Download Adverbs What is an Adverb? Adverb Form

Adverbs
Adverbs are an important part of speech. They usually answer questions such as how?,
where?, when?, how often? and how much?
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.
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
regrettably
horrible
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 words friendly, lovely, lonely and
neighbourly, for example, are all adjectives.
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?)
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?)
Or they can answer the question "how often?":


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
2. MID - between subject + verb
3. END - after verb/object
I
I read books
often
I will read a book.
read books.
carefully.
When an adverb modifies an adjective or another adverb, it usually goes in front of the
word that it modifies, for example:
She gave him a
We
adverb
adjective
really
dirty
adverb
adverb
quite
often
look.
study English.
The position of an adverb often depends on the kind of adverb (manner, place, time,
degree). The following table gives you some guidelines for placement based on the kind
of adverb.
Warning: these are guidelines only, and not complete. There are many exceptions.
mainly
modifies
kind of adverb
sentence
usual position
adverb
manner
verbs
She stroked his hair
place
verbs
He was working
definite
time
He finished the job
gently.
END
here.
END
yesterday.
END
verbs
frequency
We
I
verbs,
adjectives
and
adverbs
degree
It was
He works
often
go to Paris.
MID
nearly
died.
MID
terribly
funny.
before adjective
really
fast.
before adverb
Adverbs of Frequency
Adverbs of Frequency are Adverbs of Time that answer the question "How frequently?"
or "How often?". They tell us how often something happens. Here are some examples:
a. daily, weekly, yearly
b. often, sometimes, rarely
You probably see a difference between a) and b) above. With words like daily we know
exactly how often. The words in a) describe definite frequency. On the other hand,
words like often give us an idea about frequency but they don't tell us exactly. The
words in b) describe indefinite frequency.
We separate them into two groups because they normally go in different positions in the
sentence.
Adverbs of definite frequency
Examples:


hourly, daily, weekly, monthly, yearly
every second, once a minute, twice a year

once, twice, once or twice, three times
Adverbs of definite frequency, like all adverbs of definite time, typically go in END
position. Look at these examples:



Most companies pay taxes yearly.
The manager checks the toilets every hour.
The directors meet weekly to review progress.
Sometimes, usually for reasons of emphasis or style, some adverbs of definite frequency
may go at the FRONT, for example:

Every day, more than five thousand people die on our roads.
Adverbs of indefinite frequency
Examples:

never, seldom, sometimes, often, always
100% always, constantly
usually, normally
frequently, regularly
Adverbs of indefinite frequency mainly go in MID
position in the sentence. They go before the main verb
(except the main verb "to be"):



50%
sometimes
occasionally
We usually go shopping on Saturday.
I have often done that.
She is always late.
Occasionally, sometimes, often, frequently and usually
can also go at the beginning or end of a sentence:


often
rarely, infrequently
seldom
hardly ever
0%
never
Sometimes they come and stay with us.
I play tennis occasionally.
Rarely and seldom can also go at the end of a sentence (often with "very"):


We see them rarely.
John eats meat very seldom.
Adverbs of Manner List
Alphabetical list of common single-word manner adverbs
Adverbs of manner form the largest group of adverbs. We make most of them simply by
adding -ly to their corresponding adjective. This is an alphabetical list of 130 common
single-word adverbs of manner. Adverbs of manner that do not end in -ly are shown in
bold.
accidentally
angrily
anxiously
awkwardly
badly
beautifully
blindly
boldly
bravely
brightly
busily
calmly
carefully
carelessly
cautiously
cheerfully
clearly
closely
correctly
courageously
cruelly
daringly
deliberately
doubtfully
eagerly
easily
elegantly
enormously
enthusiastically
equally
eventually
exactly
faithfully
fast
fatally
fiercely
fondly
foolishly
fortunately
frankly
frantically
generously
gently
gladly
gracefully
greedily
happily
hard
hastily
healthily
honestly
hungrily
hurriedly
inadequately
ingeniously
innocently
inquisitively
irritably
joyously
justly
kindly
lazily
loosely
loudly
madly
mortally
mysteriously
neatly
nervously
noisily
obediently
openly
painfully
patiently
perfectly
politely
poorly
powerfully
promptly
punctually
quickly
quietly
rapidly
rarely
really
recklessly
regularly
reluctantly
repeatedly
rightfully
roughly
rudely
sadly
safely
selfishly
sensibly
seriously
sharply
shyly
silently
sleepily
slowly
smoothly
so
softly
solemnly
speedily
stealthily
sternly
straight
stupidly
successfully
suddenly
suspiciously
swiftly
tenderly
tensely
thoughtfully
tightly
truthfully
unexpectedly
victoriously
violently
vivaciously
warmly
weakly
wearily
well
wildly
wisely
Adverbs of Place List
Alphabetical list of common single-word place adverbs
about
above
abroad
anywhere
away
back
backwards (also
backward)
behind
below
down
downstairs
east (etc)
elsewhere
far
here
in
indoors
inside
near
nearby
off
on
out
outside
over
there
towards
under
up
upstairs
where
Common suffixes
 -wards or -ward (backwards, downwards, eastward, forwards, homewards, upwards)
 -where (anywhere, everywhere, nowhere, somewhere)
Note that some adverbs can also be prepositions.
 She was waiting with a red scarf on. (adverb)
 She put the red scarf on the table. (preposition)
Adverbs of Time List
List of common single-word time adverbs
points of time (definite):


now
then


today
tomorrow


tonight
yesterday



hourly
monthly
nightly



quarterly
weekly
yearly
frequency (definite):



annually
daily
fortnightly
The word "bimonthly" is ambiguous and best avoided. Bimonthly can mean "twice a month"
or "every two months". The same is true of "biyearly"/"biannually".
frequency (indefinite):












always
constantly
ever
frequently
generally
infrequently




never
normally
occasionally
often
rarely
regularly
seldom
sometimes
regularly
usually
relationships in time (indefinite):





already
before
early
earlier
eventually





finally
first
formerly
just
last





late
later
lately
next
previously





recently
since
soon
still
yet
Adverbs of Degree List
Alphabetical list of common single-word degree adverbs
almost
absolutely
awfully*
badly*
barely
completely
decidedly
deeply
enough
enormously
entirely
*informal
extremely
fairly
far
fully
greatly
hardly
highly
how
incredibly
indeed
intensely
just
least
less
little
lots
most
much
nearly
perfectly
positively
practically
pretty*
purely
quite
rather
really
scarcely
simply
so
somewhat
strongly
terribly*
thoroughly
too
totally
utterly
very
virtually
well