Adjectives &

Adverbs

Adjectives and Adverbs

• Adjectives modify nouns.• Adverbs modify everything else – verbs, adjectives,

and other adverbs.• The ACT sometimes tests to see whether you know

the difference between adjectives and adverbs.• You may remember from grade school a method that

often helps to decide if a word is an adjective – simply put the word you aren’t sure about into the following sentence.

• “He/She is very _____.” • If the word fits the blank, then the word is an

adjective.• He is very intelligent.• He is very intelligently.

Adjectives and Adverbs

• Intelligent fits the blank in the first sentence, so intelligent must be an adjective.

• Intelligently does not fit the blank in the second sentence because it is an adverb.

• She thinks intelligently.

• A comparative adjective is often used when a sentence is comparing two things.

• Juanita is taller than Jane.• In general, if an adjective has only one

syllable, you can make it comparative by adding an “er” to the end of the word.

• If the adjective has more than one syllable, you can usually make it comparative by adding “more” or “less” in front of the adjective.

• Sid is more careful than Tom.• Tom is less careful than Sid.

Comparative Adjectivespar

Comparative Adverbs

• A comparative adverb is often used when a sentence is comparing two actions.

• Juanita dances more gracefully than Jane.

Comparative Adverbs

• To make an adverb comparative, you also need to add a “more” or “less” in front of the adverb.

• Sid behaves more politely than Tom does.

• Tom behaves less politely than Sid does.

Superlative Adjectives

• When more than two things are being compared, a sentence needs a superlative adjective.

• Of the many men in the room, John is the strongest.

To make a comparison between three or more things, add “est” to the adjective.

Superlative Adverbs

• When more than two actions are being compared, a sentence often needs a comparative adverb.

• Compared with the other boys in the school, Sid behaves the most politely.

Work Cited

Martz, Geoff, Kim Magloire, and Theodore Silver. Cracking the ACT. 2007 ed. New York:

Random House, 2007. Print.