Adjectives and Adverbs

Question

I understand that an adverb describes a noun, a verb and an adjective.
I am quite clear about an adverb describing a noun and a verb but I'm confused about the part where it describes an adjective.

For eg.

1. "I love the lush, grassy fields" - I'm quite sure lush and grassy are adjectives of fields. The commas make it quite obvious that lush is not describing grassy. So initially, I happily thought
- with commas = adjectives (lush and grassy are adjectives)
- without commas = 1st word is the adverb (lush is adverb and grassy is adjective)

Adjective
2. "She has a green pet mouse" - In a Scholastic book on adjectives I bought for my daughter, both green and pet are highlighted as adjectives but there were no commas.
That's where my confusion sets in.

Adverb
3. Her hair is super long - I know that super is describing long(adjective) and not the hair(noun). So super should definitely be an adverb. This example is also found in a Scholastic book of adverbs that I bought.

But for these I'm quite unclear... my daughter got these from school for home learning. She is asked to circle only the adjectives and not the adverbs. My daughter has tried these answers and asked me if she is correct but I'm so confused myself..

How can I teach her?

3. "I've never seen such shiny black feathers".

Adjective: Shiny describes the feather(noun) ? So shiny and black are adjectives.
OR
Adverb: Shiny describes the color black(adjective), as in shiny black, light blue, matt black? So shiny is an adverb and black is an adjective.

4. The camel is the choice pack animal for dessert people.
Adverb: Choice describes pack(adjective) ? Choice of the pack animal.
Or
Adjective: Choice describes the animal(noun) ? Choice animal that moves in packs.

5. The largest remaining animals on earth, elephants tend to be very gentle.
Is largest an adverb describing the remaining(adjective) ? I'm confused.

Can somebody help us, please ? Is there a simpler and more straightforward way to differentiate between an adjective and an adverb ?

Thank you in advance.

Mister Micawber · Accepted Answer

3. "I've never seen such shiny black feathers".-- You can consider either; there is no resulting difference in the effect, and a comma slows the sentence flow.

4. The camel is the choice pack animal for desert people.- 'Choice' (= excellent) modifies the compund noun 'pack animal', a beast of burden.

5. The largest remaining animals on earth, elephants tend to be very gentle.-- 'Largest remaining' makes no sense to me (where 'shiny black' does); consider that it could be phrased this way-- 'the largest animals remaining'. Both are adjectives.

Is there a simpler and more straightforward way to differentiate between an adjective and an adverb ?-- The simple fact is that sometimes you need a comma between compound adjectives and sometimes you do not. The comma is used to prevent ambiguity, but it also slows the flow of the sentence, so arbitrary choices are sometimes made, and therefore you must use common sense-- the meaning, not the punctuation-- to separate adverbs from adjectives.

Adjectives and Adverbs

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