Adjectives Used as Adverbs

Adjectives can closely resemble adverbs. Some words can either be an

adjective or adverb if you do not correctly change the word. You also need to
know the part-of-speech of the word, and understand how to use the word
correctly in the sentence.
EX. You look very welltonight.
Well is used to show condition; therefore it is an adjective.
EX.You did that work well.
Well is used to show manner; therefore it is an adverb.
EX. Brian ran so fast I could not catch him.
Fast is used to show manner; therefore it is an adverb.
EX. What a fast motorcycle James has!
Fast is used to describe motorcycle; therefore it is an adjective.
EX. You may go if you will not run too far.
Here far is used to denote distance and place; therefore it is an adverb.
EX. You may be out of money when you reach that far country.
Here far is used to describe country; therefore it is an adjective.
EX. Please give me a little more sugar in my coffee.
Here little is used to show degree; therefore it is an adverb.
EX. What a little boy you are!
Here little is used to describe boy; therefore it is an adjective.

EX. Come early that you may get a front row seat.
Here early is used to showtime; therefore it is an adverb.
EX. Dad sent you some of our early corn.
Here early describes corn; therefore it is an adjective.
Sometimes it is difficult to decide, even by the use, if you should use an
adjective or adverb. This is true when the word follows such a verb as taste,
smell, look, seem, sound, feel.
Adjectives ending in ly

NOTE Adjectives ending in ly [the

typical ending of adverbs] cause many
errors.
Wrong: He plays lovely.
Right: He plays beautifully.
Wrong: I should likely go.
Right: I should probably go.
Right: It is likely that I should go.
Adjectives and Verbs

After look, sound, taste, smell, feel, and similar verbs, an adjective is often
used to describe the subject.
Right: These flowers look beauliful. [Not "look beautifully".]
Right: My wife's perfume smells exquisite. [Not "smells exquisitely".]
Right: How good the chimes sound on the porch! [Not "sound well" .]
Right: I feel well. ["Well" is an adjective in this use.]
Right: It feels good to get back to my job.
Right: We stand firm in our conviction.

Right: The checks you mailed reached us safe.

Right: He got across safe.
Adjectives and "to be" Verbs

As a general rule, use the adjective whenever some form of the verb to beor to
seem may be substituted; if you cannot substitute a word, then use the
adverb.
In "We stand firm in our conviction," you can substitute the verb "are" for
"stand" with little change in the meaning.
But in "We stand firmly by our decision," you cannot substitute the verb "are"
for "stand" without changing the meaning of the sentence.
A similar example is: "He looks angry" with "He looks angrily at me."
Expressions

In such expressions as, He folded it tight, He folded it tightly, We kept it safe,

We kept it safely, use an adjective as the modifier if it designates the condition
of the object; if it designates the manner of action of the verb, then use an
adverb as the modifier.
Right: He folded it tight. [Tight designates the condition of the object.]
Right: He folded it tightly. [Tightly designates the manner of folding.]
Right: We kept it safe. [Safe designates the condition of the object.]
Right: We kept it safely. [Safely designates the manner of keeping.]

What are Adjectives?

An adjective is a word used to modify a noun or a pronoun.
When we say a word modifies a noun, we mean that it restrictsthe application
of the noun to such persons or things. Every adjective has a restrictiveforce;
we can define an adjective as "a word used to restrict the application of a
noun by adding something to its meaning."
The adjective is usually placed before its noun. In some instances it follows the
noun; such as, The apple is sweet. A cause worthy to defend. Words make
men strong. The car rides smoothly on the road.
In many sentences the adjective may either precede or follow the noun, such
as: A wise and judicious politican; or, A politician wise andjudicious.
Misplacing a single adjective can affect the meaning of a sentence. Note the
difference in the meaning of these two sentences:
EX. I heard only him.
EX. Only I heard him.
CLASSIFICATION OF ADJECTIVES

Adjectives are divided into two

general
classes: 1) descriptive orqualifying
adjectives and 2) definitive or limiting adj
ectives.
Descriptive Adjectives

A descriptive adjective describes or names some quality of the object

expressed by the noun or pronoun (i.e. strange, green, French).

EX. The giant elm tree casted its shadows over the stream.

EX. These two generous ladies have a mean neighbor.

EX. The bald-headed eagle is a beautiful bird.
In the examples I have given above, giant, generous, mean, baldheaded,and beautiful are descriptive adjectives. A descriptive adjective
answers the question, "What kind of?" in connection with the noun or
pronoun modified; as, What kind of elm? Giant. What kind of ladies?
Generous.
Definitive Adjectives

A definitive adjective points out or tells how much or how many (i.e.these,
two, the, a, that, many).
EX. This book contains one hundred pages.
This points out the particular book in mind. One hundred tells how
manypages.
Limiting Adjectives

Limiting adjectives include the following kinds of words:

1) The articles, the and a (or an).
2) Numeral adjectives: three boys, the third chapter, eleven players,
theeleventh month, the first day.
Numeral Adjectives

Numeral adjectives are divided into two classes: cardinals, which

include all such adjectives as one, two, three, four, ninety-nine; andordinals,
which include the forms first, second, third, fourth, ninety-ninth, and all
others like them.
The words once, twice, thrice are adverbs.
The cardinal numeral adjectives may be used as nouns.

EX. If we have a tornado, what will become of the food?

EX. Two twos are four.
EX. Hundreds lost their lives in that riot.
NOTE You can use about twenty-five words either as adjectives or as
pronouns. Among them are this, these, that, those, each, both, some, any, all,
few, many, either, neither, one, another, former, latter, more, most, same,
much.
NOTE This, these, that, those, are called demonstratives, because theypoint
out persons, places, or things.
NOTE Any, some, other, such, and others are not as definite as the
demonstratives, and are therefore called indefinites.
Interrogative Adjectives

In certain uses, interrogative and relative pronouns are among limiting

adjectives.
EX.Which movie do you want to watch next?
EX. I know which book you are reading next.
EX. He sold what land he had and whatever food he could buy.
EX. The man whose wallet you found lives in Texas.
EX. Which statement of his do you object to?
Possessive Adjectives

Possessive adjectives are the possessive forms of limiting adjectives, such

as: my, your, his, her, its, our, their, andwhose, when these words are used as
adjectives.
My, your, her, our, and their are always so used; but his, its, and whoseare
sometimes used as adjectives, sometimes as pronouns.
EX. I have my book, your package, her purse, and our movie tickets.
EX.Whose book is this? Is it his book? Is it Brian's book?
EX.Whose is this book? This book is hers. Its cover is torn.

Proper Adjectives

We call adjectives derived from proper nouns as proper adjectives. You

should always begin a proper adjective with a capital letter.
EX. the French government
EX. the English language
EX. the American flag
Adjective Uses of Nouns and Pronouns

A noun may be modified by another noun or by a pronoun. In the following

sentences the nouns and pronouns in italics are used adjectively:
EX. The mechcanic built a car chain.
EX. The house boat needed repairs.
EX. The bowling ball rested easily in the wheel chair.
EX. Brian's hat lay on the steering wheel.
EX. Whose book is this? It is her book.
Cautions in Using Adjectives

This, that, these, those, them

This and that are the only adjectives that have a plural
form. These andthose are plural and you must use them with plural
nouns. Those kind is incorrect. You should write: that kind or those kinds.
Them is not an adjective and you should not use it to modify a noun.
Each otherone another
Each other refers to two objects only; one another refers to more than two
objects.
EX. The two sisters love each other.
EX. The three sisters love one another.
Either, neitherany one

Either or neither properly refers to one of two. Any one refers to one of
several.
First and last
When you use adjectives that express number, use the
words first andlast before the adjective.
EX. the first two sentences
EX. the last ten pages
Misc. Rules

NOTE When two or more adjectives modify the same noun, the article is
used before the first adjective only.
EX. A black and white dog. (One dog.)
NOTE When two or more adjectives modify different nouns, one of which is
expressed and the rest understood, the article is used before each adjective:
EX.The black and the white care are mine. (Cat is understood after black.)
EX.The white and the red house belong to Mr. Henry.
EX.The Republican and the Democratic party seem to agree on the new law.
EX. Lisa bought a silk and a cotton towl. (Two towls.)
EX. Lori bought a silk and a cotton towl. (One towl.)
EX. Brian drew a map of the Northern and the Southern streets.

Remember: A descriptive adjective is one that describes.

A limiting adjective is one that points out or tells how much or how many.

Inflections of Adjectives
Positive, Comparative, and Superlative
(Don't let the word "inflection" throw you off; it simply means a change in the
form of a word (usually by adding a suffix) to indicate a change in its
grammatical function.)
Adjectives undergo a certain change of form to express comparison. In some
languages, adjectives have different forms to specify number, gender, and
case. English adjectives have no such inflections, but most of them do
have three forms to indicate the three degrees:Positive, Comparative,
and Superlative.
For instance, if you spoke about two baseball bats of unequal lengths, you
might say, "This bat is shorter than that bat;" or, "That bat is longer than this
bat." But if you had three different baseball bats, each of unequal lengths, you
might say, "This bat is the shortest;" or, "That bat is thelongest."
You can compare adjectives in three quick steps.
Step 1: You can say, "This bat is short," meaning that, compared to baseball
bats in general, this bat is short.
Step 2: You can say about two unequally long baseball bats, "This bat is
shorter than that."
Step 3: You can say about three or more unequally long baseball bats, "This
bat is the shortest."
These three steps are called the degrees of comparison. Each degree has a
name. Short is the positive degree of the adjective; shorter is
thecomparative degree; shortest is the superlative degree.
When to use the positive degree:
When the adjective names some quality possessed by the noun, and does not
denote the degree, the adjective is in the positive degree:

EX. This peach is not ripe.

When to use the comparative degree:
When the adjective refers to an object that possesses more of a quality than
another object, it is in the comparative degree.
EX. This is a riper peach than that one.
When to use the superlative degree:
When an adjective denotes a quality as possessed by some object among a
number in comparison (two or more), the adjective is in the superlative
degree.
EX. This is the ripest peach in the basket.
How to Compare Adjectives
To compare adjectives, add er to the positive to form the comparative degree;
add est to the positive to form the superlative degree.
EX. cold colder coldest
EX. high higher highest
EX. wide wider widest
Most adjectives of one syllable are compared in this way. Adjectives of more
than one syllable are compared in the same way only when the extra
syllables er and est fit with the entire word.
EX. common commoner commonest.
On the other hand, dangerous, dangerouser, dangerousest obviously does not
work. In such cases to compare adjectives, we need to add the word
more or lessbefore the positive form to make the comparative degree; and
add the wordmost or leastbefore the positive form to make the superlative
degree.
EX.

dangerous more dangerous most dangerous

EX.
dangerous less dangerous least dangerous
EX.
beautiful more beautiful most beautiful
EX.
beautiful less beautiful least beautiful
Irregular Comparisons
A few adjectives are compared irregularly:
Positive

Comparativ
e

Superlative

near

nearer

nearest, next

far

farther,
further

farthest,
furthest

much,
many

more

most

bad, ill

worse

worst

good, well

better

best

little

lest

least

You will discover that you cannot logically compare some adjectives,
likesquare, round, perfect, straight, complete, white, and black. If a thing is
round, another thing cannot be rounder. If something is perfect, something
else cannot be "most perfect." In actual practice we do compare these words.
When we say, "This line is straighter than that; and the last one
is straightest of all, we mean that the second line almost approaches absolute
straightness, and the third line nearly approaches it.
When you compare an object within its class, use the superlative degree. Do

not use such words as other, before, etc.. "Texas is the largest state,"is
correct. To say, "Texas is the largest of all other states" is incorrect. Texas
is not one of the other states.
When you compare an object with the rest of its class, use the comparative
degree. Use such words as other, before etc. "Texas is larger than any other
state in the U.S.," is correct. To say, " Texas is larger than any state in the
U.S.," is incorrect because you would imply that Texas is larger than itself,
or that Texas is not part of the U.S.
A few of these words you do not compare in actual speaking. We do not
say most vertical, more equal, more infinite, more daily, and so on.