Modifiers give us information about a noun or pronoun in a sentence. They are important because they help to paint the true picture of the information we seek to convey to our reader or listener. Two main modifiers in the English language are adjectives and adverbs.

An adjective gives information on ‘which one’, ‘what kind’, or ‘how many’ about a noun or pronoun. An adverb tells ‘how’, ‘when’, ‘where’, or ‘to what extent’ about a verb, adjective, or other adverb. To decide whether a modifier is an adjective or adverb, you need to determine the part of speech of the word it modifies. This means that you have to pay attention to the context of use to know what the words are doing in the sentence.

Check out the following examples:

1. Frederick is a dancer on Instagram who performs dancing skits. (The word ‘dancing’ modifies the noun ‘skits’. It tells us about the kind of skit. Thus, ‘dancing’ is an adjective (present participle) in this context.)

2. Lagos traffic is extremely insane. (The word ‘insane’ modifies the noun ‘traffic’. It tells us how bad the traffic is. ‘Insane’ is thus a predicate adjective.)

3. Women always love to look good. (‘Always’ is an adverb which modifies the verb ‘love’. It tells us the frequency with which women carry out the action.)

In the second example, ‘extremely’ is an adverb that modifies the adjective ‘insane’. It tells the degree or to what extent the insanity occurs.

From the examples above, you can deduce the concept of modifiers as they can be used in giving additional information that may be relevant to the reader or hearer.

How do you recognise adjectives and adverbs?

People often say that adverbs are easily recognisable from their ‘-ly’ endings. Note, however, that not all adverbs end in ‘-ly’. Also, adjectives do not have any peculiar endings. In fact, some adjectives end in ‘-ly’, for example: ‘motherly’ in ‘She gave her son enough motherly care until he was well.’ ‘Motherly’ here modifies ‘care’. Other adjectives that end in ‘-ly- are friendly, lonely, lovely, lively, ugly, and neighbourly. Take a look at some adjectives that adverbs can be formed from by using adding ‘ly’:

Adjective Adverb

Poor poorly

Careful carefully

Careless carelessly

Sudden suddenly

Inquisitive inquisitively

Excited excitedly

Happy happily

Can you try to write sentences using these adjectives and adverbs and note how the words fit their specific context of use? I will do one example for you: ‘I was excited to have received an award from the African Tech Alliance for distinguished teaching in journalism’ versus ‘I laughed excitedly at the news of my award last month’. In the first sentence, ‘excited’ modifies the pronoun ‘I’. It tells more about ‘I’. And in the second sentence, ‘excited’ is used as an adverb, for it tells about how the laughing was done – the manner in which it was carried out. So it modifies the verb ‘laughing’. Note that adjectives modify only nouns, while adverbs modify adverbs, adjectives, and other adverbs.

Do also note that there are a few adjectives and adverbs that are spelt the same way, and when this is the case, the adverb form does not end in –ly. To know which word class the word belongs to, activate the context of usage. The following are some examples:

Adjective Adverb

A straight course walks straight

A hard problem works hard

A high note soars high

A long journey lasts long

A late flight arrives late

In the examples above, the adjectives occur before the nouns they modify/qualify/describe (these are all interchangeable expressions); the adverbs occur after the verbs they modify. Even though the same words are used, you can see how the context of use delineates their focus and meaning.

Now turn your attention to modifiers that follow verbs. Any word that modifies an action verb, an adjective, or another adverb is always an adverb.

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Examples:

Upon losing the game, the captain and his teammates cried relentlessly. (‘Relentlessly’ is an adverb that modifies the action verb ‘cried’.)

The young man’s smile is highly contagious. (‘Highly’ is an adverb that modifies the adjective ‘contagious’.)

Eky, the bride, was so beautifully dressed. (‘So’ is an adverb that modifies the adverb ‘beautifully’.)

Some people make the mistake of using an adjective to modify an action verb. Recall I noted earlier that adjectives modify only nouns. So, use adverbs to modify action verbs. Consider the following:

Incorrect: The lady walked elegant onto the stage.

Correct: The lady walked elegantly onto the stage.

Incorrect: The first-year students talked polite to one another.

Correct: The first-year students talked politely to one another.

The point I just emphasized is that adverbs should be used to modify action verbs; however, adjectives, not adverbs, should be used to modify linking verbs. Such adjectives are referred to as ‘predicate adjectives’ because they appear after the verb and thus in the predicate, not subject, position. It therefore modifies the subject of that sentence. In case you have forgotten what linking verbs are, a simple way to recall them is to know that they are the verb – to be – is, am, are, was, were, be, been, being. Verbs such as ‘appear’, ‘seem’ and ‘sound’ are also linking verbs.

Examples:

1.I am well. (‘Well’ is a predicate adjective modifying the subject, ‘I’.)

2.They are happy. (‘Happy’ is an adjective that modifies the subject, ‘they’.)

3.The man sounded angry. (‘Angry comes after the linking verb ‘sounded’ and modifies ‘man’ because adjectives modify only nouns.)

Please also note that some linking verbs may also function as action verbs, and when this occurs, they can be modified by adverbs. Verbs in this category include look, sound, appear, grow, smell, taste, and remain. I’ll put them in sentence contexts for you to see how verbs can be both linking and action verbs, thus needing adjectives and adverbs respectively to modify them.

Linking Verbs Action Verbs

The food looks chaffy. My son looked angrily at his dog.

The music sounds cool. The alarm sounded unexpectedly.

Karen appeared vexed. The postmaster appeared suddenly.

The sky grew dark. The baby grew quickly.

The food tasted nice. The chef greedily tasted the food.

How well have you learned the use of appropriate modifiers? Let’s check, shall we?

Write the correct modifier of the two given in parentheses. Label it as an Adjective or an Adverb. Then write the word it modifies. I will give a response to the first ten people that send their work to my email [email protected].

Example: Dr Oji wrote (extensive, extensively) about speaking and writing issues. Extensively, Adverb, wrote.

1. Follow the development of AI (careful, carefully); they are taking over the world!

2. Many engineering companies produce vehicles (smooth, smoothly) enough to serve the status purpose of the elite.

3. Recommended glasses are (remarkable, remarkably) in the ways they help people with eye problems.

I keep the exercises short so that many can attempt them. Try to be one of those. Feel free to like, share, and comment on this article if you got value. Watch out for a continuation of this topic next week.