What is an adverb?
An Adverb can modify a verb, an adjective, another adverb, a phrase, or a clause. An adverb indicates manner, time, place, cause, or degree and answers questions such as "how," "when," "where," "how much".
While some adverbs can be identified by their characteristic "ly" suffix, most of them must be identified by untangling the grammatical relationships within the sentence or clause as a whole. Unlike an adjective, an adverb can be found in various places within the sentence.
In the following examples, each of the highlighted words is an adverb:
* The seamstress quickly made the mourning clothes
In this sentence, the adverb "quickly" modifies the verb "made" and indicates in what manner (or how fast) the clothing was constructed.
* The midwives waited patiently through a long labour.
Similarly in this sentence, the adverb "patiently" modifies the verb "waited" and describes the manner in which the midwives waited.
* The boldly spoken words would return to haunt the rebel.
In this sentence the adverb "boldly" modifies the adjective "spoken."
* We urged him to dial the number more expeditiously.
Here the adverb "more" modifies the adverb "expeditiously."
* Unfortunately, the bank closed at three today.
(In this example, the adverb "unfortunately" modifies the entire sentence.)
Basically, most adverbs tell you how, where, or when something is done. In other words, they describe the manner, place, or time of an action.
* There are several types of adverb:
Manner -Place - Time - Frequency - Degree.
Here are some examples:
Type------Adverb------Example
* Manner----slowly--------Jane drives slowly.
* Place-------here----------The party is going to take place here.
* Time-------yesterday----I called him yesterday.
Advebs of manner.
This adverb usually comes after the direct object or if there is no direct object, after the verb:
* She speaks Italian beautifully.
* He works well.
* You must drive your car carefully.
* Eat quietly.
Adverbs of Place:
This adverb usually comes after the object, otherwise after the verb:* We saw you there.
* We were sitting here.
* We looked everywhere.
Adverbs of Time:
This adverb usually comes either at the very beginning of the sentence or at the end.
* We haven't started yet.
* He still wears old-fashioned clothes.
* She is still a student.
Adverbs of Frequency:
This adverb comes after the verb 'to be':
* She is always honest.
Comes before simple tenses of all other verbs:
* They sometimes spend the whole of Saturday fishing.
Comes after the first auxiliary in a tense consisting of more than one verb:
* I have often wondered how they did that.
Adverbs of Deegre:
* This adverb can modify an adverb or an adjective and comes before the word it modifies:
* The bottle is almost full, nearly empty.
* They should be able to pass their exams quite easily.
