ADVERBS - FUNCTION
Adverbs modify, or tell us more about other words, usually verbs:
Examples
·
The bus
moved slowly.
·
The bears ate greedily.
Sometimes they tell us
more about adjectives:
Examples
·
You
look absolutely fabulous!
They can also modify
other adverbs:
Examples
·
She
played the violin extremely well.
·
You're speaking too quietly.
ADVERBS: How
adverbs are formed
Rules
1. In most cases, an adverb is formed by adding '-ly' to an adjective:
|
Adjective
|
Adverb
|
|
cheap
quick slow |
cheaply
quickly slowly |
Examples:
·
Time goes quickly.
·
He walked slowly to the door.
·
She certainly had an interesting life.
·
He carefully picked up the sleeping child.
Rules
If the adjective ends in '-y',
replace the 'y' with 'i' and
add '-ly':
|
Adjective
|
Adverb
|
|
easy
angry happy lucky |
easily
angrily happily luckily |
If the adjective ends in -'able', '-ible', or '-le', replace the '-e' with '-y':
|
Adjective
|
Adverb
|
|
probable
terrible gentle |
probably
terribly gently |
If the adjective ends in '-ic', add '-ally':
|
Adjective
|
Adverb
|
|
basic
economic tragic |
basically
economically tragically |
Note: Exception: public - publicly
2. Some adverbs have the same form as the adjective:
|
Adjective and Adverb
|
|
|
early
fast hard high |
late
near straight wrong |
Compare:
·
It is a fast car.
·
He drives very fast.
·
This is a hard exercise.
·
He works hard.
·
We saw many high buildings.
·
The bird flew high in the sky.
3. 'Well' and 'good'
'Well' is the adverb that corresponds to the
adjective 'good'.
Examples:
·
He is a good student.
·
He studies well.
·
She is a good pianist.
·
She plays the piano well.
·
They
are good swimmers.
·
They swim well.
Adverbs:
Comparative & Superlative
Rule
In general, comparative and
superlative forms of adverbs are the same as for adjectives:
·
add -er or -est to short adverbs:
|
Adverb
|
Comparative
|
Superlative
|
|
hard
late fast |
harder
later faster |
the hardest
the latest the fastest |
Example:
·
Jim works harder than his brother.
·
Everyone
in the race ran fast,
but John ran the
fastest of all.
Rule
With adverbs ending in -ly, use more for the comparative and most for the superlative:
|
Adverb
|
Comparative
|
Superlative
|
|
quietly
slowly seriously |
more quietly
more slowly more seriously |
most quietly
most slowly most seriously |
Example:
·
The teacher spoke more
slowly to help us to
understand.
·
Could
you sing more quietly please?
Rule
Some adverbs have irregular
comparative forms:
|
Adverb
|
Comparative
|
Superlative
|
|
badly
far little well |
worse
farther/further less better |
worst
farthest/furthest least best |
Example:
·
The little boy ran further than his friends.
·
You're driving worse today than yesterday !
BE CAREFUL! Sometimes 'most' can
mean 'very':
·
We were most grateful for your help
·
I am most impressed by this application.
KINDS OF
ADVERBS
There are several classes or 'kinds' of adverbs that we use for
specific functions:
ADVERBS OF MANNER
Rule
Adverbs of manner tell us how something happens. They are usually
placed after
the main verb or after the object.
Examples:
·
He swims well, (after the main verb)
·
He ran... rapidly, slowly, quickly..
·
She
spoke... softly, loudly, aggressively..
·
James coughed loudly to attract her attention.
·
He
plays the flute beautifully.
(after the object)
·
He ate
the chocolate cake greedily.
BE CAREFUL!
The adverb should not be put between the verb and the object:
Examples
·
He ate greedily the chocolate cake [incorrect]
·
He ate the chocolate cake greedily [correct]
Rule
If there is a preposition before the object, e.g. at, towards, we
can place the adverb either before the preposition or after the object.
Examples
·
The
child ran happily towards his mother.
·
The
child ran towards his mother happily.
Rule
Sometimes an adverb of manner
is placed before a verb + object to add emphasis:
Examples
·
He gently woke the sleeping woman.
Some writers put an adverb of
manner at the beginning of the sentence to catch our attention and make us
curious:
Examples
·
Slowly she picked up the knife.
Rule
(We want to know what happened slowly, who did it slowly, why they did it slowly)
However, adverbs should
always come AFTER
intransitive verbs (=verbs
which have no object).
Examples
·
The
town grew quickly
·
He
waited patiently
Also, these common adverbs
are almost always placed AFTER
the verb:
·
well
·
badly
·
hard
·
fast
Rule
The position of the adverb is
important when there is more than one verb in a sentence. If the adverb is
placed after a clause, then
it modifies the whole
action described
by the clause.
Notice the difference in
meaning between the following pairs of sentences:
·
She quickly agreed to re-type the letter (= her
agreement was quick)
·
She
agreed to re-type the letter quickly (= the re-typing was quick)
·
He quietly asked me to leave the house (= his
request was quiet)
·
He
asked me to leave the house quietly (= the leaving was quiet)
ADVERBS OF PLACE
Rule
Adverbs
of place tell us where something happens.
They are usually placed after the main verb or after the object:
They are usually placed after the main verb or after the object:
Examples:
after
the main verb:
·
I
looked everywhere
·
John
looked away, up, down, around...
·
I'm going home, out, back
·
Come in
after
the object:
·
They
built a house nearby
·
She
took the child outside
Common Adverbs
of Place
'Here' and 'there'
With
verbs of movement, here means towards or with the speaker:
·
Come here (= towards me)
·
It's in here (= come
with me to see it)
There means away from, or not with the speaker:
·
Put it there (= away from me)
·
It's in there (= go
by yourself to see it)
Here and there are combined with prepositions to make many common adverbial
phrases:
down
here, down there;
over here, over there;
under here, under there;
up here, up there
over here, over there;
under here, under there;
up here, up there
Here and there are placed at the beginning of the sentence in exclamations or
when emphasis is needed.
They
are followed by the verb if the subject is a noun:
·
Here comes
the bus. (followed by the verb)
Or by a pronoun if this
is the subject (it, she, he etc.):
·
Here it is!
(followed by the pronoun)
·
There she
goes! (followed by the pronoun)
NOTE: most
common adverbs of place also function as prepositions.
Examples:
about,
across, along, around, behind, by, down, in, off, on, over, round, through,
under, up.
Go to Prepositions or Phrasal Verbs
Other adverbs
of place: ending in '-wards', expressing
movement in a particular direction:
|
backwards
forwards downwards upwards inwards outwards |
northwards
southwards eastwards westwards homewards onwards |
Examples:
·
Cats don't usually walk backwards.
·
The
ship sailed westwards.
BE
CAREFUL! 'Towards' is a preposition, not
an adverb, so it is always followed by a nounor a pronoun:
·
He
walked towards the car.
·
She ran towards
me.
expressing
both movement and location:
ahead,
abroad, overseas, uphill, downhill, sideways, indoors, outdoors
Examples:
·
The child went indoors.
·
He
lived and worked abroad.
ADVERBS OF TIME
Adverbs
of Time
Adverbs
of time tell us when an action happened, but also for how
long, and how
often.
Examples
·
When: today,
yesterday, later, now, last year
·
For how long: all day, not long, for a while, since last year
·
How often: sometimes, frequently, never, often, yearly
"When" adverbs are usually placed at the end of the sentence:
Examples
·
Goldilocks went to the Bears' house yesterday.
·
I'm going to tidy my room tomorrow.
This is
a "neutral" position, but some "when" adverbs can be put in other positions to give a different
emphasis
Compare:
·
Later Goldilocks
ate some porridge. (the time is more important)
·
Goldilocks later ate some porridge. (this is more formal, like a policeman's
report)
·
Goldilocks ate some porridge later. (this is neutral, no particular emphasis)
"For
how long" adverbs
are usually placed at the end of the sentence:
Examples
·
She stayed in the Bears' house all day.
·
My mother lived in France for a
year.
Notice: 'for' is always followed by an expression of duration:
Examples
·
for three days,
·
for a week,
·
for several years,
·
for two centuries.
'since' is always followed by an expression of a point in time:
Examples
·
since Monday,
·
since 1997,
·
since the last war.
"How
often" adverbs
expressing the frequency of an action are usually placed before the main verb but after
auxiliary verbs (such as be,
have, may, must):
Examples
·
I often eat vegetarian food. (before the main verb)
·
He never drinks milk. (before the main verb)
·
You must always fasten your seat belt. (after the auxiliary must)
·
She is never sea-sick.(after the auxiliary is)
·
I have never forgotten my first kiss. (after the auxiliary have and
before the main verb forgotten)
Some other "how often" adverbs express the exact
number of times an
action happens and are usually placed at the end of the sentence:
Examples
·
This magazine is published monthly.
·
He visits his mother once a
week.
When a frequency adverb is placed at the end of a sentence it is much stronger.
Compare:
·
She regularly visits France.
·
She visits France regularly.
Adverbs
that can be used in these two positions:
·
frequently,
·
generally,
·
normally,
·
occasionally,
·
often,
·
regularly,
·
sometimes,
·
usually
'Yet' and 'still'
Yet is used in questions and in negative sentences, and is placed at the end of the sentence or after not.
Examples
·
Have you finished your work yet? (= a simple request for information) No, not yet.(= simple negative
answer)
·
They haven't met him yet. (= simple negative statement)
·
Haven't you finished yet? (= expressing slight surprise)
Still expresses continuity; it is used in positive sentences and
questions, and is placedbefore the main verb and after
auxiliary verbs (such
as be, have, might, will)
Examples
·
I am still hungry.
·
She is still waiting for you
·
Are you still here?
·
Do you still work for the BBC?
ORDER
OF ADVERBS OF TIME
If you
need to use more than one adverb of time at the end of a sentence, use them in
this order:
1: 'how long'
2: 'how often'
3: 'when' (think of 'low')
2: 'how often'
3: 'when' (think of 'low')
Example:
·
1 + 2 :
I work (1) for
five hours (2) every day
·
2 + 3 : The magazine was published (2) weekly (3) last year.
·
1 + 3 : I was abroad (1) for two
months (3) last year.
·
1 + 2 + 3 : She worked in a hospital (1) for two days (2) every
week (3) last year.
ADVERBS OF CERTAINTY
Adverbs of certainty express how certain or sure we feel about an action or event.
Usage
Common adverbs of certainty:
certainly, definitely, probably, undoubtedly, surely
1.
Adverbs of certainty go before the main verb but after the verb 'to be':
·
He definitely left the house this morning.
·
He is probably in the
park.
2. With
other auxiliary verb, these adverbs go between the auxiliary and the main verb:
·
He has certainly forgotten the meeting.
·
He will probably remember
tomorrow.
3.
Sometimes these adverbs can be placed at the beginning of the sentence:
·
Undoubtedly,
Winston Churchill was a great politician.
BE
CAREFUL! with surely. When it is placed at the beginning of the
sentence, it means the speaker thinks something is true, but is looking for
confirmation:
·
Surely you've
got a bicycle?
ADVERBS OF
DEGREE
Usage
Adverbs of degree tell us
about the intensity or degree of an action, an adjective or another adverb.
Common adverbs of degree:
Almost, nearly, quite,
just, too, enough, hardly, scarcely, completely, very, extremely.
Adverbs
of degree are usually placed:
1. before the adjective or adverb they are
modifying:
e.g. The water was extremely cold.
e.g. The water was extremely cold.
2. before
the main verb:
e.g. He was just leaving. She has almost finished.
e.g. He was just leaving. She has almost finished.
Examples
·
She doesn't quite know what she'll do after
university.
·
They are completely exhausted from the trip.
·
I am too tired to go out tonight.
·
He hardly noticed what she was saying.
Enough, very, too
Enough as an adverb meaning 'to
the necessary degree' goes after adjectives and adverbs.
Examples
·
Is
your coffee hot
enough? (adjective)
·
He
didn't work hard enough. (adverb)
It also goes before nouns,
and means 'as much as is necessary'. In this case it is not an adverb, but a 'determiner'.
Examples
·
We
have enough bread.
·
They
don't have enough food.
Too as an adverb meaning 'more than is
necessary or useful' goes before adjectives and adverbs, e.g.
·
This
coffee is too hot. (adjective)
·
He
works too hard. (adverb)
Enough and too with adjectives can be followed by 'for
someone/something'.
Examples
·
The
dress was big enough for me.
·
She's
not experienced enough for this job.
·
The
coffee was too hot for me.
·
The
dress was too small for her.
We can also use 'to + infinitive' after enough and too with adjectives/adverb.
Examples
·
The
coffee was too hot to drink.
·
He
didn't work hard enough to pass the exam.
·
She's
not old enough to get married.
·
You're too young to have grandchildren!
Very goes before an adverb or adjective to
make it stronger.
Examples
·
The
girl was very beautiful. (adjective)
·
He
worked very quickly. (adverb)
If we want to make a negative
form of an adjective or adverb, we can use a word of opposite meaning, or not very.
Examples
·
The
girl was ugly OR The girl was not very beautiful
·
He worked slowly OR He didn't work very quickly.
BE CAREFUL! There is a big difference between too and very.
·
Very expresses a fact:
He speaks very quickly.
He speaks very quickly.
·
Too suggests there is a problem:
He speaks too quickly (for me to understand).
He speaks too quickly (for me to understand).
Other adverbs like very
These common adverbs are used
like very and not very, and are listed in order of strength, from positive to
negative:
extremely, especially,
particularly, pretty, rather, quite, fairly, rather, not especially, not
particularly.
Note: rather can be positive or negative,
depending on the adjective or adverb that follows:
Positive: The
teacher was rather nice.
Negative: The film was rather disappointing.
Negative: The film was rather disappointing.
Note on inversion with negative adverbs
Normally the subject goes
before the verb:
|
SUBJECT
|
VERB
|
|
I
She |
left
goes |
However,
some negative adverbs can cause an inversion - the order is reversed and the verb
goes before the subject
Examples
·
I have never seen such courage.
Never have I seen such courage.
·
She rarely left the house.
Rarely did she leave the house.
Negative inversion is used in writing, not in speaking.
Other adverbs and adverbial
expressions that can be used like this:
seldom, scarcely,
hardly, not only .....
but also, no sooner .....
than, not until, under no circumstances.
but also, no sooner .....
than, not until, under no circumstances.
INTERROGATIVE ADVERBS
These
are:
why, where, how, when
They
are usually placed at the beginning
of a question.
Examples
·
Why are you
so late?
·
Where is my
passport?
·
How are
you?
·
How much is
that coat?
·
When does
the train arrive?
Notice
that how can be used in four different ways:
1.
meaning 'in
what way?':
·
How did you
make this sauce?
·
How do you
start the car?
2. with adjectives:
·
How tall
are you?
·
How old is
your house?
3. with much and many:
·
How much
are these tomatoes?
·
How many
people are coming to the party?
4. with
other adverbs:
·
How quickly
can you read this?
·
How often
do you go to London?
RELATIVE ADVERBS
Rule
The
following adverbs can be used to join sentences or clauses. They replace the
more formal structure of preposition
+ which in a relative
clause:
where, when, why
Examples:
·
That's
the restaurant where we met for the first time.
(where = at/in which)
(where = at/in which)
·
I
remember the day when we first met.
(when = on which)
(when = on which)
·
There
was a very hot summer the year when he was born.
(when = in which)
(when = in which)
·
Tell me
(the reason) why you were late home.
(why = for which, but could replace the whole phrase 'the reason for which')
(why = for which, but could replace the whole phrase 'the reason for which')
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.
Viewpoint
Frankly, I
think he is a liar. (= this is my frank, honest opinion)
Theoretically, you should pay a fine. (= from a theoretical point of view but there may be another way of looking at the situation)
Theoretically, you should pay a fine. (= from a theoretical point of view but there may be another way of looking at the situation)
These adverbs are placed at
the beginning of the sentence and are separated from
the rest of the sentence by a comma.
Some common Viewpoint
adverbs:
honestly, seriously,
confidentially, personally, surprisingly, ideally, economically, officially,
obviously, clearly, surely, undoubtedly.
Examples
·
Personally, I'd
rather go by train.
·
Surprisingly, this
car is cheaper than the smaller model.
·
Geographically,
Britain is rather cut off from the rest of Europe.
Commenting
These are very similar to viewpoint
adverbs, and often the same words, but they go in a different position - after
the verb to be and before the main verb.
Examples
·
She is certainly the best person for the job.
·
You obviously enjoyed your meal.
Some common Commenting
adverbs:
definitely, certainly,
obviously, simply.
ADVERBS OF TIME
Adverbs
of Time
Adverbs
of time tell us when an action happened, but also for how
long, and how
often.
Examples
·
When: today,
yesterday, later, now, last year
·
For how long: all day, not long, for a while, since last year
·
How often: sometimes, frequently, never, often, yearly
"When" adverbs are usually placed at the end of the sentence:
Examples
·
Goldilocks went to the Bears' house yesterday.
·
I'm going to tidy my room tomorrow.
This is
a "neutral" position, but some "when" adverbs can be put in other positions to give a different
emphasis
Compare:
·
Later Goldilocks
ate some porridge. (the time is more important)
·
Goldilocks later ate some porridge. (this is more formal, like a policeman's
report)
·
Goldilocks ate some porridge later. (this is neutral, no particular emphasis)
"For
how long" adverbs
are usually placed at the end of the sentence:
Examples
·
She stayed in the Bears' house all day.
·
My mother lived in France for a
year.
Notice: 'for' is always followed by an expression of duration:
Examples
·
for three days,
·
for a week,
·
for several years,
·
for two centuries.
'since' is always followed by an expression of a point in time:
Examples
·
since Monday,
·
since 1997,
·
since the last war.
"How
often" adverbs
expressing the frequency of an action are usually placed before the main verb but after
auxiliary verbs (such as be,
have, may, must):
Examples
·
I often eat vegetarian food. (before the main verb)
·
He never drinks milk. (before the main verb)
·
You must always fasten your seat belt. (after the auxiliary must)
·
She is never sea-sick.(after the auxiliary is)
·
I have never forgotten my first kiss. (after the auxiliary have and
before the main verb forgotten)
Some
other "how often" adverbs express the exact
number of times an
action happens and are usually placed at the end of the sentence:
Examples
·
This magazine is published monthly.
·
He visits his mother once a
week.
When a frequency adverb is placed at the end of a sentence it is much stronger.
Compare:
·
She regularly visits France.
·
She visits France regularly.
Adverbs
that can be used in these two positions:
·
frequently,
·
generally,
·
normally,
·
occasionally,
·
often,
·
regularly,
·
sometimes,
·
usually
'Yet' and 'still'
Yet is used in questions and in negative sentences, and is placed at the end of the sentence or after not.
Examples
·
Have you finished your work yet? (= a simple request for information) No, not yet.(= simple negative
answer)
·
They haven't met him yet. (= simple negative statement)
·
Haven't you finished yet? (= expressing slight surprise)
Still expresses continuity; it is used in positive sentences and
questions, and is placedbefore the main verb and after
auxiliary verbs (such
as be, have, might, will)
Examples
·
I am still hungry.
·
She is still waiting for you
·
Are you still here?
·
Do you still work for the BBC?
ORDER
OF ADVERBS OF TIME
If you
need to use more than one adverb of time at the end of a sentence, use them in
this order:
1: 'how long'
2: 'how often'
3: 'when' (think of 'low')
2: 'how often'
3: 'when' (think of 'low')
Example:
·
1 + 2 :
I work (1) for
five hours (2) every day
·
2 + 3 : The magazine was published (2) weekly (3) last year.
·
1 + 3 : I was abroad (1) for two
months (3) last year.
·
1 + 2 + 3 : She worked in a hospital (1) for two days (2) every
week (3) last year.
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