: -ic, -y, -istic, -ical, -ful, -iful. –
iac, -ious, -ous, -ial, -able, -ish, -ive, etc.
 “magic” becomes “magical”
 “joy” becomes “joyous” or “joyful”
 “play” becomes “playful”
 “thank” becomes “thankful”
 “fish” becomes “fishy”
 “plenty” becomes “plentiful”
 “beauty” becomes “beautiful”
 “space” becomes “spatial” or
“spacious”
 “doubt” becomes “doubtful” or
“dubious”
 Dictionaries will give you the
adjective forms of words that can be
transformed
o Adjectives in yellow often go directly in
front of the word(s) they modify in blue.
However, in a sentence with a linking verb,
they often end up in the predicate.
 My green dress
 My car is making a strange sound.
 He bought a fancy new Lexus decked
out with all sorts of expensive options
and extras.
 The British spy was tried for treason.
The spy who was tried for treason was
British.

 He is both intelligent and interesting.
 Ironically, adjectives can be overused and lead to
some very non-descriptive writing, especially when
they rely on opinion or perception. (Examples of
unhelpful adjectives: pretty girl, hard job, bad
movie.) Therefore, good writers use them in
moderation and use them in combination with
details and good development. They also tend to
use more verbs than adjectives.
 There are special adjectives called
possessive adjectives. They show
“ownership,” or “possession,” or at least
that’s the way grade school teachers
explain it.
o Possessive-case pronouns are “pre-done.”
They don’t need apostrophes.
 My, mine, our, ours, his, her, hers,
you, yours, their, theirs, its
 Her car… their third marriage… my
blouse… your homework
assignment… the town of his
birth…

o Most possessive adjectives are generally
nouns that have been turned into
adjectives by use of apostrophes and the
letter “s.” The purpose behind the
conversion is to show that something
belonging to somebody. (Example:
“Father” is a noun. “Father’s” is a
possessive adjective. The phrase “my
father’s pipe” is intended to convey the fact
that the writer’s father owns a pipe.)
 Most possessives are created by adding
“-‘s” to a word. However, some
words—like proper names and lots and
lots of plurals--already end in “s,” so, in
that case, usually all that’s needed is to
add the apostrophe. Look this up in
your book or a grammar handbook and
familiarize yourself with enough
examples so you see the patterns that
exist.


o
You can’t create plurals with
apostrophes—EVER!
o Adverbs modify verbs, adjectives, and other
adverbs.
 They tend to answer the questions
When? Where? Why? How often? In
what fashion? With whom? For what
reason? To what degree? How ____ is
it?
Common suffixes for adverbs
transformed from other root words: -ly
 “slow” becomes “slowly”
 “fashion” (noun) becomes
“fashionable” (adjective) becomes
“fashionably” (adverb)
 Special adverbs: “too,” “very,” “really,”
“so,” “way,” “far,” “rather,” “quite,”
“extraordinarily,” “extremely,” and
“especially .” These special adverbs are
called intensifiers. They are adverbs that
go with adjectives. A joke might be
described “funny” (an adjective) or

“incredibly funny” (an adverb + adjective)
if it went over with an audience very well.
 -ly is the most common suffix for adverbs
but lots of adverbs go beyond one word in
length and are, for that reason, called
adverbial phrases. (Examples: “around the
corner,” “every day after school,” and “once
or twice a day”)
 Adverbs in yellow often go directly
before or after the word(s) they modify in
blue.
 The children played chess quietly.
 The children quietly played chess.
 The children played chess in the living
room.
 The children quietly played chess in the
living room.
 The children played chess quietly in the
living room.
 Yesterday, the children played chess
without fighting, but today, they
bickered endlessly about whose turn it
was.
 Since it was too hot to play outdoors,
the children stayed indoors and quietly
played chess.
 Early this morning, an old lady, driving
erratically, was in the wrong lane.
 Mary likes to drive so slowly around the
school zone during school time.
 Late last night, texting while driving,
John ran through the stop sign and over
the ravine.
 John drives way too quickly on the
highway.
Find all the adjectives and adverbs:
1. A Pentagon spokesman announced that, last
month, three Army squadrons in the northern
part of Iraq rapidly deployed south in the
direction of Baghdad in support of the police
forces there, who are battling heavily armed
militants, who were threatening a sacred
mosque.
 pentagon (adjective) spokesman (noun)
 announced (verb) last month (adverbial phrase)
 three Army (both adjectives) squadrons (noun)
 squadrons (noun) in the northern (adjective) part
(noun) of Iraq (adjective phrase)
 rapidly (adverb) deployed (verb)
 deployed (verb) south in the direction of Baghdad
 deployed (verb) in support of the police
(adjective) forces (noun) (adverbial phrase) there
(adverb)
 who are battling heavily (adverb) armed
(adjective) militants (noun) (adjective phrase)
forces (noun)
 who were threatening a sacred (adjective) mosque
(noun) (adjective phrase) militants (noun)
2. The yellow race car driven by Al Uncer
swerved into the left lane and completely
knocked two quick mechanics off the track and
into the pit area where two quick mechanics
barely managed to jump out of the way.

yellow race (both adjectives) car (noun)

into the left lane (adverbial phrase) swerved (verb)

driven by Al Uncer (adjective phrase) car (noun)

completely (adverb) knocked (verb)

pit (adjective) area (noun)

quick (adjective) mechanics (noun)

barely (adverb) managed (verb)

out of the way (adverbial phrase) to jump (verb)

off the track (adverb phrase) knocked (verb)

two (adjective) mechanics (noun)

two other (both adjectives) cars (noun)

left (adjective) lane (noun)

into the pit area (adverbial phrase) knocked (verb)
. Often, in the western sky, one can see the planets
rise from the horizon toward the ascending moon.
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