Download Daily Grammar Practice

Honors 9th Literature
Daily Grammar / PSAT Practice #20
Adjectives vs. Adverbs
If you learn the rules that govern the use of modifiers, you will have an easier time noticing when they are used
incorrectly.
Understanding Adjectives
An adjective is a modifier that provides information about the noun or pronoun it describes. Adjectives answer
questions such as Which one? How many? What kind? How much? They appear either before or after the word
they modify. A predicate adjective follows a linking verb to modify the subject or clause of a sentence.
Understanding Adverbs
Like adjectives, adverbs are modifiers that modify verbs, adjectives, and other adverbs. They tell how,
when, where, to what extent, in what manner, or how much. Adverbs can also modify prepositions and
prepositional phrases, subordinate clauses, and complete sentences. Many negatives like only, barely,
not, and never are adverbs that can interrupt the verb phrase.
Choosing between Adjectives and Adverbs
 Though many adverbs end in ly, don’t count on this ending to signify an adverb every time.
Many adjectives, such as friendly, slovenly, and curly, end with the suffix ly.
 Good and bad are always adjectives. Well and badly are adverbs, although well may be used as
an adjective to describe a person’s health.
 You can use bad as a predicate adjective following a linking verb. When health is not
involved, be sure to use good, not well, as a predicate adjective.
Try it: Choose the correct modifier
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
A forkful of well-cooked grits goes down (smooth, smoothly).
When the new grits cookbook came out, I (quick, quickly) went to the store to buy it.
I ate my first plate of grits (near, nearly) twenty years ago.
The first time I cooked grits, I cooked them (bad, badly).
If you continue to eat so (slow, slowly), we will be late.
Some think that grits taste (good, well) with red-eye gravy.
Identify the sentence error. If an underlined word or phrase contains a grammatical error, choose the
part that must be changed to correct the sentence.
The child spoke polite to her friendly hosts.
Improve the sentence. Select the answer choice that best expresses the meaning of the underlined
portion of the original sentence.
The waiter walked slow and steady, burdened by the heavy tray of plates in his arms.
a. walked slow and steady
b. walked slowly and steady
c. walked slowly and steadily
d. walked slow and steadily
e. walked slow and careful
Choose the correct modifier:
jackie enjoys golfing when the weather is (good, well).
Identify parts of speech: noun, pronoun (type and case), verb (type and tense), adverb, adjective,
preposition, conjunction (type), gerund, participle, infinitive, article
jackie
enjoys
golfing
when
the
weather
is
pretty
Identify sentence parts: subject, verb (transitive or intransitive), direct object, indirect object, predicate
nominative, predicate adjective, appositive or appositive phrase, prepositional phrase (adjective or adverb),
gerund phrase, infinitive phrase, participial phrase, object of preposition, object of infinitive, object of
gerund, object of participle, objective complement, subject of infinitive
jackie
enjoys
golfing
when
the
weather
is
pretty
Identify clauses and sentence type: independent, adverb, dependent, adjective dependent, noun
dependent; simple, compound, complex, compound complex
jackie
enjoys
golfing
when
the
weather
is
pretty
Add punctuation and capitalization: end punctuation, commas, semicolons, apostrophes, underlining,
quotation marks
jackie
enjoys
golfing
when
the
weather
is
pretty