Adjective and Adverb Errors - Part 1/2

This section of our course will review those errors most commonly presented in the CPE and teach you what to look for. We will not review here the basic rules of grammar, such as the formation and use of the different tenses and the passive voice, the subjective and objective cases of pronouns, the position of adjectives and adverbs, and the like. We assume that a candidate for the CPE is familiar with basic grammar, and we will concentrate on error recognition based on that knowledge.

1. Errors in the use of adjectives and adverbs

Check if a word modifier is an ADJECTIVE or an ADVERB. Make sure the correct form has been used.

a) An ADJECTIVE describes a noun and answers the question WHAT KIND? Example: She is a good cook. (What kind of cook?)

b) An ADVERB describes either a verb or an adjective and answers the question HOW? Examples: She cooks well. (She cooks how?) / This exercise is relatively easy. (How easy?)

c) Most adverbs are formed by adding -ly to the adjective. Some exceptions:

INCORRECT

I sure wish I were rich!

CORRECT

I surely wish I were rich!

INCORRECT

The young man writes bad.

CORRECT

The young man writes badly.

INCORRECT

I'm feeling very good.

CORRECT

I'm feeling very well.

INCORRECT

He's a real good teacher.

CORRECT

He's a really good teacher.

2. Errors of adjectives with verbs of sense

The following seven verbs of sense are intransitive and are described by ADJECTIVES:

INCORRECT

She looked very well.

CORRECT

She looked very good.

NOTE: "He is well" is also correct in the meaning of "He is healthy" or in describing a person's well-being.

INCORRECT

The food tastes deliciously.

CORRECT

The food tastes delicious.

NOTE: When the above verbs are used as transitive verbs, modify with an adverb, as usual: She tasted the soup quickly.

3. Errors in comparatives

a) Similar comparison

ADJECTIVE: She is as pretty as her sister.
ADVERB: He works as hard as his father.

b) Comparative (of two things)

ADJECTIVE:
She is prettier than her sister.
She is more beautiful than her sister.
She is less successful than her sister.

ADVERB:
He works harder than his father.
He reads more quickly than I.
He drives less carelessly than he used to.

NOTE 1: A pronoun following than in a comparison will be the subject pronoun:
You are prettier than she (is).
You drive better than he (does).

NOTE 2: In using comparisons, adjectives of one syllable, or of two syllables ending in –y, add –er: smart, smarter; pretty, prettier. Other words of more than one syllable use more: interesting, more interesting. Adverbs of one syllable add –er; longer adverbs use more: fast, faster; quickly, more quickly.

NOTE 3: The word different is followed by from: You are different from me.

c) Superlative (comparison of more than two things)

ADJECTIVE:
She is the prettiest girl in her class.
He is the most successful of his brothers.
This one is the least interesting of the three.

ADVERB:
He plays the best of all.
He speaks the most interestingly.
He spoke to them the least patronizingly.

EXCEPTIONAL FORMS

INCORRECT

This exercise is harder then the last one.

CORRECT

This exercise is harder than the last one.

INCORRECT

He works faster than her.

CORRECT

He works faster than she.

INCORRECT

She is the more responsible person of the three.

CORRECT

She is the most responsible person of the three.

INCORRECT

She was much different than I expected.

CORRECT

She was much different from what I expected.

INCORRECT

This year I'll have littler free time.

CORRECT

This year I'll have less free time.