Adjective or Adverb?

1. Adjectives modify (describe) nouns; adverbs modify verbs, adjectives, and other adverbs.  Many adverbs are formed by adding “ly” to an adjective. If you want to use a word with an “ly” ending, be sure that it is an adverb before you use it as one.

John is tall.  (Tall is an adjective that describes John.)

John dances wonderfully.  (Wonderfully is an adverb that describes the way John dances.)

John is desperately ill.  (ill is an adjective describing John.  Desperately is an adverb that describes ill.)

John cleaned the car extremely well today.  (Extremely is an adverb that describes well.  Well is an adverb that describes cleaned.)

2. Adverbs DO NOT modify or describe nouns!

Correct:  She is a frustrating woman. 

Incorrect:  She is a frustratingly woman.

Correct:  Jan has a beautiful house. 

Incorrect:  Jan has a beautifully house.     

3.  Adjectives DO NOT modify or describe verbs!

Correct:  Pete is eating regularly again after his illness.   (regularly is an adverb that describes the verb eating)

Incorrect:   Pete is eating regular again after his illness. (regular is an adjective; it cannot describe the verb eating.)

Correct:  Rhonda sings wonderfully.   (wonderfully is an adverb and modifies the verb sings)

Incorrect:  Rhonda sings wonderful.  (wonderful is an adjective and cannot modify the verb sings.)

4.  Adjectives always follow a form of the verb to be when they modify the noun that comes before that verb.

Clarise was happy. (was=past tense of be; happy=adjective describing Clarise)

She has been happy for days now.  (has been=have + a form of be; happy is an adjective describing She)

Be sweet to your cousin.  (be=verb; sweet is an adjective modifying the implied subject You)

Marlys and Sally were muddy.  (were=form of be; muddy is an adjective describing Marlys and Sally)

  5.  Adjectives always follow these verbs of sense--feel, taste, smell and these verbs of perception--appear, seem, look, sound--when they modify the noun that comes before the verb.

This burger tastes strange.  (strange is an adjective describing the noun burger.  The verb taste is one of sense)

Dinner smells great!  (great is an adjective describing the noun dinner.  The verb smells is one of sense)

Some rap music sounds terrible.  (terrible is an adjective describing the noun music.  The verb sounds is one of  perception)

Carl appeared excited today.  (excited is an adjective describing the noun Carl.  The verb appeared (past tense of appear) is one of  perception)  

A storm must be coming in.  The sky seems darker.  (darker is an adjective describes the noun sky.  The verb seems is one of perception) )

NOTE:   Be sure that you know whether the word being modified is the subject or the verb in the sentence.  If the subject is being modified or described, use an adjective.  If a verb is being modified or described, use an adverb.

The melon smells rotten.  (rotten is an adjective modifying melon.  You shouldn’t use rottenly, because that would mean that the melon has a sense of smell) 

He does his work badly when he is tired.  (badly is an adverb modifying does.  Badly is the way he does his work.)

Good or Well?

Good is an adjective and modifies or describes nouns..  Well is an adverb and modifies or describes verbs.  That seems simple enough, but misusing these two words is one of the most common errors in spoken and written English.  BUT---if you are using a *linking verb or a verb that has to do with the human senses (feel, taste, sight, hearing, smell) you use the adjective:  good. 

This tastes good. 

What smells so good?

I feel good, thanks..

Well and good may both be used after verb relating to health, and this is perfectly correct. 

How is your mother?  She is well, thank you. 

It's been three months since she felt really good, hasn't it? 

*(Linking verbs do not express action and are sometimes called “state-of-being” verbs.  The most common linking verbs are: be, am, is, are, was, were, being, been, and verb phrases ending in be, being, and been such as could be, would have been, etc.  Other common linking verbs are: become, grow, seem, stay, remain.  A good way to see if a verb is a linking verb is to substitute  “is” or “was” for the verb and see if the sentence still makes sense.  You cannot use “is” or “was” in place of an action verb.)

IMPORTANT NOTE

Many times, people learning English tell us they cannot see any logic as to why we say things in English the way we do. We have no logical answers to some of their questions, when they want to know the "why" of something that makes no sense. There may be someone somewhere  who has studied grammar for years and years who might know the answer to a particular grammar question, but we will just tell you "It's just the way we say it." Looking at the examples below, you might say "But WHY do you say "...swim very well", but you can't say "...a well swimmer"? The only answer we have for you is that it's just the way we say it in normal conversational English.

Correct:  I don't swim very well.

Incorrect:  I don't swim very good.

BUT:  I am not a good swimmer.

Correct:  Jenny speaks French well.

Incorrect:  Jenny speaks French good.

BUT:  Jenny speaks good French.

Correct:  She dances well.

Incorrect:  She dances good.

BUT:  She is a good dancer.

Bad or Badly?

When something happens do you feel bad or badly?  Bad is an adjective; badly is an adverb.  Use the same guidelines as with good and well and use bad after linking verbs and verbs having to do with the five senses. 

He smelled bad.  (If you said, “He smelled badly” you would be saying he had trouble with his sense of smell.)

John plays the harp badly.  (He can’t play!)  

Calvin dances badly.  (He can’t dance!)   

Jerry never smells bad. (He takes a shower daily.)  

Sally looks bad in that outfit.  (She isn’t attractive when she wears that dress.)

Double-negatives

In English only one negative is used at a time.  Since scarcely and hardly are already negative adverbs, you do not add another negative (no, not, none, no one, nobody, etc).  (See also Adverbs)

Correct:  There were hardly any sandwiches left when Peter arrived at the picnic. 

Incorrect:  There were hardly none left when Peter...

Correct:  Scarcely anyone alive still remembers World War One. 

Incorrect:  Scarcely no one alive...

Double Negatives Quiz

Sure or Surely?

The adjective sure means to be certain.  The adverb surely also means certainty.  The idiom sure to be means without a doubt, certain. 

      Herbert was sure that the phone rang.  (The adjective sure modifies  Herbert, the subject)

We surely felt silly when the prowler turned out to be Uncle Ned coming home late. (The adverb surely shows that we certainly felt silly.)

The rally is sure to be a success.  (sure to be is an idiomatic phrase that is an adjective describing the subject rally—the rally is certain to be a success.)

Real or Really?

Real is an adjective, and really is an adverb.   (Notice the “ly” ending—a good hint that the word could be an adverb)  real and really emphasize/intensify the word they're modifying.

 Jack did really well with his English lesson last night.  (The adverb really describes well.  Well is an adverb here)

That could be a real mess if it isn’t cleaned up soon.  (The adjective real describes the mess and intensifies it!)

Near or Nearly?

Nearly (or almost) is an adverb.  In everyday conversation, we usually use almost.  Near can act as an adverb, adjective, verb, or preposition.

The girls were nearly finished with their homework as midnight approached.  (nearly is an adverb modifying the verb finished)

The shadows drew near.  (near is an adverb here, modifying the verb drew) (drew in that sentence means “to come closer”)

They wondered what the near future held for them.  (near is an adjective describing the noun future)

                The girls ran for their lives, and escaped through a door near the back of the old house.   (In this sentence, near is

                 a preposition .  near the back modifies the noun house)