Parts of Speech V- ADVERBS

In general these add meaning or information to the action, quality or state denoted by a verb, hence the name. Adverbs of degree can also modify an adjective or another adverb.

There are five main types of adverbs:

1. Manner e.g. well, hard, slowly, quickly
2. Place e.g. above, up, here, there
3. Time e.g. now, then soon, recently
4. Degree e.g. very, much, really, quite
5. Frequency e.g. once, twice, sometimes, always

Other notable types:

1. Comment/Attitude e.g. actually, perhaps, surely, wisely
2. Linking e.g. firstly
3. Viewpoint e.g. mentally, morally, officially
4. Adding/Linking e.g. also, either, else, only, too

So how do we form adverbs? Most are simply formed by adding ly to an adjective:

slow-slowly; quick-quickly; honest-honestly

As ever, there are exceptions:

tidy-tidily; fast-fast(no change)


Where do adverb s go in a sentence?

An adverb will normally be placed after the object of a transitive verb.

* He ate his lunch quickly.
* She cleaned the kitchen thoroughly.
* I bought it recently.
* I have not seen him there.

Adverbs are usually placed immediately after an intransitive verb:

* He fell awkwardly in the playground.
* She was sleeping deeply.
* He drives quickly.

However, adverbs of frequency are placed between the subject and the verb or between the auxiliary verb and the verb:

* She always sleeps after lunch.
* I sometimes eat meat, but I always drink with with my meal.

Where do multiple adverbs go in a sentence?

There is no hard and fast rule when several adverbs follow the verb, but it is helpful to bear this sequence in mind:

place>>>manner>>>time

* He will drive there slowly tomorrow.
* She is coming here afterwards.

Note to the teacher:

Common mistakes/errors and fun solutions

The most common mistakes and errors lie in spelling and position. But there are some fun ways of getting students used to our conventions.

For instance, there's the all time classic Adverb Game, where a student picks an adverb and then a situation and has to mime it according to the adverb.

To reinforce position the students could have a given sentence with a selection of adverbs. First, he/she categorizes them and then places them in the sentence.

An alternative could be to get your students to write a suitable sentence around a given adverb. This can be exchanged with another student who has to justify the choice. You can do this as a pair work or team work.