Adjectives and adverbs: ESL lesson plans and exercises

Q: How do you form adverbs of manner?

Most of them add -ly to an adjective. Soft becomes softly , and careful becomes carefully , with two l's. A final -y turns into -ily ( easily ), and -le into -ly ( gently ). Good becomes well , and hard , fast and late don't change. There's no fastly , and hardly means almost not.

Q: Where do adverbs of manner go in a sentence?

After the object, or straight after the verb. Hit the ball softly , not Hit softly the ball . Without an object, the adverb follows the verb: Biscuit runs fast. Its form stays the same for every person and tense: They learn quickly , They learned quickly .

Q: When do we use too and enough?

Too means more than OK; enough means OK. It's too cold to sit describes a problem, and The bench is warm enough means it's fine. Enough follows the adjective ( wide enough , not enough wide ), and too needs no much . Next can come to + a verb or for + a noun: too busy to walk , too small for Biscuit .

Q: What's the difference between -ed and -ing adjectives?

-ing describes the cause; -ed, how someone feels. A boring meeting leaves everyone bored , and an exciting launch makes the team excited . That's why I'm boring means other people find you boring. Learn the small words that follow: interested in , excited about , tired of .

Q: How do I teach adjectives to beginners?

Start with opposites and the two places adjectives go. English A1.1 on edio.ai pairs words like warm and cold or quiet and noisy with have got , in a lesson about a college dorm room: I've got a soft pillow , My room is cozy . At A2, too and enough , adverbs of manner and adjective order come next.

Q: Are there interactive adjectives and adverbs exercises?

Yes, the first few are right on this page. They're taken from the lessons in the list and play without an account. Each lesson then has its own drills, such as gap-fills, drag-and-drop and quizzes, which students do in their accounts and which mark every answer. A free trial lets you open them all.

Q: When do you use so and such?

So goes before an adjective, such before a noun. Compare The pumpkin is so big! with It's such a big pumpkin! So works with adverbs too ( Biscuit eats so fast! ). Such comes before a or an , never after it, and a plural noun takes no article: such funny costumes .

Q: Do these adjective and adverb lessons work one-to-one?

Yes, in a live class of one or as homework. Live, the student works in their own account in sync with you, and the speaking game runs as a pair. As homework, the drills check themselves, and the few tasks that need a teacher come back to you.

Levels A1 to B2 16 lesson plans · 3 drill lessons Exercises that check themselves

Adjectives describe people and things (a soft pillow), and adverbs of manner say how someone does something (hit the ball softly). Here are 16 ready-made lessons on both from the edio.ai library, levels A1 to B2, in American English, from adjective order and -ly adverbs to too and enough. Try exercises from the lessons, read the rules in their own grammar schemes and choose a lesson for your class by level. Each one is interactive, with practice exercises that check every answer.

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Adjectives and adverbs lesson plans and drills

16 lesson plans and 3 drill lessons, A1 to B2. Lesson plans are whole lessons with reading, listening and speaking; drill lessons are 45 self-checking exercises with no new words.

Try the adjectives and adverbs exercises

One exercise from each of 6 lessons. These are the same exercises your students do in edio.

Adjectives and adverbs explained

We use adjectives to describe nouns and adverbs of manner to say how an action happens. An adjective goes before its noun or after be and never takes -s. Most adverbs of manner add -ly to an adjective and come after the verb or its object: She serves carefully.

Before the noun or after be

An adjective sits in front of its noun or after is and are: a cozy room, My room is cozy. Its form doesn't change for one thing or many, so it's two warm blankets, never warms.

Before a noun

a cozy room
a soft pillow
warm blankets

After is / are

My room is cozy.
The pillow is soft.
The blankets are warm.

From the lesson Can a dorm room be cozy? (English A1.1)

Too and enough

Too goes before an adjective and means more than OK, a problem: It's too cold to sit. Enough goes after it and means as much as you need (warm enough), while not … enough means less than you need: The bench isn't big enough.

Pattern	It means…	Example
too + adjective	more than OK: a problem ✗	It's too cold to sit.
adjective + enough	OK: as much as you need ✓	The bench is warm enough. Let's sit!
not + adjective + enough	less than you need: a problem ✗	The bench isn't big enough for three.
Question: be + adjective + enough?	Is it OK?	Are you warm enough? – Yes, I am. / No, I'm not.

From the lesson A park on an old railroad (English A2.1)

Adverbs of manner: softly, carefully, well

An adverb of manner says how someone does something: a soft hit, but hit softly. Most adjectives just add -ly; easy becomes easily, and gentle becomes gently. Good changes to well, and hard, fast and late keep the same form.

Adjective or adverb?

Adjective: with a noun or after be

a soft hit
a careful player
Lila is a good teacher.
The ball is fast.

Adverb: with a verb (how?)

hit softly
play carefully
Lila teaches well.
The ball flies fast.

Make the adverb

Adjective	How	Adverb
soft, quick, slow, bad, loud, quiet	+ ly	softly, quickly, slowly, badly, loudly, quietly
careful, diagonal	+ ly (two l's!)	carefully, diagonally
easy, happy	y → ily	easily, happily
gentle, terrible	le → ly	gently, terribly
good	a new word	well
hard, fast, late	no change	hard, fast, late

From the lesson Pickleball: a game from a backyard (English A2.1)

The order of adjectives

Before a noun, adjectives line up as opinion, size, age, shape, color, origin, material and purpose. Five of those groups do most of the work: a nice small old brown leather wallet. No commas go between the groups.

The order

Order	Group	It tells you…	Examples
1	opinion	what you think	nice, beautiful, strange
2	size	how big or long	big, small, tiny, long
3	age	how old	old, new, young
4	shape	what shape	round, square, flat
5	color	what color	green, brown, pink
6	origin	where it's from	American, Texan
7	material	leather? wool? metal?	leather, wool, cotton, metal
8	purpose	what it's for	sleeping (bag), running (shoes)
→	the noun	the thing	cap, wallet, umbrella

The five groups you use most

opinionsizeagecolormaterialnoun

a nice small old brown leather wallet

a beautiful long new red wool scarf

From the lesson What's in the lost and found? (English A2.2)

Look, sound and feel + an adjective

Look, sound and feel work like is, so they take an adjective, not an -ly adverb: It looks gentle, not It looks gently. A noun needs like first: It looks like a potato. Smell and taste follow the same pattern.

look / sound / feel + adjective

It looks gentle.
It sounds strange.
The water feels warm.
You look tired.

look / sound / feel + like + noun

It looks like a potato.
It sounds like a bird.
The sand feels like sugar.
You look like your mom.

From the lesson Sailors thought it was a mermaid (English A2.2)

-ed or -ing: confused or confusing?

At B1, -ing adjectives describe what causes a feeling and -ed adjectives how a person feels: This name is confusing, so Iryna is confused by this name. A name can only cause the feeling, so This variable name is confused is wrong.

-ing: what causes the feeling (a thing, a situation or a person)

This name is confusing.
Long reviews are tiring.
Wes can be a bit annoying about names.

-ed: how a person feels

Iryna is confused by this name.
I'm tired after long reviews.
Wes gets annoyed by short names.

From the lesson What's a nit? (English for IT B1)

Questions about adjectives and adverbs

What's the difference between adjectives and adverbs?

Adjectives describe nouns; adverbs of manner describe actions. So it's a careful player but She plays carefully, and a good teacher but Lila teaches well. After be, and after look, sound or feel, keep the adjective: The ball is fast, You look tired.

How do you form adverbs of manner?

Most of them add -ly to an adjective. Soft becomes softly, and careful becomes carefully, with two l's. A final -y turns into -ily (easily), and -le into -ly (gently). Good becomes well, and hard, fast and late don't change. There's no fastly, and hardly means almost not.

Where do adverbs of manner go in a sentence?

After the object, or straight after the verb. Hit the ball softly, not Hit softly the ball. Without an object, the adverb follows the verb: Biscuit runs fast. Its form stays the same for every person and tense: They learn quickly, They learned quickly.

What is the correct order of adjectives?

Opinion, size, age, shape, color, origin, material, purpose. Two or three adjectives before a noun follow that order: a big red umbrella, new black running shoes, not a red big umbrella. A or an depends on the first adjective: an old cap, but a small old cap.

When do we use too and enough?

Too means more than OK; enough means OK. It's too cold to sit describes a problem, and The bench is warm enough means it's fine. Enough follows the adjective (wide enough, not enough wide), and too needs no much. Next can come to + a verb or for + a noun: too busy to walk, too small for Biscuit.

What's the difference between -ed and -ing adjectives?

-ing describes the cause; -ed, how someone feels. A boring meeting leaves everyone bored, and an exciting launch makes the team excited. That's why I'm boring means other people find you boring. Learn the small words that follow: interested in, excited about, tired of.

How do I teach adjectives to beginners?

Start with opposites and the two places adjectives go. English A1.1 on edio.ai pairs words like warm and cold or quiet and noisy with have got, in a lesson about a college dorm room: I've got a soft pillow, My room is cozy. At A2, too and enough, adverbs of manner and adjective order come next.

Are there interactive adjectives and adverbs exercises?

Yes, the first few are right on this page. They're taken from the lessons in the list and play without an account. Each lesson then has its own drills, such as gap-fills, drag-and-drop and quizzes, which students do in their accounts and which mark every answer. A free trial lets you open them all.

When do you use so and such?

So goes before an adjective, such before a noun. Compare The pumpkin is so big! with It's such a big pumpkin! So works with adverbs too (Biscuit eats so fast!). Such comes before a or an, never after it, and a plural noun takes no article: such funny costumes.

Do these adjective and adverb lessons work one-to-one?

Yes, in a live class of one or as homework. Live, the student works in their own account in sync with you, and the speaking game runs as a pair. As homework, the drills check themselves, and the few tasks that need a teacher come back to you.

More English grammar

Lessons for every grammar point, from the verb to be to reported speech. All grammar points

Adjectives and adverbs: ESL lesson plans and exercises

Adjectives and adverbs lesson plans and drills

Can a dorm room be cozy?

A park on an old railroad

Pickleball: a game from a backyard

What's in the lost and found?

Sailors thought it was a mermaid

From turnips to pumpkins

As … as, too, enough: is it the right size?

Adverbs of manner: how did she drive?

Two blockbusters, one Friday

A helicopter on Mars?

Why do readers still love Nancy Drew?

Movie night in your car

To tip or not to tip?

What's a nit?

-ed and -ing adjectives: bored or boring?

The party that started hip hop

Flying on pedal power

Two years under glass

Who decides where a generation ends?