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Adverbs of Manner Adverbs of Place Adverbs of Time Adverbs of Degree Linking Adverbs (or conjuntival adverbs) Stance Adding in Positive and Negative Sentences Prepositional Adverbs (or Particles) Phrasal Verbs
Adverbs
An adverb is a word that describes or modifies a verb, an adjective or another adverb. The class adverb is also a home for unwanted words, which do not easily fit into the other categories. Therefore, the words in this class are not a uniform group. Sometimes adverbs modify pronouns: Almost everyone gave something. Nearly all of them came. Naturally, some will argue that these words are adjectives. Of course, they function as adjectives in these sentences. Yet they are quite unlike adjectives in other uses.
Adverbs of Manner
These adverbs tell us how something is done. They answer the question, "How". quickly, slowly, elegantly, rationally, thoughtfully, clumsily, expertly For example: He ran fast. How did he run? The word fast tells us how he ran and is an adverb. And He thoughtfully read the book. How did he read the book? thoughtfully tells us how he read the book and is an adverb.
Adverbs of Place
These tell us where the action of the verb happened. They answer the question, "Where?" here, there, everywhere, above, below For example: She went upstairs. Where did she go? And the answer is the adverb, upstairs.
Adverbs of Time
Adverbs of time often answer the question, "When". These tell us when something happened. They answer the question, "When?"
now, later, yesterday, immediately, generally For example: He received the letter yesterday. When did he receive the letter? And the answer is the adverb, yesterday. Others refer to a period of time: never, always, just, long Examples: She will never do it. Will you be long? I have just done it. We always have to wait. Still others, sometimes called adverbs of frequency, answer the question, "How often?" often, seldom, sometimes, never For example: He mows the lawn weekly. How often does he mow the lawn? The answer weekly, gives us the adverb.
Adverbs of Degree
These often modify an adjective. They answer the question, "To what extent?" very, too, slightly, excessively, so, quite, rather For example: The horse is too tired.
Because they link sentences, not clauses, linking adverbs are always preceded by a full stop or a semicolon. For instance: Bob does not like sport; hence, he isn't coming to the game. isn't coming to the game. Or Bob does not like sport; he
Bob does not like sport. Hence, he isn't coming to the game. Bob does not like sport. He isn't coming to the game. In the above sentences, we can omit the linking adverb, hence, and the sentences remain grammatical and still make sense. (Of course, we also need to omit the comma, and need to capitalise the first word of the sentence).
Stance
These often show the speakers attitude or emotion and include: probably, perhaps, surely, oddly, actually, officially, obviously, clearly, wisely, morally, disgustingly
Some shady characters were hanging around. We stayed in. Put that down! It was living inside. She lives opposite. We examined it through and through.
All the words in bold above are prepositional adverbs. They differ from prepositions in that they modify a verb (adverbial) and they do not stand before a noun.
Prepositional adverbs are used to form phrasal verbs. When they do this, they change the meaning of the verb. That is, act as an adverb by modifying a verb. For instance: Phrasal Verbs Example I looked the word up. She brought up an interesting point in the meeting. Oh! Have they fallen out [had a quarrel] again? They have decided to give smoking up. Alternative I looked up the word. She brought an interesting point up in the meeting. (No object) They have decided to give up smoking.
A verb plus prepositional adverb is a phrasal verb only when the verb's meaning changes. Also it is often possible to place the object of the verb (if there is one) between the verb and the prepositional adverb. Phrasal verbs differ from prepositional verbs in the previous mentioned two ways. See comparison of phrasal verbs and prepositional verbs.
Phrasal Verbs
Phrasal verbs are composed of a verb and a prepositional adverb. The prepositional adverb, which has the word form of a preposition, modifies the verb and changes its literal meaning. In addition, the prepositional adverb can be precede the object as a Noun Phrase, or follow it, as in the examples in the table below. If the object is a pronoun, it must come before the particle (prepositional adverb). Phrasal Verbs Example The lift has broken down. (No object) Alternative
She brought up an interesting She brought an interesting point point in the meeting. up in the meeting. She brought up it in the meeting. She brought it up in the meeting.
Oh! Have they fallen out [had a quarrel] again? They have decided to give smoking up. They have decided to give it up. His children are grown up. I looked the word up. I looked it up.
(No object) They have decided to give up smoking. They have decided to give up it. (No object) I looked up the word. I looked up it.
She put the meeting off. She put it off. They ran the dog over. We turned off the tv.
She put off the meeting. She put off it. They ran over the dog. We turned the tv off.
The phrasal verbs, shown in bold, differ in meaning from the literal form of the verb. They differ from prepositional verbs. See comparison of phrasal verbs and prepositional verbs.