Adjectives are words that describe or modify another person or thing in the sentence. The Articles — a, an, and the — are adjectives.
- the tall professor
- the lugubrious lieutenant
- a solid commitment
- a month's pay
- a six-year-old child
- the unhappiest, richest man
Unlike Adverbs, which often seem capable of popping up almost anywhere in a sentence, adjectives nearly always appear immediately before the noun or noun phrase that they modify. Sometimes they appear in a string of adjectives, and when they do, they appear in a set order according to category. (See Below.) When indefinite pronouns — such as something, someone, anybody — are modified by an adjective, the adjective comes after the pronoun:
Anyone capable of doing something horrible to someone nice should be punished.
Something wicked this way comes.
And there are certain adjectives that, in combination with certain words, are always "postpositive" (coming after the thing they modify):
The president elect, heir apparent to the Glitzy fortune, lives in New York proper.
See, also, the note on a- adjectives, below, for the position of such words as "ablaze, aloof, aghast."
The degrees of comparison are known as the positive, the comparative, and the superlative (Actually, only the comparative and superlative show degrees). Notice that the word than frequently accompanies the comparative and the word the precedes the superlative. The inflected suffixes -er and -est suffice to form most comparatives and superlatives, although we need -ier and -iest when a two-syllable adjective ends in y (happier and happiest); otherwise we use more and most when an adjective has more than one syllable.
| Positive | Comparative | Superlative |
| rich | richer | richest |
| lovely | lovelier | loveliest |
| beautiful | more beautiful | most beautiful |
Certain adjectives have irregular forms in the comparative and superlative degrees:
| Irregular Comparative and Superlative Forms | ||
| good | better | best |
| bad | worse | worst |
| little | less | least |
| much many some | more | most |
| far | further | furthest |
Be careful not to form comparatives or superlatives of adjectives which already express an extreme of comparison — unique, for instance — although it probably is possible to form comparative forms of most adjectives: something can be more perfect, and someone can have a fuller figure. People who argue that one woman cannot be more pregnant than another have never been nine-months pregnant with twins.
Adverb
- a verb (He drove slowly. — How did he drive?)
- an adjective (He drove a very fast car. — How fast was his car?)
- another adverb (She moved quite slowly down the aisle. — How slowly did she move?)
As we will see, adverbs often tell when, where, why, or under what conditions something happens or happened. Adverbs frequently end in -ly; however, many words and phrases not ending in -ly serve an adverbial function and an -ly ending is not a guarantee that a word is an adverb. The words lovely, lonely, motherly, friendly, neighborly, for instance, are adjectives:
- That lovely woman lives in a friendly neighborhood.
- When this class is over, we're going to the movies.
When a group of words not containing a subject and verb acts as an adverb, it is called an adverbial phrase. Prepositional phrases frequently have adverbial functions (telling place and time, modifying the verb):
- He went to the movies.
- She works on holidays.
- They lived in Canada during the war.
And Infinitive phrases can act as adverbs (usually telling why):
- She hurried to the mainland to see her brother.
- The senator ran to catch the bus.
But there are other kinds of adverbial phrases:
- He calls his mother as often as possible.
Adverbs can modify adjectives, but an adjective cannot modify an adverb. Thus we would say that "the students showed a really wonderful attitude" and that "the students showed a wonderfully casual attitude" and that "my professor is really tall, but not "He ran real fast."
Like adjectives, adverbs can have comparative and superlative forms to show degree.
- Walk faster if you want to keep up with me.
- The student who reads fastest will finish first.
We often use more and most, less and least to show degree with adverbs:
- With sneakers on, she could move more quickly among the patients.
- The flowers were the most beautifully arranged creations I've ever seen.
- She worked less confidently after her accident.
- That was the least skillfully done performance I've seen in years.
The as — as construction can be used to create adverbs that express sameness or equality: "He can't run as fast as his sister."
A handful of adverbs have two forms, one that ends in -ly and one that doesn't. In certain cases, the two forms have different meanings:
- He arrived late.
- Lately, he couldn't seem to be on time for anything.
In most cases, however, the form without the -ly ending should be reserved for casual situations:
- She certainly drives slow in that old Buick of hers.
- He did wrong by her.
- He spoke sharp, quick, and to the point.
Adverbs often function as intensifiers, conveying a greater or lesser emphasis to something. Intensifiers are said to have three different functions: they can emphasize, amplify, or downtone. Here are some examples:
- Emphasizers:
- I really don't believe him.
- He literally wrecked his mother's car.
- She simply ignored me.
- They're going to be late, for sure.
- Amplifiers:
- The teacher completely rejected her proposal.
- I absolutely refuse to attend any more faculty meetings.
- They heartily endorsed the new restaurant.
- I so wanted to go with them.
- We know this city well.
- Downtoners:
- I kind of like this college.
- Joe sort of felt betrayed by his sister.
- His mother mildly disapproved his actions.
- We can improve on this to some extent.
- The boss almost quit after that.
- The school was all but ruined by the storm.
Adverbs (as well as adjectives) in their various degrees can be accompanied by premodifiers:
- She runs very fast.
- We're going to run out of material all the faster
