ADVERBS

Adverbsarewordsthatmodify

averb(Hedroveslowly.Howdidhedrive?)

anadjective(Hedroveaveryfastcar.Howfastwashiscar?)

anotheradverb(Shemovedquiteslowlydowntheaisle.Howslowlydidshe
move?)

Aswewillsee,adverbsoftentellwhen,where,why,orunderwhatconditions
somethinghappensorhappened.Adverbsfrequentlyendinly;however,manywords
andphrasesnotendinginlyserveanadverbialfunctionandanlyendingisnota
guaranteethatawordisanadverb.Thewordslovely,lonely,motherly,friendly,
neighborly,forinstance,areadjectives:

Thatlovelywomanlivesinafriendlyneighborhood.

If a group of words containing a subject and verb acts as an adverb (modifying the
verb of a sentence), it is called an AdverbClause:

Whenthisclassisover,we'regoingtothemovies.

Whenagroupofwordsnotcontainingasubjectandverbactsasanadverb,itis
calledanadverbialphrase.Prepositionalphrasesfrequentlyhaveadverbial
functions(tellingplaceandtime,modifyingtheverb):

Hewenttothemovies.

Sheworksonholidays.

TheylivedinCanadaduringthewar.

AndInfinitivephrasescanactasadverbs(usuallytellingwhy):

Shehurriedtothemainlandtoseeherbrother.

Thesenatorrantocatchthebus.

Butthereareotherkindsofadverbialphrases:
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Hecallshismotherasoftenaspossible.

Adverbscanmodifyadjectives,butanadjectivecannotmodifyanadverb.Thus
wewouldsaythat"thestudentsshowedareallywonderfulattitude"andthat"the
studentsshowedawonderfullycasualattitude"andthat"myprofessorisreallytall,
butnot"Heranrealfast."
Likeadjectives,adverbscanhavecomparativeandsuperlativeformstoshow
degree.

Walkfasterifyouwanttokeepupwithme.

Thestudentwhoreadsfastestwillfinishfirst.

Weoftenusemoreandmost,lessandleasttoshowdegreewithadverbs:

Withsneakerson,shecouldmovemorequicklyamongthepatients.

TheflowerswerethemostbeautifullyarrangedcreationsI'veeverseen.

Sheworkedlessconfidentlyafterheraccident.

ThatwastheleastskillfullydoneperformanceI'veseeninyears.

Theasasconstructioncanbeusedtocreateadverbsthatexpresssamenessor
equality:"Hecan'trunasfastashissister."
Ahandfulofadverbshavetwoforms,onethatendsinlyandonethatdoesn't.In
certaincases,thetwoformshavedifferentmeanings:

Hearrivedlate.

Lately,hecouldn'tseemtobeontimeforanything.

Inmostcases,however,theformwithoutthelyendingshouldbereservedforcasual
situations:

ShecertainlydrivesslowinthatoldBuickofhers.

Hedidwrongbyher.

Hespokesharp,quick,andtothepoint.
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Adverbsoftenfunctionasintensifiers,conveyingagreaterorlesseremphasisto
something.Intensifiersaresaidtohavethreedifferentfunctions:theycanemphasize,
amplify,ordowntone.Herearesomeexamples:

Emphasizers:
o Ireallydon'tbelievehim.
o Heliterallywreckedhismother'scar.
o Shesimplyignoredme.
o They'regoingtobelate,forsure.

Amplifiers:
o Theteachercompletelyrejectedherproposal.
o Iabsolutelyrefusetoattendanymorefacultymeetings.
o Theyheartilyendorsedthenewrestaurant.
o Isowantedtogowiththem.
o Weknowthiscitywell.

Downtoners:
o Ikindoflikethiscollege.
o Joesortoffeltbetrayedbyhissister.
o Hismothermildlydisapprovedhisactions.
o Wecanimproveonthistosomeextent.
o Thebossalmostquitafterthat.
o Theschoolwasallbutruinedbythestorm.

Adverbs(aswellasadjectives)intheirvariousdegreescanbeaccompaniedby
premodifiers:

Sherunsveryfast.
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We'regoingtorunoutofmaterialallthefaster

Thisissueisaddressedinthesectionondegreesinadjectives.
For this section on intensifiers, we are indebted to A Grammar of Contemporary English by Randolph Quirk, Sidney
Greenbaum, Geoffrey Leech, and Jan Svartvik. Longman Group: London. 1978. pages 438 to 457. Examples our
own.

Using Adverbs in a Numbered List

Withinthenormalflowoftext,it'snearlyalwaysabadideatonumberitems
beyondthreeorfour,atthemost.Anythingbeyondthat,you'rebetteroffwith
averticallistthatusesnumbers(1,2,3,etc.).Also,insuchalist,don'tuseadverbs
(withanlyending);useinsteadtheuninflectedordinalnumber(first,second,third,
fourth,fifth,etc.).First(notfirstly),it'sunclearwhattheadverbis
modifying.Second(notsecondly),it'sunnecessary.Third(notthirdly),afteryouget
beyond"secondly,"itstartstosoundsilly.Adverbsthatnumberinthismannerare
treatedasdisjuncts(seebelow.)

Adverbs We Can Do Without

ReviewthesectiononBeingConciseforsomeadviceonadverbsthatwecan
eliminatetothebenefitofourprose:intensifierssuchasvery,extremely,
andreallythatdon'tintensifyanythingandexpletiveconstructions("There
areseveralbooksthataddressthisissue.")

Kinds of Adverbs
Adverbs of Manner
She moved slowly and spoke quietly.
Adverbs of Place
She has lived on the island all her life.
She still lives there now.
Adverbs of Frequency
She takes the boat to the mainland every day.
She often goes by herself.
Adverbs of Time
She tries to get back before dark.
It's starting to get dark now.
She finished her tea first.
She left early.
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Adverbs of Purpose
She drives her boat slowly to avoid hitting the rocks.
She shops in several stores to get the best buys.

Positions of Adverbs
Oneofthehallmarksofadverbsistheirabilitytomovearoundinasentence.
Adverbsofmannerareparticularlyflexibleinthisregard.

Solemnlytheministeraddressedhercongregation.

Theministersolemnlyaddressedhercongregation.

Theministeraddressedhercongregationsolemnly.

Thefollowingadverbsoffrequencyappearinvariouspointsinthesesentences:

Beforethemainverb:Inevergetupbeforenineo'clock.

Betweentheauxiliaryverbandthemainverb:Ihaverarelywrittentomybrother
withoutagoodreason.

Beforetheverbusedto:Ialwaysusedtoseehimathissummerhome.

Indefiniteadverbsoftimecanappeareitherbeforetheverborbetweenthe
auxiliaryandthemainverb:

Hefinallyshowedupforbattingpractice.

Shehasrecentlyretired.

Order of Adverbs

Thereisabasicorderinwhichadverbswillappearwhenthereismorethanone.
ItissimilartoTheRoyalOrderofAdjectives,butitisevenmoreflexible.

THE ROYAL ORDER OF ADVERBS

Verb

Manner

Place

Beth
swims

enthusiastically

in the
pool

Dad
walks

impatiently

Tashonda
naps

Frequency

Time

Purpose

before
dawn

to keep in shape.

into town every afternoon

before
supper

to get a
newspaper.

in her
room

before
lunch.

every morning

every morning

In actual practice, of course, it would be highly unusual to have a string of adverbial modifiers
beyond two or three (at the most). Because the placement of adverbs is so flexible, one or two
of the modifiers would probably move to the beginning of the sentence: "Every afternoon before
supper, Dad impatiently walks into town to get a newspaper." When that happens, the
introductory adverbial modifiers are usually set off with a comma.

More Notes on Adverb Order

Asageneralprinciple,shorteradverbialphrasesprecedelongeradverbial
phrases,regardlessofcontent.Inthefollowingsentence,anadverboftimeprecedes
anadverboffrequencybecauseitisshorter(andsimpler):

Dadtakesabriskwalkbeforebreakfasteverydayofhislife.

Asecondprinciple:amongsimilaradverbialphrasesofkind(manner,place,
frequency,etc.),themorespecificadverbialphrasecomesfirst:

MygrandmotherwasborninasodhouseontheplainsofnorthernNebraska.

ShepromisedtomeethimforlunchnextTuesday.

Bringinganadverbialmodifiertothebeginningofthesentencecanplacespecial
emphasisonthatmodifier.Thisisparticularlyusefulwithadverbsofmanner:

Slowly,eversocarefully,Jessefilledthecoffeecupuptothebrim,evenabovethe
brim.

Occasionally,butonlyoccasionally,oneoftheselemonswillgetbytheinspectors.
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Inappropriate Adverb Order

ReviewthesectiononMisplacedModifiersforsomeadditionalideason
placement.Modifierscansometimesattachthemselvestoandthusmodifywordsthat
theyoughtnottomodify.

TheyreportedthatGiuseppeBalle,aEuropeanrockstar,haddiedonthesixo'clock
news.

Clearly,itwouldbebettertomovetheunderlinedmodifiertoapositionimmediately
after"theyreported"oreventothebeginningofthesentencesothepoorman
doesn'tdieontelevision.
Misplacementcanalsooccurwithverysimplemodifiers,suchasonlyandbarely:

Sheonlygrewtobefourfeettall.

Itwouldbebetterif"Shegrewtobeonlyfourfeettall."

Adjuncts, Disjuncts, and Conjuncts

Regardlessofitsposition,anadverbisoftenneatlyintegratedintotheflowofa
sentence.Whenthisistrue,asitalmostalwaysis,theadverbiscalledanadjunct.
(Noticetheunderlinedadjunctsoradjunctiveadverbsinthefirsttwosentencesofthis
paragraph.)Whentheadverbdoesnotfitintotheflowoftheclause,itiscalleda
disjunctoraconjunctandisoftensetoffbyacommaorsetofcommas.Adisjunct
frequentlyactsasakindofevaluationoftherestofthesentence.Althoughitusually
modifiestheverb,wecouldsaythatitmodifiestheentireclause,too.Noticehow
"too"isadisjunctinthesentenceimmediatelybeforethisone;thatsamewordcan
alsoserveasanadjunctadverbialmodifier:It'stoohottoplayoutside.Herearetwo
moredisjunctiveadverbs:

Frankly,Martha,Idon'tgiveahoot.

Fortunately,noonewashurt.

Conjuncts,ontheotherhand,serveaconnectorfunctionwithintheflowofthetext,
signalingatransitionbetweenideas.

Iftheystartsmokingthoseawfulcigars,thenI'mnotstaying.
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We'vetoldthelandlordaboutthisceilingagainandagain,andyethe'sdonenothing
tofixit.

Attheextremeedgeofthiscategory,wehavethepurelyconjunctivedeviceknownas
theconjunctiveadverb(oftencalledtheadverbialconjunction):

Josehasspentyearspreparingforthisevent;nevertheless,he'sthemostnervous
personhere.

Ilovethisschool;however,Idon'tthinkIcanaffordthetuition.

Authority for this section: A University Grammar of English by Randolph Quirk and Sidney Greenbaum. Longman
Group: Essex, England. 1993. 126. Used with permission. Examples our own.

Some Special Cases

Theadverbsenoughandnotenoughusuallytakeapostmodifierposition:

Isthatmusicloudenough?

Theseshoesarenotbigenough.

Inaroomfulofelderlypeople,youmustremembertospeakloudlyenough.

(Notice,though,thatwhenenoughfunctionsasanadjective,itcancomebeforethe
noun:

Didshegiveusenoughtime?

Theadverbenoughisoftenfollowedbyaninfinitive:

Shedidn'trunfastenoughtowin.

Theadverbtoocomesbeforeadjectivesandotheradverbs:

Sherantoofast.

Sheworkstooquickly.

Iftoocomesaftertheadverbitisprobablyadisjunct(meaningalso)andisusuallyset
offwithacomma:

Yasminworkshard.Sheworksquickly,too.

Theadverbtooisoftenfollowedbyaninfinitive:

Sherunstoo
slowlytoenterthisrace.

Anothercommonconstructionwiththeadverbtooistoofollowedbyaprepositional
phrasefor+theobjectoftheprepositionfollowedbyaninfinitive:

Thismilkistoo
hotforababytodrink.

Relative Adverbs
Adjectivalclausesaresometimesintroducedbywhatarecalledtherelative
adverbs:where,when,andwhy.Althoughtheentireclauseisadjectivalandwill
modifyanoun,therelativeworditselffulfillsanadverbialfunction(modifyingaverb
withinitsownclause).
Therelativeadverbwherewillbeginaclausethatmodifiesanounofplace:
My entire family now worships in the church where my great grandfather used to be minister.

Therelativepronoun"where"modifiestheverb"usedtobe"(whichmakesit
adverbial),buttheentireclause("wheremygreatgrandfatherusedtobeminister")
modifiestheword"church."
Awhenclausewillmodifynounsoftime:
My favorite month is always February, when we celebrate Valentine's Day and Presidents' Day.

Andawhyclausewillmodifythenounreason:
Do you know the reason why Isabel isn't in class today?

Wesometimesleaveouttherelativeadverbinsuchclauses,andmanywriters
prefer"that"to"why"inaclausereferringto"reason":

DoyouknowthereasonwhyIsabelisn'tinclasstoday?

Ialwayslookforwardtothedaywhenwebeginoursummervacation.

Iknowthereasonthatmenlikemotorcycles.

Authority for this section: Understanding English Grammar by Martha Kolln. 4rth Edition. MacMillan Publishing
Company: New York. 1994.

Viewpoint, Focus, and Negative Adverbs

Aviewpointadverbgenerallycomesafteranounandisrelatedtoanadjective
thatprecedesthatnoun:

Asuccessfulathleticteamisoftenagoodteamscholastically.

Investingallourmoneyinsnowmobileswasprobablynotasoundideafinancially.

Youwillsometimeshearaphraselike"scholasticallyspeaking"or"financially
speaking"inthesecircumstances,buttheword"speaking"isseldomnecessary.
Afocusadverbindicatesthatwhatisbeingcommunicatedislimitedtothepart
thatisfocused;afocusadverbwilltendeithertolimitthesenseofthesentence("He
gotanAjustforattendingtheclass.")ortoactasanadditive("HegotanAin
additiontobeingpublished."
Althoughnegativeconstructionslikethewords"not"and"never"areusually
foundembeddedwithinaverbstring"Hehasneverbeenmuchhelptohismother."
theyaretechnicallynotpartoftheverb;theyare,indeed,adverbs.However,aso
callednegativeadverbcreatesanegativemeaninginasentencewithouttheuseof
theusualno/not/neither/nor/neverconstructions:

Heseldomvisits.

Shehardlyeatsanythingsincetheaccident.

Afterherlongandtediouslectures,rarelywasanyoneawake.

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