Adjectives, Verbs, and Adverbs Parts of Speech Adjectives, Verbs, and Adverbs

This old man is a frequent visitor. ADJECTIVE An adjective is a word that describes a noun or pronoun. This old man is a frequent visitor.

Types of Adjectives Proper = start with a capital (formed from a proper noun) Examples: the Canadian team, the Atlantic ocean, Herculean strength, the English coast Compound = made up of more than one word Examples: three-day-long journey, well-worn shoes, black-and-blue bruise

More types of Adjectives Comparative and Superlative = show a comparison Examples: That cyclist is slower than the other one. That turtle is the slowest of the group. Possessive = my, your, his, her, its, our, their Articles = a, an, the Demonstrative = this, these, that, those

VERB Verbs are action words. They make a statement, ask a question, give a command, or link two parts of a sentence. Be careful! Who believes that? She ran up the stairs.

More Specific Types of Verbs: Helping = a verb that comes before a main verb Examples: I will wash the car. They are going to the mall. Joe should be cleaning his room. Transitive = has a direct object A fierce storm hit the coast. (usually answers “what”?)

More types of verbs Intransitive = does not have a direct object The storm hit at two in the morning. (doesn’t answer “what?”) Linking = expresses a state of being; connects a subject to an adjective or another noun (not much meaning in itself) Examples: The clouds seem darker. She is happy.

ADVERB An adverb is a word that describe a verb, an adjective, or an adverb. We left early and in a very short time we were travelling too slowly to arrive at our destination.

Adverbs that describe verbs: These adverbs answer the questions: How? When? or Where? Examples: He ran quickly through the woods. Jonathan eagerly ate his hamburger. Mr. Johnson arrived late to class. McDonald’s will be selling croissants tomorrow. The boys threw the football outside.

Adverbs that describe adjectives: These adverbs answer the question “to what extent?” or “how much?” Examples: The sick girl was deathly pale. Sean did amazingly well on the entrance exams. That English test was really hard. Goldilocks is more hungry than Jack Sprat.

Adverbs that describe other adverbs: These adverbs answer the question “to what extent?” The rabbit jumped very nimbly. (adverb) How did the rabbit jump? Nimbly To what extent was the rabbit nimble? very

Another example of an adverb describing an adverb: Joe passed the test quite easily. How did Joe pass the test? Easily To what extent did he pass easily? quite