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NOTES
Definitions of Adverb
- Adverb
is a part of speech that modifies a verb, an adjective, or another adverb.
- An adverb is
a word or an expression that modifies a verb, adjective, another adverb,
determiner, clause, preposition, or sentence.
- An adverb is
a part of speech that provides greater description to a verb, adjective or
another adverb.
- An adverb is
a word such as 'slowly', 'now',
'very', 'politically', or 'fortunately'
which adds information about
the action, event,
or situation mentioned in
a clause.
- An adverb is
a word that modifies anything other than a noun, usually a verb.
- Adverb
is a word that describes or
gives more information about
a verb, adjective, adverb, or
phrase:
- Adverb
is a word or phrase that modifies or qualifies an adjective, verb, or other
adverb or a word group, expressing a relation of place, time, circumstance,
manner, cause, degree, etc. (e.g., gently, quite, then, there).
- Adverb
is a word that describes a verb, an adjective, another adverb, or a sentence
and that is often used to show time, manner, place, or degree
- An
adverb is a word that modifies (describes) a verb (he sings loudly), an
adjective (very tall), another adverb (ended too quickly), or even a whole
sentence (Fortunately, I had brought an umbrella).
NOTES 1
What is an Adverb?
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.
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:
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
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?)
- 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?)
Or they can answer the question "how often?" (frequency):
- 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?)
NOTES 2
What is an Adverb?
Adverbs are words that are used in sentences to describe or change the meaning of a Verb or Adjective or even another Adverb. They add a description to the sentence to make it more detailed and interesting. For example:
- He walked slowly across the square.
Here, one can see that the Adverb ‘slowly’ is describing the Verb ‘walk’ by telling that the person was walking slowly.
Types of Adverbs
Adverbs are used in sentences to answer many questions about the Verbs/Adjectives/Adverbs themselves. The different types of Adverbs are as following:
Adverb of Time
What is an adverb of time? Look at examples below:
E.g.: The results were announced yesterday.
Here the Adverb is yesterday which is answering the question: When were the results announced? ‘Announced’ is the verb in this sentence.
E.g.: She will visit the hospital tomorrow.
Here the Verb is ‘visit’ and the Adverb is tomorrow as the question being asked is: When will she visit the hospital?
Other examples of Adverbs of Time are – Once, Never, Tomorrow, Daily, etc.
Adverb of Place
What is an adverb of place? Look at examples below:
E.g.: They will meet you there.
The Adverb here is there that is specifying a place for the Verb meet and the question being answered is: Where will they meet you?
E.g.: In spring, flowers bloom everywhere.
Here the Verb is bloom and the Adverb is everywhere, answering the question: Where do the flowers bloom in spring?
Other examples of Adverbs of Place are – Anywhere, Somewhere, Near, Far, etc.
Adverb of Manner
What is an adverb of manner? Look at examples below:
E.g.: He quietly slipped away.
The Adverb here is quietly which is telling the way or manner in which the action was carried out and the Verb is slipped which is telling: How did he slip away.
E.g.: She works fast.
The Verb here is work and the Adverb is fast and the question being asked is: How does she work?
These Adverbs tell about the manner of the action being done, whether it is done happily or haltingly etc. Other examples of Adverbs of Manner are – Honestly, Joyfully, Cunningly, etc.
Adverb of Frequency
What are adverbs of frequency? Let take a look at those examples below:
E.g.: He likes to watch TV every day.
Here, the Adverb is every day and it is telling about the amount of time spent in doing the Verb, which is watch. The question in this sentence is: How often does he watch TV?
E.g.: They meet every week.
The Adverb here is every week and it is telling the frequency and the Verb is meet. The sentence is telling us: How often do they meet?
These Adverbs are used to show the duration or timing of the action that is happening/had happened/will happen. They also tell us how often and how long these actions would be.
Adverbs of Degree
E.g.: She almost finished the work.
The Verb here is finished and the Adverb is almost which is telling us about the amount of the work finished. The question being asked is: How much of the work did she finish?
E.g.: They were completely surprised by the windfall.
The adverb here is completely which is showing the degree to which ‘they’ were surprised which is the Verb. The question being asked here is: How much were they surprised?
The Adverbs of Degree are used to show to what extent or how much has an action been done or will be done.
Other examples of these Adverbs are – Fully, Partially, Altogether, etc.
Adverbs of Confirmation and Negation
E.g.: They will certainly like this vase.
The Adverb here is certainly which is reinforcing the Verb like in answer to the question: Will they like this vase?
E.g.: He never leaves his house.
The Adverb never is negating the Verb leave. It is answering the question in denial: Does he ever leave his house?
These Adverbs either confirm or deny the action of the Verb. They are also used to reinforce the action that is described by the Verb.
Other examples of Adverbs of Confirmation are – Definitely, Absolutely, Surely, etc. Examples for Adverbs of Denial or Negation are – No, Don’t, Can’t, etc.
Adverbs of Comment
These Adverbs are used to make a comment on the entire sentence. They give a look at the speaker’s viewpoint or opinion about the sentence. These Adverbs don’t just change or describe the Verb; they influence the whole sentence.
They found his secret easily.
+
Unfortunately
Unfortunately, they found his secret easily.
Here, we see that adding the Adverb, unfortunately, has changed the entire tone of the sentence. Earlier, it was a passive tone, now it has a negative or disappointed tone.
Other examples of Adverbs of Comment are:
- Luckily, the dog did not bite the children.
- Happily, the power returned before the big match.
- Did he honestly expect me to lie for him? (Adverb adds comment on the anger of the speaker.)
- And they would win the world cup, obviously. (Can be said in a sarcastic as well as positive manner)
Adverbs of Conjunction
What are adverbs of conjunction?
These Adverbs are used to connect ideas or clauses, they are used to show consequence or effect or the relation between the two clauses. To use these Adverbs to conjugate two clauses you need to use a semicolon (;) to connect them.
Clause 1: He was going for an important interview.
Clause 2: He made sure he reached on time.
He was going for an important interview; accordingly, he made sure he reached on time.
Here, we see how the Adverb ‘accordingly’ is joining the two clauses and showing the relation between them with the use of a semicolon (;). Accordingly means- therefore or that is why.
A few other Adverbs of Conjunction are:
- However – Yet, on the other hand, in spite of
- Consequently – As a result, resulting in
- Moreover – Beside, in addition
- Conversely – Opposite of, contrary to
Position of Adverbs
What is the correct place to put an adverb in English sentences?
Adverbs can be used in diverse ways, which means that they are very flexible in sentences; they can be moved around quite a bit without causing any grammatical irregularities.
Adverbs are used to begin sentences/clauses
- I did not care for her tone. However, I let it go.
- Tomorrow I am leaving for Calcutta.
Adverbs are used in the middle of sentences
- You are always late.
- I will probably be absent at the party.
Adverbs are used to at the end of sentences
- He wrote the answers correctly.
- His stammer caused him to speak haltingly.
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