What is an Adjective?
An adjective is a word in the English language that describes or modifies a noun or pronoun. Adjectives tell us more about a person, place, thing, or idea by describing certain attributes such as size, shape, colour, age, material, purpose, and more. you can use them to contrast two or more things.
Adjectives can be either positive or negative. Positive adjectives describe something in a favorable way, while negative adjectives describe something in an unfavorable manner. For instance, a generous person is described with a positive adjective, while a stingy person is described with a negative adjective.
Adjectives are also divided into two categories: descriptive and limiting. Descriptive adjectives provide more information about the noun or pronoun while limiting adjectives narrow down the meaning of the noun or pronoun.
For example, in the sentence “She bought a red purse,” the word “red” is an adjective that modifies the noun “purse.” It provides additional information about the noun, which is that the purse is red.
Adjectives can be used in a variety of ways. They can be used to make comparisons, provide emphasis, and make a sentence more interesting. They can also be used to describe a noun, pronoun, verb, adverb, or preposition. Adjectives are essential in English, as they help provide more detail and clarity in writing and speaking.
What is an Adverb?
An adverb is a part of speech that is used to modify a verb, an adjective, another adverb, a clause, or a sentence. Adverbs give us more information about how, when, or where something happened. They are versatile words that can be used to express a wide range of meanings. Adverbs end in -ly, but there are many exceptions. Common adverbs include quickly, slowly, recently, never, always, sometimes, and tomorrow.
Adverbs are used to answer questions such as “when?”, “Where?”, “how?” and “why?”. Adverbs can be divided into several categories including manner, place, time, frequency, degree, and certainty. Adverbs are used to provide further description or detail about how an action was performed. Adjectives can also be modified using them.
Other adverbs can be modified by adverbs. This is called an adverbial modification. Adverbs are also used to modify clauses or sentences. They can be used to give emphasis, express a contrast, or to provide additional detail about a situation.
Adverbs can be used to give your writing and speech more colour and detail. Understanding how adverbs work and how to use them correctly is an important part of mastering the English language.
Difference Between Adjective and Adverb
- Adjectives modify nouns or pronouns, while adverbs modify verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs.
- Adjectives come before the noun or pronoun they modify, while adverbs come after the word they modify.
- Adjectives describe qualities and characteristics, while adverbs describe manner, time, place, degree, or frequency.
- Adjectives are formed by adding suffixes to the base form of the adjective, while adverbs are formed by adding suffixes to the base form of the verb.
- Adjectives are invariable, meaning they don’t change their form to agree with the noun they modify, while adverbs do change their form to agree with the words they modify.
Comparison Between Adjective and Adverb
| Parameters of Comparison | Adjective | Adverb |
| Modification | Modify nouns and pronouns | Modify verbs, adjectives, and adverbs |
| Meaning | Describing words | Adds more detail |
| Describing | Tells us more about a noun | Tells us more about a verb |
| Type | Possibly a word, phrase, or clause | Possibly a word, phrase, or clause |
| Example | She is careful | She walks carefully |