Make your writing POP! (adjectives and adverbs)

So ... I'm telling you about my day at the beach, and I say, "The sunset was lovely."

What do you know about that sunset? You know it's "lovely," but what does lovely mean to you? Do you really see that sunset? What if I said this instead?

Yesterday, I took my nephew to the beach. After a fun day energetically playing in the surf and sand, we quietly sat on the shore. With him closely cuddled by my side, we watched the vibrant hues pervade the horizon. Extraordinary oranges and astonishing reds quickly filled the sky. "Isn't that the most amazingly beautiful sunset you've ever seen?" I whispered. "Yes, auntie," he lisped. "It's the prettiest sunset ever!"

When we speak face-to-face, we communicate with more than just our words. In fact, only about 7 percent of our face-to-face communication happens through words. The rest is body language and facial expressions. When we write, however, the only way we communicate is through our words, and how we use them changes how our readers understand what we're trying to say.

We can certainly write basic sentences and adequately communicate, but using modifiers can help us more than just adequately communicate. Let's talk about how to to this.

Adjectives

Adjectives modify nouns and pronouns (see "Let's start at the very beginning ..." for more on nouns and pronouns). If the noun is "man," adjectives describe him. What does he look like? What other characteristics does he have?

The man came into the restaurant.

OK. That tells us the person who came in was male rather than female, but that's about it. We don't know much, do we?

The tall, thin, dark-haired man came into the restaurant.

Do you have a better picture of what this man is like? Adjectives not only tell us about how something looks, but they also describe characteristics.

The loud-mouthed, obnoxious man came into the restaurant.

Adjectives add richness and depth to our writing.

Adverbs

Adverbs modify verbs (see "Lights. Camera. ACTION!" for more information about verbs), adjectives, and other adverbs. Most (but not all) adverbs end in -ly. Adverbs help to tell us to what extent something is or does. For example:

I cheered joyfully as I watched my son run really quickly across the finish line and win the especially important award.

The adverb joyfully modifies the verb cheered, and tells my reader how I cheered. Really modifies the adverb quickly, which in turn, modifies the verb run. These adverbs tell my reader how he ran. Especially modifies the adjective important, and tells my reader how important the award really is.

Adverbs help us communicate more effectively to our readers.

Before I finish this blog on adjectives and adverbs, let me share one of my biggest pet peeves (in a few weeks I'll be dedicating an entire blog to all those things that drive English instructors crazy!).

Really is an adverb. It means "truly" or "genuinely." Real is an adjective. It means "true" or "genuine."

I become really frustrated when people say, "You're real frustrated, aren't you?"

To test this, substitute "true" for "real." You wouldn't say, "You're true frustrated, aren't you?"

Keep writing well!

Prof. Saundra Rinehart