practical english

Question

Which of the following sentences contains an incorrect use of an adjective pr adverb? a) He won the race easily b) She did very well on that test c) Please don't play with the baby so roughly. d) She wants to go to the concert real bad

Answer 1

D is incorrect. Although I honestly am not sure but I think it should technically be "really badly". 

Answer 2

Hello, Brenda. Great question. Adverbs and adjectives can be a bit tricky, so we'll start with a quick overview of these parts of speech.

An adjective is a word of phrase that modifies or describes a noun or noun. For example, in the sentence The quick fox jumped over the fence, quick is the adjective--it describes the fox.

An adverb modifies a verb, an adjective, or another adverb. Here are some examples of adverbs:

1. He fixed his car easily. (The adverb is easily; it tells us how he fixed his car)
2. She did a very good job at work. (The adverb is very; it modifies the adjective good)
3. The ate their lunch extremely quickly. (The adverbs are extremely and quickly; in this case, extremely modifies quickly.)

That's a very brief overview, but use it to try to figure out which sentence contains the error. If you can't find the error, don't worry--just scroll down for an explanation.

1. He won the race easily.

In this sentence, easily is the adverb. It tells us how he won the race. It is used correctly.

1. She did very well on that test.

In this sentence, very and well are the adverbs. The adverb well tells us how she did, while very tells us how well she did. Both are used correctly.

1. Please don't play with the baby so roughly.

The adverbs here are so and roughly. The latter, roughly, tells us how the baby is not to be played with, and so modifies roughly.

1. She wants to go to the concert real bad

In this case, real and bad are supposed to function as adverbs--they tell us how she wants to go to the concert; however, they are in their adjective form! The sentence should read She wants to go to the concert really badly. Note, though, that it's pretty common for phrases like real bad to be used as adverbs in everyday speech.

I hope that helps. Feel free to reach out if you have additional questions.