Changing nouns to adjectives In English, nouns can often be changed into adjectives by putting -y or -ful on the end. Look at these examples. a) There is a lot of dirt in this room. b) This room is very dirty. c) Thanks for all your help. d) You have been very helpful. Which of the words are nouns? Which of the words are adjectives? Give the missing form of the words below. NOUN FORM ADJECTIVE FORM 1 care 2 _________________________ 3 grass 4 _________________________ 5 health 6 _________________________ 7 peace 8 _________________________ 9 hope 10 _________________________ 11 salt 12 _________________________ _________________________ cheerful _________________________ noisy _________________________ funny _________________________ smoky _________________________ useful _________________________ shameful Adjectives to nouns But adjectives can also be changed back into nouns. Look at these examples. a) How high is that building? b) What is the height of that building? c) Be patient. d) Patience is important. Which of the words above are adjectives? Which words are nouns? Complete these sentences. 1 How deep is the pool? — What is the ......................... of the pool? 2 He is strong. — He has great ........................... . 3 It isn't important. — It has no ............................. . 4 Is it possible? — Is this a ............................... ? 5 Be honest! — ................................ is important. 6 You are very intelligent. — I'm impressed by your ................................ . Adjectives to adverbs 1 Most adjectives can be made into adverbs by adding -ly. Adjectives ending in -y add -ily. quick — quickly slow — slowly easy — easily 2 Some adjectives and adverbs have the same form: fast, hard, late. 3 Good is an adjective. Well is the adverb. 4 Some adjectives already end in -ly. We cannot make an adverb. Instead, we use the phrase in a ... way. She gave me a friendly smile. (adjective) She smiled at me in a friendly way. Supply the missing words or phrases in the table. ADJECTIVE ADVERB OR PHRASE good ____________________ nice ____________________ hard ____________________ lively ____________________ fast ____________________ heavily ____________________ beautifully ____________________ temporarily ____________________ badly ____________________ Complete this letter with the correct form of the word in brackets. Use nouns, adjectives and adverbs. Dear Jack I am staying in a very (1) .......................... (comfort) hotel in the South of France, near a (2) ........................ (sand) beach. Unfortunately it has been very (3) ......................... (wind) and the hotel itself is very (4) ........................ (expense). Another problem is that the chef can't cook very (5) ......................... (good). The food is rather (6) ........................ (grease) and I have been (7) ....................... (hunger) most of the time because I have had great (8) ....................... (difficult) in finding anything (9) ........................ (suitably) on the menu. However, I have been very impressed by the (10) ......................... (beautiful) of the surroundings and the (11) ........................ (kind) of the people. It is true that I have suffered a bit from (12) ......................... (boring) but I always do when I'm not (13) ........................ (full) occupied. Sometimes I feel (14) ....................... (sleep) in the middle of the day and have a short nap, which I am very (15) ....................... (thank) for. Unfortunately I sleep quite (16) ......................... (bad) at night because the people in the room next to me snore (17) .......................... (terrible). Anyway, I'm leaving this Friday. The drive back will (18) ........................ (probable) take me two or three days, as long as the traffic isn't too (19) ....................... (badly). I'll get in touch (20) ........................... (immediate) after I get home and maybe we can arrange to meet up for a meal. See you Soon, Grace