Adjective or Adverb Practice Tests with B1 Grammar Rules & Examples

Adjective or Adverb?

When we describe things in English, we often need to choose between an adjective and an adverb. These two types of words look similar, but they do very different jobs in a sentence. Choosing the wrong one is a very common mistake — even for intermediate learners.

In this lesson, you will learn:

• what adjectives and adverbs are
• how to form adverbs from adjectives
• when to use an adjective and when to use an adverb
• special cases and common mistakes

Let's start with a simple situation:

Maria is a careful driver. She drives carefully.

Both sentences describe Maria's driving. But notice that the words are different — careful and carefully. Why? Because they are doing different jobs in the sentence. Let's find out how.

What Is an Adjective?

An adjective is a word that describes a noun (a person, place, or thing). It tells us what something is like.

Adjectives usually come before a noun or after a linking verb (such as be, look, feel, seem, sound, taste, smell).

Adjective before a noun

In these sentences, the adjective describes the noun directly:

• She is a careful driver. (careful describes the noun driver)
• He has a loud voice. (loud describes the noun voice)
• It was a quick decision. (quick describes the noun decision)

Adjective after a linking verb

A linking verb connects a subject to a description of it. The most common linking verbs are: be, look, feel, seem, sound, taste, smell, appear, become.

After these verbs, we use an adjective — not an adverb.

• The music sounds loud. (loud describes the noun music)
• She looks tired. (tired describes the noun she)
• The soup tastes good. (good describes the noun soup)
• He seems nervous. (nervous describes the noun he)

Remember: After a linking verb, always ask yourself — "What does this word describe?" If it describes a person or thing, use an adjective.

What Is an Adverb?

An adverb is a word that describes a verb, an adjective, or another adverb. It tells us how, when, where, or how much something happens.

Adverbs most often describe verbs — they tell us how an action is done.

• She drives carefully. (carefully describes the verb drives — how does she drive?)
• He spoke loudly. (loudly describes the verb spoke — how did he speak?)
• They decided quickly. (quickly describes the verb decided — how did they decide?)

Adverbs can also describe adjectives or other adverbs:

• The film was incredibly boring. (incredibly describes the adjective boring)
• She spoke very quietly. (very describes the adverb quietly)

How to Form Adverbs from Adjectives

Most adverbs are formed by adding -ly to the adjective. However, there are some spelling rules to follow.

Rule 1: Most adjectives — add -ly

Adjective	Adverb	Example sentence
slow	slowly	He walked slowly to the door.
quiet	quietly	She spoke quietly.
careful	carefully	Drive carefully!
clear	clearly	Please speak clearly.
loud	loudly	He laughed loudly.
perfect	perfectly	She sang perfectly.

Rule 2: Adjectives ending in -y — change y to i, then add -ly

Adjective	Adverb	Example sentence
happy	happily	The children played happily.
easy	easily	She answered the question easily.
heavy	heavily	It rained heavily last night.
angry	angrily	He replied angrily.

Rule 3: Adjectives ending in -le — drop the -e and add -y

Adjective	Adverb	Example sentence
gentle	gently	She gently picked up the baby.
simple	simply	He explained it simply.
comfortable	comfortably	She sat comfortably in the chair.

Rule 4: Adjectives ending in -ic — add -ally

Adjective	Adverb	Example sentence
automatic	automatically	The door opens automatically.
dramatic	dramatically	Prices rose dramatically.
basic	basically	Basically, I agree with you.

Adjective or Adverb? How to Choose

The most important question to ask yourself is: What is this word describing?

If it describes...	Use...	Example
a noun (person, place, thing)	adjective	She is a careful driver.
a verb (an action)	adverb	She drives carefully.
an adjective	adverb	He was incredibly tired.
another adverb	adverb	She ran very quickly.

A simple test

Ask yourself two questions:

1. Is there a noun nearby that this word is describing?
→ If yes, use an adjective.
→ He is a slow runner. (slow → describes the noun runner)

2. Is this word describing a verb (telling you how an action happens)?
→ If yes, use an adverb.
→ He runs slowly. (slowly → describes the verb runs)

Important Special Cases

Good and Well

This is one of the most common points of confusion for learners at all levels.

Good is an adjective. It describes a noun.
Well is usually an adverb. It describes a verb.

Adjective (good)	Adverb (well)
She is a good singer.	She sings well.
That is a good idea.	He speaks English well.
It was a good match.	Did you sleep well?

Note: Well can also be an adjective, but only when it means healthy:
→ I don't feel well today. (= I don't feel healthy)

Fast and Hard

Some words have the same form as both an adjective and an adverb. You do not add -ly to these words.

Word	Adjective example	Adverb example
fast	He is a fast runner.	He runs fast.
hard	It was a hard exam.	She worked hard.
early	We caught the early train.	We arrived early.
late	The late bus never comes.	He arrived late.

Be careful! Hardly and lately exist, but they have completely different meanings:

• He worked hard. (= with a lot of effort)
  He hardly worked. (= he almost did not work at all)
• She arrived late. (= not on time)
  Lately, I've been very busy. (= recently)

Adjectives after linking verbs — do not use an adverb!

Remember: after linking verbs like look, feel, seem, sound, smell, taste, become, always use an adjective, not an adverb.

• The coffee smells wonderful. ✅ (not wonderfully)
• You look tired. ✅ (not tiredly)
• He became famous. ✅ (not famously)

The trick is this: if you can replace the verb with is/are/was, it is a linking verb and you need an adjective.

→ The coffee smells wonderful. ≈ The coffee is wonderful. ✅ → use adjective

Adjective vs Adverb: Side-by-Side Comparison

Adjective sentence	Adverb sentence
She is a quiet person.	She speaks quietly.
He is a slow reader.	He reads slowly.
It was a sudden change.	The weather changed suddenly.
She is a fluent speaker.	She speaks fluently.
He gave a nervous smile.	He smiled nervously.
They made a quick decision.	They decided quickly.

Common Mistakes with Adjective or Adverb

❌ She sings very good.
✅ She sings very well. (well is the adverb — it describes the verb sings)

❌ He ran fastly to catch the bus.
✅ He ran fast to catch the bus. (fast is already an adverb — do not add -ly)

❌ She looked at me angry.
✅ She looked at me angrily. (looked at here is an action verb, not a linking verb — use the adverb)

❌ The music sounds loudly.
✅ The music sounds loud. (sounds is a linking verb — use the adjective)

❌ He worked hardly all day.
✅ He worked hard all day. (hardly means "almost not" — use hard for effort)

❌ They arrived lately to the party.
✅ They arrived late to the party. (lately means "recently" — use late for time)

❌ It is an incredibly well idea.
✅ It is an incredibly good idea. (good is the adjective — it describes the noun idea)

❌ She danced beautiful at the show.
✅ She danced beautifully at the show. (danced is an action verb — use the adverb)

Adjective or Adverb: Quick Summary

Here is a quick overview of everything you have learned in this lesson:

• An adjective describes a noun (person, place, or thing).
• An adverb describes a verb, an adjective, or another adverb.
• Most adverbs are formed by adding -ly to the adjective.
• Watch spelling changes: happy → happily, gentle → gently, dramatic → dramatically.
• After linking verbs (be, look, feel, seem, sound, taste, smell), use an adjective.
• After action verbs, use an adverb.
• Good is an adjective. Well is usually an adverb.
• Some words like fast, hard, early, late are the same as both adjective and adverb — never add -ly.
• Hard/hardly and late/lately have very different meanings — be careful!

Now practise adjective or adverb in the exercises below.