Adjectives and Adverbs

Adjectives and Adverbs

Definition - Adjectives are words that describe nouns or pronouns. They may come before the word they describe (That is a cute puppy.) or they may follow the word they describe (That puppy is cute.).

Definition - Adverbs are words that modify everything but nouns and pronouns. They modify adjectives, verbs, and other adverbs. A word is an adverb if it answers how, when, or where.

The only adverbs that cause grammatical problems are those that answer the question how, so focus on these. Examples: He speaks slowly. Answers the question how. He speaks very slowly. Answers the question how slowly.

Rule 1. Generally, if a word answers the question how, it is an adverb. If it can have an -ly added to it, place it there. Examples: She thinks slow/slowly. She thinks how? slowly. She is a slow/slowly thinker. Slow does not answer how, so no -ly is attached. Slow is an adjective here. She thinks fast/fastly. Fast answers the question how, so it is an adverb. But fast never has an -ly attached to it. We performed bad/badly. Badly describes how we performed.

Rule 2. A special -ly rule applies when four of the senses - taste, smell, look, feel - are the verbs. Do not ask if these senses answer the question how to determine if -ly should be attached. Instead, ask if the sense verb is being used actively. If so, use the -ly. Examples: Roses smell sweet/sweetly. Do the roses actively smell with noses? No, so no -ly. The woman looked angry/angrily. Did the woman actively look with eyes or are we describing her appearance? We are only describing appearance, so no -ly. The woman looked angry/angrily at the paint splotches. Here the woman did actively look with eyes, so the -ly is added. She feels bad/badly about the news. She is not feeling with fingers, so no -ly.

Good vs. Well

Rule 3. The word good is an adjective, while well is an adverb. Examples: You did a good job. Good describes the job. You did the job well. Well answers how. You smell good today. Describes your odor, not how you smell with your nose, so follow with the adjective. You smell well for someone with a cold. You are actively smelling with a nose here, so follow with the adverb.

Rule 4. When referring to health, use well rather than good. Examples: I do not feel well. You do not look well today. NOTE: You may use good with feel when you are not referring to health. Example: I feel good about my decision to learn Spanish.

Rule 5. A common error in using adjectives and adverbs arises from using the wrong form for comparison. For instance, to describe one thing we would say poor, as in, "She is poor." To compare two things, we should say poorer, as in, "She is the poorer of the two women." To compare more than two things, we should say poorest, as in, "She is the poorest of them all." Examples: One Two Three or More sweet sweeter sweetest bad worse worst efficient* more efficient* most efficient* *Usually with words of three or more syllables, don't add -er or -est. Use more or most in front of the words.

Rule 6. Never drop the -ly from an adverb when using the comparison form. Correct: She spoke quickly. She spoke more quickly than he did. Incorrect: She spoke quicker than he did. Correct: Talk quietly. Talk more quietly. Incorrect: Talk quieter.

Rule 7. When this, that, these, and those are followed by nouns, they are adjectives. When they appear without a noun following them, they are pronouns. Examples: This house is for sale. This is an adjective here. This is for sale. This is a pronoun here.

Rule 8. This and that are singular, whether they are being used as adjectives or as pronouns. This points to something nearby while that points to something "over there." Examples: This dog is mine. That dog is hers. This is mine. That is hers.

Rule 9. These and those are plural, whether they are being used as adjectives or as pronouns. These points to something nearby while those points to something "over there." Examples: These babies have been smiling for a long time. These are mine. Those babies have been crying for hours. Those are yours.

Rule 10. Use than to show comparison. Use then to answer the question when. Examples: I would rather go skiing than rock climbing. First we went skiing; then we went rock climbing.

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Effective Writing

Effective Writing

 

Rule 1. Use concrete rather than vague language. Examples: Vague: The weather was of an extreme nature on the west coast. Concrete: California had very cold weather last week.

Rule 2. Use active voice whenever possible. Active voice means the subject is performing the verb. Examples: Active: Barry hit the ball. Passive: The ball was hit. Notice that the responsible party may not even appear when using passive voice.

Rule 3. Avoid overusing there is, there are, it is, it was, and so on. Example: There is a case of meningitis that was reported in the newspaper. Correction: A case of meningitis was reported in the newspaper. Even Better: The newspaper reported a case of meningitis. (Active voice) Example: It is important to signal before making a left turn. Correction: Signaling before making a left turn is important. OR Signaling before a left turn is important. OR You should signal before making a left turn. (Active voice) Example: There are some revisions which must be made. Correction: Some revisions must be made. Even Better: Please make some revisions. (Active voice)

Rule 4. To avoid confusion, don't use two negatives to make a positive. Incorrect: He is not unwilling to help. Correct: He is willing to help.

Rule 5. Use similar grammatical form when offering several ideas. This is called parallel construction. Correct: You should check your spelling, grammar, and punctuation. Incorrect: You should check your spelling, grammar, and punctuating.

Rule 6. If you start a sentence with an action, place the actor immediately after or you will have created the infamous dangling modifier. Incorrect: While walking across the street, the bus hit her. Correct: While walking across the street, she was hit by a bus. OR She was hit by a bus while walking across the street.

Rule 7. Place modifiers near the words they modify. Incorrect: I have some pound cake Mollie baked in my lunch bag. Correct: In my lunch bag, I have some pound cake that Mollie baked.

Rule 8. A sentence fragment occurs when you have only a phrase or weak clause but are missing a strong clause. Example of Sentence Fragment: After the show ended. Example of Sentence: After the show ended, we had coffee.

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