EFLshorts

ADVERBS AND ADJECTIVES

1. What adverbs and adjectives do

In general, adverbs describe verbs and adjectives describe nouns. For example, in this sentence: ‘He spoke quickly‘, the adverb is ‘quickly‘ and it describes the verb ‘spoke’. In this sentence: ‘He is a fast speaker‘, the adjective is ‘fast‘ and it describes the noun ‘speaker‘.

2. Look at the sentence below. Is the word ‘fast’ acting as an adjective or adverb?

‘Cheetahs can run fast‘

If you thought it was an adverb, you would be correct! Often adverbs end in ‘ly’, but not always.

3. Look at the sentences below. Is the word ‘hard‘ acting as an adjective or adverb? 

a. ‘She’s a hard worker so she usually does well at school‘

b. ‘She studied hard so she got a good grade‘

4. Look at this extract from Sweet tooth (Ch8). Is ‘carefully‘ an adverb or an adjective? What is it describing?

Wendy’s dad sighed. The last time Wendy borrowed it she put a dent in one of the doors. ‘Okay, but drive carefully,’ he said, handing her the keys from his pocket.

5. Complete the sentences by choosing the correct word

a. The students felt (happy/happily) when their exam finished.

b. Because she spoke so (loud/loudly) when she asked for the bill, everyone turned and looked at her.

c. She turned (sudden/suddenly) and (accidental/accidentally) hit him with her umbrella.

d. He was speaking too (soft/softly) so the students (polite/politely) asked him to raise his voice.

e. Parking a large car is sometimes (difficult/difficultly) unless it has technology to help you.

f. Learning to drive a car is (easy/easily) for most people if they have sufficient time to practise and an instructor who is (patient/patiently).