ITS/IT’S YOUR/YOU’RETURN TO DO THE DISHES.ADJECTIVES AND ADVERBSSTU...

12.

Its/It’s your/you’re

turn to do the dishes.

ADJECTIVES AND ADVERBS

Study careful!

This is an example of a common mistake: confus-

ing an adjective for an adverb. The correct statement is “study

carefully.” Adjectives and adverbs are modifiers,

or words that

describe other words. However, adjectives and adverbs describe

different parts of speech. In the preceding example, carefully

is an

adverb describing the verb study.

Adjectives

describe nouns or pronouns and answer one of

three questions: which one? what kind?

and how many?

which one?

→

that

tree, the

other

shoe, her last

time

what kind?

→

elm

tree, suede

shoe, exciting

time

how many?

→

five

trees, many

shoes, several

times

Adverbs

describe verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs and

answer one of these questions about another word in the sentence:

where? when? how?

and to what extent?

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63

where?

Place your baggage below

your seat.

when?

Call your mother tomorrow.

how?

Kyoko turned suddenly.

to what extent?

Ben could hardly

wait.

To recognize grammatical mistakes involving adjectives and

adverbs, review these common trouble spots:

■

Verbs that deal with the senses (touch, taste, look,

smell, sound)—Deciding which modifier to use with

these verbs can be especially tricky. If the modifier is

describing a noun or pronoun that comes before the

verb, use an adjective. If the modifier is describing a

verb, use an adverb.

The entire group felt sick after lunch. (Sick

is an adjective

describing the noun group.)

The trainer felt gently around the player’s ankle. (Gently

is an adverb describing the verb felt).

■

Adjectives that follow the verb—Sometimes an

adjective comes after the verb, but it describes a noun or

pronoun that comes before the verb. In this example, the

noun is in bold and the adjective is underlined:

These pickles

taste salty. (salty pickles)

■

Misplaced modifiers—Modifiers should be placed as

closely as possible to the words that describe.

Incorrect:

My uncle told me about raising cattle in the

kitchen. (Why were cattle in the kitchen?)

Correct:

In the kitchen, my uncle told me about raising

cattle.

Problem Modifiers

Fewer/Less

Fewer

describes plural

The school enrolls fewer

nouns, or things that can

children than it once did.

be counted.

Less

describes singular

Julian has less

time than you

nouns that represent a

do.

quantity or degree.

Good/Well

Good

is an adjective.

Caroline felt good

about her

test results. (Good

describes

Caroline.)

Well

is an adverb, used to

Sophia performed well

on

describe an action.

the test. (Well

describes the

verb performed.)

Bad/Badly

Bad

is an adjective.

Owen felt bad

after his

lengthy workout. (Bad

describes Owen.)

Badly

is an adverb, used to

The band played badly at

describe an action.

the concert. (Badly

describes

the verb played.)

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65

■

Dangling modifiers—Words, phrases, or clauses set off

by commas at the beginning a sentence sometimes

modify the wrong noun or pronoun.

Incorrect:

Broken and beyond repair, Grandma threw

away the serving dish. (Why was Grandma broken?)

Correct:

Grandma threw away the broken serving dish that

was beyond repair.

Practice

Choose the correct word in parentheses in each of the following

sentences. Find the answers on pages 82–83.