LESSON TWO: THE ADVERB

Adverbs are words that modify verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs. For example:

The quarterback played skillfully.

He is a very skillful quarterback.

He plays quite beautifully.

ADVERBS THAT MODIFY VERBS

Where?
push upward travels everywhere
fell there go outside
When?
arrived yesterday writes often
calls daily exhibits yearly
In What Manner? or How?
works carefully chews noisily
speaks well acted willingly
To What Extent?
hardly eats almost cried
really surprised partly finished

EXERCISE ONE: Circle the adverbs in the sentences; then, draw an arrow
from the adverb to the verb it modifies.

1. They went through the motions mechanically.

2. In the confusion she nearly injured herself.

3. With much preparation they eventually left.

4. The applause ended, and the star finally appeared.

5. Six volunteers worked cautiously to free the child.

6. My aunt arrived yesterday from Washington.

7. Another skyscraper is being built nearby.

ADVERBS THAT MODIFY ADJECTIVES

To What Extent?
very upset extremely tall
definitely wrong not hungry

EXERCISE TWO: Circle the adverbs in the following sentences; then, draw
an arrow from the adverb to the adjective it modifies.

1. The afternoon sun was unusually pleasant.

2. We heard a very loud knock on the door.

3. He was too short for the role.

4. The author was extremely upset by the poor sales.

5. The owner of the restaurant has been seriously ill for some time.

6. This fruit salad is quite tart.

7. The defendant was absolutely still as the foreman of the jury rose.

8. In his prediction my father was almost right.

9. In spite of her defeat, she was not sad at all.

10. We were quite doubtful about the date of the birth.

 ADVERBS THAT MODIFY OTHER ADVERBS
To What Extent?
moved very quietly spoke rather cautiously
breathed relatively loudly agreed too willingly

EXERCISE THREE: Circle the adverbs in the following sentences; then,

draw an arrow from the adverb to the word modified.
(All sentences will have more than one adverb!)

1. Time passes too slowly for the eager contestants.

2. Almost happily, the owner handed us the car keys.

3. The visitors were unusually well received by the mayor.

4. He was quite easily persuaded to change his mind.

5. Debbie argued less loudly.

6. The movie ended rather suddenly.

7. The guest of honor arrived slightly late for the dinner.

8. This ring is entirely too expensive.

9. My brother drove very slowly.

10. Do you promise to visit us relatively soon?

Adverbs can be located in almost any part of a sentence. The following chart
shows the most common locations:

LOCATION OF ADVERBS
LOCATION EXAMPLE

At the beginning of a sentence Silently, she approached the farm.

At the end of a sentence She approached the farm silently.

Before the verb She silently approached the farm.

After the verb She traveled silently to the farm.

Between parts of a verb phrase She had silently traveled to the farm.

Before an adjective Her father was always quiet.

Before another adverb Her father spoke rather quietly.

EXERCISE FOUR: Circle the adverbs and draw a line from the adverb to
the word modified.

1. From 1831 to 1836 Charles Darwin sailed slowly from one part of the world
to another.

2. The timid dog seldom approached strangers.

3. She has never forgotten his consistently smiling face.

4. Cautiously, the veterinarian edged toward the huge goat.

5. He walked around the dog's pen very carefully.

6. On Tuesday the lady was rather sad about the bad weather.

ADJECTIVE OR ADVERB?

It is sometimes difficult to decide whether a word is an adjective or an adverb. The

best test is to determine what the word modifies. Remember that an adjective
modifies a noun or a pronoun, and an adverb modifies a verb, an adjective, or
another adverb.
FOR EXAMPLE: She enjoys hard work.
1. "hard" modifies "work."
2. "work" is a noun
3. therefore, "hard" is an adjective

She works hard.

1. "hard" modifies "works"
2. "works" is a verb
3. therefore, "hard" is an adverb

Sometimes we add an ly to an adjective to make it an adverb; hence, many

adverbs end in ly.

FOR EXAMPLE: She was a kind person. (adjective)

but
She spoke to us kindly. (adverb)

However, many adjectives also end in ly, so be careful!

FOR EXAMPLE: Jan left early. (adverb)

but
Jan is an early riser. (adjective)

EXERCISE FIVE: Indicate in the blank whether the word in BOLD is an

Adj. (adjective) or an Adv. (adverb).

_______ 1. I am certain you have made a timely choice.

_______ 2. In stories a witch is usually a homely woman.

_______ 3. A new model was recently delivered.

_______ 4. Daily exercise is part of a good health program.

_______ 5. I do my exercises daily.

_______ 6. This was the actor's first appearance.

_______ 7. I finished early in the day.

_______ 8. After the play she received a dozen lovely roses.

_______ 9. The leader feels she is only partly responsible for our problem.

_______10. The kindly manager gave us another key.

_______11. She spoke to us kindly.

_______12. Jets travel fast.

_______13. That plane is exceptionally fast.

_______14. We had a very close call.

_______15. We came close to missing our bus.

_______16. Their latest recording went straight to the top of the charts.

_______17. The path to success is seldom straight.

_______18. The mail came late.

_______19. The mail is late today.

_______20. She is a very friendly person.

ADVERBS
REVIEW EXERCISE

PART ONE: Circle the adverbs in the following sentences. There are 25.

1. The stallion stamped and whinnied threateningly.

2. Hand in your book reports now.

3. Tomorrow the temperature will rise slightly.

4. Usually everything runs smoothly if everyone pays attention.

5. The paddle slipped overboard, and the canoe began to drift silently.

6. The sudden shower completely soaked us.

7. The hot-air balloon rose very silently.

8. Everyone who went cycling had an absolutely wonderful time.

9. Sam got to his feet very slowly after he had been roughly tackled.

10. Adam was quite pleased that he had finished the project early.

11. He was intensely jealous of his captain.

12. Once, he found the ball and bat under his sister's too messy bed.

13. I was really surprised at the party you had for me.

14. The fire blazed too dangerously for anyone to enter.

15. The fireman was carefully carrying a very small child.

PART TWO: Write the adverb in the following sentences on the first line. On
the second line, write the word it modifies.

_______ _______ 1. Eventually, the man confessed to his crime.

_______ _______ 2. I was really surprised by the amount of time it took.

_______ _______ 3. The large dog climbed clumsily into its small bed.

_______ _______ 4. I often do my grandmother's housework rather sloppily.

_______ _______

_______ _______ "when" in this

sentence is not an
adverb it is a
_______ _______5. He hunted his prey very carefully. type of
conjunction!
_______ _______

_______ _______ 6. When I got there, the elevator had gone up.

_______ _______

_______ _______ 7. When I finished work, I was somewhat tired.

_______ _______ 8. They recently discovered the poorly written note.

_______ _______

_______ _______9. The newspaper is almost always printed on a Tuesday.

_______ _______
PART THREE: Indicate in the blank whether the word in BOLD is an ADV.
or
an ADJ.

_______ 1. I seem to always get the hard problems.

_______ 2. I do work hard when I have to.

_______ 3. I awoke early from a long nap.

_______ 4. I had an early class at the college.

_______ 5. We met a dreadful beast in the woods one day.

_______ 6. It turned out that he was dreadfully afraid of us.

_______ 7. The actress appeared nervous before the performance.

_______ 8. That nervous laugh of his drives me crazy!

_______ 9. The baby grew quickly.

_______10. I spoke too hastily.

PART FOUR: COMPOSING

1. Write a complete sentence that contains the adverb "quickly."

2. Write a complete sentence that uses the adverb "very" to modify an adjective.

3. Write a complete sentence that uses the adverb "very" to modify another
adverb.
4. Write a complete sentence that begins with an adverb that modifies the verb.

5. Write a complete sentence that contains an adverb that interrupts a verb p