What is an Adverb?
adverb (noun): a word that modifies a verb, an adjective or
another adverb, expressing manner, place, time or degree; a word that can
modify a phrase, clause or sentence
An adverb is a word that
tells us more about a verb. It "qualifies" or
"modifies" a verb (The man ran quickly). In the
following examples, the adverb is in bold and the verb that it modifies
is in italics.
- John speaks loudly. (How does John speak?)
- Afterwards she smoked a cigarette. (When did she smoke?)
- Mary lives locally. (Where does Mary live?)
But adverbs can also modify adjectives
(Tara is really beautiful), or even other adverbs (It
works very well). Look at these examples:
- Modify an adjective:
- He is really handsome. (How handsome is he?)
- That was extremely kind of you. - Modify another adverb:
- She drives incredibly slowly. (How slowly does she drive?)
- He drives extremely fast.
Note that adverbs have other
functions, too. They can:
- Modify a whole sentence: Obviously, I can't know everything.
- Modify a prepositional phrase: It's immediately inside the door.
Adverb Form
We make many adverbs by adding -ly
to an adjective, for example:
- quick (adjective) > quickly (adverb)
- careful (adjective) > carefully (adverb)
- beautiful (adjective) > beautifully (adverb)
There are some basic rules about
spelling for -ly adverbs. See the table below:
adjective
ending
|
do
this
|
adjective
|
adverb
|
most adjectives
|
add -ly
|
quick
nice sole careful |
quickly
nicely solely carefully |
-able or -ible
|
change -e to -y
|
regrettable
horrible |
regrettably
horribly |
-y
|
change -y to -ily
|
happy
|
happily
|
-ic
|
change -ic to -ically
|
economic
|
economically
|
But not all words that end in -ly
are adverbs. The following -ly words, for example, are all adjectives:
- friendly, lovely, lonely, neighbourly
And some adverbs have no particular
form. Look at these examples:
- well, fast, very, never, always, often, still
Note that “the form of an adverb
can also change to make it comparative or superlative”.
Kinds of Adverbs
Here you can see the basic kinds of adverbs.Adverbs of Manner
Adverbs of Manner tell us the manner or way in which something happens. They answer the question "how?". Adverbs of Manner mainly modify verbs.- He speaks slowly. (How does he speak?)
- They helped us cheerfully. (How did they help us?)
- James Bond drives his cars fast. (How does James Bond drive his cars?)
We normally use Adverbs of Manner with dynamic
(action) verbs, not with stative or state verbs.
- He ran fast. She came quickly. They worked happily.
She looked beautifully. It seems strangely. They are happily.
Adverbs of Place
Adverbs of Place tell us the place where something happens. They answer the question "where?". Adverbs of Place mainly modify verbs.- Please sit here. (Where should I sit?)
- They looked everywhere. (Where did they look?)
- Two cars were parked outside. (Where were two cars parked?)
Adverbs of Time
Adverbs of Time tell us something about the time that something happens. Adverbs of Time mainly modify verbs.They can answer the question "when?":
- He came yesterday. (When did he come?)
- I want it now. (When do I want it?)
- They deliver the newspaper daily. (How often do they deliver the newspaper?)
- We sometimes watch a movie. (How often do we watch a movie?)
Adverbs of Degree
Adverbs of Degree tell us the degree or extent to which something happens. They answer the question "how much?" or "to what degree?". Adverbs of Degree can modify verbs, adjectives and other adverbs.- She entirely agrees with him. (How much does she agree with him?)
- Mary is very beautiful. (To what degree is Mary beautiful? How beautiful is Mary?)
- He drove quite dangerously. (To what degree did he drive dangerously? How dangerously did he drive?)
Adverb Position
When an adverb modifies a verb, there are usually 3 possible positions within the sentence or clause:
1. FRONT - before subject
|
|
Now
|
I will read a book.
|
2. MID - between subject + verb
|
I
|
often
|
read books.
|
3. END - after verb/object
|
I read books
|
carefully.
|
|
|
adverb
|
adjective
|
|
She gave him a
|
really
|
dirty
|
look.
|
|
adverb
|
adverb
|
|
We
|
quite
|
often
|
study English.
|
kind of adverb
|
mainly modifies
|
sentence
|
usual position
|
|||
|
adverb
|
|
||||
manner
|
verbs
|
She spoke
|
gently.
|
|
END
|
|
place
|
verbs
|
He lived
|
here.
|
|
END
|
|
time
|
definite
|
verbs
|
I'll do it
|
today.
|
|
END
|
frequency
|
We
|
often
|
go to Paris.
|
MID
|
||
degree
|
verbs, adj. and adv.
|
I
|
nearly
|
died.
|
MID
|
|
It was
|
terribly
|
funny.
|
before adj.
|
|||
He works
|
really
|
fast.
|
before adv.
|
|||
Warning: these are guidelines only, and not complete.
There are many exceptions.
|
source:https://www.englishclub.com/grammar/