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Youarehere:>Home>Resources>AdviceandArticles>AllAboutAdverbs

ALL ABOUT ADVERBS

Explanations and examples of adverbs

Theadverbbelongstoalargeclassofwordsthataddinformationby
qualifyingormodifyingaverb,anadjective,anotheradverb,a
preposition,oraclausebasicallyanythingexceptnounsandpronouns
(whicharemodifiedbyadjectives).Theycanbehavequitedifferently
fromoneanotherandyetstillbeclassifiedasadverbs.Confused?Don't
be!Afterweprovidesomeexamplesofadverbs,youwillhaveamuch
betterunderstandingofthismystifyingmodifier.
Examples of adverbs #1: Adverbs in action

Thefollowingareexamplesofhowadverbscanmodifyverbs,
adjectives,otheradverbs,prepositions,andentireclauses:

Tolearnmoreaboutthedifferentroles
ofadverbsandtolearnEnglishgrammar,
checkoutGrammarCamp.comtoday.

Hewalked(verb)aimlessly(adverb).
Thatsoundedlikeanextremely(adverb)interesting(adjective)plan.
Thecyclistpedaledvery(adverb)swiftly(adverb).
Theparrotsflewright(adverb)over(preposition)thehouse.
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Apparently(adverb),theyhadalreadyleftforBerlin(clause).
Examples of adverbs #2: Understanding different types of
adverbs

Ausefulwayofsummingupthesehardworkingwordsistosaythattheyareusedtodescribeoneofthe
followinginstancesofaneventoraction:
1.Howaneventoccurs(alsoknownasadverbsofmanner)
Heatehispearnoisily(adverb).
2.Whenaneventoccurs(alsoknownasadverbsoftime)
Heleftthetownyesterday(adverb).
We'llmeetagain(adverb).
3.Whereaneventoccurs(alsoknownasadverbsofplace)
Ileftthebookhere(adverb).
Outside(adverb),therainpoureddown.
4.Howoftenanactionoreventoccurs
Shetakesthetraindaily(adverb).
5.Thedegreeorextentofanaction(alsoknownasdegreeadverbs)
How(adverb)tallisshe?
Shediscoveredthattheplantwashighly(adverb)toxic.
6.Tostrengthenorweakenthemeaningofanadjective,adverb,orverb
Lucyspeaksmoreloudly(adverb)thanherbrother.
Examples of adverbs #3: How to spot adverbs

Itisimpossibletotellbytheappearanceofawordthatitisanadverb.Indeed,thesamewordmaybe
anadverbinonesentenceandadifferentpartofspeech,suchasanounoradjective,inanother
sentence.Theonlywaywriterscanrecognizeanadverbisbytheworktheadverbdoesinasentence.
Comparethefollowing:
Thetripwentwell.
Theoldwellwasfullbymorning.
Inthefirstsentence,theadverb"well"describestheverb"went,"andthereforeisanadverb(of
manner).Inthesecondsentence,theword"well"namessomething,andthusisanoun.
Similarly,inthesentence,
I'llcatchtheearlytrain,
"early"describesthenoun,"train,"andisanadjective.Inthesentence,
Iawokeearlythismorning,
"early"tellsusmoreabouttheverb"awoke,"andisanadverboftime.
Someadverbshavethesameformasadjectives.Aswehaveseenintheexampleabove,"early"works
inasentenceasanadjective(usedtodescribenouns,includingpeople,places,andthings)oran
adverb.Thewords"hard,""fast,""late,"and"long"areotherexamples.
Tomakeyourmeaningclear,anadverbshouldusuallybeplacedascloseaspossibletothewordthe
adverbisintendedtodescribeormodify.Comparethemeaninginthesetwosentences:
Wenearlylostallourresearchmaterial.
Welostnearlyallourresearchmaterial.
Thefirstsentencemeansthatthematerialwassaved,butthesecondsaysthatalmosteverythingwas
lost.
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Examples of adverbs #4: A trick for recognizing adverbs of

manner

InEnglish,adverbsofmannerareoftencreatedfromadjectivesbyaddingthesuffix"ly"totheendfor
example,"soft"becomes"softly"and"gradual"becomes"gradually."Theplacementof"ly"ontheendof
awordcanbeagoodcluethatthewordisanadverb.
Ontheotherhand,rememberthatadjectivesnaturallyendingin"le"or"ly"donotformattractive
adverbs,forexample,"silly"as"sillily."Theseandotherwordsendingin"ly,"suchas"friendly"
(adjective)or"lonely"(adjective),areneverusedasadverbs.
Examples of adverbs #5: Spot a degree adverb easily

Likeadjectives,manyadverbscanbegradedthatis,wecanmodifythemusingveryorextremely:
softly:verysoftly
suddenly:verysuddenly
slowly:extremelyslowly
Themodifyingwords"very"and"extremely"arethemselvesadverbsthat,aswehaveseen,arecalled
degreeadverbs,sincetheyspecifythedegreetowhichanadjectiveoranotheradverbapplies.Other
examplesare"almost,""barely,""entirely,""highly,""quite,""slightly,"and"totally."
Anadverbendingin"ly"doesnotneedahyphentoindicatethattheadverbismodifyingtheadjectiveor
participlenexttotheadverb.Whenadverbsthatdonotendin"ly"areusedascompoundwordsinfront
ofanoun,theyshouldbehyphenated,butiftheyfollowthenoun,donotuseahyphen:
Hebroughtacarefullypreparedbreakfast.
Sheboughtapairofmuchneededshoes.
Hernewshoesweremuchneeded.
In conclusion

Understandingandidentifyingadverbsiseasywhenyouknowwhatyou'relookingfor.Ifyou're
concernedwithyouruseofadverbs,haveourEnglishacademiceditorstakealookatyourdocumentto
ensurethatitisfreefromgrammaticalandspellingerrors!
Getthesegrammararticlessenttoyourinboxforfree!

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