Transcript Marvelous Modifiers - Wallace Community College

Marvelous Modifiers
Designed by Elisa Paramore
Function of Adjectives
 Adjectives
are words that modify nouns or
pronouns and answer one of the following
questions:
 Which?
 What kind of ?
 How many ?
 How much?
Adjective Endings









able or ible
ac or ic
al and ical
an and ian
ary
ed
en
ent and ant
ern
Adjective Endings, con’t










esque
ful
fic
ileish
ive
less
like
ous
some
y
Position of Adjectives
before the noun or pronoun it modifies- examplethe purple sweater
 after a linking verb- example- John was brilliant
 as an appositive of the noun modified- exampleThis precocious youth, able and alert, graduated
from Harvard.
 after a direct object- example- The circumstances
made the detective suspicious.

Rule 1 for effective use of
adjectives
 When
comparing 2 people or objects, use
the comparative adjective form-the
comparative form is made by adding ‘er’ to
the adjective or the words more or less
 The superlative form is made by adding
‘est’ or using the words most or least before
the adjective
Rule # 2 for Adjectives
 When
comparing more than 2 people or
objects use the superlative form of the
adjective
Practice Exercise
 Add
the correct ending to make the
following words into the comparative form
white
 slow
 agile
 clean
 active
 friendly

Practice Exercise
 Add
the correct ending to following
adjectives to make the superlative form:
white
 slow
 agile
 clean
 active
 friendly

Rule #3 for adjectives
 When
comparing one person or object with
others in the group, use the words any other
or anyone else, not just the word any
Rule #4 for adjectives
 Avoid
making double comparisons like
more happier or most fastest
Rule #5 for adjectives
 Use
the article ‘a’ before a word that starts
with a consonant sound.
 Use the article ‘an’ before a word that starts
with a vowel sound
Practice Exercise
 Add
the correct article to following words
 honeycomb
 esophagus
 honorable man
 unhappy ending
 eucalyptus tree
 unicorn
Rule # 6 for adjectives
 say
‘half a (or an)’ and not ‘a half a (or an)’
 Example- This program is only half an hour
long.
Rule # 7 for adjectives
 Repeat
the article ‘a, an or the’ before a
second noun in a series for contrast,
clearness or emphasis
 Example- Please order the beef and cheese
nachos for me. (one item only)
 Example- Please order the beef and the
cheese nachos for me. (2 items only)
Rule # 8 for adjectives
 When
2 or more adjectives modify a noun,
repeat the article only if different objects are
meant- example- In the shop we found a
black and white dress. (1 dress)
 Example- In the shop we found a black and
a white dress. ( 2 dresses)
Rule # 9 for adjectives
 An
article such as ‘a, an or the’, or a
preposition applying to all members of a
series of nouns should only be used before
the first item or repeated before each one
 Never use the article “the” before the word
both
Rule # 10 for adjectives
 The
words this and that are singular and are
only used to modify singular nouns or
pronouns. The words these and those are
plural and are used only to modify plural
nouns and pronouns
Rule # 11 for adjectives
 Do
not use double negatives
 negatives are words that begin with the
letter ‘n’ such as in the words- never,
nothing, no, none and nobody
 Do not use negatives with half negative
words such as hardly, scarcely, barely, only
and but (when it means only)
Rule # 12 for adjectives
 After
the words be, become, grow, seem,
appear, look, feel, taste, smell, remain and
sound use a predicate adjective to describe
the subject of the sentence- Example- Ben
felt clumsy.
Rule # 13 for adjectives
 The
word good is used as an adjective
 the word well is only used as an adjective
when it means “ in good health, attractive or
satisfactory”
Practice exercise





Change the following sentences as needed to follow the
rules for adjectives
On a hike Brad watches carefully for copperheads and
rattlers, for the both snakes are common in the mountains.
That there butterfly with red bands on its wings is called a
red admiral.
There isn’t hardly any part of the world that is entirely free
from mosquitoes.
The moon jellyfish is one of the most commonest of the
jellyfish group.
Adjective clauses
An adjective clause modifies a noun or pronoun
and is attached to the word it modifies in one of 2
ways
 with a relative pronoun such as who, whose,
which and that
 with a subordinating conjunction such as where
 like a main clause, a adjective clause has a subject
and verb but it can not stand alone

Punctuating Adjective Clauses



Adjective clauses beginning with the word ‘that’ are never
set off from the rest of the sentence with commas
Adjective clauses beginning with the words ‘who’ or
‘which’ should not be set off by commas if omitting the
clause would change the basic meaning of the sentence
Adjective clause that begin with the words ‘who’ or
‘which’ should be set off with commas if omitting the
phrase would not change the basic meaning of the
sentence.
Practice Exercise





Identify the adjective clause in the following sentences and
punctuate them as needed.
Earle Stanley Gardner whose Perry Mason is a leading
favorite with mystery fans originally practiced law.
The knowledge of human foibles which helped Gardner in
his legal practice later assured his success in business.
In 1923 Gardner began the career of fiction writing which
later brought him a fortune.
The editor of Black Mask who read the story promptly
returned it to Gardner.
purpose of adverbs
 adverbs
are words that modify a verb, an
adjective or another adverb
 adverbs commonly answer the questionswhen, where, how, how often or how much
 adverbs such as when and where may also
be used to help ask questions
Adverb endings
many end with ‘ly’ but not all adverbs do very, always, almost, often, not, now, well, rather,
too and yesterday
 adverbs may also end with ‘ward’ and ‘long’

Practice exercise






choose the correct form of the adverb in the parentheses.
Can Josh beat Timothy (easy, easily)?
(Nowhere, nowheres) in the world is there more gold than
at Fort Knox, Kentucky.
The motorcycle invented by Daimler in 1883 worked fairly
(good, well), but it was (not nearly, nowhere near)
successful enough to catch the public interest.
If you speak your lines too (rapid, rapidly), most members
of the audience will not understand what you are saying.
The floodwaters receded (gradual, gradually).
 only
use standard adverbs such as- anyway,
anywhere, everywhere, nowhere, somewhere,
regardless, not nearly, in no way, usually, seldom
and hardly ever
 do not use substandard adverbs such a- anyways,
anywheres, everywheres, nowheres, somwheres,
nowhere near ( not nearly) nohow, most times and
seldom ever
 do not use more than one adverb to describe
another adverb, an adjective or a verb
Purpose of Adverb clauses
 an
adverb clause modifies a verb, adjective
or another adverb
 adverb clauses often answer the questions
when, where, how or how much?
 an easy way to differentiate between an
adjectives and a adverbs and adjective and
adverb clauses is that adverbs and adverb
clause can be moved within the sentence
Adverb clauses





adverb clauses start with an adverb that shows how the
clause relates to the rest of the sentence- they show one of
4 thingstime- such as the words- after, as soon as, as long as,
before, once, since, till, until, when, whenever and while
place- where or wherever
cause- as, because, in order that, since, so that
condition- although, as, as though, even if, even though, if,
in case, just as, provided that, though, unless, whereas,
while
Punctuating adverb clauses
 If
at the beginning of the sentence, it is
separated from the rest of the sentence with
a comma after the last word of the clause
 If in the middle of the sentence it is
enclosed in commas
 If the clause comes at the end of the end of
the sentence it is not separated from the rest
of the sentence
Practice exercise





Identify the adverb clause in the following sentences and
punctuate them as needed.
When Gardner was a young lawyer in California he
specialized in brilliant legal tricks and masterly exhibitions
of psychology.
His customary acuteness failed when he used a beneficiary
under a will as a witness to the will.
Gardner retuned to law when the job of business analyst no
longer satisfied him.
Soon he rebelled against the routine office hours and court
calendars which dominates a lawyer’s life.
Thank you for your participation in this
workshop. We hope you found it helpful.
Remember to complete and return the
Academic Enrichment Summary so that we
may document your participation. If you are
viewing this workshop via the internet please
come by the Student Support Services office
to complete and Academic Enrichment
Summary or you may click on the link in the
instruction box on the Workshops page and
print one out or e-mail it to
[email protected]
Exit: