Spotlight Grammar Workbook Adj Adv
Spotlight Grammar Workbook Adj Adv
Dedication
To language and learning instructors devoted to
improving students’ skills and supporting their
highest aspirations
Pretest/Posttest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
What Is an Adjective? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
What Is an Article? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Adjectives That Tell What Kind . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Adjectives That Tell How Many . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Identifying Adjectives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Adjectives After Linking Verbs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Writing Adjectives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Comparing With Adjectives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
What Is an Adverb? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Identifying Adverbs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Identifying Words Adverbs Describe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Changing Words Into Adverbs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Writing Adverbs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Comparing With Adverbs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Tricky Adverbs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Using Good and Well . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Using Bad and Badly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Using Adjectives and Adverbs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Answer Key . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Spotlight on Grammar
Adjectives and Adverbs 3 Copyright © 2006 LinguiSystems, Inc.
Introduction
By itself, “grammar” is not an engaging topic for students. You won’t hear them spontaneously
discuss the function of an adjective vs. an adverb. Students don’t get excited about linking verbs.
Most adults outside the academic arena even shy away from grammar, especially now that our
computers can check our grammar for reports or other writings. Even so, effective speakers and
writers need to understand and use grammar as a sharp tool to express their thoughts. Grammar
rules help us modify a message for a target audience. We even break some rules on purpose to
be more casual.
Some say the most practical reason to teach grammar in school is to help students score well on
tests. That practice, while pragmatic, ignores the lifelong benefits of solid grammar skills. We make
snap judgments when we meet people. These impressions are based on communication style as
much as appearance and background knowledge. When all we know about someone is what that
person has written, as in many e-mails, grammar and writing style are even more important.
How, then, do we entice students to master basic grammar well enough to apply it in their
conversation and their writing?
• First, teach the grammar concept or rule. Highlight a specific grammar point.
• Spotlight the concept as your students encounter it in textbooks, Internet articles, school
announcements, and classroom interaction.
• Demonstrate both correct and incorrect use of the grammar concept. Talk about the impact
of the concept on a message’s listener or reader. Often a message is clearer when it is
grammatically correct. Incorrect grammar can also distract from the meaning or desired
effect of a message.
Spotlight on Grammar
Adjectives and Adverbs 4 Copyright © 2006 LinguiSystems, Inc.
All six books in Spotlight on Grammar concentrate on basic grammar concepts typically mastered
by students in fifth grade. Use the Pretest/Posttest on page 6 to determine your students’ specific
strengths and weaknesses. The activities within each book are sequenced by general complexity.
Sentence structure, vocabulary, and readability are kept simple to keep students’ energies focused
on the grammar concept vs. reading comprehension.
Spotlight on Grammar: Adjectives and Adverbs teaches students the functions and correct uses of
adjectives and adverbs. These words modify certain other parts of speech and are tools to express
our thoughts more clearly and vividly to others. Adjectives and adverbs are also essential for com-
paring and contrasting things, people, and ideas. Below are additional activities to supplement the
activities in this book.
• After defining and illustrating adjective for your students, send them on a search for adjec-
tives throughout the school or a given area (posters, bulletin boards, textbooks, written
announcements, etc.). Ask your students to list each one they find. As your students share
their lists with the whole group, talk about how to be sure a word is an adjective (What does
it modify? What does the dictionary tell us?). If your students list words that aren’t adjec-
tives, help them understand how to tell a true adjective from another modifier.
• Read your students a story with colorful adjectives, such as Alexander and the Terrible,
Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst. Have your students raise their hands
whenever they hear an adjective. You can do the same activity with poems or songs.
• Ask your students to write their ten favorite adjectives and then list the opposite of each
word. Share the lists and think of nouns these words could modify.
• Define and illustrate adverb for your students. Then work with them to make lists of 20 action
verbs and 20 adverbs. Divide the students into two teams and give each team ten index
cards. Each team writes one verb and adverb combination from the lists on each card. Most
of these combinations will be silly or unique, such as cry carefully. As in the Pantomime
game, a member of the other team silently acts out the combination on a card. A team earns
one point for guessing correctly within one minute. The team with the most points wins the
game.
• Create Madlib passages for your students or have them develop their own. Simply write a
brief passage including adjectives and adverbs. Delete these words and specify adjective
or adverb in each blank. Then have your students complete the passages, comparing and
contrasting their word choices afterward.
• Give your students practice in word flexibility by having them change adjectives into adverbs
and vice versa, such as swift /swiftly, sleepy / sleepily, etc.
We hope Spotlight on Grammar: Adjectives and Adverbs is a big hit with you and your students!
Spotlight on Grammar
Adjectives and Adverbs 6 Copyright © 2006 LinguiSystems, Inc.
What Is an Adjective?
An adjective is a word that describes a noun or a pronoun. An adjective answers one of
these questions:
What kind? How many?
a juicy pear most people
a rusty nail six snails
stinky cheese some trees
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What Is an Article?
An article is a special adjective. The words a, an, and the are articles. We use an before
words that begin with a vowel. We use a before words that begin with a consonant.
a football an orange
12. The campers will build _________________________ campfire before it gets dark.
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Adjectives That Tell What Kind 1
Some adjectives tell what kind.
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Adjectives That Tell What Kind 2
➥ Write three adjectives that could describe each noun.
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Adjectives That Tell How Many
Some adjectives tell how many.
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Identifying Adjectives 1
An adjective tells what kind or how many.
when she was five years old. Since then, she has
Today she competed at the national finals. She skated a new routine to
fast music. She wore a lovely pink costume and braided shiny silver ribbons into
Lily completed three triple axles in four minutes. The huge crowd cheered
each time she landed. Some fans threw red roses in the ring when she bowed.
All five judges gave Lily good scores. One judge even gave her a perfect
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Identifying Adjectives 2
An adjective tells what kind or how many.
Mr. Christie makes animated children’s films. The last film he finished won an award
for best screenplay. The movie told the story of a little boy who wanted to be a famous actor.
A guardian angel granted his wish. Later, the boy missed his old life. Fortunately the movie
I told Mr. Christie, “You have a great job. How did you get it ?”
He said, “I read many fantasy books when I was a kid. I have a great imagination.
Do you like to pretend? Maybe you will have a great job in movies, too.”
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Adjectives After Linking Verbs 1
A linking verb links the subject with a describing word in the predicate. The describing word
is a predicate adjective because it is in the predicate of a sentence.
Common linking verbs are be (is, are, was, were) seem, look, feel, taste, and smell.
➥ The predicate in each sentence below is underlined. Circle each predicate adjective.
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Adjectives After Linking Verbs 2
A linking verb links the subject with a describing word in the predicate. The describing word
is a predicate adjective because it is in the predicate of a sentence.
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Writing Adjectives
➥ Write an adjective before each bolded noun.
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Comparing With Adjectives 1
Adjectives help us compare things. Read these sentences.
new + er = newer
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Comparing With Adjectives 2
Some adjectives need spelling changes to add - er or - est endings to compare things. Here
are some rules to learn:
If an adjective ends with - e, drop the final - e before you add a comparison ending.
nicer
nice nic
nicest
If an adjective ends with a consonant + -y, change the -y to -i and then add the
comparison ending.
happier
happy happi
happiest
If a one-syllable adjective has a one-letter vowel and ends with a consonant,
double the consonant and then add the comparison ending.
hotter
hot hott
hottest
➥ Use these spelling rules to compare the adjectives in the chart.
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Comparing With Adjectives 3
If an adjective has two or more syllables, we often use the words more and most or
less and least to make comparisons.
Use more or less to compare two things. Use most or least to compare
three or more things.
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What Is an Adverb?
An adverb is a word that describes a verb, an adjective, or another adverb. Many adverbs
end with -ly (softly, easily, safely).
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Identifying Adverbs 1
➥ Underline each adverb that tells when.
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Identifying Adverbs 2
➥ Underline each adverb that tells where.
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Identifying Adverbs 3
➥ Underline each adverb that tells how.
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Identifying Adverbs 4
Adverbs that modify adjectives or other adverbs usually tell how much or to what extent.
9. The kids eagerly tossed toys into the cart until it was completely full.
12. They were so surprised that their eyes popped wide open.
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Identifying Words Adverbs Describe
An adverb describes a verb, an adjective, or another adverb.
9. I didn’t do it intentionally.
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Changing Words Into Adverbs
You can make some adjectives into adverbs by adding an -ly ending.
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Writing Adverbs 1
➥ Write three adverbs that could describe each action verb.
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Writing Adverbs 2
➥ Write three adverbs that could modify each adjective.
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Writing Adverbs 3
➥ Write three adverbs that could modify each adverb.
Think of adverbs that tell how or how much.
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Comparing With Adverbs 1
Adverbs help us compare things. Read these sentences.
soon + er = sooner
7. Which batter on the Eagles team hit the ball near____ to the bleachers?
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Comparing With Adverbs 2
We usually add the words more or most to compare adverbs that end in -ly.
6. Joan strums the guitar strings _____________ softly than Chris does.
9. Which of the three boys waited _____________ patiently in the dentist’s office?
10. Jack decorated his room _____________ creatively than Natalie did.
12. Nicholas greeted me _____________ warmly than the others when I arrived at camp.
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Comparing With Adverbs 3
We usually add the words less or the least to show lower amounts.
1. Rick read the chapter _____________ completely than anyone else in his class.
2. Trevor cleaned his room _____________ thoroughly than his little brother.
5. Of all the people on my team, I held onto the tug of war rope _____________ firmly.
11. Harris batted _____________ confidently of all the players on the team.
12. This old printer works _____________ quickly than the new one.
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Tricky Adverbs 1
Some adverbs do not follow the rules to make comparisons.
Learn how to use these words correctly.
➥ Write the correct comparison form of the given adverb to complete each sentence.
4. I swam __________________ at this week’s swim meet than I did at last week’s.
well
6. Laura burned the cookies __________________ than Marty burned the cupcakes.
badly
10. Pat decorated his gingerbread house __________________ of everyone in the contest.
well
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Tricky Adverbs 2
Some adverbs do not follow the rules to make comparisons.
Learn how to use these words correctly.
➥ Write the correct comparison form of the given adverb to complete each sentence.
2. Allison baked __________________ cookies for the bake sale than Jenny.
much
3. Out of all of his teammates, Derek paid __________________ attention to what the
little
coach had said.
6. Who will eat __________________ pickles in the first round of the pickle-eating contest?
much
9. Robyn missed all of her friends, but she missed Vanessa __________________.
much
Spotlight on Grammar
Adjectives and Adverbs 34 Copyright © 2006 LinguiSystems, Inc.
Using Good and Well
Good is an adjective. It describes a noun or a pronoun.
It answers the question What kind?
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Adjectives and Adverbs 35 Copyright © 2006 LinguiSystems, Inc.
Using Bad and Badly
Bad is an adjective. It describes a noun or a pronoun.
It answer the question What kind?
11. My brother was burned _____________ when he touched the hot stove.
Spotlight on Grammar
Adjectives and Adverbs 36 Copyright © 2006 LinguiSystems, Inc.
Using Adjectives and Adverbs 1
➥ Write the correct form of an adjective or an adverb in each
blank to complete this story. Use your own words or choose
them from the box. Select a different word for each blank.
_____________ eyes. That costume won the contest to dress the most _____________.
13. adjective 14. adverb
adjectives adverbs
bad glad scary creatively quite
beautiful lively shaggy hastily rapidly
bloodshot nasty unusual immediately very
chilly pretty yummy later wildly
favorite quickly yesterday
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Adjectives and Adverbs
37 Copyright © 2006 LinguiSystems, Inc.
Using Adjectives and Adverbs 2
➥ Write the correct form of an adjective or an adverb in each
blank to complete this story. Use your own words or choose
them from the box. Select a different word for each blank.
is basketball. I’ve been playing _____________ since I was _____________ years old.
3. adverb 4. adjective
points in the _____________ half. The crowd cheered _____________ when the game
16. adjective 17. adverb
ended. Coach named me the most _____________ player of the game. It was an
18. adjective
_____________ win for the team and I was _____________ to be a part of it.
19. adjective 20. adjective
adjectives adverbs
4 important tall actively skillfully
28 incredible thrilled almost usually
all most valuable also very
big proud always well
exciting second fast wildly
favorite seven quite yesterday
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Answer Key
The most likely answers are listed here. Accept other logical, appropriate answers as correct.
Page 6 10. red, wide Page 14 7. drier, driest
1. adj.: two, late 11. frightened, back 1. sour 8. riper, ripest
adv.: yesterday 12. last, delicious 2. obvious 9. creepier, creepiest
2. adj.: the 3. sweet 10. truer, truest
adv.: thoroughly Page 10 4. cooler
3. adj.: a, black, leather 1. silly, funny, bashful 5. excited Page 19
adv.: finally 2. huge, scary, hairy 6. worried 1. most 6. less
4. adj.: The, new, 3. pretty, crazy, clever 7. eager 2. more 7. least
beautiful 4. terrible, huge, powerful 8. silky 3. more 8. less
adv.: very 5. wild, new, awesome 9. closer 4. more 9. least
5. adj.: the, shoe 6. old, stone, ancient 10. challenging 5. most 10. less
adv.: already 7. sweet, soft, creamy
6. adj.: The 8. tiny, frightened, brave Page 15 Page 20
adv.: down 9. new, wrinkled, medium 1. terrible
7. adj.: the, first 10. wide, calm, deep 1. how much
2. happy 2. how
adv.: easily 11. loud, quiet, soothing 3. dark
8. adj.: the 12. heavy, green, new 3. where
4. late 4. how
adv.: graciously 5. expensive 5. when
9. worst Page 11 6. sharp 6. how much
10. younger 1. Most 7. many 7. warm
11. less 7. when
2. Some 8. All 8. lucky 8. how
12. well 3. no 9. 24 9. pleased 9. where
4. all 10. more 10. stale 10. when
Page 7 5. two 11. seven 11. ripe 11. how much
1. what kind 6. several 12. Many 12. afraid 12. how
2. what kind
3. how many Page 12 Page 16
4. how many
Page 21
1. pretty 1. finally
5. how many 2. loud
6. what kind 2. First
3. long 3. usually
7. how many 4. great
8. what kind 4. later
5. storm 5. rarely
9. what kind 6. ghost
10. how many 6. recently
7. friendly 7. tomorrow
11. how many 8. math
12. what kind 8. early
9. fancy 9. Now
10. juicy 10. yesterday
Page 8 11. leather 11. Lately
1. an 7. a 12. new 12. soon
2. a 8. an
3. a 9. a Page 17 Page 22
4. an 10. a Page 13 1. est 6. est
5. an 11. a 1. ahead
2. er 7. er 2. away
6. an 12. a 3. er 8. er 3. left
4. er 9. est 4. west
Page 9 5. est 10. est 5. up
1. short, funny 6. out
2. chocolate Page 18 7. here
3. heavy, brown 1. wetter, wettest 8. through
4. correct 2. purer, purest 9. back
5. fast 3. busier, busiest 10. behind
6. slow, grocery 4. sadder, saddest 11. there
7. tough 5. wider, widest 12. north
8. bad 6. sleepier, sleepiest
9. beautiful, green
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Adjectives and Adverbs 39 Copyright © 2006 LinguiSystems, Inc.
Page 23 18. eagerly 6. almost, absolutely, Page 35
1. loudly 19. equally totally 1. well 7. well
2. quietly 20. importantly 7. fairly, quite, very 2. well 8. good
3. impatiently 21. properly 8. almost, absolutely, quite 3. good 9. well
4. nicely 22. normally 9. intensely, moderately, 4. good 10. good
5. well 23. beautifully somewhat 5. well 11. well
6. fast 24. publicly 10. fairly, somewhat, 6. good 12. well
7. quickly 25. politely equally
26. safely 11. quite, completely,
8. gently
27. completely absolutely
Page 36
9. loudly 1. badly 7. bad
10. luckily 28. rapidly 12. very, absolutely, quite
29. gratefully 13. partly, totally, somewhat 2. bad 8. badly
11. beautifully 3. badly 9. bad
12. suddenly 30. weakly 14. fairly, pretty, quite
4. bad 10. badly
5. badly 11. badly
Page 24 Page 27 Page 30 6. bad 12. badly
1. truly 1. quickly, slowly, tiredly 1. est 7. est
2. silently, immediately, 2. est 8. er
2. very
safely 3. est 9. er
Pages 37
3. so, nearly 1. Yesterday
4. nearly 3. happily, tomorrow, now 4. er 10. er
4. aloud, silently, quickly 5. er 11. er 2. scary, nasty
5. almost 3. very, quite
6. completely 5. tonight, peacefully, 6. est 12. est
innocently 4. beautiful, pretty
7. Quite 5. hastily, quickly, rapidly
8. entirely 6. there, later, completely Page 31 6. very, quite
9. completely 7. quickly, straight, now 1. more 7. more
8. hungrily, sloppily, 7. chilly
10. absolutely 2. the most 8. more 8. immediately, quickly
11. totally greedily 3. more 9. the most
9. away, slightly, along 9. wildly
12. so, wide 4. more 10. more 10. lively
10. joyfully, loudly, well 5. the most 11. the most
11. greatly, rapidly, slowly 11. favorite
Page 25 12. carefully, patiently,
6. more 12. more 12. shaggy, nasty, bad
1. stretches often 13. bloodshot
2. screamed 13. well, poorly, properly
Page 32 14. creatively
3. drive 14. barely, easily, hardly 1. less 15. yummy
4. park 2. less 16. immediately, quickly
5. identical 3. less 17. bad, nasty
6. satisfied Page 28 4. less 18. later
7. well 1. quite, very, so 5. the least 19. glad
8. impossible 2. really, truly, now 6. less
9. do 3. lately, then, deeply 7. less Page 38
10. beautiful 4. almost, nearly, totally 8. less, the least 1. all, most
11. eat 5. very, extremely, now 9. the least 2. favorite
12. talking 6. so, rarely, partly 10. less 3. actively
7. almost, slightly, hardly 11. the least 4. 4
Page 26 8. finally, now, quite 12. less 5. always
1. truthfully 9. so, now, surprisingly 6. tall
2. strangely 10. mostly, partly, then Page 33 7. usually, always
3. usually 11. very, bravely, almost 1. well 6. worse 8. quite, very
4. loudly 12. totally, completely, 2. worse 7. better 9. fast
5. carefully usually 3. the worst 8. badly 10. quite, very
6. hopefully 13. extremely, sometimes, 4. better 9. well 11. skillfully, well
7. surprisingly lately 5. the best 10. the best 12. usually, always
8. privately 14. nearly, truly, actually 13. well
9. rudely Page 34 14. yesterday
10. nervously Page 29 1. less 6. the most 15. 28
11. calmly 1. very, less, more 2. more 7. less 16. second
12. excitedly 2. quite, so, very 3. the least 8. much 17. wildly
13. perfectly 3. somewhat, partly, 4. much 9. the most 18. valuable
14. wisely completely 5. little 10. little 19. important, incredible,
15. seriously 4. extremely, moderately, exciting
16. cheaply fairly 20. thrilled
17. correctly 5. awfully, incredibly,
especially
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