Confusion on Adjectives & Adverbs

[Coffa]

Originally Posted by DavyBCN

I want to know if I have understood well.
Quote:
She's rather an egoistic, don't you think?
Which means she is more an egoistic than something else?

I think we should just point out that there is no such noun as 'egoistic'. The nouns are 'egoist' and 'egotist', with corresponding adjectives 'egoistic' and 'egotistical'.

An 'egoist' is self-centred and selfish, but not necessarily loud or extrovert. An 'egotist' on the other hand is brash and conceited - prone to talking about themselves all the time.

[Fazzu]

Oh yes,I just noticed that it's extremely long.Another 2 more questions then I will be finishing off soon.

An adjective qualifies a noun, and an adverb qualifies a verb.

Actually,I know that.But my question was 'How can I easily tell that a word in a sentence is an adjective or an adverb?'

From my grammar book,I have read that most adverbs finishes with '-ly' but there are also adjectives which finishes with '-ly'.Sometimes, it is difficult for me to recognise them.Any tips?or any thing I have left out to mind?

Oh,it seems I have another question too.(Oopps...sorry)

Originally Posted by Fazzu

So, 'tensed up' is also an adjective.How?How could you tell that it's an adjective?

Originally Posted by Coffa

I think we should just point out that there is no such noun as 'egoistic'. The nouns are 'egoist' and 'egotist', with corresponding adjectives 'egoistic' and 'egotistical'.

An 'egoist' is self-centred and selfish, but not necessarily loud or extrovert. An 'egotist' on the other hand is brash and conceited - prone to talking about themselves all the time.

Thanks Coffa for correcting us and also explaining them.

[DavyBCN]

Originally Posted by Fazzu

Oh yes,I just noticed that it's extremely long.Another 2 more questions then I will be finishing off soon.
Actually,I know that.But my question was 'How can I easily tell that a word in a sentence is an adjective or an adverb?'
From my grammar book,I have read that most adverbs finishes with '-ly' but there are also adjectives which finishes with '-ly'.Sometimes, it is difficult for me to recognise them.Any tips?or any thing I have left out to mind?
Oh,it seems I have another question too.(Oopps...sorry)
So, 'tensed up' is also an adjective.How?How could you tell that it's an adjective?
Thanks Coffa for correcting us and also explaining them.

Adverbs and adjectives can take many forms so it is very difficult to suggest an easy way to identify them. You really need to look at the text and see whether the word qualifies a noun or a verb. Sorry I have no other suggestion.

Tensed up can be considered an adjective. The "ed" ending is used for the past participle of regular verbs, which can often be used as an adjective. e.g. bored, married, etc. The past participles of many irregular verbs also serve as adjectives. e.g. burnt, frozen.

[Fazzu]

Oh thanks a lot Dav.That really helps.