Nouns and Adjectives – Happiness
“Happiness” is a noun and “happy” is an adjective. It is possible to say: “I am happiness” if you
are reciting poetry but in conversation we normally say:
I am happy.
Happiness
Happiness is important. Happiness is a human quality. In the modern world there is a lot of stress and
pressure and in a multi-cultural environment we are influenced by conflicting
ideas from different sources. Everything is relative.
What makes one person happy
does not necessarily make another person happy. Some people ask:
What is happiness?
The answer is simple. Happiness is the emotion you
feel when you smile a lot. It is the emotion we feel when we are relaxed
and happy with life or just with this moment in life.
If we forget what happiness is or do not think it
exists, we are not healthy. Remember, happiness is the feeling you have when you
smile a lot. It is the emotion which gives you wrinkles of laughter.
Word Family
Let’s look at the happiness word family:
happy
happiness
happily
happiness
happily
Adjective
I am happy.
Note that the adjective is used with a be verb.
Are you happy?
Noun
Happiness is the way people
feel when they smile.
Note that we can say “He is happy” and “Happiness is
important” but we cannot say “He is happiness.”
Adverb
He smiled happily.
This means: “He smiled in a happy way.” There are
different types of smiles. Some people smile from embarrassment. A happy smile
is not the same as an embarrassed smile. Compare these adverb/adjective variations:
He smiled happily. He smiled in a happy way.
He ate quickly. The way he ate was quick.
He talked angrily. He talked in an angry way.
He worked slowly. The way he worked was slow.
Questions
Are you happy?
What makes you happy?
What makes you happy?
What was the happiest time in your life?
Are you happy now?
Were you happier when you were younger?
Are you happy now?
Were you happier when you were younger?