: Re: What's with all the hate on adjectives and adverbs? Ok, I'm starting to get a feel for this, but I'm hoping someone can explain it more clearly for me. I learned in all my English classes

@Dunderdale623

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Abuse of adjectives and adverbs is the hallmark sign of pulp writing, showing the author has a poor grasp of the language.

You usually use adjectives and adverbs when you try to make given noun or verb, respectively, more precise, more descriptive. This is fine when there is no better way to achieve this goal, but in a lot of cases, there is a better way.

First off, think if your noun-adjective or verb-adverb pair can be replaced with a different noun or verb that achieves the same goal alone. Instead of finding precisely, pinpoint. Instead of moving quickly, dash. Instead of deep red, use crimson. Instead of hunting dog, pick hound.

Next, think if the adjective or adverb adds anything, or if it's just redundant. Visit a wise sage to beg humbly for helpful advice in a quest to search for an ancient artifact to prevent catastrophic genocide? No, just no.

And then think if your adverb is any good. Don't make them up. Don't replace whole clauses and sentences with them. They are cheap. Using them copiously makes your prose cheap.

When to use them? When your alternative would be pretentious. There are strong nouns and verbs, that pinpoint given meaning, and there are pretentious ones, that replace common expressions adding very little to the meaning but sounding smart.
Really, "She's incredibly beautiful" is better than "She's pulchritudinous".

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