Welcome to Parts of Speech 1: Adverbs

1. General definition

Definition: To modify a verb, an adjective or another adverb.
It provides information on when, where, why or
under what condition something happened.

e.g. Justin sings badly.
(It modifies the verb ‘sings’.)

He is a very handsome man.
(It modifies the adjective ‘handsome’.)

She drives quite slowly on the road.
(It modifies the adverb ‘slowly’.)

Adverbs usually end in –ly.
e.g. quickly

happily

However, not all the words that end in –ly are adverbs.

e.g. friendly (Adjective)

lonely (Adjective)

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2. TYPES OF ADVERBS

2.1 Adverbs of Manner
Definition – Describing how we do something

Adverbs are words that modify:

· A verb e.g. Lily sings a song happily. (How does she sing? – happily)

· An adjective e.g. Millie is very happy. (How happy is Millie? – very happy)

Examples: politely, carefully, simply, patiently, quickly etc.

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2.2 Adverbs of Place

Definition: Describing where we do something.

e.g. Mei Mei is standing there alone. (Where is Mei Mei? – there)

The old lady was here just now. (Where was the old lady? – here)

Examples: anywhere, nowhere, everywhere, somewhere, downstairs, upstairs, in, out, inside

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2.3 Adverbs of Frequency

Definition: Describing how often we do something

e.g. I go to school every day.
(How often do you go to school? – every day)

Daniel always sleeps in the class.
(How often does he sleep in the class? – always)

Examples: always, often, never, seldom, rarely, sometimes,
usually, every etc.

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2.4 Adverbs of Time

Definition: Describing when we do something

e.g. They are going to school now.
(When are they going to school? –now)

Dr. Jason came late this morning.
(When did Dr. Jason came this morning? – late)

Examples: before, after, during, finally, just, next, later, soon, last,
recently, now, then, yesterday tomorrow, when, while etc.

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2.5 Adverbs of Purpose

Definition: Describing why we do something

e.g. She studies hard so that she can pass her test.
(Why does she study hard? –so that)

Bala went to the library to study.
(Why did Bala go to the library? –to)

Examples: so, so that, to, in order to, because, since, accidentally,
intentionally, purposely etc.

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3. Comparisons of Adverbs / Adverbs of Degree

Like adjectives, many adverbs are gradable. We can use ‘very’ and ‘extremely’ to modify theadverbs.

e.g. loudly – very loudly

They are also known as adverbs of degree. However, degree adverbs are not gradable.

e.g. ~~very extremely~~

Examples: almost, quite, highly, entirely, slightly, totally, barely

Same as adjectives, adverbs are comparable. Some of the comparative adverbs use –er and the superlative adverbs use –est.

Adverb	Comparative	Superlative
early	earlier	earliest
soon	sooner	Soonest
Late	Later	latest

Most of the comparative adverbs use ‘more’ and the superlative adverbs use ‘most’.

Adverb	Comparative	Superlative
freely	more freely	most freely
frequently	more frequently	most frequently
effectively	more effectively	most effectively

e.g. William speaks more politely than Kelvin.

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4. POSITIONS OF ADVERBS:

Most of the adverbs can move around in a sentence. Take a look at the following examples that use adverbs of manner:

e.g. Happily she runs to her father.

She runs happily to her father.

She runs to her father happily.

The adverbs of frequency can appear in various points in a sentence:

e.g. I seldom go to the beach.
(Before the main verb ‘go’)

Tony has always been kind to me.
(In between auxiliary ‘has’ and the main verb ‘be’)

The adverbs of time can appear in various points in a sentence too:

e.g. Rachel recently gave birth to a baby girl.
(Before the verb ‘gave’)

Samuel has finally agreed to lend his car.
(In between auxiliary ‘has’ and verb ‘agreed’)

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5. ORDER OF ADVERBS:

The basic order of adverbs is similar to the order of adjectives but it is more flexible.

For example:

Subject & verb	Manner	Place	Frequency	Time	Purpose
Christina sings	happily	in the bathroom	every day	before dinner	to practice her vocal.

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Sources

Roberts, R. (1997). Discover elementary English Grammar:An active-learning approach to learning, practising and revising grammar. The Guernsey Press.

Capital Community College.

A guide to grammar and writing.
http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/adverbs.htm

What are adverbs?

http://www.grammar-monster.com/lessons/adverbs.htm

List of adverbs.

http://www.momswhothink.com/reading/list-of-adverbs.html

English Grammar Reference and Exercises.

http://www.ego4u.com/en/cram-up/grammar

English for students.

http://www.english-for-students.com/Adverbs-of-Purpose.html#chitika_close_button

My English Grammar.Com