ADVERBS

• Adverbs are words that answer the questions when, where, and how, for
example, recently, never, below, slowly, frankly. Typically, adverbs end in -ly
though there are a few adjectives that take this ending too, such as lovely,
friendly, lonely.

• Adverbs can be used to modify an adjective or an entire sentence. When

modifying an adjective, the adverb immediately precedes it: particularly hot
weather, recently re-elected president.
• Adverbs are a major part of speech that we use to modify verbs, adjectives,
clauses, and even other adverbs. If you’ve studied grammar, you probably
know that words like calmly, everywhere, and soon are examples of adverbs.
But did you know that there are different types of adverbs? It’s true, and we are
going to learn how versatile adverbs can be by learning more about six
common types of adverbs that we use all of the time.
 WHAT IS AN ADVERB?

• An adverb is a word that modifies a verb, an adjective, a clause, or another adverb.

Adverbs provide more information in a sentence by modifying another word. For
example, the adverb quickly in the sentence Jeremiah ran quickly tells us that
Jeremiah ran with high speed. As another example, the adverb really in the
sentence The movie was really boring tells us that the movie wasn’t just boring
but that it was a colossal snooze-fest.An adverb is a word that modifies a verb, an
adjective, a clause, or another adverb. Adverbs provide more information in a
sentence by modifying another word. For example, the adverb quickly in the
sentence Jeremiah ran quickly tells us that Jeremiah ran with high speed. As
another example, the adverb really in the sentence The movie was really boring
tells us that the movie wasn’t just boring but that it was a colossal snooze-fest.
• Different types of adverbs
• Like other parts of speech such as nouns and verbs, there are several different
types of adverbs. For the most part, adverbs are usually separated by what kind
of questions they answer or what kind of information they provide to us. Right
now, we are going to look at six common types of adverbs:
• Adverbs of Manner: These adverbs are those that describe the manner in which
an action is done. Basically, it can be said that the adverbs of manner answer
the question ‘how’.
• Examples of adverbs of manner:

• Quickly, promptly, clearly, slowly, gradually, eventually, rapidly, seriously,

instantly, keenly, etc.
• Adverbs of Time: As the name suggests, the adverbs of time are used to tell the
reader when some action is occurring. Adverbs of time include general time
periods and specific times. We can identify an adverb of time by asking the
question ‘when’.
• Examples of adverbs of time:

• Now, soon, today, tomorrow, the day after tomorrow, next month, recently,
forever, etc.
• Adverbs of Place: These adverbs are used to indicate where the action
mentioned in the sentence is taking place. Adverbs of place can be identified by
asking the question ‘where’.
• Examples of adverbs of place:

• Somewhere, anywhere, nowhere, here, outside, inside, wherever, elsewhere,

left, right, north, east, south, west, etc.
• Adverbs of Frequency: These adverbs are used to denote how often an action
or event is happening. The adverbs of frequency can be recognised by asking
the question ‘how often’.
• Examples of adverbs of frequency:

• Seldom, rarely, never, often, weekly, monthly, yearly, annually, usually,

sometimes, occasionally, constantly, frequently, etc.
• Adverbs of Degree: These adverbs are used to indicate how intense an action of
quality is. It is used to describe adjectives and adverbs. For instance, an adverb
of manner expresses how fast or how slow a vehicle is moving, how hot or cold
the weather is, how interesting or boring a movie is and so on.
• Examples of adverbs of degree:

• Very, too, extremely, much, more, most, little, less, incredibly, totally, greatly,
hardly, deeply, barely, etc.
 |

• Conjunctive Adverbs: Conjunctive adverbs perform a little differently from the

other types of adverbs. These adverbs are seen to act like a conjunction to link
two sentences or clauses together and hence the name, ‘conjunctive adverbs’.
• Examples of conjunctive adverbs:

• However, nevertheless, meanwhile, therefore, instead, likewise, notably,

subsequently, rather, namely, on the other hand, incidentally, in addition to, etc.
• Identify the adverbs in the following sentences and specify which type of adverbs
they are:
• 1. She often visits the orphanages and old age homes in different parts of the
country.
• 2. The tea was very hot, I almost burned my tongue.
• 3. It is most likely expected to rain in the month of September in India.
• 4. I find it difficult to keep going to the post office every week to check if my parcel
has arrived.
• 5. I had not completed my assignment; therefore I decided to stay back home and
complete it.
• 6. Can we go somewhere so that I can relax my mind?
• 7. The children became too restless because of the rumour.
• 8. Geetha was putting the children to sleep; meanwhile her brother cleaned the
house.
• 9. My father went outside.
• 10. Next month, we will be in Chennai.
You should have guessed it all right. Let us check.

1. She often visits the orphanages and old age homes in different parts of the country. – Adverb of Frequency

2. The tea was very hot, I almost burned my tongue. – Adverb of Degree

3. It is most likely expected to rain in the month of September in India. – Adverb of Degree, Adverb of Manner

4. I find it difficult to keep going to the post office every week to check if my parcel has arrived. – Adverb of Time

5. I had not completed my assignment; therefore I decided to stay back home and complete it. – Conjunctive
Adverb

6. Can we go somewhere so that I can relax my mind? – Adverb of Place

7. The children became too restless because of the rumour. – Adverb of Degree

8. Geetha was putting the children to sleep; meanwhile her brother cleaned the house. – Conjunctive Adverb

9. My father went outside. – Adverb of Place

10. Next month, we will be in Chennai. – Adverb of TIme

Viewpoint and commenting adverbs

There are some adverbs and adverbial expressions which tell us about the
speaker's viewpoint or opinion about an action, or make some comment on
the action. These adverbs are different from other adverbs because they do not
tell us how an action occurred. Commenting and viewpoint adverbs modify
entire clauses rather than single verbs, adverbs, or adjectives. There is no real
distinction between commenting adverbs and viewpoint adverbs, except in
their sentence placement. Many adverbs that can be used as viewpoint
adverbs can also be used as commenting adverbs. However, in some cases, an
adverb is far more common as one or the other.
 SENTENCE PLACEMENT

• Viewpoint adverbs are placed at the beginning, or more rarely, at the end of the
sentence. They are usually separated from the rest of the sentence by a comma.
Commenting adverbs are placed before the main verb unless the verb "to be" is
used, in which case placement can be either before or after the verb. In some
cases, commenting adverbs placed before the main verb will also be separated
from the rest of the sentence by commas, although in most cases they will not
be. In the examples below, viewpoint and commenting adverbs are shown in
the correct sentence placements. When a sentence placement is unusual, stilted,
or too formal for spoken language, it is marked with an asterisk.
 ADVERBS - BACKGROUND

• Adverbs are often used to give more information about verbs. In other words,
adverbs often tell us how things happen.
• Examples:
• He swims fast. How does he swim? - fast
• She sings beautifully. How does she sing? - beautifully
• I opened the door wide. How did I open the door? - wide
• She quickly finished her dinner. How did she finish? - quickly
 COMMENT & VIEWPOINT ADVERBS

• Comment and viewpoint adverbs add information about the speaker's opinion

of events. They do not usually give information about how something
happened. Comment & viewpoint adverbs often modify the complete sentence,
not just the verb.

Compare these sentences:

1. She started singing happily. (adverb of manner)
2. Happily, she started singing. (comment adverb)

In sentence 1, the adverb - happily - gives more information about how she

was singing. In sentence 2, the adverb - happily - gives the
speaker's comment/opinion of the event. In this case, the speaker thinks that
her starting to sing was a happy event.
 COMMENT AND VIEWPOINT ADVERBS
- POSITION

• Comment adverbs usually go at the beginning of a sentence or clause. They can

also be placed after the subject, or at the end of the sentence/clause.
• Clearly, Paul had no idea what he was doing.
• Paul had no idea what he was doing, clearly.
• Paul clearly had no idea what he was doing.
• When the comment adverb is placed after the subject, commas are often used
around the adverb:
• Paul, clearly, had no idea what he was doing.
Common comment & viewpoint adverbs
                                                                                                                                                                                                             

Common viewpoint adverbs (most of these can also function as

comment adverbs)
clearly confidentially obviously personally presumably
seriously surely technically theoretically truthfully
undoubtedly        
 
Common comment adverbs (most of these can also function as
viewpoint adverbs)
bravely carelessly certainly cleverly definitely
disappointingly foolishly fortunately generously happily
kindly luckily naturally obviously rightly
simply stupidly thoughtfully unbelievably unfortunately
unluckily wisely wrongly    
 ADVERB PHRASES

• An adverb phrase consists of one or more words. The adverb is the

head of the phrase and can appear alone or it can be modified by other
words. Adverbs are one of the four major word classes, along with
nouns, verbs and adjectives.
• In the examples the adverb phrases are in bold. The other words that
modify the adverb are underlined:
• We usually go on holiday in August.
• Time goes very quickly.
• The day passed quickly enough.
• This works really well for its size.
• Luckily for us, the cost was not so high.
• We kept the new money quite separately from what we’d already collected.
• https://www.grammar-monster.com/glossary/adverbial_phrases.htm
 ADVERB PHRASES: TYPES AND MEANINGS

• An adverb phrase can consist of one adverb or an adverb plus other words
before it (premodification) or after it (postmodification). Adverb phrases have
many different meanings.

• In the examples the adverb phrases are in bold. The other words that modify
the adverb are underlined.
example type used to give information about

We
walked very carefully manner how something happens
 across the floor.

Here is where I was

born. place where something happens
That’s it. Right there.

Dad got
time when something happens
home very late.

This pill will take

away the duration how long something happens
pain temporarily.

They almost never inv
ite people to their frequency how often something happens
house these days.
 ADVERBIAL EXPRESSIONS

• Some adverbial expression are formed by combining prepositions with nouns

(or noun phrases), adjectives (adjective + a noun), adverbs, or a series of
words. Note how this is done in the following examples:
• Some adverbial expression are formed by combining prepositions with nouns
(or noun phrases), adjectives (adjective + a noun), adverbs, or a series of
words. Note how this is done in the following examples:
• Examples:
• A long time ago, my uncle came to visit us for Christmas.
• You hit me on purpose !
• The movie is pretty good, far better than I expected.
• We dated off and on for five years.
• You must finish your studies somehow and other.
• I can't think of it off hand.
 ADVERBS + PREPOSITIONS

• Prepositional phrases can be used for all of the adverbials we

have encountered so far, including time and place adverbials
when used as subject complements.
• These are some of the most significant adverbial expressions
in English:
Examples:

My grandfather died long after the second World War.

I will meet with my friends shortly before mid-day.

The soccer game is almost over.