Everybody
wants to make sure that their English always looks good while speaking or
writing. Grammatical errors, punctuation mistakes, misspellings, and other writing
issues are very common if the basics of the English language are not clear.
Speech in English grammar plays a very critical role as it clears the context of the statement. There are eight parts that exist in a speech, out of which Adjective and Adverb are commonly interchanged and create a lot of confusion.
Adjective vs Adverb
The main difference between Adjective and Adverb can be better understood by their types and how they are used. Adjectives change the nouns, whereas Adverbs change the verbs. A word that qualifies, identifies and describes a noun or pronoun is known as Adjective, whereas an Adverb delineates the adjective, verb, or other adverbs.
The word which answers “Which?” or “What kind?” or “How many?” in a statement are Adjective. For example
“The gorgeous princess wore a red gown.” – Here “Gorgeous” and “Red,” tells “What Kind” and hence are Adjectives.
Adverbs
usually express or describe the place, manner, time, degree, frequency, level
of certainty, etc. The word which answers “how”, “when”, “where”, and “how
much” in the statements are Adverbs.
For example,
“Isha slept soundly.” The word “Soundly” answers to the question ‘how’, this is an Adverb.
Comparison Table Between Adjective and Adverb
| Parameter of Comparison | Adjective | Adverb |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | An Adjective is a word or a set of words that describes (or modifies) the noun or pronoun. | An Adverb is a word or set of words that describe (or modify) adjective, verb, or other adverbs. |
| Classification | An Adjective can be further classified into,
1. Adjective of quality | An Adverb can be classified into
1. Adverb of frequency |
| Answers | “Which?” or “What kind?” or “How many?” | “How?”, “When?”, “Where?”, and “How much?” |
| Examples | 1. Sheena is a cute girl. 2. Koala likes handsome guys. 3. George has a fast bike. 4. Lily is a good dancer. | 1. Kean walks slowly. 2. My sister arrived yesterday. 3. We looked for his toy in the car. 4. Joe starts early. |
What is Adjective?
An Adjective either modifies or describes
the noun or pronoun. In simple words, it gives more explanatory information in
the statement about the noun or pronoun.
Adjective indicates or tells things like shape, size, color, or more. It also specifies or answers questions such as “How many?”, “What kind?”, “Which one?” or “Whose?”
Without Adjectives, you won’t understand the context of an integral component of the statement, for example, if one has to tell his or her vacation experience then they either need to use a “serene” or “disastrous” word, which specifically expresses their state or feeling.
The adjective also limits or restricts the meaning of noun or pronoun. Many times Adjective comes before the noun. Some adjectives also describe the qualities that can exist in different degrees or amounts.
“This,
that, these, and those” are four demonstrative adjectives. They help to
distinguish how the thing or person is being described by others, which belongs
to the same class or category. “Which, what, and whose” are
interrogative adjectives that are used to begin questions.
There also exist
the comparative and superlative forms of adjectives. The order of Adjectives may vary but still, the
following is the most common order is
Word > size > age > shape > color > nationality
> material
Examples:
- This book seemed interesting.
- That dog looks cute.
- Serena is a responsible girl.
- That woman looked angry.
- Nick performed great.
What is Adverb?
A word that
describes or modifies the verb, an adjective, another adverb, or a whole
sentence is called an Adverb.
Adverbs, more often, ends with “ly” and some just look or mean the
same as their counterpart adjectives.
As we said Adverbs modifies the verb, thus they
describe or define the way of or express action, and also characterize the
state of being. Adverbs can be seen
as intensifiers and also come in the form of adverb phrases.
Adjectives
or other adverbs are also modified by Adverbs
as they provide detailed information about the other characters of the word.
For example,
- Sheena drives very quickly.
- An incredibly beautiful girl looking at me.
By
identifying the function of the word in the sentence you can easily tell
whether it’s an adverb or not.
Adverbs also specify or answer
“when” and “where”. The main purpose of the Adverb in the
sentence is to add more power to the adjective. Some adverbs can also modify
the entire sentences and are called “sentence adverbs”
Examples:
- That was extremely nice of you
- Ram‘s performance was bad in the show.
- That good boy just hugged his little sister.
- Jim lives locally.
- Sheena speaks loudly.
Main Differences Between Adjective and Adverb
In the English language, you need to be very careful with
your words while writing or speaking as even a little mistake or error can
change the whole context of the statement.
Correct understanding of Adjective and Adverb is not only essential but is very imperative as a very thin line of disparity exists between them.
How you use and where you are using those makes a lot of difference.
- Adjective answers “Which?” or “What kind?” or “How many?”, whereas adverb answers “How?”, “When?”, “Where?”, and “How much?”
- Adverbs provide extra information about the adjectives.
- Adjective specifies the intensity in the statement, whereas Adverb gives weight to the statement.
- An Adjective is used to define the state of being or action, whereas an Adverb gets associated with verb or adjective.
Examples:
- Adjective: He’s a good employee.
- Adverb: He works well.
- Adjective: She’s a beautiful singer.
- Adverb: She sings beautifully.
- Adjective: She’s a careless speaker.
- Adverb: She speaks carelessly.
- Adjective: He’s a very quick runner.
- Adverb: He can run very quickly.
Conclusion
The use of Adjective and Adverb in any
sentence gives weight and importance to it. It also specifies the significance
of the action or expression that is conveyed.
Understanding the difference between Adjective and Adverb not only lets you write or speak well but also helps you to articulate the sentences accurately.
It further advises you to use a better word, so that your writing becomes stronger and required messaged is passed without any difficulty.
References
- https://www.english-grammar-revolution.com/what-is-an-adjective.html
- https://www.gingersoftware.com/content/grammar-rules/adverb/