Because you’re describing a noun member, you need the adjective loyal.. The word angry is a description; you need an adverb to indicate its intensity, and really fills the bill.. That ho
Trang 139 _ clerk who sold _ tie to Uncle Fred secretly inserted _ microphone and
_ miniature radio transmitter
40 Uncle Fred’s snores were broadcast by _ obscure radio station that specializes in
embarrassing moments
41 Annie, who didn’t want to invite Uncle Fred but was forced to do so by her mother,
placed _ buzzer under his seat
42 Annie’s plan was to zap him whenever he snored too loudly; unfortunately, Fred chose
_ different seat
43 Lulu’s sneeze set off the buzzer, whereupon she jumped a foot into _ air.
44 One of _ two flower girls, distracted by Lulu’s movement, dropped _ basket of
roses that she was supposed to scatter in _ center aisle
45 Reverend Foster shortened _ ceremony in _ effort to avoid even more trouble.
Calling All Overachievers: Extra Practice with Descriptors
Show off the knowledge you gained from the sections in this chapter by finding the mis-takes in this excerpt from a dress catalogue (see Figure 14-1) Twenty descriptive words are underlined, but only some of them are wrong Look for adjectives trying to do an adverb’s job (and vice versa) or the wrong sort of articles When you find an error, correct it If the description is okay, leave it alone
Dollars’ Clothing: Fashions That Work
A–D Surprising comfortably suits for work and leisure Easily-to-clean polyester in real varied colors goes from the office grind to the extreme bright club scene without a pause!
A Fast track jacket Stun your co-workers with a astonishingly elegance of deeply eggplant Gently curves follow an real natural outline to accentuate your figure The silkily lining, in delightful loud shades of orange, gives a strong message: I am woman! Hear me roar!
B Softly, woven pants coordinate with a jacket described above — and with everything in your wardrobe In eggplant, orange, or eggplant-orange plaid
Figure 14-1:
Sample dress-catalogue exercise
Trang 2Answers to Adjective and Adverb Problems
a loyal, surely What kind of member is the alligator? A loyal member Because you’re describing
a noun (member), you need the adjective loyal In the second part of the sentence, the adverb
surely explains how the duck’s presence was resented Resented is a verb and must be described
by an adverb
b personal, angrily In the first part of the sentence, personal describes a thing (plumbing) How
did the alligator inquire? Angrily The adverb tells about the verb, inquire.
c nasty The adjective nasty describes you Of course I don’t mean you-the-reader You earned my
undying affection by buying this book I would never call you nasty!
d swiftly, clear The adverb swiftly describes the action of circling The adjective clear explains
what kind of advantage the creatures were seeking.
e extremely The adverb extremely clarifies the intensity of the descriptive word territorial
(If you absolutely have to know, territorial is an adjective describing you.)
f fearfully, sharply Both of these adverbs tell how the actions (retreated and quacked) were
performed
g poorly The adverb poorly gives information about the descriptive word dressed.
h nearly This was a tough question, and if you got it right, treat yourself to a spa day The
expression five feet is a description of the sword The adverb nearly gives additional informa-tion about the descripinforma-tion five feet in length.
i easily The adverb easily describes the verb bounced.
j forcefully The adverb forcefully tells how he ordered, a verb.
k Abominable, happy You can cheat on the first part of this one just by knowing the name of the
possibly imaginary monster that supposedly stalks the Himalayas, but you can also figure it out
with grammar A snowman is a thing (or a person) and thus a noun Adjectives describe nouns,
so abominable does the trick In the second half you need an adjective to describe the snowman, who was happy You aren’t describing the action of seeming, so an adverb is inappropriate.
l really This sentence presents a common mistake The word angry is a description; you need
an adverb to indicate its intensity, and really fills the bill.
m surely That horse in the fifth race might be a sure thing, because thing is a noun and you need
an adjective to describe it But the verb deny must be described by an adverb, so surely is the
one you want
n accurate Statement is a noun because it’s a thing The adjective accurate attaches nicely to
statement.
o lovely A lizard is a noun, which may be described by the adjective lovely but not the adverb
lovingly Incidentally, lovely isn’t an adverb, despite the fact that it ends with -ly.
p quickly The adverb quickly describes the verb come.
q happy This sentence presents a puzzle Are you talking about the duck’s mood or the way in
which he left the tub? The two are related, of course, but the mood is the primary meaning, so
the adjective happy is the better choice Happy, by the way, describes duck.
Trang 3r dumb The adjective dumb is attached to enemy Most, but not all, adjectives are in front of the
words they describe, but in this case the adjective follows the noun
s first, particularly The handy, adaptable word first functions as both an adjective (first prize)
and an adverb In this sentence it’s an adverb telling about the verb go The second answer is also an adverb, attached to the descriptive word narrow.
t warily To describe the verb waddled, the adverb warily is best.
u worried The description isn’t talking about the action of looking but rather describing you.
The pronoun you may be described only by an adjective, so worried wins the prize here.
v silent This adjective describes the noun duck The verb in between is a linking verb, which
may be thought of as a giant equal sign linking (how clever are these grammar terms!) the noun and its description
w winding As the Beatles once sang, you have to travel “a long and winding road” to this answer.
The adjective winding is attached to the noun tunnel.
x angry The adjective angry tells you about the Snowman You’re not describing the action
(sounded) but instead the person doing the action (the Snowman) In this sentence, the verb sounded is a stand-in for was, which is a linking verb that connects what precedes and follows it (Snowman and angry).
y filthy If you’re describing pipes, a thing and therefore a noun, you need an adjective, which in
this case is filthy.
A well The adverb well tells you how Truffle has run.
B bad This sentence illustrates a common mistake The description doesn’t tell you anything about
Truffle’s ability to feel (touching sensation) Instead, it tells you about the letter carrier’s state of mind Because the word is a description of a person, not of an action, you need an adjective, bad.
To feel badly implies that you’re wearing mittens and can’t feel anything through the thick cloth.
C well The adverb well is attached to the action to turn out (to result).
D well How does she like chocolate truffles? Almost as much as I do! Also, she likes them well.
The adverb is needed because you’re describing the verb likes.
E bad The description bad applies to the snacks, not to the verb are Hence, an adjective is what
you want
F bad The description tells you about his meal, a noun (also a truly terrible combination of
foods) You need the adjective bad.
G good The adjective (good) is attached to a noun (bit).
H badly Now you’re talking about the action (ate), so you need an adverb (badly).
I well The best response here is well, an adjective that works for health-status statements Good
will do in a pinch, but good is better for psychological or mood statements.
J Bad The adjective bad applies to the noun dog.
K the The sentence implies that one particular picture caught Annie’s fancy, so the works nicely
here If you chose a, no problem The sentence would be a bit less specific but still acceptable.
The only true clinker is an, which must precede words beginning with vowels — a group that doesn’t include picture.
Trang 4L A Because the sentence tells you that several guests are nearby, the doesn’t fit here The more
general a is best.
M an or the, the In the first blank you may place either an (which must precede a word beginning
with a vowel) or the In the second blank, the is best because it’s unlikely that Fred is surrounded
by several department stores The is more definitive, pointing out one particular store.
N The, the, a, a Lots of blanks in this one! The first two seem more particular (one clerk, one tie),
so the fits well The second two blanks imply that the clerk selected one from a group of many, not a particular microphone or transmitter The more general article is a, which precedes
words beginning with consonants
O an Because the radio station is described as obscure, a word beginning with a vowel, you need
an, not a If you inserted the, don’t cry That article works here also.
P a The word buzzer doesn’t begin with a vowel, so you have to go with a, not an The more
defi-nite the could work, implying that the reader knows that you’re talking about a particular
buzzer, not just any buzzer
Q a He chose any old seat, not a particular one, so a is what you want.
R the There’s only one air, so the, which is more specific, is what you need.
S the, a, the In the first and third blanks in this sentence, you’re discussing particulars, so the
fills the bill In the middle blank, the more general article works well
T the, an Because only one wedding ceremony is in question here, the does the job for the first
blank In the second blank, he’s making an effort The vowel in effort requires an, not a.
6
5 7 8 0
4 2
8 0
3
7 9
5
6 9 1 3
2
4 1
Dollars’ Clothing: Fashions That Work
A–D Surprising Surprisingly comfortably comfortable suits for work and leisure Easily Easy-to-clean polyester in real really varied colors goes from the office grind to the extreme extremely bright club scene without a
pause!
A Fast track jacket Stun your co-workers with a the
astonishingly astonishing elegance of deeply deep eggplant
Gently Gentle curves follow an a real really natural outline to accentuate
your figure The silkily silky lining, in delightful delightfully loud shades of orange, gives a strong message: I am woman! Hear me roar!
B Softly Soft, woven pants coordinate with a the jacket described above —
and with everything in your wardrobe In eggplant, orange, or eggplant-orange plaid.
Trang 5U The description comfortable must be intensified by the adverb surprisingly, not by the adjective
surprising.
V The adjective comfortable describes the noun suits.
W Polyester is a noun, so it must be described by an adjective Easy, which is part of the combo
description easy-to-clean, attaches nicely to the noun.
X The description varied is intensified by the adverb really.
Y In this sentence office is an adjective describing grind, a noun here.
z The adverb extremely intensifies the descriptive word bright.
Z The adjective bright describes the club scene, a noun.
1 That wonderful word fast may be either an adjective or an adverb Here it functions as an adjec-tive describing track.
2 A particular sort of elegance is being discussed, so the definitive the is called for.
3 Elegance is a noun, so the adjective astonishing is the best description.
4 Eggplant is a color, which is a thing and therefore a noun To describe a noun, the adjective deep is needed.
5 To describe the noun curves, go for the adjective gentle, not the adverb gently.
6 An can only precede words beginning with vowels, and real begins with a consonant.
7 Natural is a descriptive word, so it must itself be described by an adverb, really.
8 The noun lining is described by the adjective silky.
9 The adverb delightfully attaches to another description, loud Descriptions are always described
by adverbs, not by adjectives
0 The article a is the one you need to precede a word beginning with a consonant.
! The adjective strong describes the noun message.
@ Did I fool you here? True, you may have thought that softly described woven in this sentence,
but the meaning indicates otherwise You’re not talking about how the cloth was woven
Instead, you have two separate words (the comma clues you in on this) describing the noun
pants Soft is an adjective, appropriate for noun descriptions.
# Clearly you’re talking about one particular item, the extremely ugly jacket described as item A
Hence the, which goes well with particulars, is better than the more general a.