Chapter 4

ADJECTIVES AND ADVERBS

35. An ADJECTIVE is a word used to modify a noun or a pronoun. An ADVERB is a word used to modify a verb, an adjective, or another adverb. Adjectives and adverbs are very closely related in both their forms and their use.

36. COMPARISON. The variation of adjectives and adverbs to indicate the degree of modification they express is called COMPARISON. There are three degrees of comparison.

The POSITIVE DEGREE indicates the mere possession of a quality; as, _true, good, sweet, fast, lovely_.

The COMPARATIVE DEGREE indicates a stronger degree of the quality than the positive; as, _truer, sweeter, better, faster, lovelier_.

The SUPERLATIVE DEGREE indicates the highest degree of quality; as, _truest, sweetest, best, fastest, loveliest_.

Where the adjectives and adverbs are compared by inflection they are said to be compared regularly. In regular comparison the comparative is formed by adding _er_, and the superlative by adding _est_. If the word ends in _y_, the _y_ is changed to _i_ before adding the ending; as, _pretty, prettier, prettiest_.

Where the adjectives and adverbs have two or more syllables, most of them are compared by the use of the adverbs _more_ and _most_, or, if the comparison be a descending one, by the use of _less_ and _least_; as, _beautiful, more beautiful, most beautiful_, and _less beautiful, least beautiful_.

37. Some adjectives and adverbs are compared by changing to entirely different words in the comparative and superlative. Note the following:

POSITIVE COMPARATIVE SUPERLATIVE bad, ill, evil, badly worse worst far farther, further farthest, furthest forth further furthest fore former foremost, first good, well better best hind hinder hindmost late later, latter latest, last little less least much, many more most old older, elder oldest, eldest

NOTE.--_Badly_ and _forth_ may be used only as adverbs. _Well_ is usually an adverb; as, _He talks well_, but may be used as an adjective; as, _He seems well_.

38. CONFUSION OF ADJECTIVES AND ADVERBS. An adjective is often used where an adverb is required, and vice versa. The sentence, _She talks FOOLISH_, is wrong, because here the word to be modified is _talks_, and since _talks_ is a verb, the adverb _foolishly_ should be used. The sentence, _She looks CHARMINGLY_, means, as it stands, that her manner of looking at a thing is charming. What is intended to be said is that she appears as if she was a charming woman. To convey that meaning, the adjective, _charming_, should have been used, and the sentence should read, _She looks charming_. Wherever the word modifies a verb or an adjective or another adverb, an adverb should be used, and wherever the word, whatever its location in the sentence, modifies a noun or pronoun, an adjective should be used.

39. The adjective and the adverb are sometimes alike in form. Thus, both the following sentences are correct: _He works HARD_ (adverb), and _His work is HARD_ (adjective). But, usually, where the adjective and the adverb correspond at all, the adverb has the additional ending _ly_; as, _The track is SMOOTH_, (adjective), and _The train runs SMOOTHLY_, (adverb).

EXERCISE 18

_In the following sentences choose from the italicized words the proper word to be used:_

1. The sunset looks _beautiful beautifully_. 2. The man acted _strange strangely_. 3. Write _careful carefully_ and speak _distinct distinctly_. 4. Speak _slow slowly_. 5. He acted _bad badly_. 6. He behaved very _proper properly_. 7. The boat runs _smooth smoothly_. 8. He is a _remarkable remarkably_ poor writer. 9. I am in _extremely extreme_ good health. 10. The typewriter works _good well_. 11. The bird warbles _sweet sweetly_. 12. He was _terrible terribly_ angry. 13. He was in a _terrible terribly_ dangerous place. 14. He talks _plainer more plainly_ than he ever did before. 15. The dead Roman looked _fierce fiercely_. 16. The fire burns _brilliant brilliantly_. 17. You are _exceeding exceedingly_ generous. 18. He struggled _manful manfully_ against the opposition. 19. My health is _poor poorly_. 20. He is sure surely a _fine fellow_. 21. Have everything _suitable suitably_ decorated. 22. That can be done _easy easily_. 23. I can speak _easier more easily_ than I can write. 24. The music of the orchestra was _decided decidedly_ poor. 25. She is a _remarkable remarkably_ beautiful girl. 26. The wind roared _awful awfully_. 27. The roar of the wind was _awful awfully_. 28. I have studied grammar _previous previously_ to this year. 29. I didn't study because I felt too _bad badly_ to read. 30. The roses smell _sweetly sweet_. 31. They felt very _bad badly_ at being beaten. 32. That violin sounds _different differently_ from this one. 33. The soldiers fought _gallant gallantly_. 34. She looks _sweet sweetly_ in that dress. 35. I can wear this coat _easy easily_. 36. Speak _gentle gently_ to him. 37. He talks _warm warmly_ on that subject. 38. He works _well good_ and _steady steadily_. 39. He stood _thoughtful thoughtfully_ for a moment and then went _quiet quietly_ to his tent. 40. He walked down the street _slow slowly_, but all the time looked _eager eagerly_ about him. 41. The music sounds _loud loudly_. 42. That coin rings _true truly_. 43. He looked _angry angrily_ at his class. 44. He moved _silent silently_ about in the crowd. 45. His coat fits _nice nicely_. 46. That is _easy easily_ to do. 47. He went over the work very _thorough thoroughly_.

EXERCISE 19

_The adjectives and adverbs in the following sentences are correctly used. In every case show what they modify:_

1. The water lay smooth in the lake. 2. She looked cold. 3. The train runs smoothly now. 4. The sun shone bright at the horizon. 5. The sun shone brightly all day. 6. She looks coldly about her. 7. Be careful in your study of these sentences. 8. Study these sentences carefully. 9. We found the way easy. 10. We found the way easily. 11. He looked good. 12. He looked well. 13. We arrived safe. 14. We arrived safely. 15. Speak gently. 16. Let your speech be gentle.

EXERCISE 20

_Write sentences containing the following words correctly used:_

Thoughtful, thoughtfully, masterful, masterfully, hard, hardly, cool, coolly, rapid, rapidly, ungainly, careful, carefully, eager, eagerly, sweet, sweetly, gracious, graciously.

40. IMPROPER FORMS OF ADJECTIVES. The wrong forms in the following list of adjectives are frequently used in place of the right forms:

RIGHT WRONG everywhere everywheres not nearly nowhere near not at all not much or not muchly ill illy first firstly thus thusly much muchly unknown unbeknown complexioned complected

EXERCISE 21

_Correct the errors in the following sentences:_

1. She goes everywheres. 2. Hers is the most illy behaved child I know. 3. Not muchly will I go. 4. Use the lesser quantity first. 5. He is nowhere near so bright as John. 6. You do the problem thusly. 7. The causes are firstly, ignorance, and second, lack of energy. 8. They came unbeknown to me. 9. He is a dark complected man. 10. It all happened unbeknownst to them. 11. His vote was nowhere near so large as usual.

41. ERRORS IN COMPARISON are frequently made. Observe carefully the following rules:

1. The superlative should not be used in comparing only two things. One should say, _He is the LARGER of the two_, not _He is the LARGEST of the two_. But, _He is the largest of the three_, is right.

2. A comparison should not be attempted by adjectives that express absolute quality--adjectives that cannot be compared; as, _round, perfect, equally, universal_. A thing may be _round_ or _perfect_, but it cannot be _more round_ or _most round_, _more perfect_ or _most perfect_.

3. When two objects are used in the comparative, one must not be included in the other; but, when two objects are used in the superlative, one must be included in the other. It is wrong to say, _The discovery of America was MORE IMPORTANT THAN ANY geographical discovery_, for that is saying that the discovery of America was more important than itself--an absurdity. But it would be right to say, _The discovery of America was more important THAN ANY OTHER geographical discovery_. One should not say, _He is the most honest OF HIS fellow-workmen_, for he is not one of his fellow-workmen. One should say, _He is more honest THAN ANY of his fellow-workmen_, or, _He is the most honest OF ALL the workmen_. To say, _This machine is BETTER THAN ANY machine_, is incorrect, but to say, _This machine is better THAN ANY OTHER machine_, is correct. To say, _This machine is the BEST OF ANY machine_ (or _any other machine_), is wrong, because all machines are meant, not one machine or some machines. To say, _This machine is the BEST OF machines_ (or _the best of all machines_), is correct.

Note the following rules in regard to the use of _other_ in comparisons:

a. After comparatives followed by _than_ the words _any_ and _all_ should be followed by _other_.

b. After superlatives followed by _of, any_ and _other_ should not be used.

4. Avoid mixed comparisons. _John is as good, if not better than she_. If the clause, _if not better_, were left out, this sentence would read, _John is as good than she_. It could be corrected to read, _John is as good AS, if not better than she_. Similarly, it is wrong to say, _He is one of the greatest, if not the greatest, man in history_.

EXERCISE 22

_Choose the correct word from those italicized:_

1. The _older oldest_ of the three boys was sick. 2. Of Smith and Jones, Smith is the _wealthiest wealthier_. 3. Of two burdens choose the _less least_. 4. Which can run the _fastest faster_, John or Henry? 5. Of the two men, Smith and Jones, the _first former_ is the _better best_ known. 6. Which is the _larger largest_ of the two? 7. Which is the _best better_ of the six? 8. Which is the _larger largest_ number, six or seven 9. Which is the _more most_ desirable, health or wealth? 10. My mother is the _oldest older_ of four sisters. 11. The _prettier prettiest_ of the twins is the _brighter brightest_. 12. This is the _duller dullest_ season of the year. 13. The other is the _worse worst_ behaved of the two. 14. Which was the _hotter hottest_, yesterday or to-day? 15. That is the _cleaner cleanest_ of the three streets.

EXERCISE 23

_Correct any of the following sentences that may be wrong. Give a valid reason for each correction:_

1. He was the most active of all his friends. 2. He is the brightest of all his brothers. 3. Of all the other American Colleges, this is the largest. 4. Philadelphia is larger than any city in Pennsylvania. 5. Philadelphia is the largest of all other cities in Pennsylvania. 6. No city in Pennsylvania is so large as Philadelphia. 7. That theory is more universally adopted. 8. He was, of all others, the most clever. 9. This apple is more perfect than that. 10. No fruit is so good as the orange. 11. The orange is better than any fruit. 12. Of all other fruits the orange is the best. 13. The orange is the best of all the fruits. 14. The orange is better than any other fruit. 15. That is the most principal thing in the lesson. 16. Which has been of most importance, steam or electricity? 17. He was more active than any other of his companions. 18. This apple is rounder than that. 19. This apple is more nearly round than that. 20. Paris is the most famous of any other European city. 21. Pennsylvania is the wealthiest of her sister states. 22. No state is so wealthy as Pennsylvania. 23. Pennsylvania is the wealthiest of any of the States. 24. Pennsylvania is wealthier than any of her other sister states. 25. New York is one of the largest, if not the largest city in the world. 26. That book is as good if not better than mine. 27. John is taller than any other boy in his classes. 28. John is taller than any boy in his class. 29. Iron is the most useful of all other metals. 30. Iron is the more useful of the metals. 31. Iron is the most useful of the metals. 32. Of iron and lead, lead is the heaviest. 33. Iron is among the most useful, if not the most useful metal. 34. He is among the oldest if not the oldest of the men in the Senate. 35. That picture is more beautiful than all the pictures.

42. SINGULAR AND PLURAL ADJECTIVES. Some adjectives can be used only with singular nouns and some only with plural nouns. Such adjectives as _one, each, every_, etc., can be used only with singular nouns. Such adjectives as _several, various, many, sundry, two_, etc., can be used only with plural nouns. In many cases, the noun which the adjective modifies is omitted, and the adjective thus acquires the force of a pronoun; as, _FEW are seen, SEVERAL have come_.

The adjective pronouns _this_ and _that_ have plural forms, _these_ and _those_. The plurals must be used with plural nouns. To say _those kind_ is then incorrect. It should be _those kinds_. _Those sort of men_ should be _that sort of men_ or _those sorts of men_.

43. EITHER AND NEITHER are used to designate one of two objects only. If more than two are referred to, use _any, none, any one, no one_. Note the following correct sentences:

_NEITHER John nor Henry may go._

_ANY ONE of the three boys may go._

44. EACH OTHER should be used when referring to two; ONE ANOTHER when referring to more than two. Note the following correct sentences:

_The two brothers love EACH OTHER._

_The four brothers love ONE ANOTHER._

EXERCISE 24

_Correct such of the following sentences as are incorrect. Be able to give reasons:_

1. He is six foot tall. 2. I like those kind of fruit. 3. He lost several pound. 4. I have not seen him this twenty year. 5. Have you heard these news? 6. Are they those kind of people? 7. He rode ten mile. 8. There were fifteen car-load of people. 9. These kind of books are interesting. 10. Several phenomenon marked his character. 11. There are a few crisis in every man's career. 12. Each strata of the rock lies at an angle. 13. The poem has six verse in it. 14. Either of the five will do. 15. Little children should love each other. 16. Neither of the large cities in the United States is so large as London. 17. You will be able to find it in either one of those three books. 18. Those two brothers treat one another very coldly. 19. Neither of the many newspapers published an account of it. 20. Either law or medicine is his profession. 21. Some ten box of shoes were on the train. 22. Those two statements contradict one another. 23. The Sahara Desert has several oasis. 24. How can he associate with those sort of men?

45. PLACING OF ADVERBS AND ADJECTIVES. In the placing of adjective elements and adverbial elements in the sentence, one should so arrange them as to leave no doubt as to what they are intended to modify.

Wrong: A man was riding on a _horse wearing gray trousers_.

Right: A _man wearing gray trousers_ was riding on a horse.

The adverb _only_ requires especial attention. Generally _only_ should come before the word it is intended to modify. Compare the following correct sentences, and note the differences in meaning.

_Only_ he found the book.

He _only_ found the book.

He found _only_ the book.

He found the book _only_.

The placing of the words, _almost, ever, hardly, scarcely, merely_, and _quite_, also requires care and thought.

EXERCISE 25

_Correct the errors in the location of adjectives and adverbs in the following sentences:_

1. I only paid five dollars. 2. I have only done six problems. 3. The clothing business is only profitable in large towns. 4. The school is only open in the evening. 5. I only need ten minutes in which to do it. 6. He had almost climbed to the top when the ladder broke. 7. I never expect to see the like again. 8. A black base-ball player's suit was found. 9. Do you ever remember to have seen the man before? 10. The building was trimmed with granite carved corners. 11. People ceased to wonder gradually. 12. The captain only escaped by hiding in a ditch. 13. I never wish to think of it again. 14. On the trip in that direction he almost went to Philadelphia. 15. Acetylene lamps are only used now in the country. 16. He only spoke of history, not of art. 17. I know hardly what to say. 18. I was merely talking of grammar, not of English literature. 19. The girls were nearly dressed in the same color. 20. He merely wanted to see you.

46. DOUBLE NEGATIVES. _I am here_ is called an affirmative statement. A denial of that, _I am not here_, is called a negative statement. The words, _not, neither, never, none, nothing_, etc., are all negative words; that is, they serve to make denials of statements.

Two negatives should never be used in the same sentence, since the effect is then to deny the negative you wish to assert, and an affirmative is made where a negative is intended. _We haven't no books_, means that we have some books. The proper negative form would be, _We have no books_, or _We haven't any books_. The mistake occurs usually where such forms as _isn't, don't, haven't_, etc., are used. Examine the following sentences:

Wrong: _It isn't no_ use.

Wrong: There _don't none_ of them believe it.

Wrong: We _didn't_ do _nothing_.

_Hardly, scarcely, only_, and _but_ (in the sense of _only_) are often incorrectly used with a negative. Compare the following right and wrong forms:

Wrong: It was so dark that we _couldn't hardly_ see.

Right: It was so dark that we _could hardly_ see.

Wrong: There _wasn't only_ one person present.

Right: There _was only_ one person present.

EXERCISE 26

Correct the following sentences:

1. I can't find it nowhere. 2. For a time I couldn't scarcely tell where I was. 3. They are not allowed to go only on holidays. 4. There isn't but one person that can make the speech. 5. They didn't find no treasure. 6. It won't take but a few minutes to read it all. 7. I haven't seen but two men there. 8. There isn't no one here who knows it. 9. I didn't see no fire; my opinion is that there wasn't no fire. 10. I can't hardly prove that statement. 11. I didn't feel hardly able to go. 12. She couldn't stay only a week. 13. I hadn't scarcely reached shelter when the storm began. 14. You wouldn't scarcely believe that it could be done. 15. He said that he wouldn't bring only his wife. 16. There isn't nothing in the story. 17. He doesn't do nothing. 18. I can't think of nothing but that. 19. He can't hardly mean that. 20. He isn't nowhere near so bright as I. 21. He can't hardly come to-night. 22. It is better to not think nothing about it. 23. She can't only do that. 24. There isn't no use of his objecting to it. 25. There shan't none of them go along with us. 26. Don't never do that again. 27. We could not find but three specimens of the plant. 28. He wasn't scarcely able to walk. 29. He hasn't none of his work prepared.

47. THE ARTICLES. _A, an_, and _the_, are called Articles. _A_ and _an_ are called the INDEFINITE ARTICLES, because they are used to limit the noun to any one thing of a class; as, _a book, a chair_. But _a_ or _an_ is not used to denote the whole of that class; as, _Silence is golden_, or, _He was elected to the office of President_.

_The_ is called the DEFINITE ARTICLE because it picks out some one definite individual from a class.

In the sentence, _On the street are A brick and A stone house_, the article is repeated before each adjective; the effect of this repetition is to make the sentence mean two houses. But, in the sentence, _On the street is A brick and stone house_, since the article is used only before the first of the two adjectives, the sentence means that there is only one house and that it is constructed of brick and stone.

Where two nouns refer to the same object, the article need appear only before the first of the two; as, _God, the author and creator of the universe_. But where the nouns refer to two different objects, regarded as distinct from each other, the article should appear before each; as, _He bought a horse and a cow_.

_A_ is used before all words except those beginning with a vowel sound. Before those beginning with a vowel sound _an_ is used. If, in a succession of words, one of these forms could not be used before all of the words, then the article must be repeated before each. Thus, one should say, _AN ax, A saw, and AN adze_ (not _An ax, saw and adze_), _made up his outfit_. Generally it is better to repeat the article in each case, whether or not it be the same.

Do not say, _kind of A HOUSE_. Since _a house_ is singular, it can have but one kind. Say instead, a _kind of house, a sort of man_, etc.

EXERCISE 27

_Correct the following where you think correction is needed:_

1. Where did you get that kind of a notion? 2. She is an eager and an ambitious girl. 3. He received the degree of a Master of Arts. 4. The boy and girl came yesterday. 5. Neither the man nor woman was here. 6. He was accompanied by a large and small man. 7. He planted an oak, maple and ash. 8. The third of the team were hurt. 9. The noun and verb will be discussed later. 10. I read a Pittsburg and Philadelphia paper. 11. Read the third and sixth sentence. 12. Read the comments in a monthly and weekly periodical. 13. He is dying from the typhoid fever. 14. He was elected the secretary and the treasurer of the association. 15. What sort of a student are you? 16. He is a funny kind of a fellow. 17. Bring me a new and old chair. 18. That is a sort of a peculiar idea. 19. He was operated upon for the appendicitis. 20. Lock the cat and dog up.

48. No adverb necessary to the sense should be omitted from the sentence. Such improper omission is frequently made when _very_ or _too_ are used with past participles that are not also recognized as adjectives; as,

Poor: I am _very insulted_. He was _too wrapped_ in thought to notice the mistake.

Right: I am _very much insulted_. He was _too much wrapped_ in thought to notice the mistake.

EXERCISE 28

_Write sentences containing the following adjectives and adverbs. Be sure that they are used correctly._

Both, each, every, only, evidently, hard, latest, awful, terribly, charming, charmingly, lovely, brave, perfect, straight, extreme, very, either, neither, larger, oldest, one, none, hardly, scarcely, only, but, finally, almost, ever, never, new, newly, very.