Unit 11_Adjectives vs Adverbs - the basics

• Engels
• Middelbare school
• vwo
• Leerjaar 4

Adjectives (bijvoegelijke nmw.)

Modifies a noun -> a GREEN door

Comparative form: -ER /MORE THAN (i.e. larger than)

Superlative form: (THE) -EST/MOST (i.e. the largest)

• One-syllable adjectives -> -er/-est (bigger/biggest, smaller/smallest, darker/darkest etc.)

• Two-syllable adjectives -> 

emphasis on first  syllable -> more/most (more certain/most doubtful etc.)

emphasis on second syllable -> - er/ -est (politer/politest; severer/severest etc.)

adjectives ending in -ow/-le/-er/-some/-y -> -er/-est (narrower/narrowest; handsomer/handsomest etc.)

• Three-syllable adjectives -> more/most

Irregular adjectives

• bad/worse/worst
• good/better/best
• ill/worse/worst (She is still ill now, but yesterday she was even worse)
• little/less/least (She has always had little money, but she has even less now than before.)
• much/many -> more/most
• far/further/furthest (place + time + degree)
• far/farther/farthest (distance)
• old/older/oldest
• old/elder/eldest (comparing ages of relatives) (Her elder brother never comes home anymore.)

Note

Some adjectives follow the noun instead of preceding it:

people/animals (some things) are: 

upset/afraid/asleept/ill/ashamed/alive/poor/late/early/small

Mind the difference:

She is poor/ She is a poor piano player

He is heavy/ He is a heavy drinker

He is small/He is a small farmer

To be early/late VS an early/late train (vroeg/laat vertrekken)

te laat = too late

Comparisons (vergelijkingen)

as ... as (not as tall as)

not so .... as

like/as (Why don't you study like/as I do?)

more and more (steeds)

the ...the (hoe ....hoe) -> the more the merrier; the sooner, the better/ the more I see, the better I understand 

than (A!!) -> comparative

then (E!!) -> adverb of time 

The + adjective

The rich, the poor, the French etc.

-> to indicate a group

The supernatural, the beauty

-> to refer to sth. abstract

Copulas (kww) + adjective

Copulas (lijken/blijken/schijnen/blijven/worden/zijn) take an adjective (no adverbs):

• to appear = lijken, blijken (She appeared to be shy, yet nothing could be further from the truth!)
• to be = zijn (It is beautiful!)
• to become = worden (She became famous.)
• to get = worden (It got better.)
• to grow = worden (He grew bald.)
• to keep = blijven (His face kept frozen.)
• to prove = blijken (It proved to be the best choice.)
• to remain = blijven (She remains calm under all circumstances.)
• to seem = schijnen  (She seems to always be right.)
• to stay = blijven (She has always stayed young in spirit.)
• to turn = worden (Suddenly he turned evil.)

Other verbs + adjective

• To be born (poor)
• To die (rich)
• to return (happy) but "to return quickly"

Note: your TB mentions: to go/to run -> these take an adverb (to run fast/to go immediately etc.)

Five senses:

1. To feel
2. To smell
3. To sound
4. To look 
5. To taste

Adverbs(bijwoorden)

• Adds "how" to a verb -> Please drive safely/Open the box carefully

• Adds "how"/"to what extent" to an adjective -> She is extremely slow / It was really awesome!

• Adds to another adverb -> She knows him really well. / We found the address  fairly easily.

• Says something about an entire sentence/clause -> Apparently, he failed his exam. / Surely, you must be joking!

Functions of adverbs

1. Adverbs of manner (to behave badly, to dance beautifully, to sing beautifully)
2. Adverbs of place (It happened here/there/always/everywhere)
3. Adverbs of time (immediately/eventually/recently)
4. Adverbs of frequency (often/usually/frequently)
5. Adverbs of degree (absolutely/fairly/completely)
6. Sentence adverbs (presumably/obviously/naturally)

Form of adverbs + exceptions TB p.177/8

One syllable -> -er/-est

 

Adverbs - comparisons

A) One syllable -> -er/-est (hard/harder/hardest; soon/sooner/soonest)

B) Irregular forms:

• well/better/best (I like this movie best)
• much/more/most (I love you more.)
• little/less/least (She could care less. / He cares the least.)
• badly/worse/worst (He treated her badly, but she treated him even worse.)
• ill/worse/worst (He was ill, and his condition got worse. He missed her worst of all.)
• far/further/furthest (place + time + degree) -> It took her further than she had imagined. The further you think of it , the more you start to doubt it.)
• far/farther/farthest (place) -> The farthest he had ever travelled was Drachten.

C) All other adverbs ending in -LY -> more/most (She examined it most carefully; He started to walk more quickly.)

 

Adverbs - comparisons

• as .... as / not as ...as / not so ....as  (He couldn't run as fast as his friend could)
• than (She could eat more quickly than he could.; He shouted more loudly than all the others.)
• the ..... the  (The better you study, the more you know!)
• the best/worst/fastest etc. (He ran the fastest.; She worked (the) hardest of them all.; I always liked him (the) best.)

Adverbs - place in sentence

• Place before time (P < T) -> She played a tennis match in London last year. TB p. 180!
• Adverbs of frequency (always, sometimes, usually, never, seldom etc.):

      1 verb -> precedes verb (I always leave home too late.)

      form of "to be" -> after "to be (I was sometimes too late, but she was never late.)

     2 or more verbs -> after 1st verb (I can hardly believe what you said to me.; I must really let you go now.)

• questions -> after subject (Can you actually believe that? Would you really fall for that?)

Negative adverbs - inversion

Inversion is verb followed by subject in affirmative sentence

(affirmative sentences have S/V/O ; questions have V/S/O)

• Seldom have I seen such beauty.
• Hardly had he left, or she started to panick.
• Only then did he realize he missed her.
• Rarely have I been so wrong!