Grammar lesson on adj/adv/good/well

13. ADJECTIVES/ADVERBS, GOOD/WELL

An adjective describes a noun or pronoun.
She has a cute puppy.
The sandwiches had grape jelly.

That puppy looks hungry.
They use state-of-the-art medical techniques. (Notice the hypens.)

An adverb is a word or set of words that tell how, when, how often or how much a verb is done.
Magda drives slowly. (tells how)
The package arrived today. (tells when)
The VIA bus will arrive hourly. (this adverb phrase tells how often)
Jorge works out excessively (tells how much)

An adverb can also tell more about another adverb.

Magda’s grandma drives rather slowly. (the adverb rather tells how slowly)

She is really very pretty.

Many adverbs end in -ly, but not all.

EXCERPT FROM GRAMMARBOOK.COM

Material created by Jane Straus and GrammarBook.com. Copyright by Jane Straus/GrammarBook.com.

Don’t use -ly with verbs such as taste, smell, look, feel, which may not be actions but rather may be indicating what something seems to be like. Adverbs are often misused in such sentences, which require adjectives instead.

Examples:

Roses smell sweet/sweetly.
Do the roses actively smell with noses? No; in this case, smell requires an adjective to describe roses—so no -ly.

The woman looked angry/angrily to us.
Did the woman look with her eyes, or are we describing her appearance? We are describing her appearance (she appeared angry), so no -ly.

The woman looked angry/angrily at the paint splotches.
Here the woman actively looked (used her eyes), so the -ly is added.

She feels bad/badly about the news.
She is not feeling with fingers, so no -ly.

Rule:  The word good is an adjective, whose adverb equivalent is well.

Examples:
You did a good job.
Good describes the job.

You did the job well.
Well answers how.

You smell good today.
Good describes your fragrance, not how you smell with your nose, so using the adjective is correct.

You smell well for someone with such a stuffy nose.
You are actively smelling with your nose here, so use the adverb.

Rule:  The word well can be an adjective as well as an adverb. When referring to health, we often use well rather than good.

Examples:
You do not look well today. Meaning: You do not look healthy.
I don't feel well, either. Meaning: I don’t feel healthy.

Rule:  Adjectives come in three forms, also called degrees. An adjective in its normal or usual form is called a positive degree adjective. There are also the comparative and superlative degrees, which are used for comparison, as in the following examples:

A common error in using adjectives and adverbs arises from using the wrong form of comparison.

To compare two things, always use a comparative adjective:

Example: She is the cleverer of the two women (never cleverest)

The word cleverest is what is called the superlative form of clever. Use it only when comparing three or more things:

Example: She is the cleverest of them all.

Incorrect: Chocolate or vanilla: which do you like best?

Correct: Chocolate or vanilla: which do you like better?

Rule:  There are also three degrees of adverbs. In formal usage, do not drop the -ly from an adverb when using the comparative form.

Incorrect: She spoke quicker than he did.

Correct: She spoke more quickly than he did.

Incorrect: Talk quieter.

Correct: Talk more quietly.