Adjectives & Adverbs
Describe nouns, and explain how actions happen.
Describe the thing, or describe the action.
Mission brief
Describe things, and describe actions
An adjective describes a noun. An adverb usually describes how an action happens.
Once you can tell which word is being described, choosing the right form becomes easy.
Big idea
What is being described?
a fast car
Fast describes the car — a noun.
adjective → noun
The car moves quickly.
Quickly describes moves — a verb.
adverb → verb
How it works
Adjectives describe nouns
How it works
Where adjectives appear
a beautiful beach
a difficult question
a red bag
The beach is beautiful.
The student is tired.
The questions are difficult.
Word transformation
Adverbs of manner
Many adverbs are made by adding -ly to an adjective.
Spelling rules
When the spelling changes
Learn these by heart
Special forms
A few words do not follow the -ly pattern. These come up constantly, so learn them now.
- goodwell
- fastfast
- hardhard
She is a good singer.
He is a fast runner.
She sings well.
He runs fast.
Watch out: fastly and goodly are not words. Fast stays fast, and good becomes well.
Compare it
Adjective vs adverb
He is a careful driver.
Careful describes driver.
describes the noun
He drives carefully.
Carefully describes drives.
describes the verb
She is a beautiful singer.
Beautiful describes singer.
She sings beautifully.
Beautifully describes sings.
Common confusion
Good vs well
adjective
He is a good player.
describes a noun
adverb
He plays well.
describes an action
Common mistakes
Error detector
She sings beautiful.
He runs quicklyly.
She is a carefully student.
He plays good.
The car moves slow.
Fast is an exception: The car is fast (adjective) and The car moves fast (adverb) are both correct. Never write fastly.
Real-life English
Talking about a teammate
Sara Is Amir a good football player?
Aiman Yes. He plays really well.
Sara He's fast too.
Aiman Yeah. He runs very fast.
Test yourself
Quick check
Revision map
Mission summary
Adjective
describes a noun
Adverb
usually describes a verb or action
Most adverbs
adjective + ly
Spelling
easy → easily · gentle → gently
Special forms
good → well · fast → fast · hard → hard
After be
use an adjective: The beach is beautiful.
Exam strategy
Exam booster
Ask what is being described: a noun or an action.
If it describes a noun, use an adjective.
If it describes how something happens, use an adverb.
Most manner adverbs end in -ly, but check the spelling rule.
Learn the exceptions: good → well, fast → fast, hard → hard.
Worked example: “She is a good singer. She sings ___.” The blank describes how she sings, so: She sings well.
Mission review point
Adjectives & Adverbs complete
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