Anker Susan. Real Essays with Readings with 2009 MLA Update

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Adjectives and Adverbs

Describing Which One? or How?

Understand What Adjectives

and Adverbs Are

Adjectives describe nouns (words that name people, places, or things)

and pronouns (words that replace nouns). They add information about

what kind, which one, or how many.

City trafﬁ c was terrible last night.

The highway was congested for three miles.

Two huge old tractor trailers had collided.

■ IDEA JOURNAL

Describe — in as much

detail as possible —

either a person or a

room.

Language Note: In English, adjectives do not indicate whether

the word they modify is singular or plural, unless the adjective is a

number.

INCORRECT My two new classes are hards.

[The adjective two is ﬁ ne because it is a number, but the adjective hard should

not end in s.]

CORRECT My two new classes are hard.

517

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EDITING ESSAYS

518 Part Five • Other Grammar Concerns

Adverbs describe verbs (words that tell what happens in a sentence),

adjectives, or other adverbs. They add information about how, how much,

when, where, why, or to what extent. Adverbs often end with -ly.

MODIFYING VERB Dave drives aggressively.

MODIFYING ADJECTIVE The extremely old woman swims every day.

MODIFYING ANOTHER ADVERB Dave drives very aggressively.

Adjectives usually come before the words they modify; adverbs come

either before or after. You can also use more than one adjective or adverb

to modify a word.

adj adj adj noun verb adv adv

The homeless, dirty, old man was talking loudly and crazily to himself.

Language Note: Sometimes, students confuse the -ed and -ing

forms of adjectives. Common examples are bored/boring, confused/

confusing, excited/exciting, and interested/interesting. Often, the -ed

form describes a person’s reaction, while the -ing form describes

the thing being reacted to.

INCORRECT James is interesting in all sports. [ James isn’t

interesting; sports are.]

CORRECT James is interested in all sports. [Is interested describes

James’s reaction to sports.]

Another common confusion is between when to use an adjective

and when to use an adverb. Remember that adverbs modify verbs,

adjectives, and other adverbs but not nouns. Adverbs often end

in -ly.

INCORRECT James is a carefully driver.

[The word carefully should not be used to describe a noun, driver. The noun

driver should be modiﬁ ed by an adjective, careful. The adverb carefully can

be used to modify a verb, drives.]

CORRECT James is a careful driver.

James drives carefully.

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EDITING ESSAYS

Chapter 28 • Adjectives and Adverbs 519

Practice Using Adjectives

and Adverbs Correctly

Choosing between Adjective and Adverb Forms

Many adverbs are formed by adding -ly to the end of an adjective.

ADJECTIVE ADVERB

The new student introduced himself. The couple is newly married.

That is an honest answer. Please answer honestly.

To decide whether to use an adjective form or an adverb form, ﬁ nd

the word you want to describe. If that word is a noun or a pronoun, use

the adjective form. If it is a verb, an adjective, or another adverb, use the

adverb form.

PRACTICE 1 CHOOSING BETWEEN ADJECTIVE

AND ADVERB FORMS

In each sentence, underline the word or phrase in the sentence that is being

described, and then circle the correct word in parentheses.

EXAMPLE: Teenagers who want a summer job ( usual / usually ) can

ﬁ nd work.

1. Even in a slowing economy, many summer jobs for unskilled workers are

( easy / easily ) to ﬁ nd.

2. Of course, teenage workers without much experience should not have

( extreme / extremely ) rigid requirements for a summer job.

3. Fast-food restaurants ( frequent / frequently ) employ teenagers.

4. The wages at a fast-food restaurant will not be ( high / highly ) for a start-

ing position, however.

5. In addition, the work may not be very ( interesting / interestingly ).

6. However, teenagers can learn ( valuable / valuably ) lessons from going to

almost any job.

■ Answers to

odd-numbered

practice items are at

the back of the book.

■ For coordinate

adjectives, see

Chapter 37.

■ For more practice

with adjectives

and adverbs, visit

Exercise Central at

bedfordstmartins

.com/realessays.

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EDITING ESSAYS

520 Part Five • Other Grammar Concerns

7. Arriving on time and behaving ( responsible / responsibly ) will impress

any supervisor.

8. Working ( close / closely ) with other employees also may teach a teenage

worker to get along with people who are not friends or family.

9. Earning money can make a high school student feel more ( ﬁ nancial /

ﬁ nancially ) independent.

10. Saving for college tuition is one way in which a teenager can use money

from a summer job ( wise / wisely ).

Using Adjectives and Adverbs in Comparisons

To compare two persons, places, or things, use the comparative form of

adjectives or adverbs.

Sheehan drives faster than I do.

Francis is more gullible than Destina is.

Comparative and Superlative Forms

ADJECTIVE OR ADVERB COMPARATIVE SUPERLATIVE

ADVERBS AND ADJECTIVES OF

ONE SYLLABLE

tall

fast

taller

faster

tallest

fastest

ADJECTIVES ENDING IN Y

happy

silly

happier

sillier

happiest

silliest

ADVERBS AND ADJECTIVES OF

MORE THAN ONE SYLLABLE

graceful

gracefully

intelligent

intelligently

more graceful

more gracefully

more intelligent

more intelligently

most graceful

most gracefully

most intelligent

most intelligently

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EDITING ESSAYS

Chapter 28 • Adjectives and Adverbs 521

To compare three or more persons, places, or things, use the super-

lative form of adjectives or adverbs.

Sheehan drives the fastest of all our friends.

Francis is the most gullible of the children.

Comparatives and superlatives can be formed either by adding an

ending to an adjective or adverb or by adding a word. If an adjective or

adverb is short (one syllable), add -er to form the comparative and -est to

form the superlative. Also use this pattern for adjectives that end in y (but

change the y to i before adding -er or -est). If an adjective or adverb has

more than one syllable, add the word more to make the comparative and

the word most to make the superlative.

Use either an ending (-er or -est) or an extra word (more or most) to

form a comparative or superlative — not both at once.

One of the most easiest ways to beat stress is to exercise regularly.

It is more harder to study late at night than during the day.

Language Note: Some languages, such as Spanish, always use

words meaning more or most in comparisons, even when there is

already the equivalent of an -er or -est ending on an adjective or

adverb. That is not true of English. If there is an -er or -est ending

on an adjective or adverb, do not use more or most.

PRACTICE 2 USING COMPARATIVES AND SUPERLATIVES

In the space provided in each sentence, write the correct form of the adjective

or adverb in parentheses. You may need to add more or most to some adjec-

tives and adverbs.

EXAMPLE: One of the

most loved

(loved ) treats is chocolate.

1. Some people think that Americans are the (big) consumers of

chocolate in the world.

2. Actually, the people who eat the (great) amount of chocolate

are the British.

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EDITING ESSAYS

522 Part Five • Other Grammar Concerns

3. In fact, the British are nearly 40 percent ( fond ) of chocolate

than Americans are.

4. British chocolate makers are concerned because they expected British

people’s chocolate consumption to grow (robustly) than

it has in recent years.

5. However, a small company that makes chocolate with organically grown

ingredients has experienced some of the (healthy) sales of

all chocolate manufacturers in recent years.

6. Even though this organic chocolate is (expensive) than

regular chocolate, people are willing to pay the price.

7. People have come to expect that organic foods will carry a (high)

price than conventional foods.

8. Another type of chocolate is also enjoying (strong) sales in

Britain than regular chocolate.

9. This chocolate does not contain the vegetable solids found in most Brit-

ish chocolate; therefore, it is considered by some chocolate lovers to be

( pure) than the standard product.

10. This “real” chocolate is expensive, but its sales are expected to continue

to grow ( fast) than sales of other premium chocolates.

Using Good, Well, Bad, and Badly

Four common adjectives and adverbs have irregular forms — good, well,

bad, and badly.

People often are confused about whether to use good or well. Good is

an adjective, so use it to describe a noun or pronoun. Well is an adverb, so

use it to describe a verb or an adjective.

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EDITING ESSAYS

Chapter 28 • Adjectives and Adverbs 523

Forms of Good, Well, Bad, and Badly

COMPARATIVE SUPERLATIVE

ADJECTIVE

good

bad

better

worse

best

worst

ADVERB

well

badly

better

worse

best

worst

ADJECTIVE She is a good friend.

ADVERB He works well with his colleagues.

Well can also be an adjective to describe someone’s health:

I am not feeling well today.

PRACTICE 3 USING GOOD AND WELL

Complete each sentence by circling the correct word in parentheses. Under-

line the word that good or well modiﬁ es.

EXAMPLE: A ( good / well ) storyteller can hold an audience’s

attention.

1. Mark Twain’s ability to tell an amusing story is ( good / well ) known.

2. Twain’s famous story “The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County”

is a ( good / well ) example of traditional American tale-telling.

3. The story is narrated by an Easterner whose proper speech contrasts

( good / well ) with the country dialect of Simon Wheeler, a storyteller

he meets.

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EDITING ESSAYS

524 Part Five • Other Grammar Concerns

4. Wheeler may not be ( good / well ) educated, but he is a master of the tall

tale.

5. The narrator claims that Wheeler has told him a “monotonous” story, but

the tale is apparently ( good / well ) enough for the narrator to repeat.

6. The frog in the story is famous for being a ( good / well ) jumper.

7. Wheeler explains that the frog’s owner lives ( good / well ) by gambling

on the frog’s jumping ability.

8. The frog’s owner, Jim Smiley, makes the mistake of leaving the frog with

a man whom Smiley does not know ( good / well ).

9. The stranger makes the frog swallow heavy shot so that he can no longer

jump ( good / well ).

10. In Twain’s story, Simon Wheeler has such a ( good / well ) time telling

stories that the narrator has to escape from him at the end.

PRACTICE 4 USING COMPARATIVE AND SUPERLATIVE

FORMS OF GOOD AND BAD

Complete each sentence by circling the correct comparative or superlative

form of good or bad in parentheses.

EXAMPLE: The ( better / best ) way my family found to learn about

another culture was to allow an exchange student to live

in our home.

1. Simone, a French high school student, spent last summer getting to know

the United States ( better / best ) by living with my family.

2. She had studied English since the age of ﬁ ve, and her understanding of

grammar was ( better / best ) than mine.

3. She told me that she had the ( worse / worst ) accent of any student in her

English classes, but I liked the way she spoke.

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EDITING ESSAYS

Chapter 28 • Adjectives and Adverbs 525

4. Her accent was certainly no ( worse / worst ) than mine would be if I tried

to speak French.

5. My ( worse / worst ) fear was that she would ﬁ nd our lives boring.

6. However, the exchange program’s administrator explained that the ( better /

best ) way for Simone to learn about our country was for us to do ordinary

things.

7. For me, the ( better / best ) part of Simone’s visit was the chance to see

my world through fresh eyes.

8. I felt ( better / best ) about my summer job, trips to the supermarket, and

afternoon swims at the pool because Simone found all of these things

exotic and fascinating.

9. Simone even liked summer reruns on television; she claimed that French

television was much ( worse / worst ).

10. The ( worse / worst ) part of the visit was having to say goodbye to Simone

at the end of the summer.

Edit Paragraphs and Your Own Writing

Edit the following paragraphs for adjective and adverb errors, referring to

the chart on page 530 as you need to.

EDITING REVIEW 1 (9 errors)

(1) For an average European in the Middle Ages, wearing stripes

was not simple a fashion mistake. (2) According to Michel Pastoureau, a

scholar of the medieval period, wearing stripes was one of the worse things

a European Christian could do in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries.

(3) Stripes might be taken as a sign that the wearer was more sillier than

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EDITING ESSAYS

526 Part Five • Other Grammar Concerns

other people; jesters, for example, often wore them. (4) Prostitutes also

wore striped clothes, so stripes might be seen as an indication that the

person was sinfuller than others. (5) Wearing stripes was dangerousest for

clergymen. (6) At least one clergyman in fourteenth-century France was

executed because he had been foolishly enough to wear striped clothes.

(7) Carmelite monks who wore striped cloaks were frequent attacked,

and several popes insisted that the monks change to a more simple cos-

tume. (8) People in medieval Europe certainly took their clothing serious.

(9) The only reason some people don’t wear stripes today is that they are

afraid of looking fat.

EDITING REVIEW 2 (14 errors)

(1) Many people no longer ﬁ nd it embarrassingly to admit that they

have seen a psychotherapist. (2) Some patients argue that it is gooder

to seek mental help than to suffer silently. (3) Others seem to feel that

needing a therapist is a sign that their lives are interestinger than other

people’s. (4) At any rate, the stigma that some people once attached to

psychotherapy is disappearing quick. (5) Therapists have lately become

visibler in popular culture, and this visibility may result in even wider

acceptance of psychotherapy. (6) For example, when a mobster on the

cable television show The Sopranos asks a therapist to treat his panic

attacks, viewers see that the most tough of men is still able to discuss

his relationships and feelings with a mental health specialist. (7) If Tony

Soprano can do it, what ordinary person is going to feel badly about seek-

ing help for ordinary problems?

(8) However, people considering seeing a therapist are not the

only ones who love to watch Tony Soprano trying to work through his

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