Adverbs and Adjectives

Use adjectives to describe nouns (things or people).

Use adverbs to describe verbs (how a person does something):

• That was a terrible game. (adjective – describes “game”)
• The team played terribly. (adverb – describes “played”)

Learn more:

• 100 common adjectives in English
• Extreme adjectives in English

Common adverbs:

Examples:

• My grandfather drives slowly, but I drive fast.
• The teacher spoke so quietly that I couldn’t hear her.
• I can read English well, but I speak badly.
• Evan lives dangerously. He loves radical sports.
• We wrote the letter carefully so as not to make a mistake.
• I opened the jar easily.
• Soccer players need to eat healthily to stay in good shape.
• Janet works very hard. She arrives at work early and leaves late.

Adjectives go before the noun. Adverbs usually go after the verb:

• Ruth is a quiet person. (“quiet” describes “person”)
• Ruth speaks quietly. (“quietly” describes “speaks”)

Learn more:

• 20 adverbs of manner
• 30 advanced adverbs