Unit 4

Where am I?

1
1. Do you remember these words?
Quickly, fast, carefully, very, really, here, then, always, often… What type of words are these?

If your answer was “adverbs” then you are totally right. Adverbs, as you probably already know, are
words or phrases that modify or qualify an adjective, verb, another adverb or a word group, adding
more information about the word they modify.

In this unit, we are going to deal with adverbs and adverbial phrases.

Let’s read a brief introduction about how their function and the different types of adverbs and later on
we will have a closer look at each type and where to place them in the sentence.

We said before that adverbs can modify:

• A verb: She drove slowly.

• An adjective: She drove a very fast car.

• Another adverb: She drove quite carefully.

• A whole sentence: Unfortunately, the driver couldn’t arrive on time.

There are five basic types of adverbs in the English language: Manner, Time, Place, Frequency, and
Degree. We will go deeper into each type of adverbs later on in the grammar section.

Most adverbs are formed by adding -ly at the end of the adjective:

quick quickly

slow slowly
obvious obviously

But this is not always the case. Some adverbs keep the same spelling as the adjective to which they are
related. It is often difficult to tell at first whether the word is an adjective or an adverb. The general rule
is to look at the other words in the sentence. If it comes before a noun it is probably an adjective.

GLOSSARY:

Praise: If you praise someone or something, you express approval for their achievements or qualities.

Highly: it is used before some adjectives to mean very.

Turn out: to happen in a particular way.

2
2. Reading

Now, we will read a text, which is a little more complex:

For many years, Japanese celebrate the coming of a New Year in a very special way following
different customs such as watching the dawn in order to see the first day of the New Year as it comes
up in the sky. They usually gather on the beaches and wait for the sunrise while some of them pray to
the sun.
Going to a temple is another tradition for Japanese people, where they usually pray for good health
or happiness. Some people buy a piece of paper called an “omikuji” which tells them whether they
will have good luck or bad luck in the future. When you finish reading the omikuji, it is a custom to
fold it carefully around the branch of a tree.

Obviously, there is some food they specially cook and eat on this day! People either cook at home or
order a huge box with food called “osechi”, which is normally eaten over two or three days. All dishes
have quite a special meaning. For example, the fish cakes in the osechi have the shape of the sun and
they supposedly bring you good luck. The black beans called “kuromame” are a wish for health. A
curious fact is that the most expensive “osechi” meal ever sold was $250,000 in 2015. This was due to
the material the box was made of, nothing less than gold!

3. Vocabulary
Continuing with the subject of adverbs and adverbial phrases, some of them are a bit confusing for us
either because they are very similar and are easily confused or because they are what we call in English
false friends, which, as you know, are words that sound similar in Spanish but have a very different
meaning.

Let’s have a look at some of them:

AT THE MOMENT / ACTUALLY:

At the moment: Now, currently.

Never use actually whenever you currently.

• I’m busy at the moment, but we can talk later.

• At the moment I’m unemployed, but I’m relentlessly looking for a job.

Actually: In fact. Be careful with this one because it is one of the most common false friends because we
tend to use it as a synonym for nowadays.

We can use it to politely correct mistakes or misunderstandings.

• My brother looks older than me, but actually, he’s three years younger.

• “Nice to meet you, Nuria”.

“Actually, my name’s Natalia”.

3
We can also use it to clarify something or to introduce unexpected information. It has the same meaning
as In fact.

• John works here. Actually, he is the boss!

ESPECIALLY / SPECIALLY:

Especially: particularly. It usually goes with nouns.

• I love most kind of films, but especially horror films.

• We all had a great time at the fair, especially the children.

Specially: specifically for. It is difficult to distinguish from the previous one because both are very similar
in meaning and pronunciation. It goes with adjectives or participles.

• The car has been specially designed for the race.

• My grandma cooked this dish specially for me!

NEAR / NEARLY:

Near: next, next to.

• They were looking for a restaurant near the cinema.

Nearly: almost.

• On my way home I nearly had a car accident.

• They have nearly finished the project.

HARD /HARDLY:

Hard: difficult.

• The exam was really hard.

• I work very hard to earn my salary.

Hardly: barely.

• We were best friends at school but now we hardly see each other.

• The day was so foggy that we could hardly see the car in front of us.

IN THE END / AT THE END:

In the end: finally. We use it to express the result of something.

• He had to study really hard but in the end he managed to pass the exam.

4
• I wasn’t planning to go to that party but in the end I decided to go.

At the end: at the end of a street, a film, a book… We could say that it is more physical than in the end.

• Let’s meet at the end of the road!

• It was a comedy so at the end of the film they got married.

EVER / EVEN:

Ever: at any time. It’s commonly used in questions with the present perfect but also with other verb
tenses:

• Have you ever been to NY?

• If you ever see Joan, tell her I’m sorry.

Even: all the more.

• I have driven really fast cars, even a Ferrari.

• It’s no so difficult! Even a child could do it!!

LATE / LATELY:

Late: adjective, not early.

• Don’t be late for the meeting, please!

• You need to be patient. Jane is always late!

Lately: recently.

• Lately I have been thinking whether to stop studying and take a gap year.

• Have you seen Jane lately?

Race Dish Manage Gap year

3.1 Glossary
Race: a competition to see who is the fastest. Gap year: a period of time in which students
Dish: food that is prepared in a particular style. take a break from studying before they start
Manage: to succeed in doing something. going to college or university.

5
4. Grammar

4.1 Use of adverbs

We already saw the definition of adverbs and adverbial phrases as a word or group of words that
modify:

• A verb:
The football team played badly last Sunday.

• An adjective:
It was an extremely bad movie.

• Other adverbs:
The football team played extremely badly last Sunday.

• To modify sentences:
Unfortunately, the flight to New York has been cancelled.

4.2 Forms

As you already know, you can usually form many adverbs by adding -ly at the end of an adjective:

Adjective Adverb

He was calm when I saw him. He behaved calmly.

That is a beautiful presentation. Your work is beautifully presented.

But we have to be careful with the spelling because there are some rules, which you need to follow:

If the adjective ends in - l we have to double the -l

beautiful → beautifully
careful → carefully
hopeful → hopefully

Adjectives ending in -y change the y to i:

easy → easily
busy → busily
lucky → luckily

If the adjective ends in -le, the adverb ends in -ly:

terrible – terribly

2
But don’t forget that not all words ending in –ly are adverbs. Some adjectives end in –ly too:

friendly silly lonely lovely lively elderly

Irregular adverbs
There are also irregular adverbs, which don’t end in – ly. Here you have some examples:

Adjective Adverb
good well
hard hard
late late
daily daily

The man is a fast driver (adjective). The man is driving too fast (adverb).

The train was late (adjective). She got up late this morning (adverb).

There is a small group of adverbs that end in -ward(s) or -wise. The -ward(s) words can end in either -
ward or -wards (inward, inwards).

-wards: inwards, eastwards, upwards, downwards

-wise: clockwise, lengthwise, likewise

• The doctor asked her to move her head upwards but she couldn’t.

• Turn the handle clockwise to start it.

• He’s the one that they all love. Whatever he does, they do likewise. (They do the same thing.)

4.3 Types

There are several types of adverbs: time, place, manner, frequency and degree. They are classified
depending on the question they answer:

When? Adverbs of Time

Where? Adverbs of Place
How? Adverbs of Manner
How often? Adverbs of Frequency
How much Adverbs of Degree

Let’s have a closer look at each of them:

Adverbs of time

They are used when something happens. Here you have some of them:

already lately still tomorrow

3
early now soon yesterday

finally recently today yet

• I recently read a book about Egypt.

• We haven’t been able to solve the problem yet.

• She got up really early to take the plane.

Adverbs of place

They tell us where something happens.

Here There Nowhere

Far Outside upstairs

• Stop! You are not going anywhere.

• The train station is quite near his house.

Adverbs of manner

Manner adverbs tell us about the way something happens or is done.

accurately beautifully expertly professionally

anxiously carefully greedily quickly

badly cautiously loudly quietly

Manner adverbs are often formed from adjectives by adding -ly:

• She was walking very slowly.

• Please speak quietly.

• You should read all questions carefully before you write your answers.

4
Adverbs of frequency

They tell us how many times or how often the action happens.

daily never generally sometimes

often yearly seldom occasionally
always usually frequently monthly

• It’s always hot in this house.

• Our kids occasionally eat junk food.

• Do you often go to the gym?

Adverbs of degree or quantity

They tell us about how much or to what degree the action happens.

almost hardly extremely

absolutely very too
a lot completely really

• The lecture was extremely interesting.

• It was too cold to go for a walk.

• We almost won the final.

4.4 Adverbial phrases and clauses

Adverbial phrase is the term for two or more words, which play the role of an adverb. Look at these
examples:

• I will sit quietly.

(Normal adverb)

• I will sit in silence.

(Adverbial phrase)

• I will sit like a monk meditates.

(Adverbial clause)

5
 There are also several types as we can see in the chart below:

Adverbial Phrase of Time • I'll be there in a minute.

Adverbial Phrase of Place • Elephants are found in Africa and

India.

Adverbial Phrase of Manner • Don’t act like a child!

Adverbial Phrase of Degree • After the match they were

incredibly tired.

Adverbial Phrase of Frequency • I try to visit my grandma twice a

week.

4.5 Position
Adverbs and adverb phrases can be positioned at the beginning, in the middle or at the end of a clause.

At the beginning Suddenly, everything was dark.

In the middle Children always tell the truth.

At the end He wrote the essay carefully.

Adverbs of manner, place and time usually come at the end of the sentence:

• She sang beautifully.

• We are meeting tomorrow.

• It’s getting cold! You should come inside!

Adverbs of frequency usually go in mid position:

• We often go to the countryside when the weather is good.

• They usually like playing board games at the weekend.

They sometimes go in front position except always, ever and never:

• Sometimes I feel a bit sad without any reason.

They can also go at the end of the sentence:

• I don’t see my parents very often.

6
Adverbs of degree usually come in the middle or at the end:

• My sister is very grumpy today.

Really, very, quite usually go in the middle:

• She really enjoys playing the piano.

• I quite agree with you.

A lot usually goes at the end:

• We travel to Spain a lot.

There is one important rule for all types of adverbs:

Adverbs never go between a verb and its object.

• Right: I never watch TV in the morning.

• Wrong: I never watch in the morning TV.

In this example, TV is the object of watch and they cannot be separated.

Some adverbs used to show the speaker’s point of view (adverbs of opinion) are usually placed at the
beginning of a sentence:

• Obviously, you don’t want to go to the party.

To finish with adverbs position, if you find more than one type of adverbs in the same sentence, the
order should be the following:

1. Manner

2. Place

3. Frequency

4. Time

5. Purpose

• Rachel walks quickly to school every day

manner place frequency

7
Summary about adverbs position
Let’s see a chart about the position of adverbs.

Type Position Example

Adverbs of Manner They usually go at the end.
They sometimes go in the
middle when the adverb is not
the most important part of the
sentence.
Adverbs of Place They usually go at the end.
They sometimes go in initial
position.
Adverbs of Time They usually go in end position.
They sometimes go at the
beginning if you want to
emphasize the adverb.
Adverbs of Frequency They usually go in the middle.
They sometimes go in initial
position (except always, never
and ever).
They can also go at the end.
She ate slowly.
She slowly ate that delicious
warm sandwich.
Put the book there.
Here is the book I was looking
for.
Jane went to the gym yesterday.
This year, we have been very
lucky.
I am always happy to see you.
Usually, I have dinner very early.
I get my car checked annually.

Adverbs of Degree Really, very, quite usually go in My mother is really happy.

the middle.
A lot and a bit usually go at the My brother travels a lot.
end.

4.6 Comparative and superlative adverbs

With adverbs ending in -ly, we use more to form the comparative, and most to form the superlative, as
you would do with adjectives.

Adverb Comparative Superlative

slowly more slowly most slowly
quick quickly most quickly
carefully more carefully most carefully

• The woman drove more slowly because we were getting sick.

• You need to speak more quietly, you are shouting!

With short adverbs that do not end in -ly, comparative and superlative forms are identical to adjectives.
You just add -er to form the comparative and -est to form the superlative. If the adverb ends in e,
remove it before adding the ending.

Adverb Comparative Superlative

hard harder hardest
fast faster fastest
late later latest

• You need to work harder if you want to keep this job.

• Of all cars, ours was the fastest.

8
Some adverbs have irregular comparative and superlative forms.

Adverb Comparative Superlative

badly worse worst
well better best
far farther/further farthest/furthest

• You are driving worse today than yesterday.

• Although we lost, we played the best of all teams.

REMEMBER!

• Adverbs and adverbial phrases are a word or group of words that modify a verb, an
adjective, other adverbs or a whole sentence.

• We usually form an adverb by adding –ly at the end of an adjective, but that is not always
so because there are also irregular forms of adverbs.

• There are different types of adverbs such as manner, time, frequency, degree and place.

• The position of adverbs could be at the beginning, middle or end of a sentence and it
varies depending on the type of adverbs.

5. Writing: Informal letter or e-mail

5.1 Definition and uses

An informal letter or email is usually between people who know each other well. You can write them to
relatives or friends, but also to anyone with whom you have a non-professional relationship.

They are often used to request information, give your latest news, congratulate people, give advice and
ask questions. There are a lot of similarities between informal letters and conversation. The language
used should be informal and plenty of contractions, in the same way you would talk to a friend.

5.2 Structure

1. Opening: We begin letters and emails with Dear... or with Hi ... or Hello...
Notice that in English we use a comma, not a colon (:).

Dear (first name),

Hi (first name),

2. Beginning: It is the first paragraph and here we ask about our friend’s health, we thank her/him
for his or her previous letter/email, etc.

9
 Thank you/Many thanks for your (recent/last) letter/postcard.

It was good/nice to hear from you recently.

I’m sorry I haven’t written/been in touch for such a long time.

It’s ages since I’ve heard from you. I hope you’re/you and your family are well.

3. Body of the letter: It is preferably divided into clean, separated and not too long paragraphs. The
first paragraph is usually used to give the reason for writing the letter (accept or decline an
invitation, thanking for something, apologizing…) Have a look at the most common expressions
we use in letters depending on the what we want to write:

• Asking

Hi! / How are the things? / How are you? / How’s it going?

• Referring to their news

Great news about … Glad to hear that … Sorry to hear about …

• Giving news

Listen, did I tell you about…? You’ll never believe what …

Oh, and another thing … This is just to let you know that …

I thought you might be interested to hear about/know that …

By the way, have you heard about/did you know that …?

• Apologies

I’m writing to apologise for missing your party but I’m afraid I was with flu.

I’m really sorry that I forgot to send you a birthday card but I was busy with my new job.

If you let me know where you bought it/how much it cost I’ll gladly pay for it/replace it.

• Invitations

I’m/We’re having a party on Friday 19th and I/we hope you’ll be able to come.

Would you like to come/go to see ‘Room With a View’ with me at the weekend.

I was wondering if you’d like to go to the theatre/come on holiday with us?

Could you let me/us know if you can come/you’d like to join us?

Thank you very much for your invitation. I’d love to come.

Thank you for asking/inviting me to … but I’m afraid I won’t be able to …

• Requests

I’m writing to ask for your help/you (if you could do me) a favour.

10
 I wonder if/I was wondering if you could help me/do me a favour.

I hope you don’t mind me asking but could you (possibly)…?

I’d be very/really/terribly grateful if you could …

• Thank you / Congratulations / Good Luck

I’m writing to thank you for your hospitality/the wonderful present.

It was so kind of you to invite me to stay with you.

I really appreciated all your help/advice.

Congratulations on passing your exams/your excellent exam results!

I wish you good luck in/with your exams/your driving test/your interview.

Don’t worry; I’m sure you’ll do well/pass.

• Making suggestions and recommend

Why don’t you…? Maybe you could…? How about…?

You can’t leave New York without doing …

I’m sure you will enjoy doing … If you like, we can …

Do visit (somewhere). Don’t forget to…. (Imperative -> Strong Recommendation)

I’m told that … People say that … (If you heard something is good)

4. Closing: This is where we say goodbye, ask the other person to write back, send him or her your
love, etc. In this last paragraph we normally use some formulas but in the case of an informal
letter or email we have wider options but they should always be in accordance to the opening. For
example, do not use Love or Yours if the person you are writing to is not very close to you or
belongs to your family. For people we don’t know very much, there are more neutral formulas,
such as Best, All the best, Regards, Best regards, Best wishes.

• Endings

Give my love/regards to … Say hello to … Hope to hear from you soon.

See you soon! Write soon. Once again, thank you for all your help.

• Signing off

Love,

Lots of love,

All the best,

Best wishes,

+First name

11
Have a look at some examples of informal letter and emails:

From: Joana( joana32@hotmail.com )

To: Marta (marta@hotmail.com )
CC:
Subject: hello

Hi Marta,

How are things? I hope you’re great. Thanks for your last e-mail. As you ask me about my family, I’m
going to tell you a bit more about them.

My mother is called Maria José and she is 48 years old. My father doesn’t live with us because they
got divorced 4 years ago. My mother is a teacher at a primary school and I think she enjoys her job
very much. I’m an only child and sometimes I wish I had a sister because I get to feel lonely. But it’s
ok because we have a dog called Bimbo. He’s so playful and loving that he’s like family!

Well, that’s all for now. I hope to hear from you soon.

Love,
Joana

Dear John,

How are you? I'm good. I’m writing to tell you about my new life in Madrid.

As you know, I started university some months ago and I moved here because I’m from a very small
village. Life is quite expensive here so I have to share an apartment with three other girls. They are nice,
don’t get me wrong, but sometimes I wish I could live on my own.

Madrid is an amazing city but very expensive! Although I would like to go the theatre from time to time,
I can’t afford to go as often as I want. So, instead, I go for a walk to El Retiro, which is free!!

That’s all for now. Write to me soon.

Kind regards,
Lola

12
Summary

Opening First line Hi+ name,

Beginning Thanks

Main body
Main body of the Asking, apologies,
letter invitations,...

Closing Ending Closing

Key ideas

Let’s see a summary of what you have learnt in this unit:

● How to use adverbs and adverbial phrases to modify other words within a sentence.

● How to position these adverbs depending on the type (place, manner, degree…).

● How to distinguish the most common confusing adverbs.

● How to write an informal letter or email.

13