Identifying adjectives (which describe nouns) and adverbs (which describe verbs, often ending in -ly), and telling the two apart in a sentence.
Where your child meets this in real life: Making writing vivid, choosing describing words that paint a picture of people, places and actions
SEAGReady breaks adjectives and adverbs into 3 steps, taught in order so each skill builds on the last.
Identify adjectives by finding each noun first, then asking 'what kind?', the word that answers is the adjective.
Identify adverbs by finding the verb first, then asking 'how, when or where?', with the -ly ending as a useful (but not universal) clue.
Tell an adjective and an adverb from the same word family apart (loud/loudly) by checking whether the word describes a noun or a verb.
Three free sample questions from our adjectives and adverbs course. Every question comes with a full explanation, and hints that guide without giving the answer away.
Read this sentence: 'The hungry dog barked at the postman.' Which word in this sentence is an adjective?
Answer: A. hungry
Find the nouns first: 'dog' and 'postman'. Now ask 'what kind?' about each noun. What kind of dog? A HUNGRY dog, so 'hungry' is the adjective. 'Barked' tells us what the dog DID, so it is a verb, not an adjective.
Stuck? Start here: Find the nouns first: 'dog' and 'postman'. An adjective describes one of them.
Read this sentence: 'Molly sang sweetly at the school concert.' Which word in this sentence is an adverb?
Answer: A. sweetly
Find the verb first: Molly SANG. Now ask 'how did she sing?', SWEETLY. 'Sweetly' describes the verb 'sang', so it is the adverb. The -ly ending is a helpful clue that a word may be an adverb.
Stuck? Start here: Find the verb first. What did Molly do?
Read this sentence: 'The bright sun shone brightly over Belfast.' Which word is the adverb?
Answer: B. brightly
Check the job each describing word does: - 'Bright' describes 'sun', a NOUN, so 'bright' is the adjective. - 'Brightly' describes 'shone', a VERB, so 'brightly' is the adverb. Same word family, different jobs: adjectives stick to nouns, adverbs stick to verbs.
Stuck? Start here: Both 'bright' and 'brightly' are describing words. Check the JOB each one does.
This is the exact interactive worked example your child sees in SEAGReady. Step through it and watch the method build up.
Read this sentence: 'The ancient castle stood on a rocky cliff near Portrush.'
Which two words in this sentence are adjectives?
Step 1 of 4
Read this sentence: 'The ancient castle stood on a rocky cliff near Portrush.'
Which two words in this sentence are adjectives?
The adjectives are 'ancient' (describing the castle) and 'rocky' (describing the cliff).
The key insight: Find the noun first, then ask 'what kind?', whatever answers that question is the adjective.
Watch out: Choosing 'stood'. 'Stood' tells you what the castle DID, it is a verb. Adjectives describe what a noun is LIKE.
These are the misconceptions we see most often in adjectives and adverbs, including the ones our practice questions are specifically designed to catch.
Struggling with adjectives and adverbs? The real gap is often in one of these earlier topics.
SEAGReady finds the exact step where your child gets stuck, teaches it with worked examples like the one above, and brings it back for review so it sticks.
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