Adjectives and Adverbs

1. Adjectives and Adverbs

2. Positive Degree • No Comparison • Bad • Nice • Pretty • Beautiful • Sweetly • Considerate • Accurately

3. Comparative Degree • Comparing Two people, things, or actions • better • worse • nicer • prettier • more beautiful • more sweetly • less considerate • less accurately

4. Superlative Degree • Comparing Three or more people, things, or actions • Best • worst • Nicest • prettiest • most beautiful • most sweetly • least considerate • least accurately

5. Double Comparisons • Rule: Do not use both –er and more to form the comparative degree, or both –est and most to form the superlative degree. • Incorrect: I’ve never seen a more funnier movie. • Incorrect: Which is the most highest mountain.

6. Rule: Add other or else when comparing a member of a group with the rest of the group. • Incorrect: That jet is faster than any plane. • Correct: That jet is faster than any other plane. • Incorrect: Edgar has won more races than anyone on the team. • Correct: Edgar has won more races than anyone else on the team.

7. Rule: Compare only items of a similar kind. • Illogical: These tomatoes are tastier than the Hamiltons. • Logical: These tomatoes are tastier than the Hamiltons’ tomatoes.

8. Rule: Avoid using a double negative. • Common negatives: • but (meaning only) none • hardly nothing • barely no • scarcely nobody • only never • not (and its contraction n’t) • Double negative: There isn’t hardly any air in the tire. • Correct: There is hardly any air in the tire.

9. Rule: Use an adjective to modify a noun or pronoun. Use an adverb to modify a verb, adjective, or another adverb. An adverb follows an action verb, but an adjective follows a linking verb. • When thinking of when to use GOOD or WELL • Well is an ADVERB- You do something well. • WELL answers HOW? • Good is an ADJECTIVE. A thing is good. • GOOD answers WHAT? • Examples • Your report was very good. • You did well on your report. • Exception- Verbs of sensation. “The pie (smells, tastes, looks) good.” • “I feel well.” & “I feel good.” are both acceptable.

10. . I only have eyes for you.

11. 5. We saw a large, graceful willow tree strolling around the lake.

12. 9. I only have ten more problems to finish.

13. 6. After installing a skylight, the room looked not only brighter but also larger.

14. 8. We saw John hit a long home run from the bleachers.

15. 7. Flying at the end of a heavy cord, we saw a beautiful box kite.

16. 4. Having finished weeding the garden, Len’s sweater was full of burrs.

17. 3. Wynn served some tea to her guests icy cold from the refrigerator.

18. . Andrew bought a corsage for his girlfriend with orchids.

19. Misplaced Modifier • Ideally, a modifier should be placed close to the word or words it modifies, so that a reader can easily spot the connection. A misplaced modifier may cause confusion because it seems to modify the wrong thing or even seems to modify two things at once. • Place modifying words, phrases, and clauses as near as possible to the words they modify.

20. Misplaced: The dog was begging scraps of food from the guests under the table. • [The dog was under the table, not the guests.] • Corrected: The dog was under the table, begging scraps of food from the guests. • Under the table, the dog was begging scraps of food from the guests. • The adverb only is frequently misplaced in sentences. • Misplaced: I only have five sheets of paper left. • Corrected: I have only five sheets of paper left. • Misplaced: At lunch I only ate my banana. • Corrected: At lunch I ate only my banana.

21. A. MISPLACED Before 6:00 P.M. a movie ticket only costs $4.50. • CLEAR Before 6:00 P.M. a movie ticket costs only $4.50. • B. MISPLACED We could see corn growing from our car window. • CLEAR From our car window, we could see corn growing. • A. MISPLACED Since he has allergies, the vet gives our beagle a shot each month. • CLEAR Since our beagle has allergies, the vet gives him a shot each month.

22. Dangling Modifiers • A dangling modifier occurs when there is no word in the sentence to which the modifier can be properly and logically attached. Most, but not all, dangling modifiers appear at the beginning of the sentence. • To correct a dangling modifier, add or replace words to make the meaning clear and logical.

23. The issue of the proper placement of "only" has long been argued among grammarians. Many careful writers will insist that "only" be placed immediately before the word or phrase it modifies. Thus "I only gave him three dollars" would be rewritten as "I gave him only three dollars." Some grammarians, however, have argued that such precision is not really necessary, that there is no danger of misreading "I only gave him three dollars" and that "only" can safely and naturally be placed between the subject and the verb. The argument has been going on for two hundred years.

24. Dangling: Turning on the air conditioner, a fuse blew out. • Analysis of the mistake: An introductory participial phrase should describe the subject of the sentence. However, in the above sentence, the subject is fuse. Obviously the fuse did not turn on the air conditioner. There are at least two ways to correct such dangling modifiers: • Corrected: When I turned on the air conditioner, a fuse blew out. • Turning on the air conditioner, I blew out a fuse.

25. A. DANGLING Frustrated, all the scientists’ findings were reexamined. • (Were the findings frustrated?) • B. DANGLING Looking back over my shoulder, the team went into a huddle. • (Was the team looking back over my shoulder?) • C. DANGLING To qualify for the Olympics, many trial heats must be won. • (Do trial heats qualify for the Olympics?)

26. CLEAR Frustrated, the scientists reexamined all of their findings. • CLEAR Looking back over my shoulder, I saw the team going into a huddle. • CLEAR To qualify for the Olympics, a runner must win many trial heats. • OR • Before a runner may qualify for the Olympics, he or she must • win many trial heats.