Adjectives vs. adverbs (“beautiful” vs. “beautifully”)

Adjective

An adjective modifies only words that are nouns. It can come before the noun, or can come after a verb, but it modifies the noun.

Adverb

An adverb modifies verbs, adjectives, and other adverbs. It does not modify a noun. Many times, adverbs end in “ly.”

Because adjectives and adverbs are both description words, sometimes it’s confusing when you should use one and when you should use the other. One big factor is determining whether or not the word being modified is a noun.

Adverb: describes the verb

The girl walked beautifully to the store.

Here, the word “walked” is being modified by the description word “beautifully.” We are using an adverb instead of an adjective because we are modifying a verb, not a noun.

Note: not all adverbs end in “ly” but most adjectives that can be turned into adverbs, end in “ly.” Thus, other examples of adverbs are: always, never, often, because, since, anywhere, outside.

Adjective: describes the noun

The beautiful girl walked to the store.

Here, the word “girl” is being modified by the description word “beautiful.” We are using an adjective instead of an adverb because we are modifying a noun.