[General] how to remember the meaning of adjectives and adverbs?

[HeartShape]

Hi,

I realized to write well, there is a lot of memorizing we do, like memorizing structure and meaning of words. One of my greatest weaknesses is remembering the meaning for adjectives and adverbs. How do people remember what these words mean easily? Currently I’m using the slow way, and that is to read until it sticks and repeat. Does anyone have a better way?

 

[GoesStation]

Re: how to remember the meanning of adjectives and adverbs?

When you can't remember a word which you've studied before, write it down and add it to a file. You may find that actually writing it the old-fashioned way on a file card which you add to a stack helps you remember it better than simply typing it in a document would. (I haven't done that in decades but it doesn't cost much and it's worth a try.)

The mere act of writing something down is a memory aid. I think typing works well, but you may find that the tactile sensations of writing with a pen help more.

Periodically get out your cards or open your document and read each word aloud, repeating it five times. After you've reviewed a word for five days, move it to another location for weekly review.

Think of a silly, humorous way that the English word could be mistranslated into your language. For example, in French an espresso coffee with water added is called un café allongé. I like to think of that as an elongated coffee (which sounds quite silly to a native Anglophone); another forum member said his French wife calls it a coffee lying down. Any such association will tend to resurface when you need it.

[EDIT] Sorry, I just looked at your profile and see that English is in fact your first language. I'll leave the bit about intentional mistranslations for the benefit of other learners. You can probably come up with a variation of that technique that will work for English-to-English, but it'll take a little more creativity.

 

[Skrej]

Re: how to remember the meanning of adjectives and adverbs?

Flashcards are a time-tested approach, but the real key lies in repetition. Research shows that you need somewhere between 15-20 exposures to a word to really lock it into long-term memory - double that if learning another language.

'Exposure' means not just seeing the word, but reading it, using it, and reproducing it in original sentences of your own, both written and spoken.

I like physical cards, but there are of course any number of apps and programs for digital flashcards if that's more your preference. Regardless, you need to try using them in sentences of your own to really remember them.

Another key aspect of vocabulary isn't just breadth (number of words you know), but depth (number of different meanings) of knowledge. Granted, there isn't as much an issue with depth of knowledge in things like adjectives and adverbs, but try to learn as many different meanings as you can for a word by using different meanings in your reproduction process from above.

 

[HeartShape]

Re: how to remember the meanning of adjectives and adverbs?

When you can't remember a word which you've studied before, write it down and add it to a file. You may find that actually writing it the old-fashioned way on a file card which you add to a stack helps you remember it better than simply typing it in a document would. (I haven't done that in decades but it doesn't cost much and it's worth a try.)

The mere act of writing something down is a memory aid. I think typing works well, but you may find that the tactile sensations of writing with a pen help more.

Periodically get out your cards or open your document and read each word aloud, repeating it five times. After you've reviewed a word for five days, move it to another location for weekly review.

Think of a silly, humorous way that the English word could be mistranslated into your language. For example, in French an espresso coffee with water added is called un café allongé. I like to think of that as an elongated coffee (which sounds quite silly to a native Anglophone); another forum member said his French wife calls it a coffee lying down. Any such association will tend to resurface when you need it.

[EDIT] Sorry, I just looked at your profile and see that English is in fact your first language. I'll leave the bit about intentional mistranslations for the benefit of other learners. You can probably come up with a variation of that technique that will work for English-to-English, but it'll take a little more creativity.

Thanks for this. I remember this; this is a traditional way of remembering things. Instead of writing it on a card I've stored it on my phone for easy access. I'm always using my phone for something so it's really handy.

The problem with this method it's the slowest way of memorizing. I was reading a book a while back and it talks about memorizing, but something resonated when it mentioned about being taught in a conversational way. I mean, things taught in a conversational way tends to be easier to remember. When you talk about something in a conversation a certain part of the brain is activated and the brain needs to understand and process this information immediately to keeps the conversation flowing. So I've been thinking of ways to inject this into a conversation so I guess this forum.

 

[HeartShape]

Re: how to remember the meanning of adjectives and adverbs?

There are four parts to adjective: what kind, which one, how many, how much. Adverb: when, where, how, to what extent. I just need to remember these golden parts in order to help me with grammar. I realized over the years I haven't been asking the right questions so now I am polishing up.

 

[jutfrank]

Re: how to remember the meanning of adjectives and adverbs?

To be honest, I'm still struggling to understand why you're asking these questions. Why are you trying to memorise things like this? What is it exactly you're trying to achieve? Are you sure you're a native speaker?

 

[HeartShape]

Re: how to remember the meanning of adjectives and adverbs?

To be honest, I'm still struggling to understand why you're asking these questions. Why are you trying to memorise things like this? What is it exactly you're trying to achieve? Are you sure you're a native speaker?

Well, as you know, I've been learning sentence diagramming. It analyses sentences, and to do that you must know what questions adjectives and adverbs ask. The trouble is I have never felt 100% confident in my writing skills. I have always had this dark cloud that over shadows everything I do. Earlier in the year, I started reading a subject that was way above my head. It was recommended by someone. I was struggling to understand the concepts so I stopped. I realise to understand this, I had to learn this part first in order understand the next part. The person who recommended the book did not know how much knowledge I was missing, there were bits and pieces I did know, and bits and pieces I didn't know, so it was like a jigsaw puzzle with bits and pieces missing. If my jigsaw didn't have all the pieces together it means I was never able to see the full picture. If I could not see the full picture it means I could not understand the full meaning. So I started to study from the bottom and worked my way up. Once I did that I found out how quick and easy it was to make progress. Then I had a light bulb moment. I realise I had a weakness that people have been telling me about, but I never sat down to fixed it properly.

I realise my grammar have been letting me down and it was the cause of my pain all these years. Some things I read are so complicated I could not decipher its meaning because of poor grammar comprehension. Sometimes when I read a sentence that is unclear I notice I was spending double the time and effort to learn it. Even if I do understand it, sometimes it was not 100 percent clear. When you put ideas that are not very clear together you get a very muddy understanding of a subject, and that is not good for learning. I realise, if I want to improve my learning I need to address my grammar. So then I stopped everything and decided to set out a new path; start from the bottom and work your way up. I feel if I can fix this, which does needs fixing, it would improve my skillset and it would benefit a lot of people. I have already set my sail and charted a new path. This is why I am here.

 

[HeartShape]

Re: how to remember the meanning of adjectives and adverbs?

Also, when I was studying sentence diagramming I didn't realize there were four parts to adjective and adverbs. So I feel if I want to master the art of grammar I must know the four parts to ask the questions. Before, my understanding of adjective and adverbs was fussy.

 

[jutfrank]

Re: how to remember the meanning of adjectives and adverbs?

Before, my understanding of adjective and adverbs was fussy.

You mean fuzzy.

Okay, thanks for explaining.

 

[emsr2d2]

Re: how to remember the meanning of adjectives and adverbs?

Well, as you know, I've been learning sentence diagramming. It analyses sentences, and to do that you must know what questions adjectives and adverbs ask. I'm not sure what you mean by the underlined part.

The trouble is I have never felt 100% confident in my writing skills. I have always had this dark cloud that [STRIKE]over shadows[/STRIKE] overshadows everything I do. Earlier in the year, I started reading about a subject that was way above my head. It was recommended by someone. I was struggling to understand the concepts so I stopped. I realised that to understand [STRIKE]this[/STRIKE] it, I had to learn this part first in order understand the next part. The person who recommended the book did not know how much knowledge I was missing; there were bits and pieces I did know, and bits and pieces I didn't know, so it was like a jigsaw puzzle with bits and pieces missing. If my jigsaw didn't have all the pieces together, it [STRIKE]means[/STRIKE] would mean I [STRIKE]was[/STRIKE] would never be able to see the full picture. If I could not see the full picture, [STRIKE]it means[/STRIKE] I could not understand the full meaning. So I started to study from the bottom and worked my way up. Once I did that I found out how quick and easy it was to make progress. Then I had a light bulb moment. I realise I had a weakness that people have been telling me about, but I never sat down to [STRIKE]fixed[/STRIKE] fix it properly.

I realised my grammar [STRIKE]have[/STRIKE] had been letting me down and it was the cause of my pain all these years. Some things I have read [STRIKE]are[/STRIKE] were so complicated I could not decipher [STRIKE]its[/STRIKE] their meaning because of poor grammar comprehension. Sometimes when I read a sentence that is unclear, I noticed I was spending double the time and effort to learn it. Even if I [STRIKE]do[/STRIKE] did understand it, sometimes it was not 100 percent clear. When you put ideas that are not very clear together you get a very muddy understanding of a subject, and that is not good for learning. I realised that if I want to improve my learning, I need to address my grammar. So then I stopped everything and decided to set out on a new path; start from the bottom and work [STRIKE]your[/STRIKE] my way up. I feel if I can fix this, which does needs fixing, it would improve my skillset and it would benefit a lot of people. I have already set my sail and charted a new path. This is why I am here.

It's good that you seem to have identified your own issues and well done for trying to fix them. Please note my corrections above. It seems one of your biggest issues is deciding which tense you want to use. They're all mixed up.

 

[jutfrank]

Re: how to remember the meanning of adjectives and adverbs?

HeartShape—one of the best pieces of advice I could give you to help you improve your writing is this:

Make sure you read what you have written very carefully. If possible, out loud. And then do it again.

If you do, not only will you notice any silly errors you've made, but you will be able to hear how your writing sounds to your readers.