Adjectives and Adverbs

Nouns

A noun describes a person, place or thing. Examples: city, man, movie, tree

Proper nouns name specific people, places and things. They are capitalized.

Examples: Toronto, Mr. Drebit, Spider-Man, Oak

Abstract nouns name ideas, beliefs and other things that cannot be detected by your senses.

Examples: joy, bravery, fear, love, happiness

Verbs

Verbs are action words. They describe something that is being done.

Examples: run, jump, think, read, believe, want, be, grow, climb, become

You cannot write a sentence without including at least one verb.

Adjectives

Adjectives are words that provide information about nouns.

An adjective describes what something is like. Examples: quick, slow, happy, good

What are the adjectives in these examples?:

“The new students went to class.”

“OISE is a big school.”

“I am wearing a blue shirt.”

Adverbs Adverbs are words that provide information

about verbs. Adverbs often look like adjectives with the

letters “ly” added to the end. An Adverb describes how something is

done. Examples: quickly, slowly, happily,

What are the adverbs in these sentences?:

“Always cross the street safely.”

“He silently entered the building.”

“She dances well.”

well

Adjective or Adverb?

In order to decide which descriptive word to use in a sentence, you must decide if you are describing the noun or the verb.

For example:

“Rabbits are __________. (quick or

quickly?)

“Turtles move __________. (slow or

slowly?)

I read _________. (good or well?)

quick

slowly

well