Adjectives and Adverbs

Why are adjectives and adverbs important?

They add descriptive details that enable the reader to visualise even more graphically what is written.

To recap:

Adjectives: Descriptive words that tell you more about the noun or pronoun.

Adverbs: Modify the verb, adjective or adverb by giving one more information about any one of those.

Additional Refresher Exercise Rapidly they came, like a 21-gun salute, Exploding into multiple single crackling pops. The jolly red fire-crackers danced gleefully As each thick roll jerked heavily back and forth And the string of rolls turned into smoky black ashes.

Identify the adjectives and adverbs in the boxed exercise. Suggested answers will be given soon as a blog post on The Pear Tree website


So, why are adjectives and adverbs important?

Just take a look at the following:

A man and his daughter came upon a window from which light fell onto the pavement outside. One could see through the window many kinds of watches and seated within the shop, was a man who was working over a device.

The above is an adaptation of an extract from Nathaniel Hawthorne's story, `The Artist of the Beautiful'. Wouldn't you agree that, as a reader, you cannot adequate visualise what Hawthorne is trying to describe? Now, read the original version:

An elderly man, with his pretty daughter on his arm, was passing along the street, and emerged from the gloom of the cloudy evening into the light that fell across the pavement from the window of a small shop. It was a projecting window; and on the inside, were suspended a variety of watches - pinchbeck, silver, and one or two of gold - all with their faces turned from the street, as if churlishly disinclined to inform the wayfarers what o'clock it was. Seated within the shop, sidelong to the window, with his pale face bent earnestly over some delicate piece of mechanism, on which was thrown the concentrated lustre of a shade-lamp appeared a young man.

 You will find the original, by being more descriptive, is graphic enough to give the reader a better picture of what the author wants to get across than the adaptation with very few details. Therefore, make sure to include adjectives and adverbs the next time you write so as to make your writing more graphic.

Adverbs: Answers to the Exercise in the previous post

The exercise is reproduced below:

Exercise

I went very quickly into the the wooden shed.  It was somewhat dilapidated and yet, there was a homely feeling to it.  I walked up to the chest of drawers, and with a piece of old newspaper that I had found lying nearby, I wiped off the dust from the surface.  Yes, it was still there.  I had thought the childishly drawn picture of a wilting flower would have faded with age.  But no, it was still there.  Slowly, I traced the outlines with my index finger and sighed.  It's been a long time, such a long time. 

Suggested Answers and Explanations:

Adverb	What it modifies	Explanation
very	Adverb `quickly'	Gives added details to the `quickly' (adverb) to indicate the degree of the quickness of the narrator's action (verb) in going into the shed.
quickly	Verb `went'	Elaborates on the pace the narrator adopted.
somewhat	Adjective `dilapidated'	Allows the reader to visualise to what extent the shed is dilapidated.
childishly	Adjective `drawn'	`Drawn' is used here as an adjective to indicate the type of picture and `childishly' demonstrates the manner in which it was `drawn'
slowly	Verb `traced'	Reveals the narrator's lack of haste in tracing the outlines.
such	Adjective `long'	Emphasises the prolonged period of time that has passed.

Adverbs

(Update from the last post: Go to the Blog page of The Pear Tree Centre for Education for an additional exercise on the past perfect tense as well as the suggested answers and explanations.)

Adverbs

What are adverbs? They are similar to adjectives in that, while adjectives describe the nouns, adverbs modify, or gives further details or descriptions of, the verbs, adjectives or adverbs.

Describing the Verb

I ran slowly.

The car's engine died and it gradually came to a stop.

Often, one finds that adverbs end with an `ly', and this is true for those adverbs that describes the verb. In the above examples, `slowly' describes the manner in which the person ran, and `gradually' describes the car coming to a stop in stages.

However, there are adverbs that do not end with an `ly', and these modify the adjective or another adverb. Examples are:

He was too bold a character. (The `too' modifies the adjective `bold' which describes the `character.)

The deep green leaves is soothing to the sight. (The `deep' describes the extent to which the leaves, the noun, are green, the adjective.)

I drew very carefully the dots on the paper. (`Carefully', the adverb, modifies `drew', which is a verb while `very' modifies the adverb, `carefully'.)

Now, try to identify the adverbs in the following exercise. The answers are given in the next post.

Exercise

I went very quickly into the the wooden shed.  It was somewhat dilapidated and yet, there was a homely feeling to it.  I walked up to the chest of drawers, and with a piece of old newspaper that I had found lying nearby, I wiped off the dust from the surface.  Yes, it was still there.  I had thought the childishly drawn picture of a wilting flower would have faded with age.  But no, it was still there.  Slowly, I traced the outlines with my index finger and sighed.  It's been a long time, such a long time. 

The Past Perfect Tense: Additional Exercise in The Pear Tree Blog

An additional exercise on the Past Perfect Tense can be found in the `Our Blog' section of The Pear Tree Centre for Education.

Attempt the exercise and look out for the answers, with suggested explanations, in the upcoming blog post.

To gain a greater understanding of the Perfect Tense, join the grammar course at The Pear Tree Centre for Education.

Past Perfect Tense (Explanations to given exercise)

Suggested Explanations:

• I had not felt like stepping outdoors for several days now.  

The `several days' indicate that whatever had happened took place over a period of time.  To demonstrate the `feeling' that lasted for `several days', the past perfect tense, `had not felt' is used.

• This indiscriminate burning had gone on for too long, I thought to myself at that time.

`Too long' indicates that the `indiscriminate burning' took place over a period of time.

• Indeed, it was a welcomed respite from the hazy conditions that we had been experiencing for the last few days. 

Here there are two verbs, namely `was' and `had been experiencing'.  So, in order to differentiate between the timings of the occurrences of the two events that are connect to each other and had already taken place, or are in the past, the past perfect tense is used to indicate which of the two took place first. In this case, the hazy conditions that `we had been experiencing' took place first before the welcomed respite (`it was'). 

• I wanted to breathe in the air that was fresher than it had been previously.

There are three verbs in the statement above, namely `wanted', `was' and `had been'. To differentiate between the timings of two inter-related occurrences, the perfect tense is used for the first related occurrence.

There is a comparison between the quality of the air at two moments in the past. The air had gradually become fresher. When it was less fresh, the past perfect tense is used to indicate what the quality of the air was before it became fresher later. 

The Past Perfect Tense

The perfect tense can leave many baffled. When do you actually use it? Why is it used instead of the present tense (in the case of present perfect tense) or the past tense (in the case of the past perfect tense)?

In the first instance, let us narrow the focus to just one, namely the past perfect tense and attempt to gain a better understanding of it before going into other kinds of perfect tenses.

Firstly, we must remember that the past perfect tense belongs to the family of `tenses'; hence, we are looking at time-frame. Allow me to go over a couple of reasons for using the past perfect tense.

Now take a look at the following exercise and attempt to explain why the past perfect tense is used in each of the cases.

I had not felt like stepping outdoors for several days now.  The air even smelt of the burning that was taking place thousands of miles away in the Indonesian islands of Sumatra and Kalimantan. This indiscriminate burning had gone on for too long, I thought to myself at that time.

Then, the heavens parted and the beautiful rain poured down in torrents.  I sighed in relief.  Indeed, it was a welcomed respite from the hazy conditions that we had been experiencing for the last few days. When it stopped raining, I walked out for a stroll.  I wanted to breathe in the air that was fresher than it had been previously.

Suggested explanations, to cross-reference with those that you may have come up with, will be offered soon.