Adjectives vs adverbs worksheet - Free Printable

Let’s go through each question one by one. We’re choosing between adjectives (describe nouns) and adverbs (describe verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs). Most of the time, if it’s describing *how* something is done → use an adverb (often ends in -ly). If it’s describing a noun → use an adjective.

---

1. Martha is always ______ when he talks to you.
→ “is” = linking verb → needs adjective to describe Martha.
“polite” = adjective ✔
“politely” = adverb ✘
→ a) polite

2. She put the glasses on the table ______.
→ describes *how* she put them → adverb needed.
“carefully” = adverb ✔
“careful” = adjective ✘
→ a) carefully

3. Your granny walks ______.
→ describes *how* she walks → adverb.
“slowly” = adverb ✔
“slow” = adjective ✘
→ b) slowly

4. That’s a ______ work for him.
→ “work” is a noun → needs adjective.
But wait — “easy work” makes sense. “difficult work” also makes sense. But which fits better? The sentence doesn’t give context, but both are grammatically correct. However, looking at options:
a) easy → adjective ✔
b) difficult → adjective ✔
Wait — this might be tricky. Actually, “That’s a ___ work” — we usually say “That’s easy work” or “That’s difficult work”. Both are possible. But let’s check the answer key logic later. For now, note that both are adjectives. But perhaps the intended answer is based on common usage. Let’s hold and come back.

Actually — re-reading: “That’s a ________ work for him.” — “a” suggests singular countable noun, but “work” is uncountable. Hmm. Maybe typo? Probably meant “job”? Or maybe it’s acceptable. Anyway, between “easy” and “difficult”, without context, either could fit. But since it’s multiple choice with only one correct, and given typical textbook patterns, likely they want “easy” as positive/neutral. Wait — no, actually, let’s look at #8: “I know your job is ______ and badly paid.” → there, “hard” is used meaning “difficult”. So here, maybe “difficult” is expected? But again, ambiguous.

Wait — let’s skip and return after doing others. Maybe pattern emerges.

Actually, let’s think differently: In many such worksheets, they test whether you know that some words like “hard” can be both adj and adv, but here for #4, both options are adjectives. So perhaps it’s testing vocabulary. But I think the most neutral/common phrase is “That’s easy work for him.” → so a) easy

But let’s mark tentative and verify later.

5. She’s been working ______.
→ describes how she works → adverb.
“hard” = can be adverb (meaning diligently) ✔
“hardly” = means “almost not” ✘ (e.g., “She hardly works” = she barely works)
So “working hard” = working diligently → correct.
→ a) hard

6. There’s a ______ man in the street.
→ “man” = noun → needs adjective.
“homeless” = adjective ✔
“homelessly” = adverb ✘
→ a) homeless

7. They ran ______ to the police station.
→ describes how they ran → adverb.
“quickly” = adverb ✔
“quick” = adjective ✘
→ b) quickly

8. I know your job is ______ and badly paid.
→ “is” → linking verb → needs adjective.
“hard” = adjective (meaning difficult) ✔
“hardly” = adverb (means almost not) ✘ → “job is hardly” doesn’t make sense here.
Also, “badly paid” is adverb + past participle, but “hard” matches as adjective.
→ a) hard

9. He cleaned his flat ______ two days ago.
→ describes how he cleaned → adverb.
“completely” = adverb ✔
“complete” = adjective ✘
→ b) completely

10. Of course, he was ______ right.
→ “was” → linking verb, but “right” is adjective → we need adverb to modify “right”.
“absolutely” = adverb ✔ (modifies “right”)
“absolute” = adjective ✘
→ a) absolutely

11. Their baby girl was really ______.
→ “was” → linking verb → needs adjective to describe girl.
“beautiful” = adjective ✔
“beauty” = noun ✘
→ b) beautiful

12. Sarah is a very ______ woman.
→ “woman” = noun → needs adjective.
“tall” = adjective ✔
“happily” = adverb ✘
→ a) tall

13. I don’t like his portraits, he paints ______.
→ describes how he paints → adverb.
“awfully” = adverb ✔ (means very badly)
“awful” = adjective ✘
Note: “paints awfully” = paints in an awful way → correct.
→ b) awfully

14. The teacher was angry and talked ______.
→ “talked” = verb → needs adverb to describe how.
“angrily” = adverb ✔
“angry” = adjective ✘
→ b) angrily

15. Harry’s English is ______ than Sam’s.
→ comparative form. “good” → comparative is “better”
“better” = comparative adjective ✔
“good” = base form ✘
→ b) better

16. It isn’t difficult. You have to read it ______.
→ describes how to read → adverb.
“slowly” = adverb ✔
“slow” = adjective ✘
→ a) slowly

17. Spain is a ______ country.
→ “country” = noun → needs adjective.
“great” = adjective ✔
“greatly” = adverb ✘
→ b) great

18. Johnny always answers me ______.
→ describes how he answers → adverb.
“patiently” = adverb ✔
“patient” = adjective ✘
→ b) patiently

19. The house wasn’t ______ but I love it.
→ “wasn’t” → linking verb → needs adjective.
“cheap” = adjective ✔
“cheaply” = adverb ✘
→ a) cheap

20. He broke two glasses ______.
→ describes how he broke them → adverb.
“accidentally” = adverb ✔
“accident” = noun ✘
→ b) accidentally

21. My friend had an ______ hair.
→ “hair” = noun → needs adjective.
“incredible” = adjective ✔
“incredibly” = adverb ✘
Also, “an incredible hair” — though “hair” is often uncountable, sometimes used countably for a strand. Acceptable.
→ a) incredible

22. We were laughing ______ while watching TV.
→ describes how we laughed → adverb.
“happily” = adverb ✔
“happy” = adjective ✘
→ b) happily

---

Now back to #4: “That’s a ______ work for him.”

As noted, “work” is usually uncountable, so “a work” is odd. Possibly a mistake — should be “job”? In many similar exercises, they use “job”. Assuming it’s meant to be “job”, then:

“That’s a ______ job for him.”

Options: a) easy b) difficult

Both are adjectives. Which one is more likely? Without context, hard to say. But looking at #8: “your job is hard and badly paid” — so “hard” is used for difficult jobs. Here, if it’s “easy work/job”, it’s positive. But the sentence doesn’t specify.

However, in standard grammar tests, when both are grammatically correct, they often pick the one that’s more commonly paired. “Easy work” is a very common phrase. Also, note that in #5, “working hard” uses “hard” as adverb, so they distinguish.

But let’s see the answer pattern. Perhaps I can assume “easy” is intended.

Alternatively, maybe “difficult” because of the article “a” — but no.

Wait — another thought: “That’s a difficult work” sounds wrong because “work” is uncountable. “That’s difficult work” (no article) would be correct. Whereas “That’s an easy job” would take “an”. But here it says “a ______ work” — so if it’s “easy”, it should be “an easy work” — but “work” starts with consonant sound, so “a easy” is wrong! Oh!

“Easy” starts with vowel sound /iː/, so it requires “an”, not “a”.

The sentence says: “That’s a ________ work”

So if we choose “easy”, it should be “an easy work” — but it has “a”, so “easy” is incorrect due to article mismatch.

Whereas “difficult” starts with consonant sound /d/, so “a difficult work” is grammatically correct in terms of article.

Even though “work” is uncountable, in informal usage or errors, it might be accepted. But the article clue is strong.

Therefore, b) difficult is correct because of the article “a”.

Yes, that makes sense.

So #4: b) difficult

---

Final Answers:

1. a
2. a
3. b
4. b
5. a
6. a
7. b
8. a
9. b
10. a
11. b
12. a
13. b
14. b
15. b
16. a
17. b
18. b
19. a
20. b
21. a
22. b

──────────────────────────────────────

Final Answer:
1. a
2. a
3. b
4. b
5. a
6. a
7. b
8. a
9. b
10. a
11. b
12. a
13. b
14. b
15. b
16. a
17. b
18. b
19. a
20. b
21. a
22. b