Adjectives and Adverbs: Overview Adjectives Adjectives describe, or modify, nouns or pronouns.

They do not add -s or change form to reflect number or gender.

Examples She bought a comfortable chair. She is happy. He keeps his desk tidy.

Adjectives and Adverbs: Correct Forms No one rule of thumb serves for the form of adjectives and adverbs. A dictionary will supply any information about adjective and adverb forms that the summary here does not cover. Adverb - Adjective + -ly

Adverbs Adverbs modify verbs, adjectives, and other adverbs, as well as whole clauses.
Examples She settled down comfortably. He arranged his books neatly.

Many adverbs are formed by adding -ly to an adjective. Sometimes when -ly is added, a spelling change occurs.
Adjective soft quiet intelligent easy terrible Adverb softly quietly intelligently easily (note the spelling) terribly (note the spelling)

Apparently, the play was a success.

See also Correct Forms Proper Use After Linking Verbs Compound Adjectives Positioning of Adverbs Order of Adjectives Double Negatives Comparative and Superlative Forms Faulty or Incomplete Comparisons

Adjectives Ending in -ic To form an adverb from an adjective ending in -ic, add -ally (basic, basically; artistic, artistically), with the exception of public, whose adverb form is publicly.

Adjectives Ending in -ly Some adjectives, such as friendly, lovely, timely, and masterly, already end in -ly and have no distinct adverb form. Use the adjective within an adverbial phrase: "It was done in a ____ way."

Examples

She is a friendly person. [adjective = friendly] She spoke to me in a friendly way. [adverbial phrase = in a friendly way]

Well can also function as an adjective, meaning "healthy" or

"satisfactory."
Examples A well baby smiles often. [adjective = well] She feels well today. [adjective = well]

Irregular Adverb Forms

Some adjectives do not add -ly to form an adverb.

Adjective good fast hard Examples Adverb well fast hard He is a good cook. [adjective = good] He cooks well. [adverb = well] She is a hard worker. [adjective = hard] She works hard. [adverb = hard]

Adjectives and Adverbs: Proper Use In speech, adjectives (particularly good, bad, and real) are often used to modify verbs, adjectives, or adverbs. This is nonstandard usage. Use an adjective to modify only a noun or a pronoun.
Faulty Revised Faulty Revised Faulty Revised Faulty Revised Faulty They fixed the latch good. They fixed the latch well. She speaks very clear. She speaks very clearly. He is real intelligent. He is really intelligent. I sing real good. I sing really well. They sing bad. They sing badly.

Use of hardly

Revised

Hardly is not the adverb form of hard. Rather, it means "barely," "scarcely," or "almost not at all": I could hardly breathe in that stuffy room.
Use of well

Adjectives and Adverbs: After Linking Verbs After linking verbs like be, seem, appear, and become, use an adjective to modify the subject. An adjective or a noun that refers to the subject and completes the description of it is known as the complement.
Examples That steak is good. Her new coat seems tight. She feels bad because she sings so badly.

Be sure to include the -ed ending where necessary. Many compound adjectives use the -ed form: flat-footed, barrel-chested, broad-

shouldered, old-fashioned, well-dressed, left-handed.

Examples He pitches with his left hand. He is a left-handed pitcher.

Adjectives and Adverbs: Positioning of Adverbs An adverb can be placed in various positions in a sentence.
Examples

Some verbs, such as appear, look, feel, smell, and taste, are sometimes used as linking verbs, sometimes as action verbs. If the modifier tells about the subject, use an adjective. If the modifier tells about the action of the verb, not the subject, use an adverb.
Adjective Adverb Adjective Adverb She looks confident in her new job. She looks confidently at all the assembled partners. The waiter feels bad. The steak smells bad. The restaurant served the steak badly. The chef smelled the lobster appreciatively.

Enthusiastically, she ate the cake. She enthusiastically ate the cake. She ate the cake enthusiastically.

Do not place an adverb between a verb and a short direct object.

Faulty Revised She ate enthusiastically the cake. She ate the cake enthusiastically.

Adjectives and Adverbs: Compound Adjectives A compound adjective needs hyphens to connect its parts. Note the forms when a compound adjective is used: hyphens, no noun plural endings, and -ed endings where necessary.
Examples Their daughter is five years old. They have a five-year-old daughter. He lent me five dollars. He gave me a five-dollar bill.

Put adverbs that show frequency (always, usually, frequently, often, sometimes, seldom, rarely, never) in one of four positions. 1. At the beginning of a sentence:
Example

Sometimes I just sit and daydream instead of writing.

When never, seldom, or rarely occurs at the beginning of the sentence, word order is inverted.
Example

Never will I let that happen.

Between the subject and the main verb

Example

They always arrive half an hour late.

3.

After a form of be or any auxiliary verb (such as do, have, can, will, must)
They are always punctual. She is seldom depressed He has never lost a game.

6. 7. 8. 9. 10.

Adjective describing color: white, red Adjective describing national origin: Italian, European Adjective describing religious faith: Catholic, Buddhist Adjective describing material: oak, ivory, wooden A noun used as an adjective: kitchen cabinet, writing desk
Many little white ivory buttons Her beautiful long kitchen table A delicious, inexpensive Italian meal Her efficient, hardworking, ambitious secretary

Examples

Examples

4. In the final position

Example He goes to the movies frequently.

Adjectives and Adverbs: Double Negatives Although some other languages and dialects allow more than one negative to emphasize an idea, standard English uses only one negative in a clause. Words like hardly, scarcely, and barely are considerednegatives. The contraction -n't stands for the adverb not. Avoid double negatives.
Faulty We don't have no excuses. We do not have any excuses. We have no excuses. She didn't say nothing. She didn't say anything. She said nothing. They can't hardly pay the rent. They can hardly pay the rent.

Note: Never does not occur in the final position.

Adjectives and Adverbs: Order of Adjectives When two or more adjectives modify a noun, they occur in a usual order. Commas separate adjectives of evaluation; they are regarded as coordinate adjectives because their order can be reversed and the word and can be inserted between them. No commas separate adjectives in other categories. Order of Adjectives

Revised

Faulty Revised

Faulty

Determiner: a, an, the, this, that, these, those, possessives (its, our), quantity words (many, some), numerals (five, nineteen) 2. Adjective of evaluation: interesting, delicious, 1. 3. Adjective describing size: big, little, huge 4. Adjective describing shape: round, square, long 5. Adjective describing age: old, young, new

Revised

comfortable, inexpensive, heavy

Adjectives and Adverbs: Comparative and Superlative Forms Adjectives and adverbs have forms called comparative and superlative that are used for comparisons. Use the comparative form when comparing two items, people, places, or ideas. Use the superlative when comparing more than two.

dictionary will say so.

Note: Do not use the -er form with more or the -est form with most.
Faulty The first poem was more better than the second. Revised The first poem was better than the second.

For short adjectives (with one syllable or two syllables ending in -y or le) and one-syllable adverbs, add the ending -er for the comparative and -est for the superlative. (Change -y to -i if the -y is preceded by a consonant: icy, icier, iciest.) Generally the is used before the superlative form.
Word short pretty simple fast Comparative shorter prettier simpler faster Superlative shortest prettiest simplest fastest

Irregular Forms

The following are irregular comparative and superlative forms.

Word good bad much/many well badly Comparative better worse more better worse Superlative best worst most best worst

Using than with Comparative Forms With longer adjectives and with adverbs ending in ly, add more and most. Note: less and least are used with adjectives of any length (such as bright, less bright, least bright).
Word intelligent carefully dangerous Comparative more intelligent more carefully less dangerous Superlative most intelligent most carefully least dangerous

To compare two people, places, objects, or ideas, use the comparative form with the word than. If you use a comparative form in your sentence, you need than to let your reader know what you are comparing with what.
Faulty This course of action is more efficient. Revised This course of action is more efficient than the previous one.

Comparative forms are also used without than in an idiomatic way.

Examples The harder he tries, the more satisfied he feels. The more, the merrier.

If you cannot decide whether to use an -er/-est form or more/most, consult a dictionary. If there is an -er/-est form, the

Adjectives and Adverbs: Faulty or Incomplete Comparisons

Make sure you state clearly what items you are comparing. Some faulty comparisons can give a reader the wrong idea.
Faulty He likes the parrot better than his wife.

To avoid suggesting that he prefers the parrot to his wife, clarify the comparison by completing the second clause: Revised He likes the parrot better than his wife does. You would need to edit sentences like the following:
Faulty Revised My essay got a higher grade than Maria. My essay got a higher grade than Maria's. [You need to compare the two essays, not your essay and Maria.]

Comparisons must also be complete. If you say that something is "more efficient," your reader wonders, "More efficient than what?"
Faulty Revised Didion shows us a home that makes her feel more tied to her roots. Didion shows us a home that makes her feel more tied to her roots than her home in Los Angeles does. [Include the other part of the comparison.]