Adverb

Using

Adverbs modify verbs. They tell you How something is done.

Example: How does he she sing? - She sings beautifully.

1. Rule: Adverbs are often formed by adding -ly to an adjective

Example: beautiful - beautifully, careful - carefully

Be Careful!

Some adjectives don't change in the adverb form. The most important of these are: fast - fast,
hard - hard
Good is probably the most important exception. The adverb form of 'good' is 'well'.
Unfortunately, this is a common mistake that many Americans make!
NOT!!: He plays tennis good.

2. Rule: Adverbs can also modify an adjective. In this case, the adverb is placed before the
adjective.

Example: She is extremely happy. They are absolutely sure.

Do not use 'very' with adjectives that express an increased quality of a basic adjective
Example: good - fantastic
NOT!!: She is a very beautiful woman.

3. Rule: Adverbs of frequency (always, never, sometimes, often, etc.) usually come before the
main verb
Example: He is often late for class. Do you always eat in a restaurant? They don't
usually travel on Fridays.

• Adverbs of frequency expressing infrequency are not usually used in the negative or question
form.
NOT!!: Does she rarely eat fish? They don't seldom go to the cinema.

• Adverbs of frequency are often placed at the beginning of a sentence.

Example: Sometimes, he likes to go to museums.

• Adverbs of frequency follow - come after - the verb 'to be'.

Example: He is sometimes late for work.
 Types of Adverbs:
1. Adverbs of Manner: Adverbs of manner provide information on how someone does
something.

For example: Jack drives very carefully.

2. Adverbs of Time: Adverbs of time provide information on when something happens.

For example: We'll let you know our decision next week.

3. Adverbs of Frequency: Adverbs of frequency provide information on how often something

happens.

For example: They usually get to work at eight o'clock.

4. Adverbs of Degree: Adverbs of degree provide information concerning how much of

something is done. For example: They like playing golf a lot.

5. Adverbs of Comment: Adverbs of comment provide a comment, or opinion about a situation.

For example: Fortunately, there were enough seats left for the concert.

Adverb Formation

• Adverbs are usually formed by adding '-ly' to an adjective.

For example: quiet - quietly, careful - carefully, careless - carelessly

• Adjectives ending in '-le' change to '-ly'.

For example: possible - possibly, probable - probably, incredible - incredibly

• Adjectives ending in '-y' change to '-ily'.

For example: lucky - luckily, happy - happily, angry - angrily

• Adjectives ending in '-ic' change to '-ically'.

For example: basic - basically, ironic - ironically, scientific - scientifically

• Some adjectives are irregular. The most common irregular adverbs are: good - well, hard -
hard, fast -fast

Adverb Sentence Placement

Adverbs of Manner: Adverbs of manner are placed after the verb or entire expression (at the
end of the sentence).
For example: Their teacher speaks quickly.

Adverbs of Time: Adverbs of time are placed after the verb or entire expression (at the end of
the sentence).
For example: She visited her friends last year.

Adverbs of Frequency: Adverbs of frequency are placed before the main verb (not the
auxiliary verb).
For example: He often goes to bed late. Do you sometimes get up early?

Adverbs of Degree: Adverbs of degree are placed after the verb or entire expression (at the
end of the sentence).
For example: She'll attend the meeting as well.

Adverbs of Comment: Adverbs of comment are placed at the beginning of a sentence.

For example: Luckily, I was able to come to the presentation.

Important Exceptions to Adverb Placement

Some adverbs are placed at the beginning of a sentence to provide more emphasis.
For example: Now you tell me you can't come!

Adverbs of frequency are placed after the verb 'to be' when used as the main verb of the
sentence. For example: Jack is often late for work.

Some adverbs of frequency (sometimes, usually, normally) are also placed at the beginning of
the sentence for emphasis. For example: Sometimes I visit my friends in London.

Adjective or Adverb - Which to Use?

Sometimes students are not sure when to use an adverb or an adjective. This short guide
provides an overview and rules to using both adjectives and adverbs.
 Adjectives
Adjectives Modify Nouns

Adjectives are placed directly before a noun:

Examples:
Tom is an excellent singer.
I bought a comfortable chair.
She's thinking about buying a new house.

Adjectives are also used in simple sentences with the verb 'to be'. In this case, the adjective
describes the subject of the sentence:

Examples:
Jack is happy.
Peter was very tired.
Mary'll be excited when you tell her.

Adjectives are used with sense verbs or verbs of appearance (feel, taste, smell, sound, appear
and seem) to modify the noun which comes before the verb:

Examples:
The fish tasted awful.
Did you see Peter? He seemed very upset.
I'm afraid the meat smelled rotten.

Adverbs

Adverbs Modify Verbs, Adjectives and Other Adverbs

• Adverbs are easily recognized because the end in '-ly' (with a few exceptions!):

Examples:
Adjective careful Adverb carefully
Adjective quick Adverb quickly

• Adverbs are often used at the end of a sentence to modify the verb:

Examples:
Jack drove carelessly.
Tom played the match effortlessly.
Jason complained about his classes constantly.
• Adverbs are used to modify adjectives:

Examples:

They seemed extremely satisfied.

She paid increasingly high prices.
I was suddenly surprised by Alice.

• Adverbs are also used to modify other adverbs:

Examples:
The people in the line moved incredibly quickly.
She wrote the report unusually neatly.

Adverbs of Frequency
Adverbs of frequency tell us how often something happens/is the case, happened/was the
case, will happen/will be the case, etc.

There are lots of them. Here are some examples:

usually
constantly normally sometimes
habitually chiefly mostly often occasionally rarely
always predominantly generally frequently sporadically infrequently never
typically commonly repeatedly intermittently seldom
continuously largely spasmodically
regularly

Where do they come in the sentence?

1. If the sentence has one verb in it (e.g. no auxiliary verb) we usually put the adverb in the
middle of the sentence, i.e. after the subject and before the verb:

Position A

subject adverb verb predicate

Tom usually goes to work by car.
2. The adverb usually comes after the verb "be":

Position B

subject verb adverb predicate

Tom is often late.
Anne isn’t usually late.

3. If the sentence has more than one verb in it (e.g. auxiliary verb) we usually put the adverb
after the first part of the verb:

Position C

subject verb 1 adverb verb 2 predicate

I can never remember his name.
Anne doesn’t usually smoke. about the state of the school
The children have often complained toilets.