An adjective describes a noun. A wet rope, a silver fish, an early Saturday. An adverb often describes a verb and tells how, when or where. She pulled steadily. Steadily tells how.

To compare two things, use a comparative: wetter, steadier, more careful. To compare three or more, use a superlative: wettest, steadiest, most careful. Short words often take er and est. Longer words often take more and most.

A preposition shows a relationship, often of place or time. In, on, under, beside, between and before are prepositions. The crab is in the wash. The pause comes before the full stop.

Ask what the word describes. If it describes a noun, it is an adjective: the steady boy. If it describes the action, it is an adverb: he pulled steadily. Many adverbs end in ly, but not all. Fast can be an adverb: she ran fast. Good becomes well when it describes an action: she pulled well, not she pulled good, in Standard English.

Pile on few adjectives. One exact adjective beats three vague ones.

One syllable often adds er and est: small, smaller, smallest. If the spelling needs a double letter, double it: big, bigger, biggest. Wet, wetter, wettest.

If the word already ends in e, add r or st: safe, safer, safest. For longer adjectives, use more and most: more careful, most careful. Do not say more bigger.

Than often follows a comparative: Malik was steadier than the wave. The superlative often uses the: the steadiest pull of the morning.

A preposition starts a phrase that adds place or time. At the jetty, on Saturday, under the net, beside the boat, between Asha and Malik, before sunrise.

The noun after the preposition is the object of the preposition. In “at the jetty”, jetty is that noun. It is not the subject of the sentence.

Choose the preposition that matches the picture. A crab in the wash is surrounded by water. A crab on the sand is touching the top of the sand. Between needs two markers.