Adverbs

Adverbs are words that modify a verb. They explain how, when, where or why something is done.

Adverbs of manner

Adverbs of manner explain the manner in which (how) an action is carried out. They answer the question “how?” Adverbs of manner usually end in –ly.

Examples:

• She ran quickly
• Angela smiled beautifully
• He reads carefully

Adverbs of manner can usually have comparative or superlative forms:

Examples:

• noisily – more noisily – most noisily
• annoyingly – more annoyingly – most annoyingly
• neatly – more neatly – most neatly

Adverbs of manner can also usually be modified by degree:

Examples:

• quite suddenly
• too slowly
• rather quietly

Adverbs of time

Adverbs of time explain the timing of an action. They answer the question “when?”

Examples:

• My brother arrived yesterday
• It will snow soon
• We arrived first

Adverbs of frequency

Adverbs of frequency explains how often an action takes place. They answer the question “how often?”

• I always drive to work
• He often arrives early
• The President sometimes makes a speech

Adverbs of place

Adverbs of place explain the location of an action. They answer the question “where?”

Examples:

• We will wait here
• The cat ran away
• Thomas can sleep anywhere

Adverbs of purpose

Adverbs of purpose explain why an action takes place. They answer the question “why?”

Examples:

• She was hungry and therefore stopped to eat

Adverb phrases

An adverb phrase (sometimes called an “adverbial phrase”) is a phrase that does the work of an adverb.

Examples:

• Stephen moves as quietly as a mouse
• We finished before it started raining
• They climbed over the fence

Adverb phrases can also be used to modify adjectives or other adverbs.

Examples:

• The politician’s speech was surprisingly and convincingly passionate.
  • In this example, the adverb phrase “surprisingly and convincingly” modifies the adjective “passionate”.
• He went home quickly to get out of the rain.
  • In this example, the adverb phrase “to get out of the rain” modifies the adverb “quickly”.

Adverbial clauses

An adverbial clause is a clause that modifies a verb. As with all clauses it must contain a subject and a verb.

Examples:

• I will go to bed when I have finished reading.
• They arrived late because there was a traffic jam.
• Tony plays football as often as he can.

_{Posted by Graham}