Not only are nouns and verbs necessary for effective writing, but a writer must also know the definition and proper use of adjectives and adverbs to produce successful sentences.

An adjective is a part of speech that describes or modifies a noun.

Ex. The red house on the end of this street is my house.

Ex.  John always wanted a big truck.

In the examples above, note how red modifies the noun house and big modifies the noun truck.

An adverb is a part of speech that describes or modifies a verb, adjective, or another adverb.

Ex.  The bright red house on the end of this street is my house.

Ex.  He was running wildly through the park with his hands waving in the air.

In the examples above, note how bright modifies the adjective red and wildly modifies the verb running.

In addition to our website, we recommend the following site by UVic English Language Centre: http://web2.uvcs.uvic.ca/elc/studyzone/200/grammar/adjadv.htm. This site contains further examples of adjectives and adverbs and shows how to change adjectives into adverbs.

Test your understanding of the correct use of adjectives and adverbs by labeling the italized words in the following sentences as either adjectives or adverbs.

1.  Mike was frantically pulling away from the boy who was trying to tackle him.

2.  The frantic football player freed himself from the opposing team member trying to tackle him.

3.  Her bright orange skirt was very obvious in the crowd.

4.  Susan wanted to buy the windowless house despite its many obvious problems.

Answers

1.  Adv

2.  Adj, Adj

3.  Adv, Adj

4.  Adj, Adj

Grammatically Correct is a grammar tip of the week created by Academic Center Peer Writing Tutors at the University of Houston-Victoria in Victoria, Texas.

Comments about this newsletter should be directed to Summer Leibensperger, leibenspergers@uhv.edu.

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