Adjectives vs. Adverbs – English Grammar Exercises for A2
You recently went to the doctor for a check-up and decided to change your lifestyle. You are now texting your family group chat to tell them about your new diet and exercise routine. Choose the best option (A, B, C, or D) to complete each sentence. Read carefully, as the questions get progressively more challenging!
1 “Hi everyone! The doctor told me that I need to eat more ______ from now on.”
(A) healthy
(B) healthily
(C) health
(D) dangerously
2 “He said I need to build a ______ heart and lower my blood pressure.”
(A) strongly
(B) strength
(C) weak
(D) strong
3 “My cholesterol levels were very ______, which really worried me.”
(A) badly
(B) badness
(C) bad
(D) excellent
4 “Now, I always prepare my meals very ______ at home instead of eating out.”
(A) carelessly
(B) careful
(C) care
(D) carefully
5 “I immediately threw away all the ______ snacks in my kitchen cupboards.”
(A) unhealthily
(B) unhealthy
(C) health
(D) nutritious
6 “I used to eat my dinner really ______, but now I take time to chew my food.”
(A) fast
(B) fastly
(C) fasten
(D) slow
7 “The boiled vegetable soup I made yesterday tasted completely ______!”
(A) awfulness
(B) awful
(C) awfully
(D) deliciously
8 “I am also trying to sleep ______ for eight hours every single night.”
(A) peaceful
(B) peace
(C) peacefully
(D) nervously
9 “I set my alarm so I can wake up ______ every morning for a brisk walk.”
(A) earlily
(B) late
(C) early
(D) earliness
10 “My new nutritionist spoke to me very ______ about my daily sugar habits.”
(A) serious
(B) seriously
(C) seriousness
(D) jokingly
11 “I honestly feel completely ______ after just one week of this new diet.”
(A) differently
(B) difference
(C) same
(D) different
12 “I promise I will follow the doctor’s advice ______ this time.”
(A) strict
(B) strictly
(C) loosely
(D) strictness
13 “I am working ______ at the gym to lose those extra five kilograms.”
(A) hard
(B) hardly
(C) hardness
(D) lazy
14 “My green spinach smoothie looks ______, but it is actually quite tasty.”
(A) terribly
(B) delicious
(C) terrible
(D) terror
15 “I have completely cut out sugar, so I ______ eat chocolate anymore.”
(A) hardly
(B) hard
(C) hardness
(D) easily
16 “My fitness coach is very strict, but he plans my workouts really ______.”
(A) good
(B) badly
(C) well
(D) goodly
17 “I haven’t eaten any fried food ______, and my stomach feels so much better.”
(A) late
(B) lately
(C) lateness
(D) early
18 “Now, when I look ______ at food labels in the supermarket, I am shocked.”
(A) close
(B) closely
(C) closeness
(D) blindly
19 “I used to stay up ______, eating pizza on the sofa while watching TV.”
(A) late
(B) lately
(C) lateness
(D) early
20 “Everyone in my new morning running club has been so ______ to me.”
(A) friendliness
(B) rude
(C) friend
(D) friendly
ANSWER KEY & EXPLANATIONS
1 (B) healthily
- Why it’s correct: We need an adverb to describe how you “eat” (action verb).
- Analysis of incorrect options: (A) “healthy” is a Common Mistake (using an adjective instead of an adverb). (C) “health” is a Structural Error (noun). (D) “dangerously” is a Meaning Trap (you wouldn’t tell your family you need to eat dangerously to improve your health).
2 (D) strong
- Why it’s correct: We need an adjective to describe the noun “heart”.
- Analysis of incorrect options: (A) “strongly” is a Common Mistake (adverb). (B) “strength” is a Structural Error (noun). (C) “weak” is a Meaning Trap (you want a strong heart, not a weak one).
3 (C) bad
- Why it’s correct: “Were” is a linking verb (verb ‘to be’). It must be followed by an adjective to describe the subject (cholesterol levels).
- Analysis of incorrect options: (A) “badly” is a Common Mistake (using an adverb after the verb ‘to be’). (B) “badness” is a Structural Error (noun). (D) “excellent” is a Meaning Trap (if they were excellent, it wouldn’t “worry” you).
4 (D) carefully
- Why it’s correct: We need an adverb to describe how you “prepare” (action verb) your meals.
- Analysis of incorrect options: (B) “careful” is a Common Mistake (adjective). (C) “care” is a Structural Error (noun/verb). (A) “carelessly” is a Meaning Trap (preparing meals carelessly contradicts taking control of your health).
5 (B) unhealthy
- Why it’s correct: We need an adjective to modify the noun “snacks”.
- Analysis of incorrect options: (A) “unhealthily” is a Common Mistake (adverb). (C) “health” is a Structural Error (noun). (D) “nutritious” is a Meaning Trap (you wouldn’t throw away nutritious snacks if you are on a diet).
6 (A) fast
- Why it’s correct: “Fast” is an irregular word that acts as both an adjective and an adverb. Here, it is an adverb modifying the action verb “eat”.
- Analysis of incorrect options: (B) “fastly” is a very Common Mistake (adding -ly to fast is always grammatically incorrect; the word does not exist). (C) “fasten” is a Structural Error (verb meaning to tie/buckle). (D) “slow” is a Meaning Trap (if you used to eat slow, the contrast “but now I take time” wouldn’t make sense).
7 (B) awful
- Why it’s correct: “Tasted” is a linking verb (verb of senses). It acts like an equal sign connecting the soup to its description. It MUST be followed by an adjective.
- Analysis of incorrect options: (C) “awfully” is a Common Mistake (putting an adverb after a linking verb). (A) “awfulness” is a Structural Error (noun). (D) “deliciously” is a Structural Error/Meaning Trap (adverb, and it contradicts the implied struggle of diet food).
8 (C) peacefully
- Why it’s correct: We need an adverb to describe the action verb “sleep”.
- Analysis of incorrect options: (A) “peaceful” is a Common Mistake (adjective). (B) “peace” is a Structural Error (noun). (D) “nervously” is a Meaning Trap.
9 (C) early
- Why it’s correct: “Early” is an irregular word that acts as both an adjective and an adverb. Here it modifies “wake up”.
- Analysis of incorrect options: (A) “earlily” is a Common Mistake/Structural Error (this word does not exist). (D) “earliness” is a Structural Error (noun). (B) “late” is a Meaning Trap (waking up late contradicts going for a morning walk).
10 (B) seriously
- Why it’s correct: We need an adverb to describe how the nutritionist “spoke” (action verb).
- Analysis of incorrect options: (A) “serious” is a Common Mistake (adjective). (C) “seriousness” is a Structural Error (noun). (D) “jokingly” is a Meaning Trap (doctors don’t usually speak jokingly about bad sugar habits).
11 (D) different
- Why it’s correct: “Feel” is a linking verb of senses. It requires an adjective to describe your state of being.
- Analysis of incorrect options: (A) “differently” is a Common Mistake (using an adverb after the linking verb ‘feel’). (B) “difference” is a Structural Error (noun). (C) “same” is a Meaning Trap.
12 (B) strictly
- Why it’s correct: We need an adverb to modify the action verb “follow”.
- Analysis of incorrect options: (A) “strict” is a Common Mistake (adjective). (D) “strictness” is a Structural Error (noun). (C) “loosely” is a Meaning Trap (following advice loosely means you are not committed to the diet).
13 (A) hard
- Why it’s correct: “Hard” is an irregular adverb modifying the action verb “working”. It means “with a lot of effort”.
- Analysis of incorrect options: (B) “hardly” is a Strong Distractor/Meaning Trap. “Hardly” means “almost not at all”. If you “work hardly” at the gym, you are being extremely lazy! (C) “hardness” is a Structural Error (noun). (D) “lazy” is a Meaning Trap/Structural Error.
14 (C) terrible
- Why it’s correct: “Looks” is a linking verb here, describing the appearance of the smoothie. It takes an adjective.
- Analysis of incorrect options: (A) “terribly” is a Common Mistake (using an adverb after a linking verb). (D) “terror” is a Structural Error (noun). (B) “delicious” is a Meaning Trap (the word “but” implies a contrast; if it looks delicious, you wouldn’t say “but it’s tasty”).
15 (A) hardly
- Why it’s correct: Here we need the adverb “hardly”, which means “barely” or “almost not at all”. You have cut out sugar, so you almost never eat chocolate.
- Analysis of incorrect options: (B) “hard” is a Common Mistake/Meaning Trap (it means “with effort”, which doesn’t fit the verb “eat” in this context). (C) “hardness” is a Structural Error. (D) “easily” is a Meaning Trap.
16 (C) well
- Why it’s correct: We need an adverb to modify the action verb “plans”. The adverb form of “good” is “well”.
- Analysis of incorrect options: (A) “good” is a Common Mistake (using the adjective form). (D) “goodly” is a Structural Error (fake word). (B) “badly” is a Meaning Trap (if he is a strict coach, he plans things well, not badly).
17 (B) lately
- Why it’s correct: We need the adverb “lately”, which means “recently”. “I haven’t eaten fried food recently.”
- Analysis of incorrect options: (A) “late” is a Strong Distractor/Common Mistake (“Late” refers to a time of day or being delayed, which makes no sense with “haven’t eaten”). (C) “lateness” is a Structural Error. (D) “early” is a Meaning Trap.
18 (B) closely
- Why it’s correct: “Look AT” is an action verb here (the physical action of directing your eyes to the label). Therefore, we need an adverb to describe how you look.
- Analysis of incorrect options: (A) “close” is a Strong Distractor/Common Mistake (students memorize “look + adjective” for linking verbs, but forget that “look at” is an action!). (C) “closeness” is a Structural Error (noun). (D) “blindly” is a Meaning Trap.
19 (A) late
- Why it’s correct: “Late” is an irregular adverb describing the phrasal verb “stay up”. It means “until a late hour”.
- Analysis of incorrect options: (B) “lately” is a Strong Distractor/Meaning Trap (“Lately” is an adverb meaning “recently”, not referring to the time of night). (C) “lateness” is a Structural Error (noun). (D) “early” is a Meaning Trap (staying up early makes no logical sense).
20 (D) friendly
- Why it’s correct: “Has been” is a linking verb requiring an adjective. Note: “Friendly” is a rare adjective that ends in “-ly”!
- Analysis of incorrect options: (C) “friend” is a Structural Error (noun). (A) “friendliness” is a Structural Error (noun). (B) “rude” is a Meaning Trap (contradicts the context of being positive and supportive).
GRAMMAR POINTS TO REMEMBER
- The Basic Rule:
- Adjectives (healthy, careful, good) describe nouns (a person, a body, food).
- Adverbs (healthily, carefully, well) describe verbs/actions (eat, run, follow).
- Action Verbs vs. Linking Verbs (The Big Trap):
- Action Verbs (eat, sleep, look at) take Adverbs. (I looked at the label closely.)
- Linking Verbs (be, seem, look, feel, taste, sound) act like an equal sign (=). They don’t show action; they connect the subject to its state. You MUST use Adjectives after them! (The soup tastes awful. I feel different.)
- The Irregular Adverbs (Don’t just add “-ly”):
- Fast: Always stays fast. (“Fastly” is not a word!).
- Hard vs. Hardly: Hard means “with effort” (work hard). Hardly is a completely different word that means “almost zero / rarely” (I hardly eat chocolate).
- Late vs. Lately: Late means “not on time” or “late at night” (stay up late). Lately means “recently” (I haven’t eaten fast food lately).
- Good vs. Well: Good is an adjective (a good coach). Well is the adverb form (he plans well).