Hello and welcome! This website will help you learn what you need to know about adjectives and adverbs, two different types of words in the English language. Through explanation, practice, and review, you'll get a basic understanding of what they are and what they do. Please see the "Lesson Goals" section in the menu to the left for a closer look at the course outline.
If you wish to contact the author of this page, please direct your e-mails to 0875471@hr.nl.
Lesson Goals
Over the course of these pages, you will learn all you need to know about adjectives and adverbs. You’ll start by reading (and listening, and watching!) an explanation of how they work. This will be followed by a short exercise. Based on that exercise, you'll receive additional explanation as you may need. There will then be another exercise, and finally a test to make sure you've understood it all.
By the time you’ve gone through all the pages, you will:
know what adjectives and adverbs are
know how to recognize them
and be on your way to using them yourselves.
To get started, please go to Course 1 in the menu on your left, or click here.
Course 1
We've already learned about nouns (zelfstandige naamwoorden) and verbs (werkwoorden). In this lesson, you will learn about two different types of words: adjectives and adverbs. These are very commonly coupled with nouns and verbs, and you've likely already seen and used them yourself without noticing. Here, you will learn about the grammatical rules for these words, and how to use them correctly.
When you're ready, watch the video below, and then read the rest of this page.
As noted in the video, there are a few useful ways to tell the difference between adjectives and adverbs. There are more guidelines to keep in mind:
Adjectives can answer the question: "Which ___?" When this, that or these is placed in front of a noun, that word is an adjective. Examples:
"This cat loves to sleep." (Adjective)
"They live in that house." (Adjective)
"Have you seen these men?" (Adjective)
"I am looking for this." (Not an adjective)
Adjectives and adverbs are also used to compare two things.
For adjectives, -er is often added to the end of the word (smarter, faster). Examples:
"You're not smarter than her, you know."
"Do you like dogs or cats better?"
With adverbs, -er can be added to the word, or you can use "more/less <adverb>". Examples:
"They ran longer than we did." (Correct)
"Sometimes he works more quickly than any of us." (Also correct!)
Generally, good is an adjective, and well is an adverb.
"I saw a good movie the other night." (Adjective)
"Those actors performed well. I was impressed." (Adverb)
Exception: When referring to someone's health, well can be an adjective.
"Have you been feeling well?"
"I'm afraid he hasn't been well for a while."
When describing senses (to feel, to look, to hear, etc.), adverbs are used.
"She looked angrily at her son."
"Ever since the accident, I can barely hear."
"They listened carefully to the message."
However, sometimes verbs such as tolook or to feel do not describe the act of looking at or touching something. In this case, adjectives are used.
"It feels cold in here."
"We should leave; Dad looks angry."
As you can see, there are a lot of things to think about when studying these words, but there is nothing to fear. Once you've read through these guidelines, there is an exercise for you to complete to test your understanding. When you're ready, navigate to the Exercise 1 tab in the menu on the left, or click here.
Exercise 1
If you've read and watched Course 1, you may continue with this exercise. Instructions will be given.
Oefening: Exercise 1
Oefening: Exercise 1
0%
In this exercise, you will see sentences with a single marked word in underlined bold. For each of these words, choose whether they are adjectives or adverbs. At the end of the twelve sentences, you will receive a score. This will not count as a grade, but is important for the lesson following the exercise.
When you're done, count the amount of answers you got right in one try. If you had seven or fewer correct answers, move on to Course 2A. If you had more than seven, move on to Course 2B.
If you had six or less answers correct in the last exercise, don't worry! This can be a tricky subject. In this part, you will be able to study a simpler explanation of what you've learned before.
In the menu on your left, you will see four sections under Course 2A. Starting at the top, please go through these in order, pausing and reviewing where you may need. When you're done, you may complete the exercise at the end of Course 2A.
Recognizing Adjectives & Adverbs
It can be tricky to remember the differences between adjectives and adverbs. The list below will help in keeping the two apart.
Since adjectives only modify nouns, those are easy to remember. For adverbs, these three categories are the only ones you need to worry about. If you can memorize this, you're already halfway there.
How To Spot Adjectives
The list in the previous section might help, but it is not enough for you to learn how to spot and use these two word types. First, you'll need to learn to recognize them. Let's look at adjectives first:
The first two questions are questions you can ask when trying to find the adjective. In the phrase "the red car", the car is the noun. The car is, in these questions, the thing. So, if you ask "What kind of car?", the answer is "a red one". If you ask "Which car?", the answer is "the red one". Both help you see that red, in this phrase, is the adjective.
These two questions work most of the time, but not always. Sometimes, adjectives describe things like emotions, feelings, compliments or insults, shape or color, and more. One thing that helps in these cases is replacing the verb with a form of "to be".
In the sentence "Francine seems happy", try taking out the word seems and putting the word is in its place. "Francine is happy" still makes sense, meaning that happy describes Francine. This tells you that you've found an adjective.
How To Spot Adverbs
Most adverbs fall into one of five categories, shown below:
When an adverb appears, the extra information it provides almost always falls into one of the five categories on the right. You can ask these as questions to find the adverbs in the sentence:
"When did this happen?"
"How did they do it?"
"Where did this happen?"
Adverbs are more complicated than adverbs, because adverbs can appear anywhere and describe many kinds of words. However, if you remember these tips, you will be well on your way to learning to recognize adverbs.
Position In The Sentence
As a rule of thumb, adjectives appear in front of nouns or after linking verbs (meaning: verbs you could replace with to be). The images below shows what that looks like:
In the first example, both quick and lazy are adjectives, and go in front of their noun. In the second picture, quick is still an adjective, but comes after the noun it describes, as well as the verb that comes after the noun. Both ways are correct.
Adverbs, as you can see, are more complicated:
The adverb quickly can appear in any of the places marked by the arrows. This is true for most adverbs, though there are rules and exceptions you won't have to learn for now. Just remember that they don't follow the same rules as adjectives.
Once you've studied this page, feel free to retake Exercise 1, or move on to Exercise 2A. Once you've completed that exercise, you may move on to Course 2B.
Exercise 2A
Adjectives or Adverbs
In this test, you will see ten sentences with two blank spaces each. For every sentence, make the word in brackets into an adjective or adverb, and place it in the correct spot.
If you get twelve or more correct answers, you may move on to Course 2B, or do more exercises under the Extra Materials tab.
Course 2B
In this segment, you will be provided with additional information about adjectives and adverbs. This should help clear up any questions you might have after the previous courses. Please click here to start Course 2B.
Degrees of Comparison
As mentioned before, adjectives or adverbs can be used to compare two things. This is because of what is called the three degrees of comparison (trappen van vergelijking). First, look at this diagram:
You will not need to remember what the three degrees of comparison are called, but you should know they exist. The only one that matters right now is the comparative degree (vergelijkende trap). This is the one you always use when using adjectives or adverbs to compare two things.
In most cases, the comparative degree can be made by adding -er to an adjective or adverb. However, like irregular verbs, there are also irregular adjectives and adverbs. Much like the verbs, there are no rules that apply to these; memorizing is the only way.
Adverbs have another thing to keep in mind. Generally speaking, when an adverb has three or more syllables, more or less is put in front of the word instead of adding -er to the end when making the comparative degree.
"Sense" Verbs and Linking Verbs
We've already learned that a verb like to look can mean both looking with your eyes, and appearing a certain way. This seems obvious, but it is very important when considering adjectives and adverbs.
Verbs that describe the use of one of your senses (looking, feeling) are unsurprisingly called sense verbs. These verbs may be coupled with adverbs, but never adjectives.
Linking verbs, meanwhile, are verbs that can be replaced with a form of the verb to be. Examples include to seem, to appear, to remain, but also to look, to feel, and more.
As you can see, certain words can either be linking or sense verbs. Because of this, it is always important to look at the function of the verb, and what it does in the sentence. Does it describe an action? Then it's likely a sense verb, meaning an adverb is needed. If it can be replaced with to be, it's almost always a linking verb, so it can be followed by an adjective.
With the above information under your belt, you should be ready to take on the test. If you're not sure or don't feel too confident, feel free to review the material. Or, if you're ready for the test, navigate to the Test button in the menu.
You may move on to the final test if you have more than five correct answers per exercise.
Extra Material
Adjective or Adverb?
In this exercise, you will have to fill in the blank by choosing either the adjective or the adverb. There are twenty-five questions in total. Try and get a perfect score!
Het arrangement ADL - Adjectives & Adverbs is gemaakt met
Wikiwijs van
Kennisnet. Wikiwijs is hét onderwijsplatform waar je leermiddelen zoekt,
maakt en deelt.
Auteur
Fred de Zoete
Je moet eerst inloggen om feedback aan de auteur te kunnen geven.
Laatst gewijzigd
2017-11-05 21:47:29
Licentie
Dit lesmateriaal is gepubliceerd onder de Creative Commons Naamsvermelding-GelijkDelen 3.0 Nederland licentie. Dit houdt in dat je onder de voorwaarde van naamsvermelding en publicatie onder dezelfde licentie vrij bent om:
het werk te delen - te kopiëren, te verspreiden en door te geven via elk medium of bestandsformaat
het werk te bewerken - te remixen, te veranderen en afgeleide werken te maken
voor alle doeleinden, inclusief commerciële doeleinden.
Leeromgevingen die gebruik maken van LTI kunnen Wikiwijs arrangementen en toetsen afspelen en resultaten
terugkoppelen. Hiervoor moet de leeromgeving wel bij Wikiwijs aangemeld zijn. Wil je gebruik maken van de LTI
koppeling? Meld je aan via info@wikiwijs.nl met het verzoek om een LTI
koppeling aan te gaan.
Maak je al gebruik van LTI? Gebruik dan de onderstaande Launch URL’s.
Arrangement
Oefeningen en toetsen
Exercise 1
IMSCC package
Wil je de Launch URL’s niet los kopiëren, maar in één keer downloaden? Download dan de IMSCC package.
Oefeningen en toetsen van dit arrangement kun je ook downloaden als QTI. Dit bestaat uit een ZIP bestand dat
alle
informatie bevat over de specifieke oefening of toets; volgorde van de vragen, afbeeldingen, te behalen
punten,
etc. Omgevingen met een QTI player kunnen QTI afspelen.
Wikiwijs lesmateriaal kan worden gebruikt in een externe leeromgeving. Er kunnen koppelingen worden gemaakt en
het lesmateriaal kan op verschillende manieren worden geëxporteerd. Meer informatie hierover kun je vinden op
onze Developers Wiki.
