2.6 Adjectives and Adverbs
Adjectives and Adverbs
An adjective is a word that describes a noun or a pronoun. It often answers questions such as which one, what kind, or how many?
- The green sweater belongs to Iris.
- She looks beautiful.
- In sentence 1, the adjective green describes the noun sweater.
- In sentence 2, the adjective beautiful describes the pronoun she.
- An adverb is a word that describes a verb, an adjective, or another adverb. Adverbs frequently end in -ly. They answer questions such as how, to what extent, why, when, and where.
- Bertrand sings horribly.
- My sociology instructor is extremely wise.
- He threw the ball very accurately.
- In sentence 3, horribly describes the verb sings. How does Bertrand sing? He sings horribly.
- In sentence 4, extremely describes the adjective wise. How wise is the instructor? Extremelywise.
- In sentence 5, very describes the adverb accurately. How accurately did he throw the ball? Very accurately.
Exercise 1
Complete the following sentences by adding the correct adjective or adverb from the list in the previous section. Identify the word as an adjective or an adverb (Adj, Adv).
- Frederick ________ choked on the piece of chicken when he saw Margaret walk through the door.
- His ________ eyes looked at everyone and everything as if they were specimens in a biology lab.
- Despite her pessimistic views on life, Lauren believes that most people have ________ hearts.
- Although Stefan took the criticism ________, he remained calm.
- The child developed a ________ imagination because he read a lot of books.
- Madeleine spoke ________ while she was visiting her grandmother in the hospital.
- Hector’s most ________ possession was his father’s bass guitar from the 1970s.
- My definition of a ________ afternoon is walking to the park on a beautiful day, spreading out my blanket, and losing myself in a good book.
- She ________ eyed her new coworker and wondered if he was single.
- At the party, Denise ________ devoured two pieces of pepperoni pizza and a several slices of ripe watermelon.