Adjectives & Adverbs – JSS3 English Lesson Note (First Term)

An adjective describes a noun or pronoun, and an adverb gives more information about a verb, an adjective or another adverb.

Behavioural objectives

By the end of the lesson, students should be able to:

1. use -ed and -ing adjectives correctly to describe feelings and their causes;
2. tell the difference between an adjective and an adverb in a sentence;
3. use an adverb to say how something is done, and form adverbs from adjectives;
4. use adverbs to give extra information about adjectives and other adverbs;
5. use an adjective, not an adverb, after verbs such as be, become, seem, look, taste and smell.

What is an adjective?

An adjective is a word that describes or gives more information about a noun or pronoun.

• Quality: tells what something is like, as in a tall girl or a delicious meal.
• Quantity: tells how many or how much, as in three books or some rice.
• Demonstrative: points out a noun, as in this pen or those mangoes.
• Possessive: shows who owns something, as in my bag or their school.

What is an adverb?

An adverb is a word that tells how, when, where, how often or to what degree something happens.

• Adverb of manner: tells how an action is done, as in She sings beautifully.
• Adverb of time: tells when, as in The bus arrived yesterday.
• Adverb of place: tells where, as in The children are playing outside.
• Adverb of frequency: tells how often, as in He always walks to school.
• Adverb of degree: tells how much, as in The soup is very hot.

How do you form an adverb from an adjective?

Most adverbs of manner are formed by adding -ly to the adjective.

1. Add -ly to most adjectives: quick becomes quickly, careless becomes carelessly.
2. If the adjective ends in a consonant plus y, change y to i and add -ly: happy becomes happily.
3. If the adjective ends in -le, drop the e and add y: gentle becomes gently.
4. If the adjective ends in -ful, add -ly: careful becomes carefully, beautiful becomes beautifully.

Which adverbs do not follow the -ly rule?

• Good: the adverb is well, as in She works well.
• Fast: the adverb has the same form, as in He runs fast.
• Hard: the adverb has the same form, as in They study hard.
• Late and early: the adverbs have the same form, as in She arrived late.
• Hardly and lately: these are different words. Hardly means almost not, and lately means recently.

What is the difference between -ed and -ing adjectives?

An -ed adjective describes how a person feels, and an -ing adjective describes what causes the feeling.

• -ed adjective: shows the feeling of the person, as in I am bored.
• -ing adjective: shows the person, thing or event that causes the feeling, as in This lesson is boring.
• Both come from verbs: tire gives tired and tiring, and interest gives interested and interesting.

How do you choose between an adjective and an adverb?

Use an adjective to describe a noun, and use an adverb with a verb to say how something is done.

• Adjective: describes a noun, as in a quick runner.
• Adverb: says how an action is done, as in runs quickly.
• Spelling: most (but not all) adverbs have a different spelling from the matching adjective.
• Check: ask whether the word describes a noun or tells how a verb is done.

In the table, the adjective is in bold in the first column and the adverb is in bold in the second.

How are adverbs used with adjectives and other adverbs?

An adverb can give extra information about an adjective or about another adverb, and it usually comes just before that word.

• I am extremely happy in my new job: extremely describes the adjective happy.
• She’s in hospital with a seriously injured neck: seriously describes the adjective injured.
• It’s incredibly easy to make a mistake when knitting: incredibly describes the adjective easy.
• The girl climbed dangerously high up the tree: dangerously describes the adverb high.
• Because of the thick fog, I drove extremely carefully: extremely describes the adverb carefully.

Which verbs are followed by an adjective?

Linking verbs such as be, become, seem, look, taste and smell are followed by an adjective, not an adverb.

• She doesn’t seem happy today: happy describes the subject, she.
• Don’t be stupid!: stupid describes the person spoken to.
• This meat tastes bad: bad describes the meat.
• Those flowers smell strange: strange describes the flowers.

When do look, taste and smell take an adverb?

• Linking use: the verb describes the state of the subject, so use an adjective, as in The soup tastes good.
• Action use: the verb describes something a person does, so use an adverb, as in The cook tasted the soup carefully.

Evaluation

1. Explain the difference between an -ed adjective and an -ing adjective. Give one example sentence of each.
2. Choose the correct word: (a) This grammar lesson is (bored/boring). (b) I am (interested/interesting) in Ancient Egypt.
3. Write the adverb that matches each adjective: beautiful, quick, careless. What is the adverb for good?
4. Choose the correct word: (a) This meat tastes (bad/badly). (b) She doesn’t seem (happy/happily) today.
5. Name three verbs that are followed by an adjective, not an adverb.

Assignment

1. Write one sentence for each of these words: tired, tiring, shocked, shocking, confused, confusing.
2. Write three sentences in which an adverb gives extra information about an adjective or another adverb.