1. Adjectives and Adverbs
Writing Lab
Adjectives and Adverbs

2. Adjectives vs. Adverbs The difference between adjectives and adverbs:
ADJECTIVES ADVERBS
bad badly
careful carefully
clear clearly
courteous courteously
different differently
quick quickly
strange strangely
sure surely

3. Adjectives vs. Adverbs ADJECTIVE USE ADVERB USE He is strange.
He behaves strangely.
Be careful.
Drive carefully.
The explanation is clear.
Think clearly.
I am sure.
You surely do look good.
The response was quick.
We need to act quickly.
I feel bad.
The men are behaving badly.

4. Common adjective/adverb errors in spoken and written English
The Williams sisters play tennis remarkable well.
How quick time passes when you’re having fun!
The applicants felt very badly about missing the first phase of the interview.
These encounters make me feel real awkward.
Yes, we sure do serve nonalcoholic beverages.

5. Common adjective/adverb errors in spoken and written English
The Williams sisters play tennis remarkably well.
How quickly time passes when you’re having fun!
The applicants felt very bad about missing the first phase of the interview.
These encounters make me feel really awkward.
Yes, we surely do serve nonalcoholic beverages.

6. Adjective Use Use ADJECTIVES with these verbs: Be verbs
is are were being am was been
Sense Verbs
look feel taste smell sound
Linking Verbs
become remain appear seem

7. Some verbs that are not sense verbs have the meaning of “is” or “are” and, therefore, require adjectives.
High school and college seem [are] very different. High school and college students behave differently.
The judge remained [was] silent throughout the trial.
The jurors entered the courtroom silently.

8. Some verbs act as both linking verbs and performers of action.
Linking Use
The speaker sounds good
He looked (appeared) sympathetic.
Action Use
The speaker sounds her vowels distinctly.
He looked sympathetically at the mourners.

9. Adverb Use
Most adverbs are formed with the addition of the –ly suffix to an existing adjective:
cautiously surprisingly usually
safely inadvertently quietly
Use ADVERBS to qualify and modify and intensify:
You play pinochle well.
You play pinochle remarkably well.
You play pinochle very well.

10. Adjectives and Adverbs: A Summary
Use adjectives after sense verbs such as look, smell, taste, feel, or sound:
The steak tastes very good.
Use adjectives after linking verbs (is, am, are, was, were and other forms of be):
I am usually very prompt for meetings.
Most adverbs end in –ly; use adverbs after action verbs:
I usually arrive promptly for meetings.

11. What You’re Really Saying . . .
WHAT YOU SAY
TRANSLATION
I feel bad.
I am sorry.
I feel badly.
I can’t tell if the surface is rough or smooth.
I feel good.
I am well behaved.
I feel well.
My health is fine.
My fingers are especially sensitive.

12. Bad and Badly Bad is an adjective: I feel bad about the delay.
Badly is an adverb: The bruise doesn't hurt so badly now.

13. Good and Well
Good is an adjective: You look good in blue. You wear it well.
Well is an adverb: He gets along well with his co-workers.
Well is also an adjective when it is used to refer to health:
I am not well today. You look good, and you look well, too.

14. Real and Really
Real is an adjective meaning "genuine"; really is an adverb:
The admiral has real charm, so he is really charismatic.
The use of real as an adverb is colloquial or nonstandard:
He writes real really well.
My high school teachers were real really [or very] strict.

15. Use “real” preceding nouns; use “really” preceding adjectives (“very,” however, is a more formal adverb than “really.”)
REAL
REALLY
Real excitement
Really exciting
A real disadvantage
Really disadvantageous
A real friend
Really friendly
A real honor
Really honorable
A real difference
Really different
A real crisis
Really critical
Real love
Really loving

16. Sure and Surely Sure is an adjective meaning “certain.”
I am sure that congressional hearings are nothing more than vapid, hollow charades.
Surely is an adverb meaning “certainly.”
INCORRECT: The city council sure (certain) is making a number of decisions this year.
CORRECT: The city council surely (certainly) is making a number of decisions this year.