Adjectives vs. Adverbs

Author:Tim Bristow

Adjectives and Adverbs (I’m so confused!!!)

It’s easy…just remember that Adjectives are ‘describing words’. We use them to describe people, places and objects (nouns).

For example, “Wow, that’s a small, slim, modern mobile phone!”. The adjectives small, slim and modern describe the phone.

Another, “She’s a beautiful, intelligent and generous woman”. The adjectives beautiful, intelligent and generous describe the woman.

So, what about Adverbs?

Easy, Adverbs describe verbs! (They are like adjectives for verbs and tell us more about the action of the verb).

Here’s an example, “She works very quickly”. The adverb ‘quickly’ describes how she works (describes the way she does the verb).

Many adverbs end with ‘ly’ but not always!

“People drive fast in Sofia”. The adverb ‘fast’ describes the verb drive (it tells us how people drive).

Word order

Look at the positions of adjectives and adverbs. Adjectives usually go before the noun. Adverbs usually go after the verb.

The order of adjectives is ‘opinion’ adjectives before ‘fact’ adjectives i.e. it’s a nice sunny day – nice being an opinion and sunny being a fact.

When there are more than two fact adjectives we follow this order.

1) How big? 2) How old? 3) What colour? 4) Where from? 5) What is it made of? Then the noun. i.e. a long, ancient, Thracian, stone wall

Good luck!!!

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