Adverbs

Adverbs
Adverbs are one of the four major word classes, along with nouns, verbs, and adjectives. We
use adverbs to add more information about a verb, an adjective, another adverb, a clause, or
a whole sentence, and, less commonly, about a noun phrase.
TYPES OF ADVERBS:
Adverbs of manner/quality:
Adverbs of manner describe how an action is done or how something happens.
Examples: Slowly, Foolishly, Bravely, Happily, Hard, Well, Fast.
She spoke very loudly. We could all hear what she was saying.
We waited anxiously by the phone.
Adverbs of time:
Adverbs of time describe when an action happened or for how long.
Examples: Already, Soon, Now, Late, Yesterday, Daily, Before.
I’d prefer to leave early.
I went to the market on my own recently.
Adverbs of place:
Adverbs of place describe the location or position of an action or event.
Examples: Here, There, Everywhere, Up, Out, In, Away, Forward.
Somebody was standing nearby.
Is that your scarf there?
Adverbs of frequency:
Adverbs of frequency indicate how often an action is performed.
Examples: Always, Never, Often, Seldom, Frequently.
Adverbs of degree:
Adverbs of degree describe the level or intensity of an action or state.
Examples: Almost, Quite, Rather, Hardly, More, Altogether.

It all happened pretty quickly.
She was quite surprised they came, actually.
ORDER OF ADVERBS
If we want to use more than one adverb in a sentence, we should follow a particular order in
which different adverbs should appear in a sentence. This rule is called the order of
adverbs or sometimes called the royal order of adverbs.
1. Adverbs of Manner
2. Adverbs of Place
3. Adverbs of Frequency
4. Adverbs of Time
5. Adverbs of Purpose
We should mention that it is usually uncommon to use all five categories of adverbs in single
sentence, but sometimes we might use two or three adverbs.
She walked slowly (manner) down the alley

(place) every evening (frequency) at 7 o'clock (time) in order to walk her dog (purpose).
PLACEMENT OF ADVERBS
1. S + Intransitive Verb + Adv
He walks slowly
I ran fast.
The sun shines brightly.
2. S + Adv +Transitive Verb + Object
He fluently speaks English.
3. S + Transitive Verb + Object +Adv
The policeman blew his whistle loudly
4. S + HV + Adv + Transitive Verb + Object
He has fluently spoken English
5. Adverbs of DEFINITE time either in the start or in the end ( today , yesterday , tomorrow )
Today , he may arrive late.
He met me at the station, yesterday.
6. Adverbs of frequency are placed before the word they modify.
She always preferred studying to playing.
7. If an Adverb modifies an Adj or another Adverb it is rightly placed before it.
An intensely dark cat ran very fast.
8. One Adv qualifying the whole sentence is placed in the start.
( Hopefully, Probably, Obviously, Surely )
Hopefully, he will come to college.
9. Adverbs of manner , place, and time will be placed after verb except adv of frequency.
John met me warmly in the market last night.
10. For Adverbs of travel - Order is ( Place-Manner-Time )
He went to swat by air last week.
11. Adverbs of frequency are placed before 'have to' and 'used to'.
I often have to work late night.
12. Placement of 'by phrase':
In order to avoid ambiguity, it is prefferd to place a prepositional phrase before a 'by
phrase'.
An issue was found by Rahim in the city. ( incorrect )
An issue was found in the city by Rahim. ( correct )
Adverbs with a To-infinitive:
You cannot place an adverb between parts of a to-infinitive verb. It may result in different
meanings.
He likes to eat usually hot food.(Incorrect)

He likes to eat hot food usually.(Correct)
Dangling modifiers:
Adverbs are called modifiers . If they are placed wrongly in a sentence , the meaning may be
absurd or unbearable.
1. When a sentence start with a gerund , you need to write the doer of that gerund right
after the comma.
Sitting on the floor, the hours seemed to drag by slowly. ( Incorrect )
Sitting on the floor, we observed the hours seemed to drag by slowly. ( Correct )
2. We can also correct the sentence by converting the starting phrase into a clause.
While we were sitting on the floor, the hours seemed to drag by slowly.
Focusing adverbs :
Focusing adverbs focus on a point.
Examples : especially , just , mainly , particularly , generally , only , simply .
I just wanted to ask you what you thought.

I wouldn’t particularly like to move to a modern house.
Linking adverbs (then, however):

Linking adverbs show a relationship between two clauses or sentences (e.g. a sequence in
time, cause and effect, contrast between two things):
I left my house in the morning [sequence] then I went to pick up Leanne at her house.
[cause] We talked until the early hours and [effect] consequently I overslept the next
morning.
The sun will be shining in France. [contrast] However, heavy rain is expected in Spain.

Adverbs

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Adverbs

Adverbs of manner describe how an action is done or how something happens.

Examples: Slowly, Foolishly, Bravely, Happily, Hard, Well, Fast.

We waited anxiously by the phone.

Examples: Already, Soon, Now, Late, Yesterday, Daily, Before.

I’d prefer to leave early.

I went to the market on my own recently.

Adverbs of place describe the location or position of an action or event.

Examples: Here, There, Everywhere, Up, Out, In, Away, Forward.

Somebody was standing nearby.

Is that your scarf there?

Adverbs of frequency indicate how often an action is performed.

Examples: Always, Never, Often, Seldom, Frequently.

Adverbs of degree describe the level or intensity of an action or state.

Examples: Almost, Quite, Rather, Hardly, More, Altogether.

She was quite surprised they came, actually.

She walked slowly (manner) down the alley

Adverbs with a To-infinitive:

He likes to eat usually hot food.(Incorrect)

Examples : especially , just , mainly , particularly , generally , only , simply .

I just wanted to ask you what you thought.

Linking adverbs (then, however):

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