McGraw-HillCopyright © 2001 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 1 Adjectives and Adverbs Prepared by Professors Rita Perkins and Paul Harris Camden County College

McGraw-Hill Copyright © 2001 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 2 Adjectives  Adjectives describe nouns or pronouns.  My neighbor is a successful private investigator. (The adjective successful describes the noun unit private investigator.)  He is industrious. (The adjective industrious describes the pronoun he.)  His schedule is complicated. (Sometimes adjectives come after the verb. The adjective complicated describes the schedule.)

McGraw-Hill Copyright © 2001 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 3 AdjectivesAdjectives  Adjectives are used to compare.  For most short adjectives, we add -ER when comparing TWO things, -EST when comparing THREE or more things.  His company is bigger than the firm in Haddon Hills.  The biggest agency in the area is not the best.

McGraw-Hill Copyright © 2001 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 4  For most longer adjectives (two or more syllables), we add more when comparing two things and most when comparing three or more things.  Mr Murphy is more educated than his accountant, but his wife is the most educated person in the group. AdjectivesAdjectives

McGraw-Hill Copyright © 2001 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 5 Two Mistakes to Avoid  INCORRECT: The detective is the most smartest person who works with the agency.  CORRECT: The detective is the smartest person who works with the agency. 1. Be careful that you do not use both -er ending AND more or both -est ending AND most. 1. Be careful that you do not use both -er ending AND more or both -est ending AND most.

McGraw-Hill Copyright © 2001 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 6 Two Mistakes to Avoid 2. Do not make mistakes with irregulars.

McGraw-Hill Copyright © 2001 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 7 ADVERBS  Adverbs describe verbs, other adjectives, or other adverbs. Adverbs usually end in -ly.  The private investigator acts quickly when he is hired.  The absolutely priceless statue has disappeared. (The adverb describes the adjective priceless.)

McGraw-Hill Copyright © 2001 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 8 Adverbs  INCORRECT: The behavior of the wrongfully accused boy changed real sudden when the boy found out that a private investigator would help prove him innocent.  CORRECT: The behavior of the wrongfully accused boy changed suddenly... Three mistakes to avoid with adjectives and adverbs. Three mistakes to avoid with adjectives and adverbs. 1. A common mistake is to use an adjective instead of an adverb with a verb. instead of an adverb with a verb.

McGraw-Hill Copyright © 2001 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 9  Detective Price did a good job on the reports. ( Good describes the noun job.)  She phrased the questions well. (Well is an adverb describing the verb phrased.) Adverbs 2. Do not confuse good and well. The word good is an adjective; it describes nouns. The word well is an adverb.

McGraw-Hill Copyright © 2001 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 10  NOT: The technology advancements of the twentieth century make it easier to investigate fraud. Adverbs 3. Do not use a noun as an adjective.  CORRECT: The technological advancements of the twentieth century make it easier to investigate fraud.

McGraw-Hill Copyright © 2001 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 11 Practice Exercises  Although Sean does not speak Spanish too good, he went to visit Costa Rica with his high school classmates. Correct each of the following sentences. speak Spanish well well

McGraw-Hill Copyright © 2001 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 12 Practice Exercises  He was surprised to see how quick his Spanish improved while he was visiting Central America. Correct each of the following sentences. how quickly his Spanish

McGraw-Hill Copyright © 2001 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 13 Practice Exercises  One day Sean and his classmates rode horses to a breathtaking beautiful waterfall. Correct each of the following sentences. breathtakinglybreathtakingly

McGraw-Hill Copyright © 2001 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 14 Practice Exercises  Since Sean was the taller of the boys on the trip, he often attracted attention. Correct each of the following sentences. tallesttallest

McGraw-Hill Copyright © 2001 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 15 Practice Exercises  The students were good hikers, so they walked to view an active volcano. Correct each of the following sentences. correctcorrect

McGraw-Hill Copyright © 2001 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 16 Practice Exercises  The people they met on the Pacific coast swam well in the ocean. Correct each of the following sentences. correctcorrect

McGraw-Hill Copyright © 2001 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 17 Practice Exercises  There are over 400 species of birds to see in Costa Rica, and the more interesting ones to photograph are the tucans. Correct each of the following sentences. most interesting

McGraw-Hill Copyright © 2001 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 18 Practice Exercises  The most biggest spiders Sean has ever seen were in Costa Rica. Correct each of the following sentences. delete most

McGraw-Hill Copyright © 2001 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 19 Practice Exercises One biology phenomenon was the walking tree which moves five to eight inches per year. Correct each of the following sentences. biological phenomenon

McGraw-Hill Copyright © 2001 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 20 Practice Exercises  The students rode on an aerial tram which moved slow over the canopy of the rain forest. Correct each of the following sentences. moved slowly

McGraw-Hill Copyright © 2001 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 21 Any questions?