3.4 Adjectives and Adverbs

Adjectives and adverbs modify or add information to other words.  Adjectives and adverbs make writing more interesting.

For example, “cat” is a simple noun and “ran” is a simple verb, but “The silky spotted cat ran swiftly and silently.” is much more interesting than “The cat ran.”  “Silky” and “spotted” are adjectives; “swiftly” and “silently” are adverbs.

Adjectives

Adjectives modify only nouns and pronouns.

An adjective answers questions such as which one, what kind, what color, or what shape.

To find an adjective, first find the nouns and pronouns.  Then, look around to see if any words add information to those nouns and pronouns.

Here is an example of adjectives modifying nouns:

The head librarian helped me find history books on famous writers.  (“librarian,” “books” and “writers” are all nouns.  “head” is an adjective that tells us which librarian; “history” is an adjective that tells us what kind of book; “famous” is an adjective that tells us what kind of writers.)

Here is an example of an adjective modifying a pronoun:

She is tall.  (“tall” is an adjective that describes the size of the pronoun “She.”)

A Word About Articles

The words “a,” “an” and “the” are special types of adjectives called articles.  They modify nouns and pronouns just like regular adjectives and tell us which one or how many.  In the example sentence above, “The” is also an adjective; it tells us which librarian.

Here is another example:

The dog barked at a woman on the street.  (“The” tells us which dog, “a” tells us how many women, and the second “the” tells us which street.)

Placement

In English, adjectives usually come before the noun or pronoun (Asian elephant, small table, long journey).  But not always.  For example:

The organic farm has oranges that are ripe and juicy. (“The” and “organic” are adjectives that modify the noun “farm.”  But “ripe” and “juicy” are adjectives too; they modify the noun “oranges,” even though they come after it.)

Changing Jobs

Sometimes nouns or pronouns modify another noun or pronoun, and when they do, they change jobs and work as adjectives.  For example:

dog’s bed, Vicky’s homework, their house, your decision

“dog’s,” “Vicky’s,” “their,” and “your” answer the question “which one?”  They look like nouns or pronouns, but they are working as adjectives.

Capitalizing Adjectives

When proper nouns work as adjectives, they are capitalized, just like they’d be capitalized if they were working as nouns.  For example:

Oregon → Oregon beer

Jewish → Jewish synagogue

Biden → Biden presidency

Adverbs

Adverbs and adjectives do the same job: they modify other words.  The difference is which types of words they modify.  Adjectives modify only nouns and pronouns.  Adverbs modify verbs, adjectives, and other adverbs.

Adverbs answer how, to what extent, why, when, and where.  For example:

• Adverb modifying a verb:  Bert sings horribly. (“horribly” modifies the verb “sings”; it tells how he sings.)
• Adverb modifying an adjective:  Sarah was very nervous about the date.  (“very” modifies the adjective “nervous”; it tells how much.)
• Adverb modifying another adverb:  Students study really hard before finals. (“hard” is an adverb that modifies the verb “study”; it tells to what extent.  But “really” is also an adverb; it modifies the adverb “hard”; it also tells to what extent.)

To find adjectives, we started by finding nouns and pronouns.  So, to find adverbs, we must first find the verbs and adjectives in the sentence.

Placement

Unlike adjectives, which usually appear in front of the noun or pronoun they modify, adverbs can move.  In the following sentences, the adverb “now” modifies the verb “have” by saying when, but it can appear in many locations:

Now I have enough money for a vacation.

I now have enough money for a vacation.

I have enough money now for a vacation.

Adverbs can also appear in the middle of a verb phrase, but that doesn’t mean they are part of the verb.  They are still adverbs.  For example:

I do not have enough money for a vacation. (“not” is an adverb that modifies the verb “do have.”)

Other adverbs that often interrupt verbs are “also” and “never.”

Don’t Confuse Adverbs and Adjectives

You may hear someone say, “Anthony is real smart” or “This pizza is real salty.”  That is incorrect grammar.  The correct way to say those sentences is “Anthony is really smart” and “The pizza is really salty.”

Why?  Because “real” is an adjective and adjectives can’t modify other adjectives, like “smart” or “salty.”  On the other hand, “really” is an adverb so it can modify an adjective.

People also have difficulty differentiating between “good” and “well” or “bad” and “badly.”  If you understand adjectives and adverbs, you will choose the correct word.  For example:

Cecilia is a good person.  (“good” is an adjective that modifies the noun “person.”)

Cecilia did well on a test.  (“well” is an adverb that modifies the verb “did.”)

I performed badly on my accounting test.  (“badly” is an adverb that modifies the verb “performed.”)

The coming thunderstorm looked bad.  (“bad” is an adjective that modifies the noun “thunderstorm.”)

“Good” and “bad” are adjectives; they have to modify nouns or pronouns.  “Well” and “badly” are adverbs.