In a previous ‘English Corner’ post, we covered the topic of ‘conjunctive adverbs‘ and also briefly touched upon ‘adverbs’ in the articles on ‘basic parts of speech‘ but now I would like to go much more in depth to talk about adverbs and why they should matter to the English learner.
To put it quite simply, Adverbs are a basic part of speech in English that add clarity to your written and spoken sentences. Adverbs are used to modify, change, or quantify an adjective, verb, or another adverb in the same sentence or group of words.
Without adverbs, sentences in English wouldn’t have the same zest and flair that they do with this basic part of speech being used correctly. Adverbs can draw relations between places, people, times, causes, degrees, etc. While Adverbs are not the most popular form of basic speech, you cannot be well-versed in understanding English grammar without having a formal knowledge of what adverbs are, how they are used, and what kind of examples need them within the sentences you create.
Please use this article on ‘adverbs’ to improve not only your understanding of the English language but also your ability to write, speak, and use it freely. Traditionally considered to be a single part of speech, adverbs perform a wide variety of functions, which makes it difficult to treat them as a single, unified category. Adverbs normally carry out these functions by answering questions such as:
- When? She always arrives early.
- How? He drives carefully.
- Where? They go everywhere
- In what way? She eats slowly.
- To what extent? It is terribly
These examples help bring light to the fact that they are all adverbial functions and may be accomplished by using adverbial clauses and adverbial phrases as well as by adverbs that are singular as well. There are many rules for using adverbs, and these rules often depend upon which type of adverb you are using. Remember these basics as expressed in the examples above, and using adverbs to make sentences more meaningful, and expressive will be easier for you.
- Adverbs can always be used to modify verbs. Notice that the second of these two sentences is much more interesting simply because it contains an adverb:
- The dog ran. (You can picture a dog running, but you don’t really know much more about the setting.)
- The dog ran excitedly. (You can picture a dog running, wagging its tail, panting happily, and looking glad to see its owner. You can paint a much more interesting picture in your head when you know how or why the dog is running.)
- Adverbs are often formed by adding the letters “-ly” to the end of adjectives. This little tidbit of information makes it very easy to identify adverbs in many sentences. There are many exceptions to this rule; everywhere, nowhere, and upstairs are a few examples where an –ly isn’t apart of the adverb itself.
- An adverb can be used to modify an adjective and intensify the meaning it conveys.
- Examples: He plays tennis well. (He knows how to play tennis and sometimes he wins.)
- He plays tennis extremely well. (He knows how to play tennis so well that he wins often.)
As you read the following adverb examples listed below, you’ll notice how these useful words modify other words and phrases by providing information about the place, time, manner, certainty, frequency, or other circumstances of activity denoted by the verbs or verb phrases in the sentences.
There are many different words that function as adverbs. The following list is broken down into different categories, which list adverbs by their function. After reading, you will be able to think of additional adverbs to add to your own list — after all, there are thousands of adverbs that appear in the English language.
The vast majority of adverbs out there end in “-ly”. This makes it very easy to spot the adverbs in most sentences so please be on the lookout for that as you discover this basic part of speech in more detail.
Abruptly
Boldly
Carefully
Deliberately
Excitedly
Financially
Horribly
Mildly
Naughtily
Openly
Poorly
Quickly
Sadly
Terribly
Willingly
Yearly
Some adverbs tell us where the action happened. These are known as adverbs of place.
Everywhere
Here
Inside
There
Underground
Upstairs
Certain adverbs let us know when or how often the action happened. These are known as adverbs of time and adverbs of frequency.
After
Always
Before
Later
Now
Today
Yesterday
Many adverbs tell us the extent of the action.
Almost
Enough
So
Too
Quite
Rather
Very
Some adverbs are used as what’s known as intensifiers.
Absolutely
Certainly
Completely
Heartily
Really
Certain adverbs called adverbs of manner tell us about the way in which something was done.
Briskly
Cheerfully
Expectantly
Randomly
Willingly
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Now that you are more familiar with what ‘adverbs’ are, have seen a good amount of examples of how they are used, as well as been shown a list of the most popularly used ones, you should be better able to use adverbs correctly in written or spoken sentences. Please be sure to study the definition of an adverb, the different ways it can be used, and the list of words that are adverbs themselves. If you do not apply the information that you learn about adverbs such as in this article, you won’t be able to improve your English grammar as much as possible. Good luck and remember to have some fun with adverbs!
