Adjectives Modify Nouns and Pronouns

Adjectives can be identified by knowing what job they accomplish in a sentence. Adjectives modify or describe nouns and pronouns. They answer the questions what kind? how many? and which one? If you find all the nouns and pronouns in a sentence and ask these questions of those nouns and pronouns, you’ll find the adjectives! While you might not think of them as such, the articles a, an, and the are also adjectives.

Adverbs Modify Verbs, Adjectives, and Adverbs

Many adverbs end in -ly, but certainly not all them. This is why it’s important to understand how to identify an adverb in a sentence. Once you’ve identified adverbs, you can make sure you are using them correctly.

Adverbs modify (or describe) verbs, adjectives, and other adverbs. Hint: You can remember what adverbs are used for is to note the “verb” in the adverb.  To identify an adverb in a sentence, you can ask the adverb questions about the verbs, adjectives, and adverbs in the sentence: when, how, why, where, under what condition, to what degree, how often, and how much.

Using Comparatives and Superlatives

Most adjectives and adverbs have three levels of intensity. The lowest level is the base, or positive, level, such as tall. The second level is the comparative level (taller), and the top level is the superlative level (tallest). You use the base, or positive, level when you are talking about only one thing. You use the comparative level when you are comparing two things. The superlative level allows you to compare three or more things.

With short adjectives, the comparative and superlative are typically formed by adding –er and –est, respectively. If an adjective has three or more syllables, use the words more or less (comparative) and most or least (superlative) in front of the adjectives instead of adding suffixes. When you are unsure whether to add the suffix or a word, look up the word.

One negative word changes the meaning of a sentence to mean the opposite of what the sentence would mean without the negative word. Two negative words, on the other hand, cancel each other out, resulting in a double negative that returns the sentence to its original meaning. Because of the potential for confusion, double negatives are discouraged.

Two sets of adverbs and adjectives that are often used erroneously are good and well and bad and badly. The problem people usually have with these two words is that the adverb forms (well and badly) are often used in place of the adjective forms (good and bad) or vice versa. In addition, well can be used as an adjective meaning “healthy.” The following chart is a helpful way to remember when to use which word.