2. •Adjectives modify nouns or pronouns
•These words are all adjectives
oA hot day
oA happy camper
oA silly twit
oA big, bloody mess (both “big” and “bloody” modify
“mess”)
oShe is creative (“creative” is a subject complement that
follows the linking verb “is”)
oA boring course (present participle used as an adjective

3. •Adverbs modify verbs, adjectives and other adverbs
•Many adverbs end with ly
•Many adverbs answer the question “How?”
•These are adverbs
oEating quickly (modifying a verb)
oTrying very hard (modifying an adverb)
oA really big show (modifying an adjective)

4. •Many words have both an adjective and adverb form
Adjective Adverb
Happy kids Playing happily
Smooth rock Running smoothly
Good night Eating Well
Efficient workers Working efficiently
Casual dress Dressing casually
Quick meeting Talking quickly
hopeful children Waiting hopefully
Real butter Really hot

5. •Most adverbs and adjectives also have a
comparative and superlative form
Simple Comparative Superlative
Hot Hotter Hottest
Good Better Best
Exciting More exciting Most exciting
Careful Less careful Least careful
•Use the comparative form to compare two things
oSally is the larger of the twins (not largest)
•Use the superlative form to compare three or more
oAugust was the hottest month of the year

6. •Don’t use “more” or “most” with –er or –est
 Yesterday was more hotter than today
 That was the most dirtiest story I ever heard
 You are the bestest teacher

7. •Don’t use comparatives or superlatives with absolute
concepts
•Absolutes have only two possibilities, on or off, yes or
no, with nothing in between
 The most perfect student in the class
 A very unique idea (say “very unusual” instead)
•These words express absolute concepts that cannot
be modified
More priceless Sort of dead
Quite on A little bit pregnant
Very unanimous Extremely perfect
Quite unique Completely anonymous

8. oYou did a real nice job
 (an adjective can’t modify another adjective)
•You did a really nice job
 (the adverb “really” modifies “nice”)
oHe did good
•He did well or
•He did a good job
oFuel injection helps the car run efficient
•Fuel injection helps the car run efficiently
oCome quick!
•Come quickly!
oHopefully, it won’t rain
 (an adverb explains how something will happen
•I hope that it won’t rain

9. •Before using any of these words, check to see if they add
anything to the sentence
oReally, very, absolutely, extremely, quite, actually, somewhat,
rather
oI am really happy to see you
oGrammar is very boring
oYou are absolutely correct
oHer language was extremely crude
oYou are quite intelligent
•Context will help you decide whether to retain the
underlined words
•Keep them only if they add to the meaning
 Bill Gates is very rich. I hope he gives me some money.
oMost college instructors are poor; their students are very poor.
•Note: the terms “good success” and “real good
success” have been reserved for sports broadcasters; do

10. •Two or more adjectives often appear together
separated with commas
oBrad’s tiny, tight swimsuit showed off his hairy belly
 The words “tiny” and “tight” each work separately to modify
“swimsuit”
•Connect the words with a hyphen when they
function together before a noun
oBrad’s gold-plated piercings stood out against his
bright-red sunburn
 “Gold-plated” and “bright-red” are compound adjectives

11. Brad was well known along the
boardwalk (no hyphen)
His SUV was fully equipped
Brad worked full time on his tan
Brad was a well-known jerk
(hyphenated)
He drove a fully-equipped SUV
Brad was a full-time chick magnet
•Do not hyphenate the words when they
come after the noun they modify
•Notice the difference in these examples

12. •Put adjectives and adverbs close to the words they
modify
•Notice how the meaning is affected by the improper
placement
 An old pile of clothes is on the floor
oA pile of old clothes is on the floor
 I almost believe you are finished
oI believe you are almost finished
 The winners will only be contacted
oOnly the winners will be contacted
 I can’t quite do this as well as Fred
oI can’t do this quite as well as Fred