THE

ADVERB
PHRASE
THE ADVERB PHRASE

A word or a group of words whose head is an ADVERB.

STRUCTURE
SIMPLE
well
HEAD

e.g. She speaks Japanese well.

 COMPLEX

Premodifier HEAD

Postmodifier
very well
ADVERB
enough

ADVERB
e.g. He plays the piano very well. PHRASE

e.g. I can't focus myself well enough.

MORPHOLOGY:
INFLECTIONS:
Comparison:

→REGULAR

 hard – harder – hardest

 late – later – latest
 long – longer – longest
 soon – sooner – soonest
 early – earlier – earliest
 quickly – quicklier - quickliest
→IRREGULAR
badly – worse – worst

far – farther – farthest

further – furthest

little – less – least

much – more – most

well – better – best

DERIVED ADVERBS
Derived adverbs by –ly . Eg: necessarily

Derived adverbs by -wise . Eg: clockwise

Derived adverbs by –ward(s). Eg: backwards

COMPOUNDING
However, nevertheless, furthermore, sometimes,

somehow, somewhere, anywhere, everywhere, nowhere,

therefore, whereupon, hereby

 ADVERBS AND ADJECTIVES
WITH THE SAME FORM

Fast : He / runs / fast - He´s / a fast runner /

Slow: The big one went so slow. - It was a slow car.

Quick : I didn´t come out quick. - I wasn´t very quick.

Smooth: They want to make sure it runs smooth. – It is

a smooth car.

Good: They go good with baggy jeans . They look good.

Real : It came out real. (inf.) – It was a real story.

 THE CHEAP – CHEAPLY LIST
There are a number of adverbs which
show vacillation between forms with
and without the derivational suffix –ly.
e.g. : cheap – cheaply
clean – cleanly
close – closely
deep – deeply
direct – directly
easy – easily e.g. Take it easy! I did it easily!
high – highly
most – mostly
SYNTACTIC ROLE OF ADVERBS:
MODIFIERS Adverbial
(phrase element) (clause element)
Adverb
modifying / very sorry /
adjectives

Adverb
modifying
other adverbs / so soon /

Adverb
modifying
noun phrases / 3 weeks later /
H
Adverbs
modifying a
prepositional / right on the left /
phrase
H
Adverbs as
complement Until yesterday
of
prepositions
SEMANTIC CATEGORIES OF ADVERBIALS
CIRCUMSTANCE: *integrated*
e.g. She left yesterday.

STANCE: *integrated or non-integrated*

They mark the speaker´s or writer´s attitude to a clause or a comment about its
content.

e.g. Luckily, he got the prize.

LINKING: *non- integrated*

They make connections between sections of discourse. They show how the
meaning of one section of text is related to another.

e.g. She lived in the USA. Later, she left for Rome.
CIRCUMSTANCE
ADVERBIALS
Manner Place

Time Degree

Additive /
restrictive
 PLACE

above, abroad, ahead, anywhere, around,

away, back(wards), behind, below,
beneath, down(wards), east(wards),
everywhere, here, home(wards), indoors,
inland, inside, locally, near(by),
north(wards), nowhere, out(side),
overseas, somewhere, south(wards),
there, underneath, up(wards), upstairs,
west(wards)
 TIME

Time – when
just (at this moment, a very short time ago), now, nowadays, presently, then, today, tomorrow,
yesterday, afterwards, before, earlier, finally, formerly, immediately, last, lately, later, next,
once, previously, presently, recently, soon, then

Time-duration
long, always, temporarily, recently, lately, (ever) since, briefly, momentarily,
permanently

Time - frequency
hourly, daily, weekly, fortnightly, monthly, quarterly, annually, again, once, twice,
commonly, generally, habitually, invariably, normally, usually, always, constantly,
continually, ever, permanently, frequently, often, regularly, repeatedly, occasionally, rarely,
sometimes, ever, never.
 •absolutely, badly, bitterly,
completely, deeply, entirely,
fully, very much, perfectly,
amplifier quite, rather, severely, so
strongly, terribly, thoroughly,
utterly.

•almost, barely, hardly, little,

downtoner partly, practically, scarcely,
slightly, somewhat,
honestly, just.
ADDITIVE / RESTRICTIVE

alone, just, merely, only, precisely, simply,

(items denoting “this excluding all else”)

chiefly, especially, mainly, particularly,

specially (items denoting “this in particular”)

also, even, too, (not)…… (items denoting

“this in addition”)
POSITION OF ADVERBIALS:
Initial
Therefore, we recommend that you review it with a
lawyer.

Medial (M1, M2, M3)

Final
Justina has tried to live abroad.
 MEDIAL POSITION
M1 We seldom see each other any more.
→ Between the subject and the verb.

M2 He must never discover the truth,

→ After the first auxiliary verb.

M3 Starting a new job is always a bit of a shock.

→ Immediately after be as a main verb.