Adjectives vs. Adverbs

What you’ll learn

Choose an adjective to describe a noun and an adverb to describe how an action happens.

ជ្រើសរើសគុណនាមសម្រាប់ពណ៌នានាម និងគុណកិរិយាសម្រាប់ពណ៌នារបៀបធ្វើសកម្មភាព។

Meaning and use

Adjectives describe nouns and pronouns: a careful driver; she is careful. Adverbs of manner describe how an action happens: she drives carefully. Many adverbs add -ly to an adjective, but not all do. Good usually changes to well when describing how an action is done. Fast can be both an adjective and an adverb. Some adjectives, such as friendly, already end in -ly. After be, use an adjective when describing the subject: He is happy.

គុណនាមពណ៌នានាម ឬសព្វនាម ដូចជា careful ក្នុង a careful driver។ គុណកិរិយាពណ៌នារបៀបធ្វើសកម្មភាព ដូចជា carefully ក្នុង drives carefully។ គុណកិរិយាជាច្រើនបន្ថែម -ly ប៉ុន្តែមិនមែនទាំងអស់ទេ។ Good និង well ក៏មានតួនាទីខុសគ្នាដែរ។

Grammar patterns

Pattern	Example or form
Adjective + noun	a careful driver
Be + adjective	She is careful.
Action verb + manner adverb	She drives carefully.
Common pairs	slow → slowly; careful → carefully; good → well
Same form in two jobs	a fast runner / He runs fast.

Examples

1. He is a careful driver.

   គាត់ជាអ្នកបើកបរប្រុងប្រយ័ត្នម្នាក់។

2. He drives carefully.

   គាត់បើកបរដោយប្រុងប្រយ័ត្ន។

3. She speaks English well.

   នាងនិយាយភាសាអង់គ្លេសបានល្អ។

4. They are happy.

   ពួកគេសប្បាយចិត្ត។

Everyday conversation

Maly: Does Dara speak English well?

Dara’s friend: Yes, he does.

Maly: Is he a careful speaker?

Dara’s friend: Yes. He speaks carefully.

Common mistakes

Instead of	Use	Why
She is a carefully driver.	She is a careful driver.	Use an adjective before the noun driver.
He runs fastly.	He runs fast.	Fast is also the adverb; fastly is not the usual form.

Practice

Try these questions before opening the answers. Write or say each answer.

សាកល្បងឆ្លើយសំណួរទាំងនេះជាមុនសិន មុននឹងបើកមើលចម្លើយ។ អ្នកអាចសរសេរ ឬនិយាយចម្លើយរបស់អ្នក។

1. Complete: She drives ___ . (careful / carefully)
2. Complete: He is a ___ student. (good / well)
3. Complete: She speaks English ___ . (good / well)
4. Complete: They are ___ . (happy / happily)

Answers and explanations

Show answers / បង្ហាញចម្លើយ

1. carefully

   Describe how she drives with an adverb.

2. good

   Good describes the noun student.

3. well

   Well describes how she speaks.

4. happy

   Use the adjective to describe the subject after be.

Quick recap

• Use adjectives to describe people and things.
• Use manner adverbs to describe how actions happen.
• Learn exceptions such as good/well and fast/fast.