The subsections in this lesson are:
| Lesson 4 - Adverbs |
|---|
| 1. Types of Adverbs |
| 2. Comparison of Adverbs |
| 3. Forming Adverbs |
| 4. Position of Adverbs |
An adverb can be a word (easily) or a phrase (last night) that describes or modifies a verb, an adjective or another adverb, and sometimes a sentence, but not a noun or a pronoun. We can identify a lot of adverbs by their endings. They end in -ly but not all, as some words that end in -ly are adjectives.
Examples:
-
We crawled slowly around on our hands and knees looking for the needle.
(Adverb slowly modifies verb crawl .)
-
I dreamed about you last night.
(Adverb last night modifies verb dreamed .)
-
The monster was incredibly ugly.
(Adverb incredibly modifies adjective ugly .)
-
The heart patient collapsed quite suddenly.
(Adverb suddenly modifies adverb quite .)
- Fortunately, we were in time to buy the last tickets. (Adverb fortunately modifies a sentence we were in time to buy the last tickets .)
Unlike adjectives, adverbs do not modify nouns .
Examples:
-
Incorrect
: That woman has a
beautifully
daughter. (
Adverb
)
Correct : That woman has a beautiful daughter. ( Adjective ) -
Incorrect
: He found the exam quite
hardly
. (
Adverb
)
Correct : He found the exam quite hard . ( Adjective ) -
Incorrect
: We heard a
loudly
explosion
and then saw
thickly
smoke. (
Adverb
)
Correct : We heard a loud explosion and then we saw thick smoke . (Adjective)
The adverb is an intensifier
Besides being a modifier, the adverb performs another function. As an intensifier, it makes the adjective that they modify stronger by giving it emphasis.
Examples:
- The weather is exceptionally cold at this time of the year.
- He is downright rude to his parents.
- The treatment is extremely dangerous for an old person like her mother.
- The witch appeared hideously ugly in his dream.
- The substance was found to be a highly addictive drug .
Adverb Phrase
The adverb does not come in just one word. It can be a group of two or more words acting as an adverb phrase (or adverbial phrase). The adverb phrase does the work of an adverb in a sentence in modifying a verb, an adjective or another adverb. An adverb phrase may consist of one word or usually more words. The adverb phrases are in bold.
Examples:
- He has been sitting at the corner for hours.
- His father owns a house by the sea .
- I decided to join them to jog in the park .
- We strolled along the beach after sunset.
- A couple of birds were perching on the gate .