Namne: ______________________________________________________________ Score: ____________

Comparison of adjectives Fill in the missing words into the gaps. Mind the first two words in each task.

1. strong → stronger; good →

2. coldest → colder; happiest →

3. nice → nicer; bad →

4. angry → angrier; much →

5. more boring → boring; sunnier →

6. more interesting → most interesting; worse →

7. hard → hardest; new →

8. most expensive → expensive; cleanest →

9. fast → fastest; old →

10. shortest → short ; most difficult →

Adjective or Adverb Exercise #5

Directions: Choose the correct item from the choices in the parentheses.

were (well, good). The foreman said that his work was (good, well) done.

14. She worked (careful1. He (correct, correctly) defined the terms. The answer sounded (correctly, correct).

2. She (quickly, quick) adjusted the fees. She adapted (quick, quickly) to any situation.

3. He measured the floor (exact, exactly). They proved to be (perfectly, perfect) (exact, exactly) measurements.

4. The stillness of the tomb was (awfully, awful). The tomb was (awfully, awful) still.

5. It was a (dangerously, dangerous) lake to swim in. The man was (dangerous, dangerously) drunk. The gas smelled
(dangerously, dangerous).

6. She performed (magnificent, magnificently). It was a (magnificent, magnificently) beautiful performance.

7. Her voice sounds (beautifully, beautiful). She sang the song (exact, exactly) as it was written. We heard it (perfectly,
perfect).

8. He was a very (sensibly, sensible) person. He acted very (sensible, sensibly).

9. Mike wrote too (slow, slowly) on the exam. He always writes (slow, slowly).

10. Talk (softly, soft) or don't talk at all. The music played (softly, soft).

11. Andrea knows the material very (good, well). She always treats us (good, well).

12. You must send payments (regular, regularly). We deal on a (strictly, strict) cash basis.

13. The mechanic's tools, carefully) with the sick child. She was a very (careful, carefully) worker.

15. He did not pass the course as (easy, easily) as he thought he would.
The Basic Rules: Adjectives

Adjectives modify nouns. By modifying, adjectives give a more detailed sense of the noun. For example:

"I ate a meal." Meal is a noun. The reader does not know what kind of meal this is, leaving a lot of room open
for interpretation.

"I ate an enormous meal." Meal is a noun, and enormous is an adjective that modifies it. It tells us what kind
of meal the person ate. By using adjectives, the writer gives the reader a better understanding of the noun.

Adjectives clarify the noun by answering one of the following different questions: "What kind?" or "Which?"
or "How many?" For example:

"The tall girl is riding her bike." Tall tells the reader which girl the writer is talking about.

“Our old van needs to be replaced soon.” Old tells the reader what kind of van the writer is describing.

"The tough professor gave us the final exam." Tough tells the reader what kind of professor the writer is
talking about. Final tells us which exam.

"Fifteen students passed the midterm exam; twelve students passed the final exam." Fifteen and twelve both
tell the reader how many students; midterm and final both tell the reader which exam.

Adjectives cannot modify verbs, adjectives, and adverbs.

The sentence, She ate her lunch quick, does not make sense.

The correct sentence should say, She ate her lunch quickly, because the adverb, quickly, modifies the verb,
ate. How did she eat? Quickly.

She ate the quick lunch. In this case, quick modifies the noun, lunch. What kind of lunch was it? A quick
lunch.

So, generally speaking, adjectives answer the following questions:

Which? What kind of? How many?

Some Other Rules for Adjectives

Most of the time, adjectives come before nouns. However, some adjectives actually come after the nouns
they modify. An adjective follows a sense verb or verb of appearance when it modifies the noun before the
verb. These adjectives will most often follow a verb form of the following:

be

feel

taste

smell

sound

look

appear
 seem

Some examples:

"Brian seems sad." Sad describes the noun, Brian, not the verb, seems. Sad answers the question: which way
does Brian seem?

"The milk smells rotten." What kind of smell does the milk have? A rotten one.

"The speaker sounds hoarse." Hoarse answers the question: which way does the speaker sound?

“The ice-cream looks melted.” Here, melted does not describe the verb, looks. It describes the noun, ice
cream. What kind of ice cream does it look like? Melted ice cream.

“Alex feels sleepy.” What kind of way does Alex feel? Sleepy.

Likewise, an adjective always follows a form of the verb, “to be.” Here are some examples of “to be” verbs:
am, is, are, was, were, be, being, been.

"The dog is black." Black is an adjective that modifies the noun dog, but it comes after the verb, is. What kind
of dog is it? A black dog.

“I was nervous.” Nervous modifies the noun, I. Which way was I feeling? Nervous.

“She has been sick all week.” Here, sick modifies the noun, She. Which way has she been feeling all week?
She’s been sick.

“They tried to be helpful.” In this case, helpful modifies the noun, they, not the verb, tried. What kind of
people are they?Helpful people.Adjective or Adverb #6

Directions: Write down the correct form of the red word in parentheses (adjective or adverb).

1. Tom is (slow) _____. He works _____.

2. Sue is a (careful) _____ girl. She climbed up the ladder _____.

3. The dog is (angry) _____. It barks _____.

4. He acted (excellent) _____. He's an _____ actor.

5. They learn English (easy) _____. They think English is an _____ language.

6. Max is a (good) _____ singer. He sings _____.

7. It's (awful) _____ cold today. The cold wind is _____.

8. Dogs rely on their noses as they can smell (extreme / good) _____. If that is true,why does dog food smell
so (terrible) _____?

9. The little boy looked (sad) _____. I went over to comfort him and he looked at me_____.

10.I tasted the soup (careful) _____ but it tasted (wonderful) _____.