An Adverb a word which modifies a verb or an adjectives or another adverb.
FOR EXAMPLE
In the
example above ‘danced’ is a verb which is being modified by the adverb
“beautifully”.
In the
example above ‘beautiful’ is an adjective which is being modified by an adverb
‘very’.
KINDS OF ADVERBS
1.
ADVERBS OF MANNER
Adverbs of
Manner tell us the manner or the way in which something happens. They answer
the Question ‘How?’ Adverbs of Manner mainly modify verbs.
·
He
speaks slowly. (How does he speak?)
·
They
helped us cheerfully. (How did they help us?)
James Bond drives his cars fast. (How does James Bond drive
his cars?)
2. ADVERBS OF PLACE
Adverbs of place tell us the place where something happens.
They answer the question ‘where?’ An adverb of place mainly modifies verbs.
·
Please
sit here. (Where should I sit?)
·
They
looked everywhere. (Where did they looked?)
·
Two
cars were parked outside. (Where were two cars parked?)
3.
ADVERBS OF TIME
Adverbs of time tell us something about the time that
something happens. They answer the question ‘when?’ Adverbs of Time mainly
modify verbs.
·
He
came yesterday. (When did he came?)
·
I
want it now. (When do I want it? ) or they can answer the question ‘how often?’
·
They
deliver the newspaper daily. (How often do they deliver the newspaper?)
·
We
sometimes watch a movie.(How often do we watch a movie?)
4. ADVERBS OF DEGREE
Adverbs of degree tell us the degree or extent to which
something happens. They answer the question ’how much?’ or ‘to what
degree?’Adverbs of degree can modify verbs, Adjectives or other Adverbs.
·
She entirely agrees with him. (How much
does she agree with him?)
·
Mary is very beautiful. (To what degree is Mary
beautiful? How beautiful is Mary?)
·
He drove quite dangerously. (To what degree did
he drive dangerously? How dangerously did he drive?)
5.
ADVERBS OF FREQUENCY
Adverbs of
frequency tell us how many times the action occurs or occurred or will occur.
Examples: Rarely, daily, sometimes, often, seldom,
usually, frequently, always, ever, generally, monthly, yearly.
·
She
never smokes.
·
He
is always late for class.
·
They
always come in time.
·
Barking
dogs seldom bite.
·
The
employees are paid monthly.
·
The
employees are paid every month.
COMPARISON OF ADVERBS
There are
three degrees of comparison in adverbs the positive, the comparative, the
superlative. The adverbs form their comparatives and superlatives using –er and
–est and more and most. Adverbs that end in –ly use the words more and most to
form their comparatives abd superlatives.
The
one-syllable adverbs use –er in the comparative form and –est in the
superlative form.
|
Positive
|
Comparative
|
Superlative
|
|
Early
|
Earlier
|
Earliest
|
|
Fast
|
Faster
|
Fastest
|
|
Hard
|
Harder
|
hardest
|
|
High
|
Higher
|
Highest
|
|
Late
|
Later
|
Latest
|
|
Hot
|
Hotter
|
hottest
|
|
Loud
|
Louder
|
Loudest
|
|
Near
|
Nearer
|
Nearest
|
|
Soon
|
Sooner
|
Soonest
|
Adverbs which
end in-ly or have three or ‘more’ syllables each form the comparative with more
and the superlative with ‘most’.
|
Positive
|
Comparative
|
Superlative
|
|
Angrily
|
More angrily
|
Most angrily
|
|
Brightly
|
More brightly
|
Most brightly
|
|
Dimly
|
More dimly
|
Most dimly
|
|
Freely
|
More freely
|
Most freely
|
|
Gladly
|
More gladly
|
Most gladly
|
|
Heavily
|
More heavily
|
Most heavily
|
|
Loudly
|
More loudly
|
Most loudly
|
|
Quietly
|
More quietly
|
Most quietly
|
|
Sweetly
|
More sweetly
|
Most sweetly
|
|
Terribly
|
More terribly
|
Most terribly
|
The
comparative form is used to compare two things.
·
We
must not reach there later than 7o’clock/
·
You
speak more loudly than a loudspeaker.
·
Sirius
shines more brightly than all the other stars.
The
superlative form is used to compare three more things.
·
He
arrived the earliest, so he had to wait for the others.
·
Why
do you have to speak the most loudly of all the meetings?
·
Of
all the girls, your sister sang the most sweetly.
It is not
correct to use –er and more together, -est and most together.
·
The
tree is more taller than the giraffe. (Incorrect)
The tree is taller than the giraffe. (correct)
·
This
turkey is the most oldest in the farm. (incorrect)
This turkey is the oldest in the farm.(correct)
Some adverbs
form the comparative and the superlative irregularly.
|
Positive
|
Comparative
|
Superlative
|
|
Badly
|
Worse (than)
|
Worst (the)
|
|
Far
|
Farther
|
Farthest
|
|
Far
|
Further
|
Furthest
|
|
Little
|
Less
|
Least
|
|
Much/many
|
More
|
Most
|
|
Well
|
Better
|
Best
|
Examples;
·
Of the two teddy bears, which do you like better?
·
This has to be the farthest I have ever walked in my life.
Forms of Adverbs
There are three forms of adverbs: adverbs formed by adding -ly to an
adjective, adverbs that share identical
words with an adjective, and adverbs not derived from an adjective or any other
word.
1. Most adverbs
are formed by adding -ly to an adjective
o
He had a sudden heart attack while jogging. (Adjective)
o
He suddenly had a heart attack while jogging.
(Adverb)
o
She had a quick walk to get there on time. (Adjective)
o
She walked quickly to get there on time. (Adverb)
2. Adverbs
that share identical words with an adjective
o
He found
the exam quite hard.
(Adjective)
o
He failed
his exam as he didn't try very hard. (Adverb)
o
The two
brothers live on opposite
sides of the city.
(Adjective)
o
She has a
brother who lives opposite
to her. (Adverb)
3. Adverbs such as as, even, how, never, next, now, rather,
so, soon, still, then, too, etc. are not derived from
an adjective or any other word.
- He doesn't even know where the Pacific Ocean is.
- He said he had never been to a circus.
- She has got rather a lot of money to spend at this time of the month.
- She has eaten two big pizzas and is still hungry
4. Converting
a number of adjectives to adverbs by adding -ly entails removing a letter as
shown in the following:
- by adding –ly or –ally to the end of an adjective (quick –quickly, heroic –heroically),
- by adding –ly after removing the last –e from an adjective (comfortable–comfortably,possible–possibly), or
- by dropping the last y from an adjective and replacing it with –ily (easy–easily, happy–happily).
5. Adverbs are
also formed from other parts of speech such as noun (accident)and verb (hurry),
and from present participle (frightening).
- She deleted my file by accident. (Noun)
- She accidentally deleted my file. (Adverb)
- Nick hurried to answer the telephone. (Verb)
- Nick moved hurriedly to answer the telephone. (Adverb)
- He's frightening us with the speed he's driving. (present participle)
- He's driving frighteningly close to the edge of the pavement. (Adverb
Positions of Adverbs
Adverbs occupy different positions in a sentence.
1.
At the beginning of a sentence before the subject
Sometimes she gives me a lift to work.
Fortunately we got home before it started to rain.
Suddenly
all the lights went
out.
2.
After the auxiliary verb and before the main verb
The father was tragically killed in a road
accident.
We do occasionally go bird-watching.
The rain has already stopped when we arrived.
3.
After the auxiliary verb (be) that is used as the main verb
She is always quick to point out other
people's faults.
As usual, they are very late.
The boys were incredibly
lucky to be alive after what happened.
4.
Before the main verb if there is no auxiliary verb
Their parents often go to the cinema.
She reluctantly agreed to his proposals.
Your fat uncle accidentally knocked my vase of fresh
flowers over.
5.
After the main verb if there is no auxiliary verb
The sisters dressed beautifully for the occasion.
The tourist looked carefully at the antique before she
bought it.
She spoke loudly to the crowd on women's
issues.
6.
At the end of a sentence
He admitted punching and
kicking the man repeatedly.
Our old neighbor fell and
hurt her leg badly.
Hey, you have not
pronounced my name correctly.
