What Is An Adverb
What Is an Adverb?
An
adverb can be added to a verb to modify its meaning. Usually, an adverb tells you when,
where, how, in what manner, or to what extent an action is performed.
Many adverbs end in ly — particularly those that are used to express how an action is performed.
Although many adverbs end ly, lots do not, e.g., fast, never, well, very, most, least, more, less, now, far, and there.
Examples:
Many adverbs end in ly — particularly those that are used to express how an action is performed.
Although many adverbs end ly, lots do not, e.g., fast, never, well, very, most, least, more, less, now, far, and there.
Examples:
·
Anita placed the vase carefully on the shelf.
(The word carefully is an adverb. It shows how
the vase was placed.)
·
Tara walks gracefully.
(The word gracefully is an adverb. It modifies
the verb to walk.)
·
He runs fast.
(The word fast is an adverb. It modifies the
verb to run.)
·
You can set your watch
by him. He always leaves at 5
o'clock.
(The word always is an adverb. It modifies the
verb to leave.)
·
The dinner guests
arrived early.
(early modifies to arrive)
·
She sometimes helps us.
(sometimes modifies to help)
·
I am the only person
in the world I should like to know thoroughly.
(Oscar Wilde)
(thoroughly modifies to
know)
Adverbs are words that modify
·
a verb (He
drove slowly. — How did he drive?)
·
an adjective (He
drove a very fast car. — How fast was his car?)
·
another adverb (She
moved quite slowly down the aisle. — How slowly did she move?)
As we will see, adverbs often tell when, where, why, or under what
conditions something happens or happened. Adverbs frequently end in -ly;
however, many words and phrases not ending in -ly serve an
adverbial function and an -ly ending is not a guarantee that a
word is an adverb. The words lovely, lonely, motherly, friendly,
neighborly, for instance, are adjectives:
·
That lovely woman
lives in a friendly neighborhood.
If a
group of words containing a subject and verb acts as an adverb (modifying the
verb of a sentence), it is called an Adverb Clause:
·
When
this class is over, we're going to the
movies.
When a group of words not containing a subject
and verb acts as an adverb, it is called an adverbial phrase.
Prepositional phrasesfrequently
have adverbial functions (telling place and time, modifying the verb):
·
He went to the
movies.
·
She works on
holidays.
·
They lived in Canada during
the war.
And Infinitive phrases can
act as adverbs (usually telling why):
·
She hurried to the
mainland to see her brother.
·
The senator ran to
catch the bus.
But there are other
kinds of adverbial phrases:
·
He calls his mother as
often as possible.
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Adverbs can modify adjectives, but
an adjective cannot modify an adverb. Thus we would say that "the students
showed a really wonderful attitude" and that "the
students showed a wonderfully casual attitude" and that
"my professor is really tall, but not "He
ran real fast."
Like adjectives, adverbs can have comparative and superlative
forms to show degree.
·
Walk faster if
you want to keep up with me.
·
The student who reads fastest will
finish first.
We often use more and most, less and least to
show degree with adverbs:
·
With sneakers on, she
could move more quickly among the patients.
·
The flowers were the most
beautifully arranged creations I've ever seen.
·
She worked less
confidently after her accident.
·
That was the least
skillfully done performance I've seen in years.
The as — as construction can be used to create
adverbs that express sameness or equality: "He can't run as fast
as his sister."
A handful of adverbs have two forms, one that ends in -ly and
one that doesn't. In certain cases, the two forms have different meanings:
·
He arrived late.
·
Lately, he couldn't seem to be on time for anything.
In most cases, however,
the form without the -ly ending should be reserved for casual
situations:
·
She certainly drives slow in
that old Buick of hers.
·
He did wrong by
her.
·
He spoke sharp,
quick, and to the point.
Adverbs often function as intensifiers,
conveying a greater or lesser emphasis to something. Intensifiers are said to
have three different functions: they can emphasize, amplify, or downtone. Here
are some examples:
·
Emphasizers:
o I really don't believe him.
o He literally wrecked his
mother's car.
o She simply ignored me.
o They're going to be late, for sure.
·
Amplifiers:
o The teacher completely rejected
her proposal.
o I absolutely refuse to attend
any more faculty meetings.
o They heartily endorsed the new
restaurant.
o I so wanted to go with them.
o We know this city well.
·
Downtoners:
o I kind of like this college.
o Joe sort of felt betrayed by
his sister.
o His mother mildly disapproved
his actions.
o We can improve on this to some extent.
o The boss almost quit after
that.
o The school was all but ruined
by the storm.
Adverbs (as well as adjectives) in their various degrees can be
accompanied by premodifiers:
·
She runs very fast.
·
We're going to run out
of material all the faster
Types of Adverbs
Although there are
thousands of adverbs, each adverb can usually be categorized in one of the
following groupings:
Adverbs of Time
·
Press the button now.
(now - adverb of time)
·
I have never been.
(never - adverb of time)
·
I tell him daily.
(daily - adverb of time)
Adverbs of Place
·
Daisies grow
everywhere.
(everywhere - adverb of place)
·
I did not put it
there.
(there - adverb of place)
Adverbs of Manner
·
He passed the re-sit
easily.
(easily - adverb of manner)
·
The lion crawled
stealthily.
(stealthily - adverb of manner)
Adverbs of Degree
·
That is the farthest I
have ever jumped.
(farthest - adverb of degree)
·
He boxed more
cleverly.
(more cleverly - adverb of degree
and manner.)
Using Adverbs in a Numbered List
Within the normal flow of text, it's nearly always a bad idea to
number items beyond three or four, at the most. Anything beyond that, you're
better off with a vertical list that
uses numbers (1, 2, 3, etc.). Also, in such a list, don't use adverbs (with an -ly ending);
use instead the uninflected ordinal number (first, second, third, fourth,
fifth, etc.). First (not firstly), it's unclear what the
adverb is modifying. Second (not secondly), it's unnecessary. Third (not
thirdly), after you get beyond "secondly," it starts to sound silly.
Adverbs that number in this manner are treated as disjuncts(see below.)
Adverbs We Can Do Without
Review the section on Being Concise for
some advice on adverbs that we can eliminate to the benefit of our prose: intensifiers such
as very, extremely, and really that don't
intensify anything and expletive constructions ("There
are several books that address this issue.")
Kinds of Adverbs
Adverbs of Manner
She moved slowly and spoke quietly.
Adverbs of Place
She has lived on the island all her life.
She still lives there now.
Adverbs of Frequency
She takes the boat to the mainland every day.
She often goes by herself.
Adverbs of Time
She tries to get back before dark.
It's starting to get dark now.
She finished her tea first.
She left early.
Adverbs of Purpose
She drives her boat slowly to avoid hitting the rocks.
She shops in several stores to get the best buys.
She moved slowly and spoke quietly.
Adverbs of Place
She has lived on the island all her life.
She still lives there now.
Adverbs of Frequency
She takes the boat to the mainland every day.
She often goes by herself.
Adverbs of Time
She tries to get back before dark.
It's starting to get dark now.
She finished her tea first.
She left early.
Adverbs of Purpose
She drives her boat slowly to avoid hitting the rocks.
She shops in several stores to get the best buys.
Positions of Adverbs
One of the hallmarks of adverbs is their ability to move around in
a sentence. Adverbs of manner are particularly flexible in this regard.
·
Solemnly the minister addressed her congregation.
·
The minister solemnly addressed
her congregation.
·
The minister addressed
her congregation solemnly.
The following adverbs of frequency appear in various points in
these sentences:
·
Before the main verb: I never get
up before nine o'clock.
·
Between the auxiliary
verb and the main verb: I have rarely written to my brother
without a good reason.
·
Before the verb used
to: I always used to see him at his summer home.
Indefinite adverbs of time can appear either before the verb or
between the auxiliary and the main verb:
·
He finally showed
up for batting practice.
·
She has recently retired.
Adverbs Can Modify
Adjectives and Other Adverbs
Although
the term adverb implies
that they are only used with verbs, adverbs can also modify adjectives and
other adverbs. For example:
·
The horridly grotesque gargoyle was
undamaged by the debris.
(The adverb horridly modifies the adjective grotesque .)
·
Peter had an extremely ashen face.
(The adverb extremely modifies the adjective ashen.)
·
Badly trained dogs that fail the test will
become pets.
(The adverb badly modifies the adjective trained.)
(Note: The adjective trained is an adjective formed from the verb to train. It is called a participle.)
(Note: The adjective trained is an adjective formed from the verb to train. It is called a participle.)
·
She wore a beautifully designed dress.
(The adverb beautifully modifies the adjective designed.)
·
Peter Jackson finished
his assignment remarkably quickly.
(The adverb quickly modifies
the verb to finish. The adverb remarkablymodifies the
adverb quickly.)
More Notes on Adverb Order
As a general principle, shorter adverbial phrases precede longer
adverbial phrases, regardless of content. In the following sentence, an adverb
of time precedes an adverb of frequency because it is shorter (and simpler):
·
Dad takes a brisk walk before
breakfast every day of his life.
A second principle:
among similar adverbial phrases of kind (manner, place, frequency, etc.), the
more specific adverbial phrase comes first:
·
My grandmother was born in
a sod house on the plains of northern Nebraska.
·
She promised to meet him for
lunch next Tuesday.
Bringing an adverbial
modifier to the beginning of the sentence can place special emphasis on that
modifier. This is particularly useful with adverbs of manner:
·
Slowly,
ever so carefully, Jesse filled the
coffee cup up to the brim, even above the brim.
·
Occasionally, but only occasionally, one of these lemons
will get by the inspectors.
Inappropriate Adverb Order
Review the section on Misplaced Modifiers for
some additional ideas on placement. Modifiers can sometimes attach themselves
to and thus modify words that they ought not to modify.
·
They reported that
Giuseppe Balle, a European rock star, had died on the six o'clock news.
Clearly, it would be
better to move the underlined modifier to a position immediately after
"they reported" or even to the beginning of the sentence — so the
poor man doesn't die on television.
Misplacement can also occur with very simple modifiers, such as only and barely:
·
She only grew to
be four feet tall.
It would be better if
"She grew to be only four feet tall."
Regardless of its position, an adverb is often neatly integrated
into the flow of a sentence. When this is true, as it almost always is,
the adverb is called an adjunct. (Notice the underlined adjuncts or adjunctive
adverbs in the first two sentences of this paragraph.) When the adverb does not
fit into the flow of the clause, it is called a disjunct or a conjunct and is
often set off by a comma or set of commas. A disjunct frequently acts as a kind
of evaluation of the rest of the sentence. Although it usually modifies the
verb, we could say that it modifies the entire clause, too. Notice how
"too" is a disjunct in the sentence immediately before this one; that
same word can also serve as an adjunct adverbial modifier: It's too hot to
play outside. Here are two more disjunctive adverbs:
·
Frankly, Martha, I don't give a hoot.
·
Fortunately, no one was hurt.
Conjuncts, on the other hand, serve a connector function within
the flow of the text, signaling a transition between ideas.
·
If they start smoking
those awful cigars, then I'm not staying.
·
We've told the landlord
about this ceiling again and again, and yet he's done nothing
to fix it.
At the extreme edge of
this category, we have the purely conjunctive device known as the conjunctive
adverb (often called the adverbial conjunction):
·
Jose has spent years
preparing for this event; nevertheless, he's the most nervous
person here.
·
I love this school; however,
I don't think I can afford the tuition.
Authority for this
section: A University Grammar of English by Randolph Quirk and
Sidney Greenbaum. Longman Group: Essex, England. 1993. 126. Used with
permission. Examples our own.
Some Special Cases
The adverbs enough and not enough usually
take a postmodifier position:
·
Is that music loud
enough?
·
These shoes are not
big enough.
·
In a roomful of elderly
people, you must remember to speak loudly enough.
(Notice, though, that
when enough functions as an adjective, it can come before the
noun:
·
Did she give us enough
time?
The adverb enough is
often followed by an infinitive:
·
She didn't run fast enough
to win.
The adverb too comes
before adjectives and other adverbs:
·
She ran too fast.
·
She works too
quickly.
If too comes
after the adverb it is probably a disjunct (meaning also) and is
usually set off with a comma:
·
Yasmin works hard. She
works quickly, too.
The adverb too is
often followed by an infinitive:
·
She runs too slowly to enter this race.
Another common
construction with the adverb too is too followed
by a prepositional phrase — for + the object of the
preposition — followed by an infinitive:
·
This milk is too hot for a baby to drink.
Adjectival clauses are sometimes introduced by what are called the relative
adverbs: where, when, and why. Although
the entire clause is adjectival and will modify a noun, the relative word
itself fulfills an adverbial function (modifying a verb within its own clause).
The relative adverb where will begin a clause
that modifies a noun of place:
My entire family now
worships in the church where my great grandfather used to be
minister.
The relative pronoun
"where" modifies the verb "used to be" (which makes it
adverbial), but the entire clause ("where my great grandfather used to be
minister") modifies the word "church."
A when clause will modify nouns of time:
My favorite month is
always February, when we celebrate Valentine's Day and Presidents'
Day.
And a why clause will modify the noun reason:
Do you know the reason why
Isabel isn't in class today?
We sometimes leave out the relative adverb in such clauses, and
many writers prefer "that" to "why" in a clause referring
to "reason":
·
Do you know the reason why Isabel
isn't in class today?
·
I always look forward to
the day when we begin our summer vacation.
·
I know the reason that men
like motorcycles.
Authority for this
section: Understanding English Grammar by Martha Kolln. 4rth
Edition. MacMillan Publishing Company: New York. 1994.
A viewpoint adverb generally comes after a noun
and is related to an adjective that precedes that noun:
·
A successful athletic
team is often a good team scholastically.
·
Investing all our money
in snowmobiles was probably not a sound idea financially.
You will sometimes hear
a phrase like "scholastically speaking" or "financially
speaking" in these circumstances, but the word "speaking" is
seldom necessary.
A focus adverb indicates that what is being
communicated is limited to the part that is focused; a focus adverb will tend
either to limit the sense of the sentence ("He got an A just for
attending the class.") or to act as an additive ("He
got an A in addition to being published."
Although negative constructions like the words "not" and
"never" are usually found embedded within a verb string — "He
has never been much help to his mother." — they are
technically not part of the verb; they are, indeed, adverbs. However, a
so-called negative adverb creates a negative meaning in a
sentence without the use of the usual no/not/neither/nor/never
constructions:
·
He seldom visits.
·
She hardly eats
anything since the accident.
·
After her long and
tedious lectures, rarely was anyone awake.
Examples of Adverbs
Spotting
an Adverb
End in
"-ly"
·
Financially
·
Willfully
·
Abruptly
·
Endlessly
·
Firmly
·
Delightfully
·
Quickly
·
Lightly
·
Eternally
·
Delicately
·
Wearily
·
Sorrowfully
·
Beautifully
·
Truthfully
·
Uneasily
·
Weirdly
·
Cheerfully
·
Expertly
·
Wholeheartedly
·
Randomly
·
Brutally
·
Really
·
Briskly
·
Sloppily
·
Wickedly
Tell
Where Action Happened
·
Here
·
There
·
Everywhere
·
Somewhere
·
In
·
Inside
·
Underground
·
Out
·
Outside
·
Upstairs
·
Downstairs
Tell
When Action Happened
·
Now
·
First
·
Last
·
Early
·
Yesterday
·
Tomorrow
·
Today
·
Later
·
Regularly
·
Often
·
Never
·
Monthly
·
Always
·
Usually
Tell
the Extent of the Action
·
Very
·
Too
·
Almost
·
Also
·
Only
·
Enough
·
So
·
Quite
·
Almost
·
Rather
Adverbs
Are Intensifiers
·
I really don’t care.
·
He literally wrecked his car.
·
I am certain of the facts, for sure.
·
You simply don’t understand.
·
I so want
to go to the concert.
·
She completely rejected his proposal.
·
I heartily endorsed the new restaurant.
·
I so want
that new toy.
·
He completely understands me.
·
I absolutely refuse to stay here any longer.
·
I sort of felt betrayed by you.
·
You can improve on this to some extent.
·
She kind of likes the movie.
·
The boss almost quit his job after that.
·
I somewhat understand what you are saying.
·
She mildly disapproved of his actions.
Adverb
Phrases
·
With a hammer
·
Next door
·
Before the holidays
·
Every month
·
For his mother
·
In the north of Germany
·
While I was waiting
·
Every time he cracked a joke
·
Where the students can read it
·
As if she were guilty
·
Like he owns the place
·
As you think you are
·
If you have the time
·
Although I may lose my job
·
Since it is your birthday
Sources : yourdictionary.com, grammar-monster.com, http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/
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