MODIFIERS

ADJECTIVES AND ADVERBS

 MODIFIERS

A modifier is a word, phrase, or clause that

functions as an adjective or adverb to
provide additional information about
another word or word group (called
the head). A modifier is also known as
an adjunct.
 TYPES OF MODIFIERS

Adjectives Adverbs Dangling

Descriptive, Quantitative, Manner, frequency, time, Absence of noun/pronoun

Numeral, Demonstrative, place, degree, purpose being modified
Distributive, Interrogative,
Possessive, Proper and Emphatic
ADJECTIVE
 Descriptive Adjective
 It describes a noun or expresses its quality.

Descriptive Adjective

Attributive Predicative

• Used before a noun

• They have a cute cat. • Used after a noun
• The angry woman slapped her daughter. • Their cat is cute.
• afraid, alight, alike, alive, alone, • The woman was angry, so she
ashamed, asleep, awake, aware slapped her daughter.
 Quantitative Adjective /Quantifiers

 They show the quantity of noun or pronoun.

Examples:
 Some: Some students enjoyed the field trip to the zoo.
 Many: Many people attended the concert last night.
 All: All the cookies were eaten by the children.
 Whole: She ate the whole pizza by herself.
 Enough: I have enough money to buy the new smartphone.
 Sufficient: Your explanation was sufficient to understand the concept.
 Little: There is little milk left in the fridge.
 Few: Only a few people showed up to the meet.
 Any: She didn’t eat any rice.
 No: She has no sense.
 Numeral Adjectives
Order of ordinal and cardinal numbers:
Ordinal + cardinal = first two chapters
Numeral

Cardinal Ordinal Multiplicative

• One, two, • First, second, • Single, double,

three, four,…. third…. tripple….
 Demonstrative Adjective

 They point to a noun.

 “ this, that, these, those, such and determiners( a/an/the)” are called
demonstrative adjectives.
 Examples
 This book is useful.
 That book is mine.
 These aren’t your books.
 Those books were written a decade ago.
 This is such a book as can’t be found anywhere.
 Yonder fort once belonged to Shivaji.
 Don’t be in such a hurry.
 Distributive Adjective

 Points an individual

Distributive adjectives such as, “each,” “every,” “either,” “neither, ”both” and “any,”
are describing words that refer to specific things out of a group.

.
[Link]: Each student received a certificate for their outstanding performance.
[Link]: Every house on the street was decorated with colorful lights for the festival.
[Link]: You can choose either the blue shirt or the red shirt for the party.
[Link]: Neither of the contestants managed to solve the difficult puzzle.
[Link]: Is there any milk left in the refrigerator? I need some for my cereal.
 Interrogative Adjectives

 A word that modifies a noun by asking a question is

called interrogative adjectives.
 “what, which, and whose” are called interrogative adjectives.
 What recipe did you choose to make this dish?
 Which bat is Watson’s?
 Which song is Zara listening to?
 What product did you order from there?
 Which topics are more important for the discussion?
 Whose pants did you wear?
 Whose phone did you use when you talked to me?
 Possessive Adjectives

 “My, your, our, her, his and their” are possessive adjectives.
 We use possessive adjectives to show:
 Something belongs to someone:
 My book is lost.
 That’s is my pen.
 Relations:
 My mother is a housewife.
 Your friend is a doctor.
 Parts of body:
 He’s cleaning his teeth.
 She combs her hair.
 Proper Adjectives
 They are formed from proper nouns.
 Emphatic Adjectives

 They are used to put EMPHASIS.

 Jolly, very, pretty, utter, total, absolute, own and pure
Examples
 That was a jolly good show last night!
 He began to weaken before the very eyes of people.
 The snowflakes fell gently from the sky, creating a scene of pure
beauty and tranquility.
 The team's performance was an utter disappointment; they lost by a
large margin.
 Coordinate (vs) Cumulative
Coordinate Adjective modifies the same [Link] describe the same [Link] are often called “equal adjectives.”
 Use COMMA between Coordinate
Adjectives.
 Coordinate Adjectives can be reversed.
The elegant, wealthy lady looks like a
model.
TEST:
• The elegant and wealthy lady looks like a model.(Sounds fine)
• They wealthy, elegant lady looks
like a model. (Sounds fine)

Cumulative Adjectives build upon each other and be in a certain [Link] give different type of information.
 Don’t useCOMMA orAND
between Cumulative Adjectives.
 They cannot be reversed.
My new smart phone is awesome.
TEST:

• My new and smart phone is

awesome. (Doesn’t work)
• My smart new phone is awesome.
(Doesn’t work)
 Postpositive/ Post nominal

 Postpositive adjectives are adjectives that follow the nouns they

modify. Post stands for “after” and positive stands for “positioned”.
 someone special
 poet laureate
 postmaster general
 court martial
 God almighty
 accounts payable
 attorney general
 Absolute Adjectives

 They don’t have comparative and superlative degrees.

 “Dead,perfect,absolute,universal,ideal,full,unique,confidential,
superior, inferior, junior, senior, absolute, posterior, anterior,
excellent, impossible, ideal, complete, supreme ,complete,extreme,
unique, chief, supreme, impossible,universal, entire, preferable, adequate, sufficient,
infinite, main, fatal, final, fundamental, inevitable.,” are some of the absolute
adjectives.
 Degrees of Adjectives

 One syllable adjectives

Add -er for the comparative and -est for the superlative. If the
adjective has a consonant + single vowel + consonant spelling, the
final consonant must be doubled before adding the ending.
 Adjectives with two syllables can form the comparative either by adding -
er or by preceding the adjective with more. These adjectives form the
superlative either by adding -est or by preceding the adjective with most. In
many cases, both forms are used, although one usage will be more common
than the other. If you are not sure whether a two-syllable adjective can take a
comparative or superlative ending, play it safe and
use more and most instead. For adjectives ending in y, change the y to an i
before adding the ending.
 Three or more syllables
Adjectives with three or more syllables form the comparative by
putting more in front of the adjective, and the superlative by
putting most in front.
Irregular Comparatives and
Superlatives
 Rules for Degrees of Adjectives
 Comparative Adjectives:
Noun (subject) + verb + comparative adjective + than + noun (object).
When we’re making a choice of two, we can use comparative degree using “of the” and
skipping “than”.
 Of the two (Nouns) , (Noun/Pronoun) + verb + the+ comparative degree (degree of choice)
 Of the two hens, this is the thinner.
 Two different entities( than that of)
 The color of my bag is better than that of yours.
 The camera on this phone is better than that of mine.
 Superlative Adjectives:
Noun (subject) + verb + the + superlative adjective + noun (object).
 Of all the girls in the class, she is the tallest.
 She is the tallest girl in the class.
 When two qualities of the same person or thing are compared, the comparative in –er is not
used. ‘more” is used for this purpose.
 She is more hardworking than intelligent. (degree of focus)
 Faulty Comparison
 A comparison that is not logical is called faulty comparison. Items that are compared must be similar.
• This book is better than Usman. (incorrect)
• This book is better than that of Usman. (correct)
• This book is better than Usman’s. (correct)

Exception to Comparative Degree

 While comparing ‘one thing or person’ with ‘all the other things or persons within the group’, we use ‘than
any other’ after comparative degree of adjective.
• Iqbal is greater than any poet.
• Iqbal is greater than any other poet.
• Use ‘any’ if comparison is out of the group. (Allama Iqbal is greater than any singer.)

Use of double comparatives and Double superlatives is wrong.

• She is more happier than I am. (wrong)
• She is the most happiest of all. (wrong)
 All the Adjectives which refer to the same Noun should be in the same degree of comparison.
• He is the wisest and honest worker in the office. (wrong)
• He is the wisest and most honest worker in the office. (correct)
 Adjectives ending with –ly must not be used as an adverb, instead,they be replaced into ‘in a manner’
phrase, e.g. silly, lively, cowardly, friendly, miserly, orderly, lovely, likely, ugly, deadly, etc
• He speaks friendly. (Incorrect)
• He speaks in a friendly manner. (Correct)
• They keep the dishes orderly. (Incorrect)
• They keep the dishes in an orderly manner.
 ‘too’ means ‘more than required’ normally used in unpleasant adjectives with a phrase too…….to…, while
‘very’ means ‘in a great degree’ normally used with both pleasant adjectives.
• I am too happy today. (wrong)
• I am very happy today. (correct)
• The water is very hot to drink. (wrong)
• The water is too hot to drink. (correct)
 After the verbs of senses (taste, smell, see, feel, sound, look) or state verbs, we use adjective and not
adverb (ending at ly).
• Oranges taste bitterly. (bitter)
• These flowers smell badly. (bad)
 Much vs. Very

Much very

1. It works as both adjective

1. It works as both adjective
and adverb
and adverb
2. Adverb: in a high degree
2. Adverb: to a great extent
3. Very as an adverb is used
3. Much as adverb is used
before present participles
before past participles.
4. This topic is very
4. I’m much tired.
interesting.
5. It is used with comparative
5. It is used with positive
degree
degree.
 Some vs. Any

 ‘Some’ is used in Affirmative Sentences and sentences having offer or request

whereas ‘Any’ is used in Negative and interrogative sentences.
Examples:
• I do not have some money. (wrong)
• He gave me any water to drink. (wrong)
• Have you bought some bread? (wrong)
• Would you like any water?
 But ‘any’ can be used after ‘if’ in affirmative sentences.
 Example:
• If you need any money I will help you. (Correct)
 Elder Vs. Older

 Elder and Eldest are used only of persons, not of animals or things; and are
now confined to same family members.
 Elder is not used with ‘than’ following. While older and oldest are used for both
persons and things.
• She is elder than I. (older)
• He is my older brother. (elder)
• This is the eldest temple in Rome. (oldest)
• He is my oldest son. (eldest)
Use of ‘to’ instead of ‘than’ after certain adjectives:
We use ‘to’ instead of ‘than’ after following adjectives:
 Superior, inferior, junior, senior, anterior, posterior, exterior, ulterior, major, minor

Farther means ‘distance’ and Further means ‘additional’:

 He went farther than I.
 After this, he made no further remarks.
‘later and latest 'refer to time while ‘ latter and last’ refer to position.
 I reached at 10:00 am, but he was later than I expected.
 I have not heard the latest news.
 The latter chapters of this book are boring.

Use of ‘the’ if both clauses start with comparative degrees:

 The higher you go, the cooler it is.
 The more you study, the more sagacious you become.

All the “worth + ing” expressions are used after the nouns they
qualify.
 This is a book worth-reading.
 Order of Adjectives:
1. Quantity: one, two , three
2. Opinion: unusual, lovely, and beautiful
3. Size: big, small, tall
4. Shape: round, square, rectangular
5. Condition: broken , decaying, clean
6. Age: young, old, youthful
7. Color: blue, red, pink
8. Pattern: striped, spotted, checked, zigzag
9. Origin: Dutch, Japanese, Turkish
10. Material: metal, wood, plastic
11. Purpose: cleaning, hammering, cooking
Example:
 The three beautiful large round broken old blue striped French wooden dining tables were placed
elegantly in the grand banquet hall.
 Adverbs

Adverbs modify the verbs. They

may also modify adjectives,
other adverbs, phrases, or even
entire sentences.
 Types of Adverbs
 Adverbs of frequency__________ (how many times)
 constantly, frequently, occasionally, sometimes, usually, never, always, rarely, daily, weekly, monthly,
yearly
 Adverbs of time_____________ (when)
 today, yesterday, tomorrow, tonight, soon, later, now, eventually, forever, still, yet, early, late,
recently, since
 Adverbs of manner_____________ (how)
 angrily, cautiously, hungrily, nicely, slowly, deftly, precisely, unknowingly, loudly
 Adverbs of degree_____________ ( to what extent, how much)
 very, really, extremely, incredibly, too, quite, barely, deeply, fairly, greatly, hardly, highly, intensely,
somewhat, totally, little, less, least, much, more, most
 Adverbs of place____________________ (where)
 here, there, everywhere, nowhere, somewhere, anywhere, in, out, inside, outside, wherever, on, off,
over, under, away, left, right, north, south, east, west
 Adverbs of purpose___________________ (why)
 Therefore, hence, so that, consequently, in order to, since, thus, lest, for, so as to
 Formation of Adjectives and
Adverbs Adding “ly”

 Adjective + ly = Adverb
 Quick + ly = quickly
 Smart + ly = smartly
 Beautiful + ly = beautifully

 Noun + ly = Adjective
 Man + ly = manly
 Friend + ly = friendly
 Royal Order of Adverbs

MPFTP

Purpose
Manner Place

Frequency Time
 RULES OF ADVERB:
RULE#1:
Adverbssuchas ‘always’, ‘never’, ‘ever’, ‘often’, ‘sometimes’, ‘seldom’,‘soon’,
‘almost’, ‘scarcely’, ‘nearly’, ‘hardly’, ‘even’, are placed before the principal
verb.
Examples:
• He comes often late. (Incorrect)
• He often comes late. (Correct)
EXCEPTION: with the verb ‘to be’ these adverbs are placed after
the verb ‘be form’.
Example: I am nearly at the end of my scholarship. (Correct)
 RULE#2:

Adverbof definite time canbeplaced either at the endof the sentence,

or at the beginning ( if you want to emphasize the time.)
Examples:
• I broke my leg last week. (Correct)
• Two months ago, they didn’t even have a place to live.
(Correct)
RULE#3:
Too’ means more than required and it is used with Unpleasant Adjective. So, we
cannot use too glad, too happy, too pleasant, too healthy.

Example: • I am too glad to meet you. (Incorrect)

• I am very glad to meet you. (Correct)
 Too much vs. Much too

Too Much Much Too

1. Too much is constituent

1. Much too isn’t constituent.
2. Too much simply means overfull, and 2. The ”much” in ”much
can only quantify volumes too” means by a large margin, and
3. Too much is quantifier expressing it modifies the whole phrase given.
excess of something 3. Much too is secondary modifier
4. It needs a noun after it 4. It modifies other adjective/adverb
 RULE#4:
Too much + Noun Much too + Adjective
Examples:
• His failure is too much painful for me. (Incorrect)
• His failure is much too painful for me. (Correct)

• His success gives him much too pleasure. (Incorrect)

• His success gives him too much pleasure. (Correct)
 RULE#5:
Two negatives cancel each other. Hence two negatives should
not be used in the same sentence unless we make an
affirmation.
Examples:
• I have not got none. (Incorrect)
• I have not got any. (Correct)

• He has not done nothing wrong. (Incorrect)

• He has not done anything wrong. (Correct)
 RULE#6:

'Hard' means 'diligently', strenuously', 'Hardly' means 'scarcely at

all'. These two Adverbial forms of 'hard' must not be confused.
Examples:
• He tried hardly to win the race. (Incorrect)
• He tried hard to win the race. (Correct)

• He did hard anything to compete. (Incorrect)

• He did hardly anything to compete. (Correct)
 RULE#7:
STILL------ affirmative +negative
YET------ negative + interrogative
Example:

 He has not returned the money yet.

 He was sick but he still went to work.

RULE#8:
‘GOOD’ is an Adjective, ‘WELL’ is an Adverb.
Example:

 You did a good job. (Good describes the job.)

 You did the job well. (Well answers how.)
 RULE#8: MUCH (vs) VERY
(A)VERY is used with positive degree and MUCH is used with comparative degree.
Examples:  The air is very hot today.
 The air is much hotter today than yesterday.
(B)VERY is used with Present Participle and MUCH is used with Past
participle(passive voice).
Examples:  It is very surprising for me.
 He is much loved by all in his family.
(C) MUCH orVERY with Past Participles:
(a)When a past participle is part of a passive verb, we can put ‘much’ or
‘very much’ before it, but not ‘very.’
Examples:  He is much admired by his students.
 Pakistan’s trade position has been much weakened by inflation.
(b)When a Past Participle is used as an adjective, we usually prefer [Link]
is common with words referring to mental states, feelings and reactions.
Examples:  The children were very bored.
 She looked very surprised.
 They were very pleased to meet us.
 RULE#9:
‘Enough’ can modify an adjective or an adverb or it can go with a noun.

‘Enough’ comes after adjectives and adverbs.

Examples:  I am afraid your work just isn’t good enough.
 I couldn’t write quickly enough and I ran out of time

‘Enough’ comes before nouns.

Examples:  There isn’t enough bread to make sandwiches.

 Have you got enough money?

‘Enough’ can be placed after nouns as a postpositive adjective.

Examples:
 There will be time enough to tell you when we meet.
 fairly rather
1. With sentences giving 1. With sentences giving
positive sense negative meaning
2. With positive degree of 2. With comparative degree of
adjective adjective

So
Such
1. So + adj / adv
1. Such + a / an + noun
2. So + adj + a/ an + noun
Some commonly Confused Words

 hard (adj,adv) vs hardly (adv)

 High (adj, adv) vs highly(adv)
 Late ( adj, adv) vs lately (adv)
 Fast (adj, adv ) vs fastly ( no word)
 Little ( adj, adv)
 Quiet (adj) vs quite (adv)
 Misplaced Modifier
 A misplaced modifier is a word, phrase, or clause that is improperly separated from the
word it modifies or describes.
• On his way home, Mark found a gold man’s watch.
• On his way home, Mark found a man’s gold watch.
 Joe thought about throwing a party for his dad while he walked in the park.
(Misplaced)
 While he walked in the park, Joe thought about throwing a party for his dad.
(corrected)

 My sister walked in as I was scrubbing the floor with her new baby. (Misplaced)
 My sister walked in with her new baby as I was scrubbing the floor.

 One morning I shot an elephant in my pajamas. (Misplaced)

 one morning, while in my pajamas, I shot an elephant. (Correct)
 Misplaced modifiers generally take one of four forms:
1. Misplaced Adjectives
 Examples:
• The child ate a cold dish of cereal for breakfast this morning. (Incorrect)
• The child ate a dish of cold cereal for breakfast this morning. (Correct)

• The torn student’s book lay on the desk. (Incorrect)

• The student’s torn book lay on the desk. (Correct)
 2. MisplacedAdverbs
Examples:
• This will only take five minutes. (Incorrect)
• This will take only five minutes. (Correct)

• I nearly earned a hundred dollars. (Incorrect)

• I earned nearly a hundred dollars. (Correct)

• We ate the dinner that we had brought slowly.(Incorrect)

• We slowly ate the dinner that we had brought. (Correct)
 3. Misplaced Phrases

Examples:
• The dealer sold the car to the buyer with leather seats. (Incorrect)
• The dealer sold the car with leather seats to the buyer. (Correct)

• The three bankers talked quietly in the corner smoking pipes. (Incorrect)
• The three bankers smoking pipes talked quietly in the corner. (Correct)
• We served burgers to the children on paper plates. (Incorrect)
• We served burgers on paper plates to the children. (Correct)
 4. MisplacedClauses

Examples:

• The waiter served a dinner roll to the woman that was well
buttered. (Inc.)
• The waiter served a dinner roll that was well buttered to the woman.
(Correct)

• The student pleaded with the instructor who cheated on the

test.
(Inc.)
• The student who cheated on the test pleaded with the instructor. (Correct)
 Dangling Modifiers

 Modifying phrases must have a word to modify. A modifier cannot

“dangle” alone in a sentence.
 Ask the modifier “who”. If the answer is available, it will not be
dangling.

 Having finished the assignment, the TV was turned on. (Dangling)

 Having finished the assignment, Rida turned the TV on.

 After watching the movie, the book still seems better. (Dangling)
 After watching the movie, he still thinks the book is better.
 Example-1:
• When nine year old, my mother enrolled in a medical school. (Incorrect)
• When I was nine year old, my mother enrolled in a medical school. (Correct)
• When nine year old, my mother enrolled me in a medical school. (Correct)

Example-2:

• Sitting in the dentist’s chair, the sound of the drill made Larry sweat. (Incorrect)
• As Larry was sitting in the dentist’s chair, the sound of the drill made
him sweat. (Correct)
• Sitting in the dentist’s chair, Larry sweated at the sound of the drill. (Correct)
Squinting Modifier
A squinting modifier is a modifier misplaced so that it
may describe two situations.
Examples:
• I told my son when the movie was over I would play with him.
Does it mean I told my son when the movie was over?
(OR)
Does it mean that I would play with him when the movie was over?

• I told my son that I would play with him when the movie was over.

• The teacher said on Monday she would return our essays.

• The teacher said she would return our essays on Monday.