A Mouthful of Grammar December 4, 2013

In PC TECH English classes, you will learn how to form and use adjectives and adverbs.  Here are some tips:

You can take many nouns and, by adding the suffix –ful, change them into adjectives:

care > careful             beauty > beautiful                   wonder > wonderful

delight > delightful     bowl > bowlful                        cup > cupful

arms > armful             hand > handful                        spoon > spoonful

use > useful                 house > houseful                     mouth > mouthful

In general, something that can be filled can often be used in this adjective form.  (Notice that some of these nouns can be used as verbs.)

Examples:

At the party, we had a houseful of people.  (Our house was full of people.)

I have a bowlful of cereal every morning.  (I have a full bowl of cereal every morning.)

It’s not polite to talk with a mouthful (of food or drink).  (It’s not polite to talk with a full mouth.)

Adding another suffix (-ly) will form the adverb from many of these adjectives.  Don’t forget to double the “l”:

carefully          beautifully                   wonderfully     usefully

That can only be done with abstract nouns, not with nouns that describe an object that you can see or touch.  Unless you are joking (or maybe a poet!), you would never say “It’s not polite to speak mouthfully.”

 PC TECH: English Language School in New York City