CENTRE FOR CONTINUING STUDIES Certificate of Proficiency of English for Professional Communication CEEN 212 ENGLISH COMMUNICATION PRACTICE 1 GRAMMAR: ADJECTIVES, ADVERBS and NOUNS Adjectives Explanation - How to Use Adjectives (from the web site esl.about.com/grammar.) An adjective describes how something 'is'. For this reason, we usually use the verb 'to be' when using adjectives. Adjectives are used to describe nouns. Example: He is a good doctor. Rule: Adjectives describe nouns. The adjective is always invariable. Example: beautiful trees, they are happy Be careful! Adjectives don't have a singular and plural form OR a masculine, feminine and neutral form. Adjectives are always the same! Never add a final -s to an adjective. Adjectives can also be placed at the end of a sentence if they describe the subject of a sentence. Example: My doctor is excellent. NOT!!: difficults books Rule: Adjectives are placed before the noun. Example: a wonderful book, very interesting people Be careful! Don't place an adjective after the noun NOT!!: an apple red Using Adverbs Adverbs modify verbs. They tell you How something is done. Example: How does he she sing? - She sings beautifully. Rule: Adverbs are often formed by adding -ly to an adjective Example: beautiful - beautifully, careful - carefully Be Careful! Some adjectives don't change in the adverb form. The most important of these are: fast - fast, hard - hard
Good is probably the most important exception. The adverb form of 'good' is 'well'. NOT!!: He plays tennis good.
Rule: Adverbs can also modify an adjective. In this case, the adverb is placed before the adjective. Example: She is extremely happy. They are absolutely sure. Be Careful! Do not use 'very' with adjectives that express an increased quality of a basic adjective Example: good - fantastic NOT!!: She is a very beautiful woman. Rule: Adverbs of frequency (always, never, sometimes, often, etc.) usually come before the main verb Example: He is often late for class. Do you always eat in a restaurant? They don't usually travel on Fridays. Be Careful! Adverbs of frequency expressing infrequency are not usually used in the negative or question form. NOT!!: Does she rarely eat fish? They don't seldom go to the cinema. Adverbs of frequency are often placed at the beginning of a sentence. Example: Sometimes, he likes to go to museums. Adverbs of frequency follow - come after - the verb 'to be'. Example: He is sometimes late for work. Adjective or Adverb - Which to Use? Sometimes students are not sure when to use an adverb or an adjective. This short guide provides an overview and rules to using both adjectives and adverbs. Adjectives Modify Nouns Adjectives are placed directly before a noun: Examples: Tom is an excellent singer. I bought a comfortable chair. She's thinking about buying a new house. Adjectives are also used in simple sentences with the verb 'to be'. In this case, the adjective describes the subject of the sentence: Examples: Jack is happy. Peter was very tired. Mary'll be excited when you tell her. Adjectives are used with sense verbs or verbs or appearance (feel, taste, smell, sound, appear and seem) to modify the noun which comes before the verb: Examples:
The fish tasted awful. Did you see Peter? He seemed very upset. I'm afraid the meat smelled rotten.
Adverbs Modify Verbs, Adjectives and Other Adverbs Adverbs are easily recognized because the end in '-ly' (with a few exceptions!): Examples: Adjective careful Adverb carefully Adjective quick Adverb quickly Adverbs are often used at the end of a sentence to modify the verb: Examples: Jack drove carelessly. Tom played the match effortlessly. Jason complained about his classes constantly. Adverbs are used to modify adjectives: Examples: They seemed extremely satisfied. She paid increasingly high prices. I was suddenly surprised by Alice. Adverbs are also used to modify other adverbs: Examples: The people in the line moved incredibly quickly. She wrote the report unusually neatly. Nouns Nouns are words that are used for people, places and things. Examples: waitress, nation, cucumber Nouns have a possessive form, usually with “of” Examples: the color of the car – the size of the hole Use ( ‘s) to show possession with people, groups of people, cities, countries, days. Examples: Susan’s idea, Montreal’s attractions, today’s weather A noun can sometimes take the place of an adjective. Two nouns together are called a Noun Compound or Noun Modifiers. Examples: What kind of keys? Car keys. (“Car” acts like an adjective). health club – farm animal - cat food The English gerund form of the verb is the 'ing' form of the verb. Gerunds are verbs that are used as nouns. In other words, by adding 'ing' to any verb you can change that verb into a noun. Gerunds are often used at the beginning of sentences when focusing on
activity as the subject of conversation. Example: Playing tennis is good for your heath, and good fun! Some nouns are countable, which means you can use either the singular or plural form of the noun. Example: Book - a book - some books. Other nouns are uncountable which means you can use ONLY the singular form of the noun. Examples: information - some information; luggage – some luggage; homework – some homework