What’s the Difference between Adjectives and Adverbs?

What’s the Difference between Adjectives and Adverbs? Video

Hey guys! Welcome to this video over adjectives and adverbs.

Every day, we see people, places, and things; we have thoughts and cool ideas. Other times we have emotions, whether happy, sad, or excited. It would be pretty hard to communicate how you feel, what you see, or what someone looked like without words that were specific to describing certain characteristics. Luckily, we have these things called adjectives and adverbs that help us to be specific and descriptive when we write and when we talk.

Adjectives

When faced with questions like Which one?, What kind of?, or How many?, we can use adjectives to answer those questions because adjectives describe nouns or pronouns. While some adjectives will come after the words that they describe (“He shall have opportunities galore to express his concern.”), you can see in the following examples that the adjectives come before the words that they modify.

Which one?
The third suit is my favorite.

What kind?
The navy blue suit is my favorite.

How many?
Can I look over the four neckties for that suit?

 

Adverbs

The questions of When?, Where?, How?, and Why? can usually be answered with an adverb. While adjectives describe nouns and pronouns, adverbs can describe verbs, other adverbs, and adjectives.

John walks quickly through the crowd.
(this example tells how John walked through the crowd)
 
The water flows smoothly in the morning.
(this example tells how water moves at a time of day)

 

You may notice that the adverbs in those examples end in –ly. While this is true of many adverbs, you need to remember that not all adverbs end in -ly.

He is never angry.
 
You talk too loud.

 

There are some words that end in –ly which are adjectives, not adverbs. Some examples include: friendly, holy, lonely, silly, and ugly.

So, how can you know if a word that ends in -ly is an adjective or adverb? Start with the questions that I referred to earlier to see whether it answers one of the adjective questions or one of the adverb questions.

I hope that this video has been helpful! See you guys next time!

 

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by Mometrix Test Preparation | This Page Last Updated: July 21, 2023