12 Checking Adjectives and Adverbs
Dr. Karen Palmer
Adverbs vs Adjectives
Many students get confused when it comes to adjectives and adverbs. Since many adverbs and adjectives are almost identical—with slight changes in spelling (usually adverbs are formed by adding –ly to the adjective)—it’s no wonder students get confused! A few adverbs and adjectives even have the same spelling (like best, fast, late, straight, low, and daily)!
| Adjectives | Adverbs |
|---|---|
| bad | badly |
| beautiful | beautifully |
| quick | quickly |
| quiet | quietly |
| slow | slowly |
| soft | softly |
| sudden | suddenly |
You likely already use adjectives and adverbs correctly, but the best way to make sure you are using adjectives and adverbs correctly is to understand how they are used.
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.
In the following sentences, the adjectives are in bold font and the nouns and pronouns are in italic font.
1. It takes crazy people to go to a cave at 4:00 a.m. to wait for the bats to leave!
Adjective questions: What kind of people? Crazy ones. Which cave? A cave. Which bats? The bats. Remember, a, an, and the are article adjectives!
2. A few bats seemed to circle above as the rest flew off.
Adjective Questions: How many bats? Few. Which few? A few. Which rest? The rest.
3. That one almost got in my hair.
Adjective questions: Which one? That one. Which hair? My hair. Note that “my” is a possessive pronoun, which can also be used as an adjective.
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.
In the following sentences, the adverbs are in bold font and the verbs and adjectives they modify are in italic font. Note that the adverb questions are asked of verbs, adjectives, and other adverbs.
1. About a quarter million bats leave Carlsbad Caverns nightly.
Adverb question: When do they leave? Nightly. Nightly is an adverb.
2. The bats flew above our heads.
Adverb question: Where did they fly? Above–above is an adverb.
3. The bats are incredibly dense.
Adverb question: