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Adjectives and adverbsmain differences
Adjectives say sth about
quality/characteristic/nationality:
red, tall, hungry, small
Describe
1) nouns: a nice little red house
2) pronouns: I’m hungry and I’m tired
Note! Nationality adjectives always in capital
letters: British, American, Finnish
Adverbs say sth about:
• manner (how?): well, badly, politely
• degree: very, quite, extremely
• time (when?): now, then, yesterday
• space (where?): here, there, everywhere
Describe
1) verbs: she sings well, he plays badly
2) adjectives: she’s a very good singer
3) adverbs: she sings extremely well
Adjectives
• Comparison
nice – nicer – the nicest
good – better – the best
easy – easier – the easiest
important – more important – the most important
• Note! Some adjectives only used after a
verb:
He’s afraid. I like to be alone. She’s ill today.
I’m glad it’s over.
• Adjectives used after certain verbs
=linking verbs
• the most common: be, become, get, sound,
taste, feel, look, seem, smell
Examples
This pizza tastes good
These socks smell bad
This cat feels soft
This music sounds strange
• Use adjectives after as and if:
Call me if necessary.
I’ll do it as soon as possible.
• Use comparative form when comparing between
two:
Who is taller, Maja or Melvin?
Which is worse, to be blind or deaf?
• Adjectives used as heads of noun phrases
Sw. rolig → det roliga
konstig → det konstiga
• in English normally:
the funny thing, the strange thing
• An adjective alone can be used about a
group of people in a general way:
the rich/poor, the young/old, the blind, the
unemployed
Manner adverbs
• compare: a bad example - he played badly
in Sw. both =‘dåligt’
• adjective → adverb: -ly
nice - nicely, definite – definitely
happy – happily; easy - easily
• Note!
not possibly = omöjligt
impossibly = hopplöst
• Some adverbs don’t end in -ly
arrive late
work hard
run fast
• Note!
friendly, lively, lovely, lonely =
always adjectives
Note!
• Adverb forms like the following belong to
informal English (often spoken AmE):
act nice, behave bad, come quick,
walk slow, real good
• In Standard English they would be expressed
with adverbs in -ly:
act nicely, behave badly, come quickly,
walk slowly, really good