Adjectives and Adverbs in English: Modifying Language for Meaning and Effect

Adjectives and adverbs are used to modify other words in texts. They serve an important role in informing the reader about the writer's attitude, bias and overall writing purpose. They also perform an evaluative role so that the reader can critically consider the importance or relevance of certain ideas, opinions or facts.

Adjectives are used to modify nouns. E.g.: 'This is a controversial question.'

Adverbs are used to modify verbs, adjectives or other adverbs. E.g.: 'She read very quickly through the extremely long agenda.'

Direction: The following sentences are taken from Text A and B with the modifying language missing. Choose a proper modifying adjective or adverb and complete these sentences. Consider how the modifying language helps you understand the text. (28%)

almost probably seeming intricately

freely likely incalculable constantly

1. God will be thanked for many gifts — for the feast on the table and the company of loved ones, for health and good fortune in the year gone by, for peace at home in a time of war, for the 'almost' privilege of having been born — or having become —American. (Text A)

2. But it 'probably' won’t occur to too many of us to give thanks for the fact that the local supermarket had plenty of turkey for sale this week. (Text A)

3. And yet, isn’t there something wondrous — something 'seeming' inexplicable — in the way your Thanksgiving weekend is made possible by the skill and labor of vast numbers of total strangers? (Text A)

4. The activities of countless far-flung men and women over the course of many months had to be 'intricately' choreographed and precisely timed, so that when you showed up to buy a fresh Thanksgiving turkey, there would be one — or more likely, a few dozen — waiting. (Text A)

5. Out of the 'incalculable' chaos of millions of uncoordinated private transactions emerges the spontaneous order of the market. (Text A)

6. Free human beings 'constantly' interact, and the result is an array of goods and services more immense than the human mind can comprehend. (Text A)

7. If your employer substituted merchandise, for your paycheck, you would 'likely' object to the means of payment. (Text B)

8. Microsoft replied that the software market is always changing and that Microsoft’s Windows was 'freely' being challenged by competitors, such as the Apple Mac9 and Linux operating systems. (Text B)