Adjectives & Adverbs
Explanation
Adjectives and adverbs are words you can use to modify—to
describe or add meaning to—other words.
Adjectives modify nouns or pronouns. Examples of some
common adjectives are: young, small, loud, short, fat, pretty.
You can also identify many adjectives by the following
common endings.
-able: honorable, useable -ic: frantic, scientific -less: ruthless, careless
-al: parental, economical -ive: festive, disruptive -ous: joyous, rebellious
-ful: forgetful, soulful -ish: selfish, boyish
Adverbs, on the other hand, modify verbs, adjectives, other adverbs, and even whole clauses.
Adverbs can tell us how something is done, when it is done, and where it is done. Examples of some
common adverbs are: really, quickly, especially, early, well, immediately, yesterday.
While many adverbs do end with “–ly”, don’t take this for granted: some adverbs, like “almost” and
“very” do not end this way, and some words that do end in “–ly”, like “lively,” are actually adjectives.
Comparatives and Superlatives
Many adverbs and most adjectives generally have three forms: the normal form; the comparative
form, which you can use to compare two things; and the superlative form, which you can use to
compare three or more things. The following chart gives you some guidelines for forming the
comparative and superlative forms of adjectives and adverbs.
Examples
Rules
Normal
Comparative
Superlative
Green
Big
Hungry
Greener
Bigger
Hungrier
Greenest
Biggest
Hungriest
Short adjectives &
adverbs:
• Add –er for comparative
• Add –est for superlative
Soon
Late
Sooner
Later
Soonest
Latest
Connections
See also “Commas”
and “Dangling
Modifiers.”
