Adjective A word that modifies noun or a pronoun. This means that adjectives either describe a noun or pronoun, or make its meaning more definite or exact.

Adjective Questions Adjectives answer these questions: What kind? gray sky, old shoes, clever dog, low price Which one? that girl, next day, either way, last chance How many? five fingers, many rivers, fewer hours, some problems

Pronoun/Adjectives In the examples, “that,” “either,” “many,” “fewer,” and “some” -- words that may also be used as pronouns -- are adjectives, because they modify the nouns in the phrases, rather than take the place of the nouns. Possessive pronouns (my, your, his, her, its, our, their) are pronouns because they replace a noun (ex: He took mine!), but they are also adjectives because they answer the question “Which one?” my sister, your book, our team, their tents.

Sometimes you will find nouns used as adjectives I like crisp bacon. Dad couldn’t see through the blinding snow. We went to my grandmother’s last December. She lived in Texas. NOUNS USED AS ADJECTIVES He bought a bacon sandwich. She admired the snow sculpture. Body Central was having a December sale. Her mother made Texas chili.

Articles A An The Articles are the most frequently used adjectives!

Indefinite Articles “A” and “an” are indefinite articles; they refer to one of a general group Examples: A girl won. An elephant escaped. This is an honor. “A” is used before words beginning with a consonant SOUND. “An” is used before words beginning with a vowel SOUND.

Definite Article “The” is called a definite article. “The” indicates that the noun refers to someone or something in particular. Examples: The girl won. The elephant escaped. The honor goes to her.

Adjective placement Adjectives usually come before the nouns they modify, but sometimes this is not the case! Sometimes, the adjective follows the word it modifies. Other times, the adjective is separated from the noun or pronoun it modifies by other words! Example 1 Miss Simmons tells all employees that good workers will be given special privileges. Example 2 A dog, old and overweight, snored in the sun. Example 3 Beverly was frightened. She felt nervous about the play. Worried by the audience, she frowned.

Circle the adjectives My family visited the largest zoo on Sunday. Many monkeys were chattering in their wire cages. My sister heard the male lion roaring and became upset. She laughed, though, when she saw the pretty birds with striking feathers on their heads. The seals, shiny and fat, performed stunts. By late afternoon, the sky was becoming dark. After a full day, we arrived home, happy but tired.

Adverb A word that modifies a verb, adjective, or other adverb.

Adverb Questions Where? When? How? To what extent? We lived there. Please step up. I have the ticket here. When? May we go tomorrow? Water the plant weekly. We’ll see you later. How? She quickly agreed. The rain fell softly. Drive carefully. To what extent? I am completely happy. He hardly moved. Did she hesitate slightly?

Note: Sometimes, a word is more than one part of speech! For example, “there” and “here” are both pronouns and adverbs in the previous examples. Similarly, “up” is both a preposition and an adverb. These words are adverbs because they give more information regarding the question, “verbed where?”

Where do they appear? Adverbs can appear anywhere -- they can be before or after the verb they modify, and they can even interrupt the parts of a verb phrase! Where in the world did you ever find that pink and purple necktie? He always sleeps soundly.

Practice: Adverbs modifying verbs We can ride the bus tomorrow. They spoke soothingly to the hurt animal. They peered around the corner, but they immediately went away. They won easily. Our neighbors never say much, but they are always there when we need them.