Adjectives and adverbs

I. Correct the errors in the following sentences and put a tick next to those which are correct.

e.g. Kate is well at maths. good

1. The house looked very largely. 2. This book is usefuller than that one. 3. Henry is my elder brother. 4. This is the older theatre in Manchester. 5. John worked very hardly and passed his exam with flying colours. 6. Do I look well in this dress? 7. Drive more fastly or we’ll be late. 8. This is the boringest lecture I’ve been to. 9. Just wait here and I’ll get the car ready. 10. I don’t want to paint the house pinkly.

II. Put the adjectives and other modifiers in the correct order.

1. the (large/three/brick/first/brown) houses   2. those (metal/ugly/flower/other) pots  

3. a(n) (old/English/beautiful) garden, 4. the (extraordinary/next/military) victory   

5. those (pretty/blue/little/four) flowers   6. a (brown/mahogany/small/square) box   7. a (young/polite/-faced/handsome) man   8. a(n) (Japanese/green/big/sports) car   9. that (terrifying/fierce/big) Alsatian   10. (Riding/Red/Little) Hood

III. Decide which of the two sentences in each pair is incorrect and explain why. 

1. a) The weather was depressing. b) Jane was depressing.

2. a) The cat was still alive. b) It was an alive cat.

3. a) Ban Ki-Moon is the General-Secretary of the UN. b) He is the Secretary-General of the UN.

4. a) He’s a mere child. b) This child is mere.

5. a) She was an afraid girl. b) She was afraid.

6. a) That was a three-mile-long road. b) That was a three-miles road. 7. a) These are my running shoes. b) These shoes of mine are running.

KEY

I. 1. large, 2. more useful, 3. OK, 4. oldest, 5. hard, 6. good, 7. faster, 8. most boring, 9. OK, 10. pink

II. 1. the first three large brown brick houses, 2. those other ugly metal flower pots, 3. a beautiful old English garden, 4. the next extraordinary military victory, 5. those four pretty little blue flowers, 6. a small square brown mahogany box, 7. a polite handsome-faced young man, 8. a big green Japanese sports car, 9. that terrifying big fierce Alsatian, 10. Little Red Riding Hood

III. 1. b) a person can be depressed 2. b) Alive can be used only after a verb, 3. a) General after the noun means ‘the most important person, the president’, 4. b) You cannot use mere before a noun, 5. a) You cannot use afraid before a noun, 6. b) You cannot use the plural in the attributive position., 7. b) Running denotes a purpose, not something the shoes do on their own.