Adjectives and Adverbs
An adjective tells us more about a noun. We use adjectives before nouns and after a few
verbs (especially be):
Tom is a careful driver.
Be quiet,please!
We didn’t go out because of the heavy rain.
I was disappointed that my exam results were so bad.
An adverb tells us more about a verb. An adverb tells us in what way someone does
something or in what way something happens:
Tom drove carefully along the narrow rad.
Speak quietly, please!
We didn’t go out because it was raining heavily.
I was disappointed that I did so badly in the exam.
Compare: She speaks perfect English (adjective + noun)
She speaks English perfectly. (verb + object + adverb)
We can also use adverbs before adjectives and other adverbs:
It’s a reasonable cheap restaurant and the food is extremely good. (adverb + adjective)
Oh, I’m terribly sorry. I didn’t mean to push you. (adverb + adjective)
Maria learns languages incredibly quickly. (adverb + adverb)
The examination was surprisingly easy. (adverb + adjective)
Exceptions
Your English is very good. You speak English well.
Susan is a good pianist. She plays the piano well.
She always wears good clothes. She is always well-dressed.
Jack is a very fast runner. Jack can run very fast.
Ann is a hard worker. Ann works hard.
The adverb lately means recently.
Hardly has a completely different meaning from hard. Hardly means almost not.
Jack is very lazy. He hardly works.
EXERCISES
1. Decide whether the underlined words are right or wrong. Correct those which are
wrong.
a) Give my best wishes to your parents. I hope they are well. _____________
b) The children behaved themselves very good. _____________
c) I tried hardly to remember his name but I couldn’t. _____________
d) The company’s financial situation is not well at present. _____________
e) Jack has started his own business. Everything is going quite good. _____________
f) Don’t walk so fast! Can’t you walk more slowly? _____________
g) See you soon! Don’t work too hard. _____________
2. Now make sentences with hardly. Use the words in brackets.
a) I’m very tired this morning. (slept / last night) I ________________________________.
b) You’re speaking very quietly. (can / hear) I can ____________________________ you.
c) I met Keith a few days ago. I hadn’t seen him for a long time. He looks very different
now. (recognised) I __________________________________ him.
d) They were really shocked when they heard the news. (could / speak) They __________
_________________________.
3. Complete the sentences with adverbs. The first letter(s) of each adverb are given:
a) We had to wait for a long time but we didn’t complain. We waited patie____________
b) I lost the match because I played very bad___________________________________
c) I don’t think he trusted me. He looked at me so suspi__________________________
d) Sorry, I didn’t mean to kick you. I didn’t do it inten_____________________________
e) Nobody knew he was coming. He arrived unexpec____________________________
f) Jill has just got a job in a shop but she won’t be staying there long. She is only working
there temp________________ until she can find another job.
g) My French isn’t very good but I can understand perfec_____________ if people speak
slow_____________________
h) I had little difficulty finding a flat. I found one quite eas__________________________
2. Choose two words (one from each list) to complete each sentence:
Absolutely cheap
reasonably enormous
completely planned
badly changed
extremely ill
seriously quiet
fully damaged
unusually sorry
slightly insured
a) I thought the restaurant would be expensive but it was_________________________.
b) George’s mother is _____________________________________________in hospital.
c) The fire destroyed our house but luckily we were _____________________________.
d) What a big house! It’s __________________________________________________.
e) It wasn’t a serious accident. The car was only _______________________________.
f) A lot of things went wrong during our holiday because it was ____________________.
g) The children are normally very lively but they’re _________________________ today.
h) When I returned home after 20 years, everything had _________________________.
i) I’m ___________________________ about losing your book. I’ll buy you another one.
