Adjective Exercises

much vs many
Decide w hether you have to use much or many:

1. We saw _____ animals at the zoo.

2. How _____ oranges did you put in the box?
3. There isn’t _____ sugar in my cof f ee.
4. I don’t have ______ f riends.
5. The old man hasn’t got _____ hair on his head.
6. I’ve packed _____ bottles of w ater.
7. I didn’t get _____ sleep last night.
8. How _____ f ruit do you eat in an average day?

Answ ers:

1. many 2. many 3. much 4. many 5. much 6. many

7. much 8. much

a little vs a few
Decide w hether you have to use a little or a f ew :

1. Can you please buy _______ apples.

2. We need _______ w ater.
3. I have _______ money lef t.
4. I take _______ sugar w ith my cof f ee.
5. We had _______ pints of beer there.
6. You have _______ time lef t.
7. There are _______ chairs in the room.
8. He only spent _______ dollars there.

Answ ers:

1. a f ew 2. a little 3. a little 4. a little 5. a f ew 6. a little

7. a f ew 8. a f ew

some vs any
Decide w hether you have to use some or any:

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 1. Is there _______ milk lef t?
2. There is _______ juice in the bottle.
3. Do you have _______ cof f ee?
4. I don’t have _______ money lef t.
5. She has _______ money.
6. Do you know _______ of these singers?
7. I don’t know _______ of them.
8. I know _______ of them.

Answ ers:

1. any 2. some 3. any 4. any 5. some 6. any

7. any 8. some

some vs many
Decide w hether you have to use some or many:

1. The child put _______ sand into the bucket.

2. I can lend you _______ money if you need it.
3. There aren’t _______ pears lef t. Only tw o.
4. We had _______ cake w ith the tea.
5. Don’t eat so _______ sw eets or you’ll get f at.
6. I had _______ beer last night at the bar.
7. I don’t have _______ f riends.
8. He brought _______ f ood w ith him.

Answ ers:

1. some 2. some 3. many 4. some 5. many 6. some

7. many 8. some

little vs less
Decide w hether you have to use little or less:

1. I have _______ interest in classical music.

2. I have _______ f aith in him.
3. We need _______ f urniture in this dance hall than in the big one.
4. You have to drink _______ cof f ee.
5. He has _______ money than I thought.

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 6. Tonight I drank _______ w ine than last night.
7. She dedicates _______ time to her homew ork than to her hobbies.
8. This w ill take _______ time to f inish than the last time w e tried.

Answ ers:

1. little 2. little 3. less 4. less 5. less 6. less 7. less

8. less

a little vs a lot
Decide w hether you have to use a little or a lot:

1. That may cost you _______ of money.

2. I added _______ sugar to the mix.
3. You’ll have to spend _______ of cash on this car. (a lot)
4. I can do it w ith _______ help f rom my f riends.
5. _______ change can really make a dif f erence.
6. I don’t have _______ of f ree time today.
7. He lef t _______ of laundry f or me to do.
8. She gave him _______ attention.

Answ ers:

1. a lot 2. a little 3. a lot 4. a little 5. a little 6. a lot

7. a lot 8. a little

few vs little
Decide w hether you have to use f ew or little:

1. There’s _______ point in calling.

2. _______ people understood w hat he said.
3. There is _______ use in trying to do this.
4. There’s _______ space here as it is.
5. There’s _______ I can do about this.
6. Dan is a great student. He has _______ problems w ith history.
7. There w as _______ traf f ic on the road.
8. I think Coventry w ill w in the match but _______ people agree w ith me.

Answ ers:

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 1. little 2. f ew 3. little 4. little 5. little 6. f ew 7. little
8. f ew

fewer vs less
Decide w hether you have to use f ew er or less:

1. There w ere _______ days below f reezing last w inter.

2. I drank _______ w ater than she did.
3. I have _______ than an hour to do this w ork.
4. People these days are buying _______ new spapers.
5. I have _______ time to do this w ork.
6. _______ than thirty children each year develop the disease.
7. I w ear _______ makeup on w eekdays.
8. He w orked _______ hours than I did.

Answ ers:

1. f ew er 2. less 3. less 4. f ew er 5. less 6. f ew er

7. less 8. f ew er

farther vs further
Decide w hether you have to use f arther or f urther:

1. How much _______ do you plan to drive tonight?

2. I just can’t go any _______.
3. Do you have any _______ plans f or adding on to the building?
4. That’s a lot _______ than I w ant to carry this heavy suitcase!
5. The _______ that I travel dow n this road, the _______ behind schedule
I get.
6. How much _______ do you intend to take this legal matter?
7. It’s not that much _______ to the gas station.
8. How much _______ do I have to run, coach?

Answ ers:

1. f arther 2. f urther 3. f urther 4. f arther

5. f arther, f urther 6. f urther 7. f arther 8. f arther

later vs latter

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 Decide w hether you have to use later or latter:

1. My neighbours have a son and a daughter : the f ormer is a teacher, the

_______ is a nurse.
2. I w ill address that at a _______ time.
3. Of the f irst tw o Harry Potter books, I pref er the _______.
4. John arrived at the party _______ than Mary did.
5. I pref er the _______ of f er to the f ormer one.
6. I w ill be back _______.
7. I w as given the choice betw een a hamburger or a hotdog, I chose the
_______ of the tw o; the hotdog.
8. When it comes to soy burgers or a juicy cow burger, I pref er the
_______.

Answ ers:

1. latter 2. later 3. latter 4. later 5. latter 6. later

7. latter 8. latter

last vs latter
Decide w hether you have to use last or latter:

1. Jack, Jill and Bob w ent up the hill; the _______ w atched the other tw o
f all dow n.
2. The f ormer half of the f ilm is more interesting than the _______ half .
3. Out of chapters 1, 2, and 3, the _______ one is the most dif f icult to
learn.
4. Dan is now f riends w ith Ruth, Maya and Ben. The _______ is his
cousin.
5. Jane speaks Italian and English : the f ormer language f airly w ell and the
_______ f luently.
6. There are tw o versions, A and B, but the _______ is more popular.
7. Tom and Dick w ere both heroes but only the _______ is remembered
today.
8. I study math, English and history. I enjoy the _______ one most.

Answ ers:

1. last 2. latter 3. last 4. last 5. latter 6. latter

7. latter 8. last

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 More Adjective Exercises
1. Form adjectives f rom the f ollow ing nouns :

A. w ater
B. ice
C. syrup

Answ ers:

A. Watery B. Icy C. Syrupy

2.Form adjectives f rom the f ollow ing ve rbs :

A. w alk
B. amaze
C. decay

Answ ers:

A. w alking B. amazing C. decaying

3.Which of the f ollow ing sentences contains a proper de nom inal adje ctive ?

A. People in New York are usually busy.

B. New York residents are of ten busy.

A. We had f un listening to classic French music.

B. Music by the French is f un to listen to.

A. He speaks Russian.
B. He speaks the Russian language.

Answ ers: B,A,B

4.Choose the s upe rlative adje ctive in each group of sentences:

A. I like dark cof f ee.

B. This is the f astest car I’ve ever driven.
C. I’d like darker curtains.

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 A. This is good ice cream.
B. Meet Sue, my younger sister.
C. Of all the options available, this seems to be the best one.

A. This is a better play than the last one.

B. The box w as blue, and oddly shaped.
C. This is the most exciting thing I’ve ever experienced!

Answ ers: B, C, C

5. Choose the abs olute adje ctive in each group of sentences:

A. We live in a blue house.

B. The grass is greener on the other side.
C. This is the shortest my hair has ever been.

A. That’s a short dress.

B. Why don’t you choose a longer style?
C. Just because it’s the shortest dress doesn’t mean it’s the most stylish.

A. Our house is bigger than our grandmother’s is.

B. They live in the biggest house I’ve ever seen.
C. That’s a big house!

Answ ers: A, A, C

6. Choose the adje ctive f rom each of the f ollow ing groups of w ords:

A. interest, interesting, party

B. amount, colorf ul, medicine
C. f ur, hilarious, cup

Answ ers:

A. interesting B. colorf ul C. hilarious

7. Fill in the blanks w ith the best com pound adje ctive f or the situation.

A. With ______________ temperatures, this is the coldest w inter on

record.

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 below zero
below -zero
f reezing

B. Jeremy gave Linda a _____________________ engagement ring.

gorgeous diamond
gorgeous-diamond
big

C. We’re celebrating w ith a __________________ bottle of champagne.

costly
ten-year-old
10 year old

Answ ers:

A. below -zero B. gorgeous diamond C. ten-year-old

8. Choose the sentence containing the de nom inal adje ctive :

A. We practiced f or the play.

B. We spent tw o hours practicing the Shakespearean play.
C. We practiced Shakespeare’s play f or tw o hours.

Answ er: B. We spent tw o hour practicing the Shakespearean play.

9. Choose the com parative adje ctive in each group of sentences:

A. This list is longer than the last one.

B. This is probably the longest one I’ve ever seen.
C. This is a long list.

A. Stop acting so w eird.

B. You’re acting w eirder than ever.
C. You’re the w eirdest person in this class.

A. This is the chocolatiest cake I’ve ever tasted.

B. Have some chocolate cake.
C. Do you think this cake tastes chocolatier than the last one?

Answ ers: A, B, C

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 10. For each of the f ollow ing sentences, choose the correct orde r of
adje ctive s to f ill in the blank.

A. His grandf ather lives in the ________________________ house dow n

the street.
big old yellow
yellow old big
old big yellow

B. The shop of f ers all kinds of _____________________ objects.

interesting old antique
old antique interesting
old interesting antique

C. We w ent f or a long w alk on a __________________________ trail.

Beautif ul new 5-mile
New , beautif ul 5-mile
5-mile new , beautif ul

Answ ers:

A. big old yellow B. interesting old antique

C. beautif ul new 5-mile

11. A, B, or C? Which phrase contains the de nom inal adje ctive ?

A. open door
B. f un time
C. Parmesan f lavor

Answ er: C

12. Some com pound adje ctive contain hyphens. Which of the f ollow ing
sentences is correct?

A. He’s a decent-judge of character.

B. She submitted a 190-page document supporting her position.
C. We’re adopting a tw o year old parakeet.

Answ er: B

13. Which sentence uses the correct orde r of adje ctive s ?

A. We took a ride on a red, new , Italian motorbike.

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 B. We took a ride on an Italian, new , red motorbike.
C. We took a ride on a new red Italian motorbike.

Answ er: C

14. For each of the f ollow ing sentences, choose the correct orde r of
adje ctive s to f ill in the blank.

A. I w as thrilled to receive a __________________ book w ith my order.

big, beautif ul, leather-bound
leather-bound, big, beautif ul
beautif ul big leather-bound

B. His clow n costume consists of a red nose, oversized shoes, and a

________________ jacket.
Size 4X polka-dotted silk smoking
polka-dotted silk smoking size 4X
polka dotted size 4x silk smoking

C. I’ve been shopping f or the perf ect _______________ chopsticks.

Japanese long sushi
long Japanese sushi
long sushi Japanese

Answ ers:

A. beautif ul big leather-bound

B. size 4x polka-dotted silk smoking
C. long Japanese sushi

15. From each group, choose the sentence containing the correct com pound
adje ctive .

A. Jennif er is overw orked. She has been putting in 12 hour days lately.
B. Jennif er is overw orked. She has been putting in 12-hour days lately.
C. Jennif er is overw orked. She has been putting in 12-hour-days lately.

A. Jim pref ers spicy, Caribbean-style f ood.

B. Jim likes Caribbean f oods w ith lots of spice.
C. Jim’s f avorite f oods are spicy ones w ith Caribbean f lavors.

A. He’s grow n tw o inches since last time w e saw him.

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 B. He’s grow n by a w hole tw o inches since w e last saw him.
C. He’s had a tw o-inch grow th spurt since last time w e saw him.

Answ ers: B, A, C

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