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Definition: Most adverbs in English are formed by adding -ly to an Adjective. An adverb is a word that modifies
the meaning of a Verb; an Adjective; another adverb; a Noun or Noun Phrase; Determiner; a Numeral; a
Pronoun; or a Prepositional Phrase and can sometimes be used as a Complement of a Preposition.
ADVERB OF MANNER
Adverbs of manner modify a verb to describe the way the action is done.
('Carefully' modifies the verb to describe the way the work was done, as opposed to quickly, carelessly, etc..)
ADVERB OF TIME
ADVERB OF DEGREE
Example: I completely agree with you. (This increases the effect of the verb, whereas 'partially' would decrease
it.)
An adjective can be modified by an adverb, which precedes the adjective, except 'enough' which comes after.
Example: That's really good.
An adverb can modify another. As with adjectives, the adverb precedes the one it is modifying with 'enough'
being the exception again.
Quite; rather; such; what (What a day!) can be used in this way.
Why do we use adverbials?
adverbs of manner
Adverbs of manner are usually formed from adjectives by adding –ly:
bad > badly; quiet > quietly; recent > recently; sudden > suddenly
but there are sometimes changes in spelling:
easy > easily; gentle > gently
If an adjective ends in –ly we use the phrase in a …. way to express manner:
Silly > He behaved in a silly way.
Friendly > She spoke in a friendly way.
A few adverbs of manner have the same form as the adjective:
They all worked hard.
She usually arrives late.
I hate driving fast.
Note: hardly and lately have different meanings:
He could hardly walk = It was difficult for him to walk.
I haven’t seen John lately = I haven’t seen John recently.
We often use phrases with like as adverbials of manner:
She slept like a baby.
He ran like a rabbit.
adverbials of place
We use adverbials of place to describe:
Location
Direction
We use adverbials to to talk about the direction where someone or something is moving.
Examples:
Walk past the bank and keep going to the end of the street.
The car door is very small so it’s difficult to get into.
Distance
adverbials of location
Location
adverbials of distance
Distance
adverbials of time
Adverbials of time
We use adverbials of time to say:
• when something happened:
I saw Mary yesterday.
She was born in 1978.
I will see you later.
There was a storm during the night.
• for how long :
We waited all day.
They have lived here since 2004.
We will be on holiday from July 1st until August 3rd.
• how often (frequency):
They usually watched television in the evening.
We sometimes went to work by car.
We often use a noun phrase as a time adverbial:
yesterday last week/month/year one day/week/month last Saturday
tomorrow next week/month/year the day after tomorrow next Friday
today this week/month/year the day before yesterday the other day/week/month
how long
We use for to say how long:
We have been waiting for twenty minutes.
They lived in Manchester for fifteen years.
We use since with the present perfect or the past perfect to say when something started:
I have worked here since December.
They had been watching since seven o’clock in the morning.
We use from …to/until to say when something starts and finishes:
They stayed with us from Monday to Friday.
We will be on holiday from the sixteenth until the twentieth.
how often
The commonest adverbials of frequency are:
always never normally occasionally often
rarely seldom sometimes usually
We usually put adverbials of frequency in front of the main verb:
We often spend Christmas with friends.
I have never enjoyed myself so much.
but they usually come after the verb be:
He was always tired in the evening.
We are never late for work.
We use the adverbial a lot to mean often or frequently. It comes at the end of the clause:
We go to the cinema a lot.
but before another time adverbial:
We go to the cinema a lot at the weekend.
We use much with a negative to mean not often:
We don’t go out much. (= We don’t go out often)
We use how often or ever to ask questions about frequency. How often comes at the beginning
of the clause:
How often do you go to the cinema?
How often have you been here?
ever comes before the main verb:
Do you ever go to the cinema at the weekend?
Have you ever been there?
Longer frequency phrases, like every year or three times a day usually come at the end of the
clause:
I have an English lesson twice a week.
She goes to see her mother every day.
adverbials of probability
Adverbials of probability
We use adverbials of probability to show how certain we are about something. The most
frequent adverbials of probability are:
certainly - definitely - maybe - possibly
clearly - obviously - perhaps - probably
maybe and perhaps usually come at the beginning of the clause:
Perhaps the weather will be fine.
Maybe it won’t rain.
Other adverbs of possibility usually come in front of the main verb:
He is certainly coming to the party.
Will they definitely be there?
We will possibly come to England next year.
but in after am, is, are, was, were:
They are definitely at home.
She was obviously very surprised.
comparative adverbs
We can use comparative adverbs to show change or to make comparisons:
I forget things more often nowadays.
She began to speak more quickly.
They are working harder now.
We often use than with comparative adverbs
I forget things more often than I used to.
Girls usually work harder than boys.
Intensifiers:
Mitigators:
superlative adverbs
We can use superlative adverbs to make comparisons:
His ankles hurt badly, but his knees hurt worst.
It rains most often at the beginning of the year.
Intensifiers:
When we intensify a superlative adverb we often use the in front of the adverb, and we use these
words and phrases as intensifiers:
easily - much - far - by far