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other words. As we saw in Chapter 5, one of the main stylistic errors people make is to
use vague or meaningless qualifiers   nice ,  really ,  quite . But used correctly, adjec-
tives and adverbs can help you express yourself more precisely and add considerably to
your audience s understanding of what you are saying. Of course, as we have seen, used
badly, they will just make it harder to understand.
Adjectives
Adjectives qualify (describe) nouns:  a substantial profit ,  the correct spelling ,  an easy
decision . Some forms of verbs can also be used as adjectives, as in  a written contract ,
or  the driving force . Adjectives can also compare things, as in  the best way forward or
 This company offers a better service than that one. The  -er form is called the compara-
tive and the  -est form the superlative.
There are four problems to beware of when using adjectives.
Incorrect use of the superlative. The comparative form of an adjective is used to
compare two things; the superlative is used for three or more. This is an easy rule to
follow when you are making a direct comparison, as in  Norma s idea is better than
Ken s. It sounds quite wrong to say  Norma s idea is best than Ken s and few people
would make that mistake. But what about  Of the two plans, Norma s is the best ? That
does not sound quite so wrong, but you are still comparing two things, so you should
in fact use the comparative form:  Of the two plans, Norma s is better. You should
only use  best if there are three or more plans. This rule is less strictly adhered to than
it used to be, but you might still cause a few raised eyebrows if you ignore it.
Omitting an article. The words  the ,  a and  an qualify nouns, so they are adjectives,
although they are usually called articles.  The is the definite article (it means you are
talking about something specific and definite), and  a and  an are indefinite articles
(they mean you are talking about something indefinite). When you are talking about
two people or things, there can be a tendency to leave out the second article, as in  I
enclose copies of the letter and order or  I enclose a catalogue and order form . If in
each of these cases there are two documents, then the construction is grammatically
incorrect  there should be an article before the second noun:  I enclose copies of the
letter and the order and  I enclose a catalogue and an order form. Only if the two
nouns form a single item should you leave out the second article:  the Chairman and
Managing Director , for example, means that one person fills both those roles.
There is no real problem with this if it is clear that there are two things, as in the first
example  the word  copies indicates that there are two documents. But what about
the second? Is the order form part of the catalogue or separate? As it stands, the
sentence says that it is part of the catalogue. If there are two documents, then the
writer must include the second article for clarity. This is an example of how a
construction that is understandable in one context can be confusing in another.
Incorrect use of  either .  Either as an adjective refers to one of only two things. You
can therefore write:  This carpet comes in beige or green. Either colour would suit the
decor you have in mind. But if there are more than two colours you should not use
 either . Instead you should say:  This carpet comes in beige, green or gold. Any one of
these colours would suit the decor you have in mind.
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A Guide to Good Business Communication
Confusing  less and  fewer .  Less is used for quantity, and  fewer for number. So you
can have  less work ,  less confusion ,  less chance of promotion , because you are
talking about a quantity of work, confusion or chance. But if the noun is in the plural,
then you must use  fewer because you are talking about the numbers involved, so you
would say  fewer employees ,  fewer problems ,  fewer chances of success .
Adverbs
As their name implies, adverbs qualify verbs  they tell you how, when and where the
action of the sentence took place. So in the sentence  I went there yesterday ,  there and
 yesterday are adverbs, telling the audience where and when you went. But they do not
only qualify verbs. They can qualify other parts of speech as well: in  very difficult ,  very
qualifies an adjective; in  just after  just qualifies a preposition; in  superbly well ,
 superbly qualifies another adverb.
Like adjectives, some adverbs can have comparative and superlative forms. When the
adverb consists of one syllable, like  soon , it forms the comparative and superlative like
an adjective:  sooner ,  soonest . When it is a long word, and particularly when it ends in
 -ly , the comparative and superlative are formed by using  more and  most before the
adverb. So the comparative of  clearly is  more clearly and the superlative is  most
clearly . Of course, not all adverbs have comparative and superlative forms; you cannot,
for example, say  more very difficult or  most just after .
The main grammatical problems associated with the use of adverbs are:
Confusing positioning. Make sure that the position of your adverb does not cause
confusion, especially when using  only . Look at the following sentence:  I only asked
you last week to submit your expenses on the approved form. As this stands, it means
that I only asked you, I did not order you. If I had meant that it was only last week that I
asked you, I should have said,  I asked you only last week ... The rule therefore is that
the adverb should go as close as possible to the word it qualifies. But you do not need
to be too dogmatic, as long as there is no doubt about the meaning, and as long as the
sentence does not sound clumsy.
Using double adverbs. When you are using a double adverb, as in  not only ... but
also , you must keep the parts of the sentence which follow them  in parallel . This
means that they must both have the same construction. So you should not say:  You
have not only failed to supply our order, but also to give a reason for non-delivery .
 Not only is followed by the past participle  failed , while  but also is followed by the
infinitive  to give . For the sentence to be in parallel, they should either both be
followed by the past participle or both by the infinitive. (You do not have to worry too
much about the terms  past participle and  infinitive ; the principle is that you must use
the same form of the verb in both parts of the sentence, either the  -ed form or the  to
form.) So you can write either:
 You have not only failed to supply our order, but also omitted to give a reason for
the non-delivery.
or
 You have failed not only to supply our order but also to give a reason for the non-
delivery.
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Common grammatical mistakes
Using  hardly and  scarcely . There is a similar problem of keeping elements of a
sentence in parallel with the use of the adverbs  hardly and  scarcely . Can you see
what is wrong with the following sentence?  I had hardly put the phone down than your
parcel arrived. This is a fairly common construction, but it is wrong.  Hardly is an
adverb expressing time, and  than is a conjunction expressing comparison. So the two
do not go together. If you are using an adverb expressing time in this construction, then
the conjunction should also express time:  I had hardly put the phone down when your
parcel arrived. Although it is quite common to see  hardly and  scarcely used with
 than , it is incorrect and sounds clumsy, so you should always use  when with them.
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