Adjectives and Adverbs — Differences and Examples
Adverb vs. adjective
Adverbs and adjectives are both types of modifying words that describe information in a sentence. Adverbs modify verbs, adjectives, other adverbs, phrases, or entire sentences, whereas adjectives modify nouns or pronouns.
An adjective is a part of speech that identifies the characteristics, quality, and/or quantity of a noun or pronoun. Adverbs indicate when, where, how, how often, and how much something happened.
When to use adverbs and adjectives
There are several types of adverbs in English:
Adverbs of time: When something happened
Adverbs of place: Where something happened
Adverbs of manner: How something happened
Adverbs of frequency: How often does something happen
Adverbs of degree: How much does something happen
In the English language, there are multiple types of adjectives:
Descriptive adjectives: Describes the characteristics of a noun
Quantitative adjectives: Defines how much of something there is
Numeral adjectives: Shows the number or order of items
Demonstrative adjectives: Identifies which person or item is being referenced
Distributive adjectives: Refers to members of a group
Interrogative adjectives: Used to ask a question
Possessive adjectives: Expresses who owns something
It’s a common error to mix up similar adjectives and adverbs, like “calm” and “calmly,” by using an adverb instead of a predicate adjective. Many adverbs end in -ly and are used to modify verbs. Adjectives like “calm” are subject complements for a linking verb such as “feel,” look,” seem,” etc. and modify nouns.
Adjective: I feel calm about the news.
Adverb: I took the news calmly.
Adverb and adjective examples
The following sentences contain both adverbs (italics) and adjectives (bold):
The six trout swam quickly upstream.
Adjective: Six – describes the number of trout
Adverb: Quickly – describes how the trout swam
There was a bright flash as the lightning streaked across the sky.
Adjective: Bright – describes the flash
Adverb: Streaked – describes the movement of the lightning
The deer carefully walked across the thin ice.
Adjective: Thin – describes the state of the ice
Adverb: Carefully – describes how the deer walked
The choir sang beautifully throughout the holiday concert.
Adjective: Holiday – describes the type of concert
Adverb: Beautifully – describes how the choir sang
She approached the high dive and successfully performed a front flip.
Adjective: Front – describes the type of dive
Adverb: Successfully – describes the result of the dive