If a student has issues with word choice when learning grammar, it will help to know when an adjective is needed and when an adverb is needed. Learning English online is not the solution for all students; some students need to learn from an instructor. English language lessons that involve teaching adjectives and adverbs can help students who need English help to know what type of word to use in their writing without having to guess.
Teaching Adjectives in English Language Lessons
An adjective is a word that modifies a noun or pronoun. Generally, adjectives answer one of these questions: which one?, what kind of?, or how many?.
When teaching adjectives in an English grammar course, subject compliments should be mentioned. While adjectives normally precede the nouns (or pronouns) that they modify, they can also follow the words that they modify when they are used as subject complements. Subject complements are adjectives that rename the subject, and they follow linking verbs. For instance, the sentence "Jessica feels well today," involves a subject ("Jessica"), a linking verb ("feels"), and an subject complement/adjective ("well").
Adjectives used as subject complements can be confusing because they may seem like adverbs at first. Generally "well" (used in the previous sentence as an adjective) is used as an adverb, but it is an adjective when it describes a healthy state of being. It is important to figure out whether a verb is a linking or action verb before determining if its modifier is an adverb or adjective.
The articles "a," "an," and "the" can all be used as adjectives. Possessive pronouns (like "her" or "its") are also adjectives.
Teaching Adverbs in an English Grammar Course
When teaching adverbs, be sure to explain that an adverb is a word that modifies a verb, verbal, adjective, or another adverb. Many adverbs end in -ly, but this is not always the case. Generally adverbs answer one of the following questions: when? where? how? why? under what conditions? how often? or to what degree?
As mentioned earlier, the word "well" is generally used as an adverb to describe a verb, but people often mistakenly use "good" when they should use "well," so this should be mentioned when teaching adverbs. The adjective "good" describes a positive quality of a noun, while the adverb "well" describes a positive quality of a verb. "Well" is only used as an adjective when it is used to describe a state of being, such as "I am feeling well."
Common adverbs include "not," "very," "here," "always," and "there." Adverbs like these tend to blend into sentences, unlike other more obvious adverbs like "badly" and "likely."
For Better or Worse: Word Choice
When teaching an English grammar course, it is good to teach that adverbs and adjectives have positive, comparative, and superlative forms. For instance, "good," "better," and "best" are positive, comparative, and superlative adjectives, respectively. These forms help when comparing similar words. While the positive form is not used for comparison, the comparative and superlative are used to compare two or more (generally) similar things, as in this example of the comparative form: "their coffee was better than our coffee."
The comparative form compares two things. Generally, adding -er to the end of an adjective that is less than three syllables will put it in the comparative form. One syllable adverbs also take on -er for the comparative form. Longer adverbs (as well as those ending in -ly) and adjectives simply take on "more" or "less" to become comparative. "The one was softer than the other" is an example of an adjective in the comparative form. "Their machines sew slower than yours" is an example of an adverb in the comparative form.
The superlative form compares three or more things. General comparisons often take this form. Adding -est to one or two syllable adjectives generally puts them in the superlative form. One syllable adverbs also use -est to form the superlative. "Most" or "least" are placed before longer adjectives or adverbs to put them in the superlative form. "His coffee was the strongest coffee in the world" is an example of an adjective in the superlative form. "Jerry's kite flew the highest in the competition" is an example of an adverb in the superlative form.
Some adverbs and adjectives are irregular. These include:
- "Good," "better," and "best" (adjectives)
- "Well," "better," and "best" (adverbs)
- "Bad," "worse," and "worst" (adjectives)
- "Badly," "worse," and "worst." (adverbs)
While these exceptions are important to note for people who need English help, most native English speakers will know that something cannot be "goodest" or "bader" even without learning grammar in school.
Absolute words like "unique" and "perfect" should not have modifiers. Saying something was "the most perfect" is not logical. If a comparison needs to be made, substitute a nonabsolute word, such as "beautiful," for "perfect."
These differences may not seem all that important to students, but learning grammar in English language lessons can make a big difference in terms of a person's writing and editing skills. Simply knowing to write "she was feeling well" instead of "she was feeling good" can make a difference in terms of a person's quality of writing. While learning English online can help, some lessons are more helpful in an instructional, group setting.
Source:
Hacker, Diana. A Writers Reference: Sixth Edition. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2009.
Lisa Devoto - Lisa Devoto has professional experience as a writer, editor, and administrator for an environmental consulting firm. She has a B.A. in ...
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