ADVERBS

Unit 6
ADVERBS
The word adverb (ad-verb)
● idea of adding to the meaning of the verb.
● provides extra information about the action.
● tells us how, when, where, etc. something happens.
E.g.:
-Phillip sings loudly in the shower.
- The officer is always late.
SYNTACTIC FUNCTIONS OF ADVERBS
1. Modifier of Adjectives: intensifier which co- ● Postmodifying time
occurs with gradable adjectives. adverbs and place adverbs
E.g. rather tired, freezing cold are possible. E.g.:
- The year before/ the
1. Modifier of other adverbs: they are only paragraph above
intensifiers. ● Only a very few adverbs
E.g. very early, absolutely wrong premodify nouns within
the noun phrase and
1. Modifier of Nouns/ Noun Phrases: quite and rather follow the determiners if
may premodify noun phrases and precede the any in doing so. E.g.:
- The then headmaster
determiner. - The downstairs studio
E.g. We had quite an argument. - The studio downstairs
4. Modifier of Pronoun, Predeterminer, and Numeral:
intensifying adverbs can premodify:

a.Indefinite pronouns
- Almost everybody attended the meeting.
- Absolutely nobody called.

b.Predeterminers
- Nearly half the students participated.
- Precisely all the participants said no.

c.Cardinal numerals
- Over 200 people applied for the position.
- Barely 50% of the population voted.

5. Modifier of Prepositional phrases:

- He threw the ball directly into the pool.
- The monkey escaped completely out of the park.
6. Modifier of Complete Sentences:
- Unfortunately, we missed the bus.
- However, she accepted my invitation.

6. Adverb as complement of preposition:

a number of adverbs of place and time function
as complement of prepositions.
- Stay near here.
- The keys are over there.
- They come from abroad.
ADJECTIVES
AND
ADVERBS

Adjectives Adverbs

He is a responsible driver. He drives responsibly.

She is a careful student She studies carefully.

To be honest, I don’t like it. Honestly, I don’t like it.

His visits are usual. He usually visits me.

 SIMPLE ADVERBS
01 e.g. now, never, too

MORPHOLOGICAL
COMPOUND ADVERBS
CLASSIFICATION
02 They combine two or more
OF ADVERBS elements into a single word.
E.g. anyhow, sometimes, nowhere

DERIVATIONAL ADVERBS
03 A great number of derivational
adverbs, particularly those of
manner, derive from adjectives by
the addition of –ly.
E.g.: Slow/slowly, full/fully.
Or they derive from other adverbs.
E.g.: Last/lastly, high/highly
Other derivational
suffixes:
–wise: clockwise, likewise
–ways: lengthways, sideways
–ward(s): backward,
homeward
–style: family-style
–fashion: parrot-fashion
Some adverbs have two forms, one
without –ly and one with –ly.
These forms have different
meanings and uses: e.g. hard/hardly,
last/lastly, late/lately, e.g.:
- I'm sorry I'm late
- Have you seen her lately?
● Many adverbs cannot be
identified by their endings. E.g.
right, well, today.
● These include adverbs of
manner that have the same
form as adjectives such as
fast or hard.
● Simple adverbs that denote
time and space position and
direction, e.g. back, down,
near, here, always, again, far,
already, soon; and the
compound adverbs that
consist of two parts, e.g.
somehow, somewhere,
therefore.

There are adverbs realized by particles
such as off, in, up.
● When followed by a complement,
they function as prepositions.
● when there is no complement,
they are adverb particles. E.g.:
We hopped off the train.
We hopped off.
Some –ly words are
adjectives, e.g. friendly,
cowardly, etc., we must use
them within a prepositional
phrase: in a friendly
way/manner/fashion.
E.g. The children escaped in a
cowardly way. (Not *escaped
cowardly/cowardlily)
GRADABILITY
Gradable adverbs admit three types of comparison:

To a higher degree To the same degree To a lower degree

Can you jump higher than You arrived as early as The first musician
me? me. performed less skilfully.

Higher degree may be expressed by an inflection -er, -est or by the

periphrasis more and most. E.g.

My mum cooks better than me.

She travels more frequently than I do.
The couple danced the most elegantly at the party.
SEMANTIC CLASSIFICATION OF ADVERBS

Place Time Manner Degree

Distance: Position: How an action is Extent of a

They moved near. I arrived performed. characteristic,
Direction: yesterday. “How?” greater or less
We travelled Frequency: The cake was than some typical
southwards. It never rains here. carefully level.
Position: Duration: decorated. It is too hot.
Put the box there. I will stay forever The tiger walked The play was fairly
in this city. stealthily. good.
 SEMANTIC CLASSIFICATION OF ADVERBS

Viewpoin Linking/
Focusing
t Connecting

Focus our attention Speaker’s attitude Connections between

on certain items of a towards a sentences. They show how
sentence. proposition. the meaning of one section
That's the only reason Frankly, I don’t like is related to another.
I can find. it at all. There is little chance that
That's the reason only Sadly, she had to we will succeed in changing
I can find. leave. the law. Nevertheless, it is
important that we try.
 DEGREE ADVERBS
They include intensifiers, and they strengthen, weaken or limit the meaning of
the word they modify.
For example: very good, quite good, fairly good.

QUITE = “less than / not as it is expected”

● Used with ordinary gradable adjectives (quite bad), adverbs (quite fast), and
a few verbs (I quite like).
● Used with “absolute” adjectives (dead, empty and full)
● Used with “strong” adjectives like amazing and wonderful. Then it means
“completely”.
- The mop is quite useful. (less than useful)
- That series was quite good to me. (less than good)
- Your present is quite amazing! completely amazing)
- The bus is quite empty. (completely empty)
 FAIRLY “to a moderate degree”
● It is used to affirm some positive
idea.
● Fairly is a step towards an ideal. So
we say a person is fairly well.
● It often goes with adjectives that
have a positive connotation (clever,
nice), and with adverbs (well). It is not
used with absolute adjectives.
● It is generally “less complimentary”
than quite. Compare:
- What’s Mark’s Spanish like? – It’s
quite good. (It’s very good, though
it is not perfect =
“complimentary”)
- What’s Mark´s Spanish like? – It’s
fairly good. (It’s good but not very
good = “less complimentary”)
RATHER
● It is used when the idea is negative.
● Rather is a step away from an ideal. So
we say a person is rather ill.
● Rather is stronger than quite and
fairly and suggests “inclined to be”.
● It occurs with adjectives that have a
negative connotation (bad, poor,
awful, unpleasant, etc.). However, it can
occur with adjectives with a positive
connotation to mean “surprisingly”.
- The test was rather easy. (I didn’t
expect it to be)
- That was a rather kind attitude.
(That was surprisingly kind)
ADVERB USED WITH… MEANING
Quite ● ordinary gradable less than
adjectives
● adverbs
● a few verbs
● absolute adjectives Completely
● strong adjectives
Fairly ● adjectives with a to a moderate degree
positive connotation less complimentary (only
when compared to quite)
● adverbs to a moderate degree
Rather ● adjectives with a inclined to be
negative connotation
● adjectives with a Surprisingly
positive connotation
 FOCUSING ADVERBS
“Even”, “only”, “just”
and “simply”
We can change the position
in a sentence depending on
where we want to “focus our
attention”.
Two meanings of “too”
- The jacket is too expensive.
(More than is desirable. Adverb of
degree.)
- I bought a coffee and a
sandwich, too. (Also. Focusing
adverb)
Compare:
- Even a child can
understand it (= so adults
certainly can).
- The bill will apply only to
young workers. (=and
nobody else)
“Too” and “not either”
In the negative, we must use
either in place of too.
E.g.: I don’t like the rain, either.
(Not *I don’t like the rain, too.)
POSITION OF ADVERBS
Most adverbs follow the verb
and the object if there is one.
E.g.:
She drove carefully.
She drove the car carefully.
The adverb of manner, if it is
only one word, is often placed
between the subject and the
verb.
E.g.:
I suddenly recalled the scene.
POSITION OF ADVERBS
Adverbs such as still, just,
already, yet and frequency
adverbs are usually put before
the verb. E.g.:
We always go the mountain.
She still visits her granny.
If there are several adverbs in a
sentence, the usual order in
which they follow the verb is:
Manner (how?) – place
(where?) – time (when?)
E.g.:
Dad has walked quickly outside
recently.