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Adverb: Adjective Verb Clause Adverb

An adverb is a word that modifies verbs, adjectives, other adverbs, and clauses. It provides context about how, where, when, why, and to what extent something is done. There are several types of adverbs including: manner (slowly), place (here), frequency (usually), time (yesterday), and purpose (because). Adverbs can be formed from adjectives by adding "-ly" but there are exceptions. The position of an adverb depends on what it modifies and its type, but adverbs of time and frequency generally go at the end of a sentence.

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89 views5 pages

Adverb: Adjective Verb Clause Adverb

An adverb is a word that modifies verbs, adjectives, other adverbs, and clauses. It provides context about how, where, when, why, and to what extent something is done. There are several types of adverbs including: manner (slowly), place (here), frequency (usually), time (yesterday), and purpose (because). Adverbs can be formed from adjectives by adding "-ly" but there are exceptions. The position of an adverb depends on what it modifies and its type, but adverbs of time and frequency generally go at the end of a sentence.

Uploaded by

Hoang Thi Hai Yen
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Adverb

1. Definition: An adverb is a word that is used to change, modify or qualify several


types of words including an adjective, a verb, a clause, another adverb, or any other
type of word or phrase, with the exception of determiners and adjectives, that
directly modify nouns. A good way to understand adverbs is to think about them as
the words that provide context. Specifically, adverbs provide a description of how,
where, when, in what manner and to what extent something is done or happens.
Normally, we can spot an adverb by the fact that it often ends in –ly,  but there are
lots of adverbs that don’t end in this way. Moreover, adverbs can be used in many
combinations with each other.
- When? She always arrives early.
- How? He drives carefully.
- Where? They go everywhere together.
- In what way? She eats slowly.
- To what extent? It is terribly hot.

This function of providing more information about how something is done is called the
adverbial function, and it may be accomplished by using adverbial clauses and adverbial
phrases as well as by adverbs that stand alone.
There are many rules for using adverbs, and these rules often depend upon which type of
adverb you are using. Remember these basics and using adverbs to make sentences more
meaningful will be easier for you.

 Adverbs can always be used to modify verbs. Notice that the second of these two
sentences is much more interesting simply because it contains an adverb:

- The dog ran excitedly.

 Adverbs are often formed by adding the letters “-ly” to adjectives. This makes it
very easy to identify adverbs in sentences. There are many exceptions to this
rule; everywhere, nowhere, and upstairs are a few examples.
 An adverb can be used to modify an adjective and intensify the meaning it conveys.
For example:

- He plays tennis well. (He knows how to play tennis and sometimes he wins.)
- He plays tennis extremely well. (He knows how to play tennis so well that he
wins often.)
2. Types of Adverbs
2.1. Adverbs of Manner
An adverb of manner will explain how an action is carried out. Very often adverbs of
manner are adjectives with -ly added to the end, but this is certainly not always the case. In
fact, some adverbs of manner will have the same spelling as the adjective form.
Some examples of adverbs of manner include:
Slowly, Rapidly, Clumsily, Badly, Diligently, Sweetly, Warmly, Sadly
2.2. Adverb of manner examples in the following sentences are in bold for easy
identification.
- She passed the exam easily.
- They walk quickly to catch the train.
- The dinner party went badly.
- John answered the question correctly.

Notice how the adjectives are formed by adding -ly to the adjectives bad,
correct and quick, although there is a slight spelling change when forming an adverb with
the adjective easy.
As mentioned, some adverbs of manner take the same spelling as the adjective and never
add an -ly to the end:

- The boys had worked hard.


- The car drives
- Julia dances well.
2.3. Adverbs of place
An adverb of place, sometimes called spatial adverbs, will help explain where an action
happens. Adverbs of place will be associated with the action of the verb in a sentence,
providing context for direction, distance and position: southeast, everywhere, up, left, close
by, back, inside, around. These terms don’t usually end in -ly.
Adverbs of place examples in the following sentences are in bold for easy identification.
Directions

- New York is located north of Philadelphia.


- They traveled down the mountainside.
- First, I looked here, and then I looked there, but I can’t find them anywhere.

Notice that here and there are often used at the beginning of a sentence to express


emphasis or in exclamation.

- Here comes the sun.


- There is love in the air.
- Here you are!

Many times, adverbs of place can be used as prepositions as well. The difference is, when
the phrase is used as an adverb, it is modifying a verb; when it is used as a preposition, it is
always followed by a noun.

- New York is located north of Philadelphia -> New York is on the map.


- They travelled down river -> They travelled in the first compartment.
- That puppy was walking around by itself-> We put a collar around its neck.

Distance

- Jane is moving far away.


- Carly is sitting close to me.

Position
- The treasure lies underneath the box.
- The cat is sleeping on the bed.
- Why are you standing in the middle of the dancefloor?

In addition, some adverbs of position will refer to a direction of movement. These often
end in -ward or -wards.

 Oscar travelled onward to Los Angeles.


 Hannah looked upwards to the heavens.
 Molly, move forward to the front of the queue, please.

2.4. Adverbs of Frequency


Adverbs of frequency are used to express time or how often something occurs. Adverbs of
frequency can be split two main groups. The first, adverbs of indefinite frequency, are
terms that have an unclear meaning as to how long are how often something
occurs: usually, always, normally. These adverbs will usually be placed after the main verb
or between the auxiliary verb and infinitive.
Adverbs of frequency examples in the following sentences are in bold for easy
identification.

 The adverb is usually placed before the main verb.


 I can normally make the shot.
 I will always love

Adverbs of definite frequency will usually be placed at the end of the sentence.

 We get paid hourly.
 I come here
 The situation seems to change monthly.
 The newspaper is bought daily.

2.5. Adverbs of Time


Adverbs of time, while seemingly similar to adverbs of frequency, tell us when something
happens. Adverbs of time are usually placed at the end of a sentence.
Adverbs of time examples in the following sentences are in bold for easy identification.

 I will see you


 Harvey forgot his lunch yesterday and again today.
 I have to go now.
 We first met Julie last year.

While it’s almost always correct to have the adverb of time at the end of the sentence, you
can place it at the start of the sentence to put a different emphasis on the time if it is
important to the context.

 Last year was the worst year of my life.


 Tomorrow our fate will be sealed.
 Yesterday my troubles seemed so far away.

2.6. Adverbs of Purpose


Adverbs of purpose, sometimes called adverbs of reason, help to describe why something
happened. They can come in the form of individual words – so, since, thus, because – but
also clauses – so that, in order to. Notice in the examples that the adverbs of purpose are
used to connect sentences that wouldn’t make sense if they were formed alone.
Adverbs of purpose examples in the following sentences are in bold for easy identification.

- I was sick, thus didn’t go to work today.


- I started jogging so that I wouldn’t be late.
- Because I was late, I jogged a little faster.
- Since it’s your birthday, I will buy you a gift.

Positions of Adverbs
The positions of adverbs are not a fixed or set thing. As you have seen, adverbs can appear
in different position in a sentence. However, there are some rules that help us decide where
an adverb should be positioned. The rules will be different depending on whether the
adverb is acting to modify an adjective or another adverb, a verb or what type of adverb it
is.
Positional adverb examples in the following sentences are in bold for easy identification.
Adverb position with adjectives and other adverbs
These adverbs will usually be placed before the adjective or adverb being modified:

 We gave them a really tough match. The adverb really modifies the


adjective tough.
 It was quite windy that night. The adverb quite modifies the adjective windy.
 We don’t go to the movies terribly often. The adverb terribly modifies the
adverb often.

Adverb position with verbs


This can be a bit trickier because, it will depend on the type of adverb – place, position,
time etc. – and there are many exceptions to the rules. However, a basic set of guidelines is
shown below:
Adverbs of manner or place are usually positioned at the end of the sentence:

 She laughed timidly.
 I stroked the cat gently.
 Janine lived here.
 There is money everywhere.

As mentioned, if the adverb is of definite time it will be placed at the end of the sentence.

 I did it yesterday.
 We can discuss it tomorrow.
 Let’s go to Paris next week.

However, if it is an indefinite period of time, it will go between the subject and main verb.

 We often go to Paris in the springtime.


 Debbie regularly swims here.
 Bobby and Audrey always loved fishing by the lake.

Order of Adverbs: 1.Adverbs of manner. 2. Adverbs of place. 3.Adverbs of frequency.4.


Adverbs of time.5. Adverbs of purpose.
Example: I run (verb) quickly (manner) down the road (place) every
morning (frequency) before school (time) because (purpose) I might miss the bus.
While it is good to remember the order of adverbs, there is always flexibility with
language, and we have already mentioned that adverbs of time and frequency can be
placed at the start of a sentence to change the emphasis. So, bottom line: think of the order
of adverbs as more of a guideline than a rule that can’t be broken.
Example

- She was walking rapidly.


- The kids love playing together in the sandbox.
- Please come inside now.
- His jokes are always very
- You don’t really care, do you?

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