Master 1

LLA Assignment N3 2024/2025

ADVERBS

The function of adverbs

Adverbs serve two major roles: they can be integrated into an element of the clause,
or they themselves can be an element of the clause. In the first case, the adverb serves
as a modifier; in the second case, the adverb is an adverbial.

When adverbs are modifiers, they usually modify an adjective or another adverb, as in
these examples :
I am almost positive she borrowed that from Barbie!
First, health service managers must be able to price their services reasonably
accurately for trading purposes.

In contrast, in the following examples, adverbs are adverbial elements of the clause:
1 I think she'll be married shortly.
2 Possibly, the Wesleyan church tolerated outside unions unofficially , in a
way
the Anglican Church did not.
These adverbs serve typical adverbial functions. In 1, the adverb shortly provides
information about the time when she'll be married. In 2, possibly tells the level of
certainty for the entire following clause.
It is important to note that the same adverbs can function as modifiers and adverbials.
For example, the adverbs in 3 and 4 are modifiers, but the same adverbs in 5 and 6 are
adverbials:
3 To put on a grey shirt once more was strangely pleasing.
4 This apparently complicated expression for pull-out torque gives the
surprisingly simple characteristic shown in Fig 5.8.
5 And shortly Rabbit too is asleep. Strangely, he sleeps soundly, with Skeeter
in the house.
6 Surprisingly, the choked voice resumes.

This chapter touches on adverbs as adverbials, but we concentrate here more on the
structural characteristics of adverbs and on their use as modifiers.

The formation of adverbs

Adverbs are sometimes described as words ending in -1y. This is true of some
adverbs, but the class is actually very diverse in form. In fact, there are four major
categories for the form of adverbs.
Simple adverbs are not derived from another word: for example, well, too,
rather, quite, soon, and here. Sometimes a simple adverb form can also be used as
another part of speech. For example, fast can be used as an adjective as well as an
adverb; down can be used as a preposition as well as an adverb. In addition, some
simple adverbs originated as compounds, but the independent meaning of the two
parts has been lost (e.g. already from all+ ready, indeed from in+deed).

Compound adverbs are formed by combining two or more elements into a

single word. Examples include adverbs such as anyway (any+way), nowhere (no+
where), and heretofore (here + to +fore).
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LLA Assignment N3 2024/2025

Adverbs derived by suffixation

Many adverbs are formed by suffixing -1y to an adjective, such as clearly formed
from the adjective clear. However, not all words ending in -1y are adverbs. Some
adjectives end in -ly, such as weekly and fatherly:
Luzhkov is a master of populist fatherly gestures.
Many of these words can also be used as adverbs:
He was smiling benignly, almost fatherly, at her.
The -1y suffix is very productive in forming new adverbs, resulting in unusual
adverbs in both spoken and written texts:
Oh yes, it went very jollily.
Every 20 minutes or so, the play guffwingly alludes to the non-arrival of
some long-ordered calculators.
A11 phenols can act bactericidally or fungicidally.

In addition to -ly, other suffixes are used to form adverbs. Two relatively common
ones are -wise and -ward(s). The suffix -wise can be added to nouns (e.g. piecewise)
and the suffix -ward(s) is added to nouns (e.g. homewards, seawards) and
prepositions (e.g. onward, afterward).
Finally, some fixed phrases are used as adverbs. These phrases never vary in
form,
and their component words have lost their independent meaning. Examples include of
course, kind of, and at last.

Adverbs and adjectives with the same form

Sometimes an adverb has an identical form as a related adjective. For example,
fast is an adjective in 1 below, while in 2 it is an adverb:
1 Fast guys tire, a basketball coach once said of his own high-rise team, but
big guys don't shrink.
2 One looter, a woman who did not run fast enough, was shot dead.
In conversation, adjective forms are often used as adverbs:
The big one went so slow.
From a prescriptive point of view, slow is an adjective form, and its use as an adverb
is classified as non-standard. However, in conversation, such uses are not unusual. For
example:
Well it was hot but it didn't come out quick.
They want to make sure it runs smooth first.
Good is sometimes used as an adverb in place of the prescriptively correct adverb
well:
They go good with baggy jeans.
'It's running good now.'

Many adjective forms that are used as adverbs have the function of adverbials, as in
the above examples. However, other related forms occur as modifiers. A common
example is the modifier real used in place of the prescriptively correct adverb really:
It came out real [good].
Good is commonly used as an adverb in American English conversation, but this use
is rare in British English conversation and in all written registers. Clearly, this is an
informal choice, favored in American English:
It just worked out good, didn't it?
Bruce Jackson, In Excess' trainer said, 'He ran good, but he runs good all
Master 1
LLA Assignment N3 2024/2025

the time. It was easy.

Syntactic roles of adverbs

we identified the two major roles of adverbs: modifiers and adverbials. Here we
cover these roles in more detail.
1 Adverbs modifying adjectives
One of the primary functions of adverbs is modifying adjectives (the adjective is
underlined below):
I'm rather partial to parsnips.
I was utterly, hopelessly, horribly &d. (
This is slightly higher than the calculated value.
Usually, adverbs precede the adjectives that they modify, but the adverbs enough
and ago are postposed, placed after the adjectives they modify:
Down came the dry flakes,t enough and heavy enough to crash like
nickels on stone. That seems so long ago.
Other adverbs can also be postposed:
It is rich nutritionally with high calcium content.
.2 Adverbs modifying other adverbs
Adverbs also modify other adverbs:
They'll figure it out really fast.
The do-it-yourself builder almost always uses a water-repellent plywood,
oil-tempered hardboard or fiber-cement sheet.
The two adverbs together (really fast in 1 and almost always in 2) form an adverb
phrase.
Common adverb + adverb combinations
Adverbs are less common as modifiers of other adverbs than as modifiers of
adjectives. However, certain pairs are extremely common, especially in conversation:
pretty/so/very/too much pretty/really/very well/ right now much better/more right
here/there
pretty soon
In both conversation and academic prose, adverb + adverb combinations are used
primarily for describing amounts/intensities, or for qualifying a comparison that is
being made:
1 Thank you very &for listening.
2 Oh, you're going to do much better
3 I admitted, however, that internal skepticism offers a much more powerful
challenge to our project.
As 3 illustrates, these combinations in academic prose are usually themselves
modifiers of an adjective.
Adverb + adverb combinations in conversation can also be used for time and place.
The modifier right is especially common in American English to suggest exactness:
I really couldn't keep him in my apartment right now.
She already got a twenty percent tip right here.
The boys are right there, see?

.3 Adverbs modifying other elements

Adverbs can also modify noun phrases (or parts of noun phrases), prepositional
phrases, particles, numerals, or measurements:
modifier of noun phrase:
Master 1
LLA Assignment N3 2024/2025

'It came as quite a surprise,' said one.

modifier of pronoun:
Almost nobody, it seemed, could eat what they were given.
modifier of predeterminer:
I've done about half a side.
modifier of the prepositional phrase:
But there's a hell of a lot - well into their seventies.
modifier of particle of phrasal verb:
It's really filled the room right up.
modifier of numeral:
It is still not clear whether the approximately 250 people still listed as
missing include those whom ex-detainees say were still alive in May.
modifier of other measurement expressions:
Tosi estimates that roughly one-quarter to one-third of the total surface area
of four sites in 'prehistoric Turan' was devoted to different craft activities.

Most of these adverbs occur as premodifiers. However, postmodification also

occurs, especially when identifying the location of a noun phrase:
Thus, in the ammonia example above, if ammonia, NH3, is allowed to
escape from the reaction system, the reaction cannot achieve equilibrium.

For some of these functions, only a small set of adverbs is used. For instance, only
right, well, straight, and directly are commonly used to modify prepositions.

Adverbs as complements of prepositions

Another function of adverbs is to serve as the complement of a preposition.
Consider the following examples, with the preposition underlined and the adverb in
bold:
1 Before long, he met a pretty singing cowgirl from Texas who went by the
name of Dale Evans.
2 Its importance has often been recognized since then.
3 There's another sweatshirt lurking under there that I didn't see.
4 But I'm seeing all this from above.
These adverbs serving as complements of prepositions usually denote time (as in 1
and 2) or place (3 and 4).

5 Adverbs as clause elements: adverbials

An adverb (or an adverb phrase) can function as an adverbial. There are three major
types of adverbials: circumstance adverbials, stance adverbials, and linking
adverbials. Adverbs can be used for all three types of adverbials.
A Circumstance adverbials(adjunct)
These add information about the action or state that is described in the clause.
They give details about factors such as time, manner, and place. For example:
He took it in slowly but uncomprehendingly. (FICT~)
B Stance adverbials (disjunct)
These convey the speaker/writer's assessment of the proposition in the clause:
His book undoubtedly fills a need. (NEWS)
C Linking adverbials (conjunct)
These serve to connect stretches of text:
Master 1
LLA Assignment N3 2024/2025

Most of our rural people do not have radio or television and a large
proportion are illiterate. Therefore we had to use approaches that do not
depend on the mass media or on literacy.