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Business English
Adjektiv oder Adverb?
Good or well, possible or possibly?
Der Gebrauch von Adjektiven und Adverben in der englischen Sprache wird häufig als schwierig empfunden. In
diesem Beitrag finden Sie Beispiele, die Ihnen den Umgang mit den Wortarten erleichtern sollen.
How to use them
Richard was extremely happy about his
unexpected promotion.
There are two adjectives and one adverb
in that example; can you spot them and
do you know which noun / verb they
relate to?
„Extremely“ is of course an adverb –
often easy to recognise as they usually
end in „-ly“, although watch out: some
adjectives, eg: lovely, also end in „-ly“.
Here the adverb modifies the adjective
„happy“, which in turn modifies the
proper noun „Richard“. „Unexpected“ is
also an adjective, referring of course to
the promotion.
Adjectives are also used after the verb
„to be“ when they refer back to the noun
or pronoun before the verb, as in the following
example:
They have been depressed all week
because the presentation went badly.
Finally, you also need to remember to
use adjectives rather than adverbs after
sense or appearance verbs, eg:
> The new fragrance smells wonderful
(not: …).
> The paper appeared flimsy at first
glance (not: …).
Forming adjectives and adverbs
Many adjectives and adverbs can be formed
from nouns or verbs, eg:
a crowd (noun) -> crowded (adj.)
the sun (noun) -> sunny (adj.)
-> sunnily (adv.)
an accident -> accidental (adj.)
(noun) -> accidentally (adv.)
There are a variety of suffixes that can
be used to form adjectives, eg:
Add „-y“: greed -> greedy
Add „-ic“: alcohol -> alcoholic
Add „-ful“: doubt -> doubtful
Add „-al“: nation -> national
Add „-ous“: danger -> dangerous
Add „-less“: care -> careless
Add „-able“: respect -> respectable
Add „-ive“: progress -> progressive
Adverbs are simpler to form, as they
generally necessitate merely the addition
of „-ly“, eg: dangerous ? dangerously.
There are of course adverbs that do
not take the „-ly“ suffix, including adverbs
of frequency such as „often„ or
„never“.
Comparatives and superlatives
When using adjectives and adverbs it
helps to be able to compare things as
well as describe them. For one syllable
adjectives, the endings „-er“ and „-est“
are used, while for longer adjectives you
will need „more“ and „most“. So:
low -> lower -> lowest
and profitable -> more profitable
-> most profitable
There are some additional rules concerning
spelling; first of all, if a word ends
in „-e“ then just add an „-r“, eg:
nice -> nicer -> nicest.
If a word ends in a single vowel and a
single consonant, then you need to double
the last consonant, eg:
big -> bigger -> biggest.
ANZEIGE
EXERCISE
business-english
Complete the following sentences, selecting the appropriate adverb
or adjective from the list below!
regular, carefully, shortly, well, better, delighted, worse, regularly, short, early, careful
1. John gets sales results than Joshua does.
2. We expect payment.
3. They pay their bills .
4. The presentation was very .
5. They will be here .
6. He finished his task because he didn’t want to make any mistakes.
7. She was because she didn’t want to make any mistakes.
8. They are about the rise in profits.
9. He spoke French than she did.
10. She didn’t feel so she stopped work .
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Answers: 1. better (worse); 2. regular; 3. regularly;
4. short; 5. shortly; 6. carefully; 7. careful; 8. delighted;
9. worse (better); 10. well (= BE)/good (= AE), early
86 ProFirma 12 2011