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Say it Right: Adding sugar and spice to your words Sunday Apr 1, 2018 at 2:01 AM By Sandi Ekbergfor the Mail Tribune The cat sat. Yes, that is a complete sentence, but it’s rather dull. It needs more, and that can be contributed by those little fellows we call adjectives (fat, ugly, Manx cat) and adverbs (sat carefully, quietly, under the bush). An adjective modifies or describes a noun or pronoun. It tells which, what kind of or how many: that cat, a yellow cat, or 14 cats. Often words we commonly call pronouns can also be used as adjectives: his cat, my cat, their cats. And those words labeled nouns can also be used as adjectives: cat bed, cat mess, cat names. Even proper nouns can become adjectives: Norway pine, Florida coast, Thanksgiving turkey. There are three special little words called “articles” that are always adjectives: a, an, the. “A” and “an” are indefinite articles, “a” preceding a word beginning with a consonant, and “an” followed by a word starting with a vowel. You would also say, “an hour,” because the “h” is silent, and we hear the vowel. The is considered a definite article. Adjectives may also grace sentences in the form of phrases or clauses, still adding information about which, what kind of, or how many. The cat (with a black nose) sat beside the dog (that had no collar). If you want to add details as to how, when, where, or to what extent, this is where adverbs come in: he sat cautiously, sat yesterday, sat underneath, sat always. And these adverbs modify a verb, adjective or another adverb. Above we saw how an adverb can modify a verb such as sat. When an adverb modifies an adjective, it could be an unusually good cat, with “good” an adjective and “unusually” telling to what extent. Or the cat might be strangely quiet. Quiet is a predicate adjective, and strangely tells how quiet. The adverb that modifies another adverb could be: The cat was almost always hungry. Always tells when he is hungry, and almost tells to what extent always. Adverbs are like adjectives in that they can also be part of phrases or clauses: the cat was dragged (from under the bed) and taken (to a soft new bed). No matter the number or combination of words and phrases, adjectives and adverbs in any form add liveliness to our language. If you are wondering about my current penchant for the use of cat in these examples, it’s just a bit of nostalgia for an earlier (adverb) purrfect (adjective) friend. Sandi Ekberg taught high school English in Medford for 30 years. If you have grammar questions, email her at [email protected].