Why is 'the soup smells wonderful' correct?

Smells here links the soup to its description; nothing is being done wonderfully. Linking verbs (is, seems, looks, tastes) hand the sentence back to the adjective.

What about good and well?

Good is the adjective (a good game); well is the adverb (played well). It is the most famous pair in the family and appears throughout these sheets.

3rd grade adjective or adverb?

3rd grade adjective or adverb? worksheets

Third graders handle the full range, including linking-verb sentences where the adjective is correct after is, seems, and smells, and the classic good/well pair.

Free printable PDF worksheet, aligned to Common Core L.2.1.e.

Each print is a different sheet with its own answer key. You don't need to sign up.

The kind of sentences you'll fix

Decide what the word describes, choose from the parentheses, and write it.

The bus arrived (late / lately) because of the parade.
Fixed: The bus arrived late because of the parade.
We divided the marbles (fair / fairly), ten and ten.
The parrot seems (grumpily / grumpy) before its morning seed.

Every print pulls a new set of sentences at this level, so a make-up test or a second sibling gets a different mix.

What's on a 3rd grade sheet

3rd grade sheets draw from 40 sentences, 8 to a page. 2nd to 4th grade print from the same 40 sentences. The teaching notes below are written for this grade. 2nd grade sheets print 7 to a page.

A few of the sentences, as the answer key corrects them:

The new slide is fast, so hold the rails.
She is a careful climber on the high wall.
The gym floor is slippery near the water fountain.

Fix it. Decide what the word describes, choose from the parentheses, and write it. 8 sentences to fix per page.

Every version prints on US Letter or A4, with its answer key on the last page.

How to teach this

Give linking verbs their own minute: after is, seems, looks, smells, and tastes, the sentence is describing the subject, so the adjective wins. It FEELS wrong to kids drilled on -ly, which is exactly why it needs saying.

Watch for: Linking verbs are the trap: after is, seems, smells, and tastes, the describing word points back at the NOUN, so it stays an adjective. The soup smells wonderful, not wonderfully. Not every adverb wears -ly (fast, late, hard) and not every -ly word is an adverb (friendly, lonely). The what-is-it-describing question outranks the suffix.

Common questions about 3rd grade adjective or adverb

Why is 'the soup smells wonderful' correct?: Smells here links the soup to its description; nothing is being done wonderfully. Linking verbs (is, seems, looks, tastes) hand the sentence back to the adjective.
What about good and well?: Good is the adjective (a good game); well is the adverb (played well). It is the most famous pair in the family and appears throughout these sheets.

Related worksheets

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Aligned to Common Core L.2.1.e. Reviewed by the One more sheet team. Content version 241, updated October 2026.

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