Year 3 English: Adjectives and adverbs: describing words
Part of the Year 3 English word classes chapter. Chapter overview · whole chapter on one page
Adjectives and adverbs: describing words
An adjective describes a noun. It tells us more about a thing, such as a tall tree, green leaves or a cold sea.
An adverb tells us more about a verb. It says how, when, where or how often something happens. In Sam runs quickly, quickly tells us how he runs.
Many adverbs end in ly, but not all. Here, soon and often are adverbs too.
| Word | Class | What it tells us | Test |
|---|---|---|---|
| tall | adjective | what a noun is like | very tall |
| quickly | adverb | how something is done | how? quickly |
| here | adverb | where something happens | where? here |
| again | adverb | how often something happens | how often? again |
| always | adverb | how often something happens | how often? always |
Key ideas
- An adjective describes a noun: a tall tree.
- The test for an adjective: can very go in front? Very tall makes sense.
- An adverb tells how, when, where or how often: quickly, here, again.
- Many adverbs end in ly, but here, soon and often do not.
Method. Find the job of tall in the sentence, then name its word class.
- Read the sentence and find the word. Look at the word in its sentence, not on its own.The tall tree swayed in the wind.
- Ask the test question. An adjective tells us more about a noun.Put very in front: very tall makes sense. tall describes a noun, so it is an adjective.
- Write the answer. adjective
Check. Check the job of tall once more in the sentence. ✓
Watch out. An adjective describes a noun. It does not describe a verb.
Method. Find the one word that is a adverb.
- Read the sentence. Check the job of each word.The puppy ran quickly across the grass.
- Find the word that is a adverb. Only one word in this sentence does this job.quickly is a adverb
- Write the answer. quickly
Check. Read the sentence again and check quickly. ✓
Watch out. An adverb often ends in -ly, but not always: here, soon and often do not.
Method. Find the job of again in the sentence, then name its word class.
- Read the sentence and find the word. Look at the word in its sentence, not on its own.The sleepy cat yawned again.
- Ask the test question. An adverb tells us how, when, where or how often something happens.Ask how, when, where or how often. again answers one of these questions about the verb, so it is an adverb.
- Write the answer. adverb
Check. Check the job of again once more in the sentence. ✓
Watch out. An adverb often ends in -ly, but not always: here, soon and often do not.
Watch out
Watch out: quickly is an adverb, but quick is an adjective. Quick describes a noun: a quick run. Quickly tells how something happens: he ran quickly.
Exam tip
Grown-up tip. Ask your child to point to a thing and describe it: a tall tree. Then ask how the tree moves in the wind: it sways gently. Put very in front of the adjective to check it.
Exercise 3C Practice: adjectives and adverbs
Method. Find the job of tall in the sentence, then name its word class.
- Read the sentence and find the word. Look at the word in its sentence, not on its own.The tall tree swayed in the wind.
- Ask the test question. An adjective tells us more about a noun.Put very in front: very tall makes sense. tall describes a noun, so it is an adjective.
- Write the answer. adjective
Check. Check the job of tall once more in the sentence. ✓
Watch out. An adjective describes a noun. It does not describe a verb.
Method. Find the job of quickly in the sentence, then name its word class.
- Read the sentence and find the word. Look at the word in its sentence, not on its own.The puppy ran quickly across the grass.
- Ask the test question. An adverb tells us how, when, where or how often something happens.Ask how, when, where or how often. quickly answers one of these questions about the verb, so it is an adverb.
- Write the answer. adverb
Check. Check the job of quickly once more in the sentence. ✓
Watch out. An adverb often ends in -ly, but not always: here, soon and often do not.
Method. Find the job of loudly in the sentence, then name its word class.
- Read the sentence and find the word. Look at the word in its sentence, not on its own.Sam sang loudly at the concert.
- Ask the test question. An adverb tells us how, when, where or how often something happens.Ask how, when, where or how often. loudly answers one of these questions about the verb, so it is an adverb.
- Write the answer. adverb
Check. Check the job of loudly once more in the sentence. ✓
Watch out. An adverb often ends in -ly, but not always: here, soon and often do not.
Method. Find the job of heavy in the sentence, then name its word class.
- Read the sentence and find the word. Look at the word in its sentence, not on its own.The mouse hid under a heavy box.
- Ask the test question. An adjective tells us more about a noun.Put very in front: very heavy makes sense. heavy describes a noun, so it is an adjective.
- Write the answer. adjective
Check. Check the job of heavy once more in the sentence. ✓
Watch out. An adjective describes a noun. It does not describe a verb.
Method. Find each word in the sentence that is a adjective.
- Read the sentence. Check the job of each word.The soup was hot and tasty.
- Pick out the adjectives. Each adjective does the job that the chapter describes.hot, tasty
- Write the answer. hot, tasty
Check. Each word in the answer is a adjective. ✓
Watch out. An adjective describes a noun. It does not describe a verb.
Method. Find each word in the sentence that is a adjective.
- Read the sentence. Check the job of each word.The sleepy cat yawned again.
- Pick out the adjectives. Each adjective does the job that the chapter describes.sleepy
- Write the answer. sleepy
Check. Each word in the answer is a adjective. ✓
Watch out. An adjective describes a noun. It does not describe a verb.
Method. Find each word in the sentence that is a adverb.
- Read the sentence. Check the job of each word.We waited here for an hour.
- Pick out the adverbs. Each adverb does the job that the chapter describes.here
- Write the answer. here
Check. Each word in the answer is a adverb. ✓
Watch out. An adverb often ends in -ly, but not always: here, soon and often do not.
Method. Find each word in the sentence that is a adverb.
- Read the sentence. Check the job of each word.The sleepy cat yawned again.
- Pick out the adverbs. Each adverb does the job that the chapter describes.again
- Write the answer. again
Check. Each word in the answer is a adverb. ✓
Watch out. An adverb often ends in -ly, but not always: here, soon and often do not.
Method. Find each word in the sentence that is a adverb.
- Read the sentence. Check the job of each word.Ben always walks carefully.
- Pick out the adverbs. Each adverb does the job that the chapter describes.always, carefully
- Write the answer. always, carefully
Check. Each word in the answer is a adverb. ✓
Watch out. An adverb often ends in -ly, but not always: here, soon and often do not.
Method. Look for the word that tells where.
- Read the sentence. Waited is the verb. We need the word that tells where.We waited here
- Find the word. Here tells where we waited.here
- Write the answer. here
Check. Here answers the question where? ✓
Watch out. Here is an adverb, even though it does not end in ly.
Method. Ask how often Ben walks.
- Look at each adverb. Always tells how often, and carefully tells how.always; carefully
- Find how often. Always tells how often Ben walks.always
- Write the answer. always
Check. Always answers how often? ✓
Watch out. Carefully tells how, not how often.
Method. An adjective describes the noun that it is next to.
- Find heavy. Heavy is an adjective.a heavy box
- Find the noun. The adjective heavy describes the box.box
- Write the answer. box
Check. Heavy tells us what the box is like. ✓
Watch out. The mouse is not heavy: heavy describes the box.
Method. Check whether each word describes a noun.
- Look at happily. Happily tells how, so it is an adverb.happily: adverb
- Look at tall and green. Both describe a noun, so they are adjectives.tall, green: adjectives
- Look at soon. Soon tells when, so it is an adverb.soon: adverb
- Write the answer. tall, green
Check. Tall and green describe nouns. ✓
Watch out. Adjectives describe nouns; adverbs tell how or when.
Method. Add ly to the adjective quick.
- Look at quick. It is an adjective, so it describes a noun.quick
- Add the ending ly. Adding ly tells us how something is done. The spelling of quick changes only if the rule says so.quick + ly = quickly
- Write the answer. quickly
Check. quickly tells how, so it is an adverb. ✓
Watch out. Most adverbs are made by adding ly, but check the spelling of the adjective first.
Method. Add ly to the adjective loud.
- Look at loud. It is an adjective, so it describes a noun.loud
- Add the ending ly. Adding ly tells us how something is done. The spelling of loud changes only if the rule says so.loud + ly = loudly
- Write the answer. loudly
Check. loudly tells how, so it is an adverb. ✓
Watch out. Most adverbs are made by adding ly, but check the spelling of the adjective first.
Method. Add ly to the adjective quiet.
- Look at quiet. It is an adjective, so it describes a noun.quiet
- Add the ending ly. Adding ly tells us how something is done. The spelling of quiet changes only if the rule says so.quiet + ly = quietly
- Write the answer. quietly
Check. quietly tells how, so it is an adverb. ✓
Watch out. Most adverbs are made by adding ly, but check the spelling of the adjective first.
Method. Add ly to the adjective gentle.
- Look at gentle. It is an adjective, so it describes a noun.gentle
- Add the ending ly. Adding ly tells us how something is done. The spelling of gentle changes only if the rule says so.gentle + ly = gently
- Write the answer. gently
Check. gently tells how, so it is an adverb. ✓
Watch out. Most adverbs are made by adding ly, but check the spelling of the adjective first.
Method. Check which word quickly describes.
- Look at the sentence. The puppy ran quickly across the grass.ran quickly
- Check the job. Quickly tells how the puppy ran, so it is an adverb.quickly: adverb
- Write the answer. No. Quickly tells how the puppy ran, so it is an adverb. It describes the verb ran, not the noun puppy.
Check. Quickly tells how, so it is an adverb. ✓
Watch out. Adjectives describe nouns. Adverbs describe verbs.
Method. Use one describing word for a noun, and one for a verb.
- Add an adjective. Little describes the noun dog.little
- Add an adverb. Loudly tells how the dog barked.loudly
- Write the answer. Any correct sentence, for example: The little dog barked loudly.
Check. Little is an adjective and loudly is an adverb. ✓
Watch out. Put the adjective before the noun it describes.