Using Adverbs
Adverbs modify verbs. They tell you How something is done.
Example: How does he she sing? - She sings beautifully.
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.
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.
Be Careful!
* 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.
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.
Be Careful!
* 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.
Adverbs are used to modify a verb, an adjective, or another adverb:
[1] Mary sings beautifully
[2] David is extremely clever
[3] This car goes incredibly fast
In [1], the adverb beautifully tells us how Mary sings. In [2], extremely tells us the degree to which David is clever. Finally, in [3], the adverb incredibly tells us how fast the car goes.
Before discussing the meaning of adverbs, however, we will identify some of their formal characteristics.
Formal Characteristics of Adverbs
From the examples above, you can see that many adverbs end in -ly. More precisely, they are formed by adding -ly to an adjective:
Adjective slow quick soft sudden gradual
Adverb slowly quickly softly suddenly gradually
Because of their distinctive endings, these adverbs are known as -LY ADVERBS. However, by no means all adverbs end in -ly. Note also that some adjectives also end in -ly, including costly, deadly, friendly, kindly, likely, lively, manly, and timely.
Like adjectives, many adverbs are GRADABLE, that is, we can modify them using very or extremely:
softly========very softly
suddenly======very suddenly
slowly========extremely slowly
The modifying words very and extremely are themselves adverbs. They are called DEGREE ADVERBS because they specify the degree to which an adjective or another adverb applies. Degree adverbs include almost, barely, entirely, highly, quite, slightly, totally, and utterly. Degree adverbs are not gradable (*extremely very).
Like adjectives, too, some adverbs can take COMPARATIVE and SUPERLATIVE forms, with -er and -est:
John works hard -- Mary works harder -- I work hardest
However, the majority of adverbs do not take these endings. Instead, they form the comparative using more and the superlative using most:
Adverbs modify verbs. They tell you How something is done.
Example: How does he she sing? - She sings beautifully.
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.
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.
Be Careful!
* 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.
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.
Be Careful!
* 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.
Adverbs are used to modify a verb, an adjective, or another adverb:
[1] Mary sings beautifully
[2] David is extremely clever
[3] This car goes incredibly fast
In [1], the adverb beautifully tells us how Mary sings. In [2], extremely tells us the degree to which David is clever. Finally, in [3], the adverb incredibly tells us how fast the car goes.
Before discussing the meaning of adverbs, however, we will identify some of their formal characteristics.
Formal Characteristics of Adverbs
From the examples above, you can see that many adverbs end in -ly. More precisely, they are formed by adding -ly to an adjective:
Adjective slow quick soft sudden gradual
Adverb slowly quickly softly suddenly gradually
Because of their distinctive endings, these adverbs are known as -LY ADVERBS. However, by no means all adverbs end in -ly. Note also that some adjectives also end in -ly, including costly, deadly, friendly, kindly, likely, lively, manly, and timely.
Like adjectives, many adverbs are GRADABLE, that is, we can modify them using very or extremely:
softly========very softly
suddenly======very suddenly
slowly========extremely slowly
The modifying words very and extremely are themselves adverbs. They are called DEGREE ADVERBS because they specify the degree to which an adjective or another adverb applies. Degree adverbs include almost, barely, entirely, highly, quite, slightly, totally, and utterly. Degree adverbs are not gradable (*extremely very).
Like adjectives, too, some adverbs can take COMPARATIVE and SUPERLATIVE forms, with -er and -est:
John works hard -- Mary works harder -- I work hardest
However, the majority of adverbs do not take these endings. Instead, they form the comparative using more and the superlative using most: