Lesson 2: Important Errors of
Adjectives and Adverbs
Today we’ll focus on mistakes with adjectives and adverbs that could come in any
kind of aptitude test for higher studies. The first one involves the word “enough”:
Error #1
Don’t say:
This box isn't enough big for all the books.
Say:
This box isn't big enough for all the books.
Enough goes after adjectives, adverbs, and verbs:
Are you old enough to see this movie?
She’s smart enough to take the advanced class.
You sing well enough to be a professional!
The teacher speaks slowly enough for me to understand.
I play the piano, but I don’t practice enough.
Make sure you eat enough now so that you’re not hungry later.
Enough goes before nouns:
There are enough chairs for everybody to sit down.
There isn’t enough information in this report; I need more details.
We don’t have enough people to form a soccer team.
Do you have enough money to buy that motorcycle?
Error #2
Don’t say:
I can’t believe how much stubborn he is.
Say:
I can’t believe how stubborn he is.
We only use how much and how many before nouns.
With adjectives and adverbs, we use only how:
How tall are you?
I want to see how comfortable the couch is before buying it.
How quickly can they finish the project?
This software measures how efficiently the employees are working.
Error #3
Don’t say:
These are my favorites shoes.
Say:
These are my favorite shoes.
These shoes are my favorites.
Adjectives before nouns are always singular in English, even if the noun is plural!
Our house has three small rooms.
The forest is filled with giant trees.
I have a couple of friendly dogs.
I’ve finished this book, now I’ll read the other ones I borrowed from
the library.
Some adjectives - especially “others” - can be used in plural form, if the noun was
mentioned earlier (and is not directly after the adjective). Here are two examples:
I have many pairs of shoes, but these red shoes are my favorites.
(= favorite shoes)
The boss gave raises to some employees but not others.
(= other employees)
Some of the shows on this channel are great, and terrible others.
(= other shows on this channel)
Error #4
Don’t say:
Last night I was a lot tired.
Say:
Last night I was so/very/really tired.
The words so, very, really, are all used before adjectives and adverbs to add
emphasis or describe something that is intense:
This book is so/very/really interesting.
She plays the piano so/very/really well!
They moved here so/very/really recently.
A lot of / lots of are used before nouns to describe a large quantity:
I ate a lot of / lots of pizza last night.
There were a lot of / lots of kids at the playground.
Note that it’s always a lot and never alot.
We can also use a lot after verbs to describe something we do frequently/often:
I read a lot.
Do you exercise a lot?
Error #5
Don’t say:
My new computer is more better than my old one.
Say:
My computer is better than my old one.
My computer is much better than my old one.
Let’s review how we form comparative adjectives:
1 syllable: fast → faster
Words ending in Y: easy → easier
2+ syllables: popular → more popular
Irregular: good/bad → better/worse
If you want to add extra emphasis to a comparative, you can add “much”:
My new computer is much better than my old one.
(not just a little bit better… MUCH better)
This lesson is much easier than yesterday’s.
My sister is much more popular than me.
The problem is much worse than we imagined.
Error #6
Don’t say:
My apartment is ten miles far from here.
Say:
My apartment is ten miles away from here.
When talking about general long distances, we can say far from or far away from:
My apartment is far (away) from here.
However, when talking about a specific distance, we say away from or simply
from:
My apartment is ten miles away from here.
This is confusing because the question might ask "How far...?" but we don't use
the word "far" when giving an answer with a specific distance:
How far is the nearest gas station? / Where is the nearest gas
station? It's about two blocks away.
How far is the museum from here?
At least five miles - you should probably take the bus.
Quiz – Lesson 2
Mark each sentence correct or incorrect, and fix any mistakes.
1. The next exit is about five miles far.
2. Do you know how many people are in the program?
3. He has lots of great ideas.
4. His work isn't excellent, but it's enough good.
5. How much beer did you drink?
6. I grabbed one book and put the others away.
7. The symptoms of the disease are getting more worse.
8. I love how much friendly Brazilians are.
9. If you don't succeed, you'll have many other chances in the
future. 10.Is there enough space in the house for all our stuff?
11. She's a lot good at her job.
12. The class is much more interesting than the last one I took.
13.The portions at that restaurant are more smaller than I
expected.
14.I wonder how close the hotel is to the city center.
15.There weren't customers enough to sustain the business.
16.They set up their tent twenty feet away from the trail.
17.This neighborhood is much nicer than where I lived
before.
18.I have a gym membership, but I don't go enough.
19.Bob is married, but all my others friends are single.
20.Both my parents always worked a lot.
Answers – Quiz – Lesson 2
1. Incorrect (Correct: The next exit is about five miles away.)
2. Correct
3. Correct
4. Incorrect (Correct: His work isn't excellent, but it's good enough.)
5. Correct
6. Correct
7. Incorrect (Correct: The symptoms of the disease are getting worse.)
8. Incorrect (Correct: I love how friendly Brazilians are.)
9. Correct
10.Correct
11.Incorrect (Correct: She's so/very/really good at her job.)
12.Correct
13. Incorrect (Correct: The portions at that restaurant are smaller /
much smaller than I expected.)
14. Correct
15. Incorrect (Correct: There weren't enough customers to sustain
the business.)
16. Correct
17.Correct
18.Correct
19.Incorrect (Correct: Bob is married, but all my other friends are
single.) 20.Correct
