{"id":4040,"date":"2013-06-27T17:00:07","date_gmt":"2013-06-27T17:00:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.mometrix.com\/academy\/?page_id=4040"},"modified":"2026-03-25T12:43:44","modified_gmt":"2026-03-25T17:43:44","slug":"adverbs-that-modify-adjectives","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.mometrix.com\/academy\/adverbs-that-modify-adjectives\/","title":{"rendered":"Adverbs Modifying Adjectives"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\t\t\t<div id=\"mmDeferVideoEncompass_uaRAUtBS6gI\" style=\"position: relative;\">\n\t\t\t<picture>\n\t\t\t\t<source srcset=\"https:\/\/www.mometrix.com\/academy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/circle-play-duotone.webp\" type=\"image\/webp\">\n\t\t\t\t<source srcset=\"https:\/\/www.mometrix.com\/academy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/circle-play-duotone.png\" type=\"image\/jpeg\"> \n\t\t\t\t<img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"eager\" id=\"videoThumbnailImage_uaRAUtBS6gI\" data-source-videoID=\"uaRAUtBS6gI\" src=\"https:\/\/www.mometrix.com\/academy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/circle-play-duotone.png\" alt=\"Adverbs Modifying Adjectives Video\" height=\"464\" width=\"825\" class=\"size-full\" data-matomo-title = \"Adverbs Modifying Adjectives\">\n\t\t\t<\/picture>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<style>img#videoThumbnailImage_uaRAUtBS6gI:hover {cursor:pointer;} img#videoThumbnailImage_uaRAUtBS6gI {background-size:contain;background-image:url(\"https:\/\/www.mometrix.com\/academy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/738-Adverbs-Modifying-Adjectives-1-1-1.webp\");}<\/style>\n\t\t\t<script defer>\n\t\t\t  jQuery(\"img#videoThumbnailImage_uaRAUtBS6gI\").click(function() {\n\t\t\t\tlet videoId = jQuery(this).attr(\"data-source-videoID\");\n\t\t\t\tlet helpTag = '<div id=\"mmDeferVideoYTMessage_uaRAUtBS6gI\" style=\"display: none;position: absolute;top: -24px;width: 100%;text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-style: italic;font-size: small;border-top: 1px solid #fc0;\">Having trouble? <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v='+videoId+'\" target=\"_blank\">Click here to watch on YouTube.<\/a><\/span><\/div>';\n\t\t\t\tlet tag = document.createElement(\"iframe\");\n\t\t\t\ttag.id = \"yt\" + videoId;\n\t\t\t\ttag.src = \"https:\/\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\/embed\/\" + videoId + \"?autoplay=1&controls=1&wmode=opaque&rel=0&egm=0&iv_load_policy=3&hd=0&enablejsapi=1\";\n\t\t\t\ttag.frameborder = 0;\n\t\t\t\ttag.allow = \"autoplay; fullscreen\";\n\t\t\t\ttag.width = this.width;\n\t\t\t\ttag.height = this.height;\n\t\t\t\ttag.setAttribute(\"data-matomo-title\",\"Adverbs Modifying Adjectives\");\n\t\t\t\tjQuery(\"div#mmDeferVideoEncompass_uaRAUtBS6gI\").html(tag);\n\t\t\t\tjQuery(\"div#mmDeferVideoEncompass_uaRAUtBS6gI\").prepend(helpTag);\n\t\t\t\tsetTimeout(function(){jQuery(\"div#mmDeferVideoYTMessage_uaRAUtBS6gI\").css(\"display\", \"block\");}, 2000);\n\t\t\t  });\n\t\t\t  \n\t\t\t<\/script>\n\t\t\n<p><script>\nfunction 3aQ_Function() {\n  var x = document.getElementById(\"3aQ\");\n  if (x.style.display === \"none\") {\n    x.style.display = \"block\";\n  } else {\n    x.style.display = \"none\";\n  }\n}\n<\/script><\/p>\n<div class=\"moc-toc hide-on-desktop hide-on-tablet\">\n<div><button onclick=\"3aQ_Function()\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.mometrix.com\/academy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/toc2.svg\" width=\"16\" height=\"16\" alt=\"show or hide table of contents\"><\/button><\/p>\n<p>On this page<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<nav id=\"3aQ\" style=\"display:none;\">\n<ul>\n<li class=\"toc-h2\"><a href=\"#Modifiers\" class=\"smooth-scroll\">Modifiers<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"toc-h2\"><a href=\"#Adverbs_Modifying_Adjectives\" class=\"smooth-scroll\">Adverbs Modifying Adjectives<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"toc-h2\"><a href=\"#Review\" class=\"smooth-scroll\">Review<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/nav>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"accordion\"><input id=\"transcript\" type=\"checkbox\" class=\"spoiler_button\" \/><label for=\"transcript\">Transcript<\/label>\n<div class=\"spoiler\" id=\"transcript-spoiler\">\n<p>An adverb modifies a verb, an <a class=\"ylist\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mometrix.com\/academy\/what-is-an-adjective\/\">adjective<\/a>, or another <a class=\"ylist\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mometrix.com\/academy\/adverbs\/\">adverb<\/a>. Today, we\u2019re going to focus on adverbs that modify adjectives. <\/p>\n<h2><span id=\"Modifiers\" class=\"m-toc-anchor\"><\/span>Modifiers<\/h2>\n<p>\nA word modifies another word in grammar when it adds meaning or clarification to that word. Modifiers tend to be descriptive words like adjectives or adverbs. We said earlier that an adverb can modify three different things: a verb, an adjective, or another adverb. Well, an adjective can only modify <a class=\"ylist\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mometrix.com\/academy\/what-is-a-noun\/\">nouns<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Let\u2019s look at an example:<\/p>\n<div class=\"transcriptcallout\">The silver plane landed softly.<\/div>\n<p>\n&nbsp;<br \/>\nFirst, let\u2019s identify the noun in this sentence. A noun is a person, place, or thing, so the word <em>plane<\/em> is the noun in this sentence.<\/p>\n<p>Now, we look to see if there are any words in the sentence that tell us more about the plane. The word <em>silver<\/em> tells us the color of the plane, adding meaning and clarification, so we know that it modifies the word <em>plane<\/em>. Since <em>plane<\/em> is a noun, we know that <em>silver<\/em> must be an adjective, since only adjectives modify nouns. <\/p>\n<p>There\u2019s an adverb in this sentence, too. We see that the plane landed, and we know <em>landed<\/em> is a verb or action word. The word <em>softly<\/em> tells us more about how the plane landed, so it is a modifier. Since landed is a verb, we know the modifier has to be an adverb. <\/p>\n<h2><span id=\"Adverbs_Modifying_Adjectives\" class=\"m-toc-anchor\"><\/span>Adverbs Modifying Adjectives<\/h2>\n<p>\nNow that we\u2019re comfortable with what an adverb does in a sentence, let\u2019s see what happens when it modifies an adjective instead of a verb. <\/p>\n<p>Take the following sentence:<\/p>\n<div class=\"transcriptcallout\">The blue bird flew.<\/div>\n<p>\n&nbsp;<br \/>\nIn this sentence, the noun <em>bird<\/em> is modified by the adjective <em>blue<\/em>, which tells us what kind of bird flew\u2014a blue bird! What if we were to add an adverb to this sentence? Often an adverb used to modify an adjective adds a degree of intensity to the adjective:<\/p>\n<div class=\"transcriptcallout\">The very blue bird flew.<\/div>\n<p>\n&nbsp;<br \/>\nThe word <em>very<\/em> in this sentence is an adverb modifying the adjective <em>blue<\/em>. It\u2019s telling us how blue the blue is. Sometimes, this can get tricky. Imagine the sentence were as follows:<\/p>\n<div class=\"transcriptcallout\">The big blue bird flew.<\/div>\n<p>\n&nbsp;<br \/>\n<em>Big<\/em> is in the very same place <em>very<\/em> was in the last sentence, but it\u2019s not an adverb. It\u2019s not telling us anything more about the color blue, but it is telling us something more about the bird. Because it\u2019s telling us something about the noun, we know that <em>big<\/em> must be an adjective the same way <em>blue<\/em> is.<\/p>\n<p>A helpful hint to check if a word is modifying the noun in a sentence is to take out the other adjective and see if the sentence makes any sense. If I take out <em>blue<\/em> in this sentence, it still reads, &#8220;The big bird flew&#8221;. But if I take out <em>blue<\/em> in the first sentence we looked at, the sentence changes from &#8220;The very blue bird flew&#8221; to &#8220;The very bird flew.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>That doesn\u2019t make any sense. What is a \u201cvery bird?\u201d <em>Very<\/em>, then, must be a word modifying the color blue, not the bird itself. <\/p>\n<p>In fact, <em>very<\/em> is a common adverb that you\u2019ll see emphasizing adjective descriptors. Other common adverbs are words like <em>really<\/em> and <em>slightly<\/em>. Adverbs often end in <em>-ly<\/em>, but not always. <\/p>\n<p>If I say that a cat is quite pretty, I\u2019m using the adverb <em>quite<\/em> to modify the adjective <em>pretty<\/em>. If I say the book is more interesting, I\u2019m using the adverb <em>more<\/em> to modify the word <em>interesting<\/em>. <\/p>\n<p>Adverbs should be as close as possible to the thing they modify in the sentence. If the adverb is too far away from the word it modifies it makes for an awkward sentence and sometimes even changes the meaning.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<h2><span id=\"Review\" class=\"m-toc-anchor\"><\/span>Review<\/h2>\n<p>\nLet\u2019s look back at what we learned.<\/p>\n<p>If there are two modifying words in front of the noun, one of them could be an adverb modifying the adjective. When an adverb is modifying an adjective it is saying something about the adjective in the sentence, often adding clarification or intensity. The adverb is normally as close as possible to the adjective in a sentence, and often uses intensifying words like <em>more<\/em>, <em>least<\/em>, or <em>hardly<\/em>. <\/p>\n<p>Thanks for tuning in, and I\u2019ll see you next time!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"home-buttons\">\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.mometrix.com\/academy\/parts-of-a-sentence\/\">Return to Parts of a Sentence Videos<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Return to Parts of a Sentence Videos<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":99814,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":{"0":"post-4040","1":"page","2":"type-page","3":"status-publish","4":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"page_category-parts-of-a-sentence-videos","7":"page_category-video-pages-for-study-course-sidebar-ad","8":"page_type-video","9":"subject_matter-english"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mometrix.com\/academy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4040","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mometrix.com\/academy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mometrix.com\/academy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mometrix.com\/academy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mometrix.com\/academy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4040"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.mometrix.com\/academy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4040\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":279406,"href":"https:\/\/www.mometrix.com\/academy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4040\/revisions\/279406"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mometrix.com\/academy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/99814"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mometrix.com\/academy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4040"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}