ADVERB PHRASE (17 Nov 2014)

1. Identify all adverb phrases and analyse their structure in terms of modifiers, head(s) and qualifiers.
A. The fear of the future, the unknown, is common enough, but what spurred my fear of the future
was how quickly the past had passed.

B. The faculty of medicine is an interesting example of an academic division operating almost independently
of the rest of the university.

C. It was cold and rainy that birthday night, and all I wanted was to get someplace warm and dry.

D. Nuclear power stations produce electricity much more cheaply than other types of power station.

E. That object turned out to be a small piece of woven metal, weighing no more than an empty soda can,
though it came from a rocket launched a year earlier.

F. They intensified their search near the presumed center of the crash site after the discovery of another body
late yesterday.

G. "Nowhere abroad does such a light shine as over Prague," she gushed in the winter of 1926.

H. An orange belt means you're no longer a beginner, but it also means you have far to go.

I. Tommy had fallen asleep by the time Anne had calmed down and she rocked him gently back and fourth in
her arms.

J. Rightly or wrongly, but not necessarily rationally, currency traders use the monthly figures as an excuse to
buy.

K. Isabel shoved her chair back so quickly that it almost toppled over.
2. Underline the adverb phrases (both simple and complex) used in the sentences below and specify their
function.
A. Spoons are thousands of years older than forks and began as thin, slightly concave pieces of wood.

B. I'm going to give you a prescription to clear up the infection, then you need to have your teeth extremely
thoroughly cleaned.

C. Refunds of the fees are not normally available.

D. There was a brush and shovel right by the door so, if they'd had any compassion, they would have swept up
the mess.

E. Lester and nearly everybody agreed that dancing should be allowed in the parish house, as fairs, basketball
and other things were held there.

F. My copy of the book had been missing until recently and I surprised myself after re-reading the story.

G. You'd be forgiven for thinking that the above photograph was a surrealist painting, but you'd be wrong.

H. But all my honesty ever brought me was the loss of virtually all my friends.

I. My only complaint is that they left quite a mess when they left.

J. At that instant, he realized with a profound force that that man there was an individual person, not like
anybody else in the world.
3. Find and circle the examples of the following:
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
f)
g)
h)
i)

adverb modifying a prepositional phrase

adjective phrase as postmodifier
a finite wh-clause acting as subject
adverb as prepositional complement
adverb as postmodifier
appositive that-clause as postmodifier
complex noun phrase as modifier of an adjective
to-infinitive clause as direct object
a complex noun phrase as modifier of an adverb

1) How a book sells depends on the author, but it also depends on the publisher.
2) Why would people want to put this perception out there that I'm not playing hard?" Howard said.
3) The international community has a window of opportunity over the next four weeks to stop the crisis from
spreading completely out of control.
4) When I went away to school, I was astonished that not everyone there knew how to sew.
5) Hardin reached under the counter and brought a badge similar to the one he was already wearing on his
waistcoat.
6) These sharp edges of the disk do indicate that there should be some planet in there that hasn't necessarily
been seen yet.

7) A massive asteroid, nearly three football fields long, will make its closest approach to Earth tonight.
8) After the pairs discuss these questions, ask them to make up a story about the topic.
9) A galaxy 12 billion light years away contains a massive vapor cloud that has enough water to fill every ocean
on Earth over 140 trillion times.

4. Underline the units required below and specify their function. If they have syntagmatic functions, identify the
phrase they are part of.
A) finite clauses:
1) As we walked, however, he became so unbelievably withdrawn that I could not agree with his
interpretations of events.

2) The industry's premise is that we can recognize information presented below our threshold of awareness.

3) It was not immediately clear how the Soviet leadership could enforce such a ruling.

4) If they vote against the governor, I feel very confident that Republican state organizations would finance an
opponent.

5) The fact that the medical technicians were available does not make the government's conduct any less
offensive.

6) Once a year, go somewhere you've never been before.

B) non-finite clauses:
1) Millar was obstinately determined to change the content of education.
2) I could see she was confident of handling any awkward situation that might arise.

3) You must also understand how to check their accuracy at recognised stages.

4) Three people have been shot and the suspect is nowhere to be found.

5) The sense of betrayal has been deepened by London's refusal to acknowledge any moral responsibility.

6) How to read the record is the subject of much of this book.