ADVERB
“Adverb is a word that can qualify all the parts
of speech but Noun, Pronoun, and Interjection"
E.g. One of those students writes beautifully
“Beautifully” qualifies the verb “write”
E.g. This coffee is rather hot.
“Rather” qualifies the adjective “hot”
E.g. This driver drives very fast.
“Very” qualifies the adverb “fast”
E.g. There is a thief exactly behind the tree.
“exactly” qualifies the preposition
“behind”
E.g. He had cleaned his room just before his
father came.
“Just” qualifies the conjunction “before”.
KINDS OF ADVERB
There are three kinds of an adverb.
1. Simple Adverb
2. Interrogative Adverb
3. Relative Adverb.
1. Simple Adverb:
a. Adverb of time (when)
E.g. Today, yesterday, in the morning, last
night, and at dawn, etc.
1. We knew this knew before.
2. They called us a few days ago.
3. We will meet tomorrow.
b. Adverb of place (where)
E.g. In the garden, by the river, upstairs, in the
pool and on the highway, etc.
1. Go there, my friend.
2. There are not in.
3. He is up.
c. Adverb of manner (how)
E.g. Carefully, perfectly, beautifully and
enthusiastically, etc.
1. All the Rajpoots fought bravely.
2. He writes beautifully.
d. Adverb of frequency (how many)
E.g. Daily, always, usually, generally, regularly,
irregularly, seldom, hardly, and scarcely,
etc.
1. I have told you twice.
2. He comes here daily.
e. Adverb of Degree or quantity.
(which shows how much, or to what
degree or to what extent).
E.g. [too, any, almost, fully, quite, very, rather,
enough, show, pretty, as…. as]
1. He was too careless.
2. These mangoes are almost ripe.
f. Adverb of affirmation and negation.
[Adverb of Affirmation: probably, surely,
clearly, definitely, doubtlessly, exactly,
truly, obviously, certainly]
[Adverb of Negation: Never, scarcely, no
longer]
1. Ram and Mohan can probably go there.
2. We are leaving tomorrow.
3. He contradictorily did the correct thing.
g. Adverb of Reason
[hence, therefore, so, since, thus,
because, consequently, lest, etc. ]
1. He is hence unable to refute the charge.
2. He, therefore, left the school.
Note: these adverbs are always used in
Present indefinite
2. Interrogative adverbs
When, where, why, and how.
E.g. Where do you live in this city?
How did students solve those difficult
questions?
3. Relative Adverb: this adverb works as a
conjunction also.
When, where, how and why.
E.g. Tell me where my friend lives.
Henry wanted to know how they had
attacked his kingdom.
Note: a. both interrogative and relative adverbs
are the same but usages are different.
b. after “Relative adverbs” always use an
assertive sentence (subject + helping verb +
main verb)
Position of adverb
An adverb can be placed at three positions in a
sentence.
1. Front position
2. Mid position
3. End position
Front position: It is used before the subject in a
sentence.
E.g. Fortunately, I escaped in that accident.
Suddenly, the phone rang.
Maybe, he is going to open a new branch.
Mid position: It is used after the subject and
before the main verb.
If helping verb is there. It is used after the
helping verb and before the main verb.
Note: Adverbs of frequency, negation, and
certainty are mostly used at mid position.
E.g. They seldom talk to each other.
He was probably late for the interview.
He is not going to play cricket.
He will have not tried to allure us for the
next meeting. (W)
He will not have tried to allure us for the
next meeting (R)
End/ Last position: If the adverb is used
after the main verb.
E.g. One of them plays fast.
He lives here.
Note: If adverb of manner, time, and place are
used at the end position. Use the following
sequences.
1. Manner, Place and Time (MPT)
E.g. The manager of this bank keeps all the
confidential files properly at his home
Explanation: Here “with the proper care”
[Manner]
“at his home” [Time]
A famous politician delivered a moti
vational speech in our school last week.
Explanation: Here “in our school” [Place]
“last week” [Time]
2. Place, Manner, and Time (PMT)
Note: sequence (PMT) is used with the
following verbs only.
Come, go, enter, arrive, reach, sleep and
swim, etc.
E.g. Mohan entered the class silently last week.
3. Place, Frequency, and Time (PFT)
E.g. My friend visited this temple twice a week
last month.
Note: Adverb “as” should be used after
the following verbs.
[describe, define, know, regard, treat, view]
E.g. He is known as the leader of this locality.
Note: Adverb "as" should be avoided after the
following verbs.
[appoint, call, consider, choose, make, name,
think]
E.g. He is chosen a candidate.
Inversion
“Inversion means putting the verb before the subject to create emphasis”
E.g. Hardly had I reached there when they started to shout.
There are two kinds of inversions
1. Partial Inversion
2. Complete Inversion.
Partial Inversion: Putting the helping verb before the subject.
E.g. Hardly had he opened the box.
Complete Inversion: Putting the main verb before subject
E.g. Here comes my bus!
Usages
1. If a sentence starts with “hardly, scarcely, seldom, rarely, barely, no sooner, here, there, away,
outdoor, indoor, up and never, etc." always use inversion.
E.g. No sooner did he deliver his speech than everyone started shouting.
Hardly had he started to play when it started raining.
2. If a sentence starts with “only”
E.g. Only by taking a risk, he saved the life of an accident victim (W)
Only by taking a risk did he save the life of an accident victim(R)
3. With the expressions of “no”
At no time, under no circumstances, in no way, on no account, on no condition.
E.g. Under no circumstances will they do the work.
4. if a sentence starts with an adverb phrase of place.
E.g. Up the hill, a grand temple is situated. (W)
Up the hill is a grand temple situated. (R)
5. in a conditional sentence.
If I were a king. (R)
Were I a king. (R)
6. Use of inversion can also be seen after “neither”, “nor” and “so”.
E.g. My friend works hard. So do I.
Ram went to watch a movie. So did Rakesh.
You don’t like dogs. Neither do I.

Use of Modifiers
1. Use of “too” (more than enough)
a. adjective/ adverb “ it is used to express bad qualities”
a. It is too cold in Shimla nowadays.
b. After this center's decision, the price of such commodities is too high.
c. This piece of land is too small to start any factory.
d. I realized my mistake too late.
e. Some students are too weak in English.
f. He is too rich to buy a new car (W)
g. God is too merciful to me (W)
h. God is very merciful to me (R)
b. “too” has the meaning of (also and in addition to)
 a. He lost his money and relations too.
b. Now the problem affects middle-class children too.
2. Use of very: (adjective / adverb)
a. Very is a simple intensifier, without any other meaning.
a. The house was very small
b. A few boys are very dull
c. We finished the job very quickly.
b. Very + present participle. (ing word)
a. I have a very interesting novel to read. (don’t say much interesting)
c. Very + past participle ( –ed words)
“when past participle shows the state of mind or emotional condition"
a. I was very bored.
b. She was very frightened.
c. You seem very interested in everything
d. John must have been very worried about her wife.
d. Very + positive degrees.
a. You are very good
b. This tree is very tall
e. The + Very + superlative degree ends with (ist)
a. You are the very best student.
b. We must deal with the very worst crime in the city.
But: don't use very with the superlative degree that begins with the most.
a. He is very the most handsome boy. (W)
b. He is much the most handsome boy (R) OR (by far the most handsome boy/ far and away from the most
handsome boy)
3. Use of Much:
a. Much + comparative degree.
a. She is much more beautiful than her sister.
b. The air is much hotter today than that day.
b. Much +the + superlative degree:
a. You are much the best student.
c. Much + past participle
a. I have a much interested novel
b. You are much annoyed at her behavior.
4. Use of (too much / much too)
a. Too much + noun
b. Much too + adjective.
a. He has too much difficulty
b. He is much too jealous.
5. Use of “enough”
a. Enough + noun.
b. Adjective/ adverb + enough.
a. I have enough money.
 b. This car is expensive enough
c. Everyone works enough to survive.
c. Enough of + determiners (a, the, my, this, that, etc.)
Enough of + noun (pl) + verb (pl)
Enough of + noun (s) + verb (s)
a. I don’t understand enough the words in the letter. (W)
b. I don’t understand enough of the words in the letter. (R)
c. Enough of those shapes have been collected.
d. There is enough cake for everyone.
6. Use of Presently
a. Use to mean 'soon
a. My friend will be here presently
b. I shall have no more to say presently
b. Use to mean ‘now’
a. He is presently a doctor is a famous hospital of N.C.R.

7. Use of ‘shortly’
a. Going to happen soon
a. They should be returning shortly
Note: “don’t use shortly that something lasts or is done for a short time”
a. They told them shortly what had happened. (W)
b. They told them briefly what had happened. (R)
8. Use of hard/ hardly
a. Hard (adjective/ adverb) with full force.
a. this metal is hard.
b. they have to work hard to scale this hill.
b. Hardly (almost not)
a. He hardly talks to anyone in the class.
9. Coldly /coolly
a. Coldly (in a cold unemotional manner)
a. he welcomes us coldly on every occasion.
b. Coolly (in a calm way)
a. Our manager deals with every problem coolly.