Name: ______________________________

Adverbs and Adjectives at the Circus

Directions: read each sentence and determine whether the adverb or adjective should be used.
Adjectives: modify or describe nouns and pronouns. Ex: The green house is pretty.
Adverbs: modify or describe verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs. Ex: I ran quickly by the very old dog.
1. The students were very quiet / quietly when they entered the circus tent.
What word is modified? _________________________ What part of speech is that? _______________
2. The ring at the center of the tent was colorful / colorfully decorated.
What word is modified? _________________________ What part of speech is that? _______________
3. We were all very eager / eagerly to see what the circus had in store for us.
What word is modified? _________________________ What part of speech is that? _______________
4. A woman in an all silk gown with dragon patterns on it was singing beautiful / beautifully.
What word is modified? _________________________ What part of speech is that? _______________
5. As the show began, the mood in the auditorium was joyous / joyously.
What word is modified? _________________________ What part of speech is that? _______________
6. My friend started laughing quite loud / loudly when the clowns came out in their little car.
What word is modified? _________________________ What part of speech is that? _______________
7. I could barely hear the ringmaster over the crowd because they were so noisy / noisily.
What word is modified? _________________________ What part of speech is that? _______________
8. The man with the popcorn sloppy / sloppily applied butter and seasoning to his treat.
What word is modified? _________________________ What part of speech is that? _______________
9. The trapeze artists performed fantastic / fantastically even though there was a safety net.
What word is modified? _________________________ What part of speech is that? _______________
10. I became very irate / irately when the man with the Abraham Lincoln hat sat in front of me.
What word is modified? _________________________ What part of speech is that? _______________

11. I jealous / jealously watched as a young girl was chosen to come on stage with the magician.
What word is modified? _________________________ What part of speech is that? _______________
12. It was hysterical / hysterically when the clowns came back during the ringmasters speech.
What word is modified? _________________________ What part of speech is that? _______________
13. Perhaps the most astonishing was how all of my money magical / magically disappeared.
What word is modified? _________________________ What part of speech is that? _______________
14. My teacher truculent / truculently inquired about the treatment of the circus animals.
What word is modified? _________________________ What part of speech is that? _______________
15. The show went by amazing / amazingly quickly and then it was time to leave.
What word is modified? _________________________ What part of speech is that? _______________
Try it yourself.
Directions: write six sentences. In each sentence you should use both an adverb and an adjective.
Underline your adverbs and circle your adjectives.
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Adverbs and Adjectives at the Circus Answers

1. The students were very quiet when they entered the circus tent.
What word is modified? students What part of speech is that? noun
2. The ring at the center of the tent was colorfully decorated.
What word is modified? decorated What part of speech is that? adjective
3. We were all very eager to see what the circus had in store for us.
What word is modified? we What part of speech is that? pronoun
4. A woman in an all silk gown with dragon patterns on it was singing beautifully.
What word is modified? was singing What part of speech is that? verb phrases
5. As the show began, the mood in the auditorium was joyous.
What word is modified? mood What part of speech is that? noun
6. My friend started laughing quite loudly when the clowns came out in their little car.
What word is modified? laughing What part of speech is that? verb
7. I could barely hear the ringmaster over the crowd because they were so noisy.
What word is modified? they What part of speech is that? pronoun
8. The man with the popcorn sloppily applied butter and seasoning to his treat.
What word is modified? applied What part of speech is that? verb
9. The trapeze artists performed fantastically even though there was a safety net.

What word is modified? performed What part of speech is that? verb

10. I became very irate when the man with the Abraham Lincoln hat sat in front of me.
What word is modified? I What part of speech is that? pronoun
11. I jealously watched as a young girl was chosen to come on stage with the magician.
What word is modified? watched What part of speech is that? verb
12. It was hysterical when the clowns came back during the ringmaster's speech.
What word is modified? It What part of speech is that? pronoun
13. Perhaps the most astonishing was how all of my money magically disappeared.
What word is modified? disappeared What part of speech is that? verb
14. My teacher truculently inquired about the treatment of the circus animals.
What word is modified? inquired What part of speech is that? verb
15. The show went by amazing / amazingly quickly and then it was time to leave.
What word is modified? quickly What part of speech is that? adverb
Try it yourself.