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Click: ( Mr. / Girgis H. H).
Adverbs modify verbs.
Adverbs are preceded by verbs that refer
to manner or conduct like:
Example : He behaves politely.
: She plays cleverly.
: They work well,
: John works hard.
: Peter acts differently.
FUNCTION
Adverbs modify, or tell us more about
other words,
usually verbs:
Sometimes they tell us more about
adjectives:
They can also modify other adverbs:
1. In most cases, an adverb is formed by
adding '-ly' to an adjective:
cheap
quick
slow
cheaply
quickly
slowly
2. Some adverbs have the same form
as the adjective:
early
fast
hard
high
late
near
straight
wrong
Compare:
3. 'Well' and 'good'
'Well' is the adverb that corresponds
to the adjective 'good'.
KINDS OF ADVERBS
Adverbs of manner tell us how something
happens. They are usually placed after
the main verb or after the object.
The adverb should not be put between
the verb and the object:
If there is a preposition before the object,
e.g. at, towards, we can place the adverb
either before the preposition or after
Sometimes an adverb of manner is placed
before a verb + object to add emphasis:
Some writers put an adverb of manner at
the beginning of the sentence to catch our
attention and make us curious:
(We want to know what happened slowly,
who did it slowly, why they did it slowly)
However, adverbs should always come
AFTER intransitive verbs (=verbs which
have no object).
Also, these common adverbs are almost
always placed AFTER the verb:
The position of the adverb is important
when there is more than one verb in a
sentence. If the adverb is placed after
a clause, then it modifies the whole
action described by the clause.
Notice the difference in meaning between
the following pairs of sentences:
She quickly agreed to re-type the letter (=
her agreement was quick)
Adverbs of place tell us where something
happens.
They are usually placed after the main
verb or after the object:
after the main verb:I looked everywhere
after the main verb:
I looked everywhere
after the object:
'Here' and 'there'
With verbs of movement, here means
towards or with the speaker:
There means away from, or not
with the speaker:
Here and there are combined with
prepositions to make many common
adverbial phrases:
down here, down there;over here, over there;under here, under there;up here, up there
down here, down there;
over here, over there;
under here, under there;
up here, up there
Here and there are placed at the beginning
of the sentence in exclamations or when
emphasis is needed.
They are followed by the verb if the
subject is a noun:
Here comes the bus. (followed by the verb)
Or by a pronoun if this is the subject
(it, she, he etc.):
Here it is! (followed by the pronoun)
NOTE: most common adverbs of place also
function as prepositions.
about, across, along, around, behind,
by, down, in, off, on, over, round,
through, under, up.
Other adverbs of place: ending in '-wards',
expressing movement in a particular
direction:
BE CAREFUL! 'Towards' is a preposition,
not an adverb, so it is always followed by
a noun or a pronoun:
He walked towards the car.
Expressing both movement and location:
ahead, abroad, overseas, uphill,
downhill, sideways, indoors, outdoors
Adverbs of degree tell us about the intensity
or degree of an action, an adjective or another
adverb.
Common adverbs of degree:
Almost, nearly, quite, just, too, enough,
hardly, scarcely, completely, very, extremely
Adverbs of degree are usually placed:
before the adjective or adverb they are
modifying:
e.g. The water was extremely cold.
before the main verb:
e.g. He was just leaving. She has almost
finished.
Enough, very, too
Enough as an adverb meaning 'to the
necessary degree' goes after adjectives
and adverbs.
It also goes before nouns, and means 'as
much as is necessary'. In this case it is not
an adverb, but a 'determiner'.
Too as an adverb meaning 'more than is
necessary or useful' goes before adjectives
and adverbs, e.g.
Enough and too with adjectives can be
followed by 'for someone/something'.
We can also use 'to + infinitive' after enough
and too with adjectives/adverb.
If we want to make a negative form of an
adjective or adverb, we can use a word of
opposite meaning, or not very.
BE CAREFUL! There is a big difference
between
too and very.
Other adverbs like very
These common adverbs are used like very
and not very, and are listed in order of
strength, from positive to negative:
extremely, especially, particularly, pretty,
rather, quite, fairly, rather, not especially,
not particularly.
Note: rather can be positive or negative,
depending on the adjective or adverb that
follows:
Positive: The teacher was rather nice.Negative: The film was rather disappointing.
Positive: The teacher was rather nice.
Negative: The film was rather disappointing.
Normally the subject goes before the verb:
I
She
left
goes
Negative inversion is used in writing,
not in speaking.
Other adverbs and adverbial expressions
that can be used like this:
seldom, scarcely, hardly, not only .....
but also, no sooner .....
than, not until, under no circumstances.
Adverbs of certainty express how certain
or sure we feel about an action or event.
Common adverbs of certainty:
certainly, definitely, probably,
undoubtedly, surely
1. Adverbs of certainty go before the main
verb but after the verb 'to be':
2. With other auxiliary verb, these adverbs
go between the auxiliary and the main verb:
3. Sometimes these adverbs can be
placed at the beginning of the sentence:
BE CAREFUL! with surely. When it is placed
at the beginning of the sentence, it means
the speaker thinks something is true, but is
looking for confirmation:
There are some adverbs and adverbial
expressions which tell us about the
speaker's viewpoint or opinion about
an action, or make some comment on
the action.
Frankly, I think he is a liar. (= this is my
frank, honest opinion)
Theoretically, you should pay a fine.
(= from a theoretical point of view but there
may be another way of looking at the
situation)
These adverbs are placed at the beginning
of the sentence and are separated from the
rest of the sentence by a comma.
Some common Viewpoint adverbs:
honestly, seriously, confidentially,
personally, surprisingly, ideally,
economically, officially, obviously,
clearly, surely, undoubtedly.
These are very similar to viewpoint adverbs,
and often the same words, but they go in a
different position - after the verb to be and
before the main verb.
Some common Commenting adverbs:
definitely, certainly, obviously, simply.
The following adverbs can be used to join
sentences or clauses. They replace the
more formal structure of preposition + which
in a relative clause:
where, when, why
Adverbs of Time
Adverbs of time tell us when an action
happened, but also for how long, and
how often.
"When" adverbs are usually placed at the
end of the sentence:
This is a "neutral" position, but some
"when" adverbs can be put in other
positions to give a different emphasis
Later Goldilocks ate some porridge.
(the time is more important)
Goldilocks later ate some porridge.
(this is more formal, like a policeman's
report.
Goldilocks ate some porridge later.
(this is neutral, no particular emphasis)
"For how long" adverbs are usually placed
at the end of the sentence:
Notice: 'for' is always followed by an
expression of duration:
'since' is always followed by an expression
of a point in time:
"How often" adverbs expressing the
frequency of an action are usually placed
before the main verb but after auxiliary
verbs (such as be, have, may, must):
When a frequency adverb is placed at
the end of a sentence it is much stronger.
She regularly visits France.
She visits France regularly.
Adverbs that can be used in these two
positions:
frequently,
'Yet' and 'still'
Yet is used in questions and in negative
sentences, and is placed at the end of
the sentence or after not.
Still expresses continuity; it is used in
positive sentences and questions, and is
placed before the main verb and after
auxiliary verbs (such as be, have, might,
will)
1. You can use adverbs before adjectives
That was a totally stupid thing to do
She was surprisingly good at English
for a beginner
Sara is absolutely brilliant at speaking English
but not so good at writing tasks.
He said he was terribly sorry for what he did.
2. You can use adverbs TOGETHER WITH
other adverbs
She finished the IELTS writing exam
amazingly quickly.
I complained because they made my coffee
incredibly slowly.
3. You can use adverbs with PAST
PARTICIPLES
They have been happily married for 15 years.
Don't go home until you have completely
finished what you are doing!
View External Resources
1-G o to Oxford Sound Dictionary
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