Adjectives and adverbs

For grown-ups: this lesson in words

Years 3 to 6 · English

Adjectives and adverbs: I can spot adjectives and adverbs, and make adverbs by adding ly.

1. Here is a sentence about a kitten. Kitten is a noun: it names a thing.

   Tiny tells us what the kitten is like. Tiny is an adjective.

   Adjectives describe nouns.

   Picture: The sentence "The tiny kitten slept.", with "tiny" labelled adjective and "kitten" labelled noun.

2. Slept is the verb. It tells us what the kitten did.

   Peacefully tells us how the kitten slept. Peacefully is an adverb.

   Adverbs tell us more about verbs. Many of them end in ly.

   Picture: The sentence "The tiny kitten slept peacefully.", with "slept" labelled verb and "peacefully" labelled adverb.

3. Your turn: Which word is the adjective? It describes the ball.

   Picture: The sentence "Mei kicked the red ball."

   Choose one:

   • kicked
   • red
   • ball

   Answer

   The answer: red

   Red is the adjective. It describes the ball, a noun.

   Picture: The sentence "Mei kicked the red ball.", with "red" labelled adjective and "ball" labelled noun.

Words to know

adjective:

A word that describes a noun: a tiny kitten.

adverb:

A word that tells us how, when, where or why: slept peacefully.

noun:

A word that names a person, place or thing.

verb:

A doing or being word: slept, ran, is.