Defining An Adverb
An adverb is an article of speech that modifies other adverbs, verbs, adjectives, clauses, or sentences. When an
adverb is used in a sentence, it will answer one of the following questions:
• How?
• When?
• Where?
• Why?
• In what way?
• How often?
• How much?
• In what condition?
• To what degree?
Although you can recognize some adverbs by their "ly" endings, there are many, many adverbs that do not
require an "ly" ending. For example, consider the following sentence: I went to the store today. In this sentence,
the word "today" is an adverb.
Kinds of Adverbs
Adverbs are broadly divided into three classes – Simple, Interrogative and
Relative. The majority of adverbs belong to the simple adverbs category.
Simple Adverbs
These are further divided into the following kinds of adverbs.
Adverbs Of Time
These adverbs answer the question of ‘when’ an action took place. Examples –
• We will go to a movie tonight.
• She went shopping yesterday.
• Max likes to finish his work early.
• Aarti will be back from work soon.
• May I go home now?
Adverbs Of Place
These adverbs answer the question of ‘where’ an action takes place. Examples –
• I searched for my lost pen everywhere.
• The lady went inside her house.
• Let’s go out.
• He went downstairs to the basement.
• It was too crowded here, so they went there.
Adverbs Of Frequency
These adverbs answer the question of ‘how often’ an action takes place.
Examples –
• Mike practices the violin regularly.
• My grandparents visit us frequently.
• She has only been to the theatre once.
• I go to the park often.
• My friends will come again.
Adverbs Of Manner
These adverbs answer the question of ‘how’ or ‘in what manner’ an action takes
place. Examples:
• Rohit speaks English fluently.
• Her uncle is seriously ill.
• I was terribly upset with my brother.
• The soldiers fought the war bravely.
• You should handle fragile items carefully.
Adverbs of Degree Or Extent
These adverbs answer the question of ‘how much’ or ‘in what degree’ a quality
is described or an action is performed. They mostly appear before the verb,
adjective or other adverbs they describe. These can further be divided into low,
medium or high degree adverbs.
Low Degree Adverbs
• It is a bit chilly outside.
• Your question confused me a little.
• Shikha is least interested in sports.
• He was slightly feverish yesterday.
• We were somewhat surprised by his behaviour.
Medium Degree Adverbs
• This room is sufficiently big.
• Her dress is pretty expensive.
• The ceiling in this room is fairly high.
• She looked rather nice yesterday.
• This pasta is quite tasty.
High Degree Adverbs
• Manish really loves reading books.
• I am very sorry I couldn’t come yesterday.
• She is extremely beautiful.
• He is too weak to walk.
• Shikha is immensely talented.
Adverbs Of Reason/Conjunction
These adverbs answer the question of ‘why’ an action takes place.
• She didn’t go to school because it was raining.
• He did not study, therefore he failed his exams.
• Sudha is ill, hence she will not come today.
• We are not talking since we fought two days ago.
• The lights stopped working, thus the match was cancelled.
Interrogative Adverbs
These adverbs are used to ask questions and are placed at the beginning of a
sentence.
• How is your brother now?
• Why didn’t she come last night?
• Where is my bag?
• When did you go to Malaysia?
• How long was your flight to India?
Relative Adverbs
As the name suggests, these adverbs relate or connect two clauses or two
sentences. They are called relative adverbs because they refer to something
mentioned earlier. They are where, when and why.
• This is the village where I grew up.
• I don’t remember when I went to bed last night.
• Do you know the reason why the shops are closed today?
• She remembers the day when she first met her husband.
• I know the hospital where my brother was born.
Forming Adverbs
Adding –ly to the end
Many adverbs are formed by adding –ly to an adjective.
Example: clear/clearly hard/hardly
Irregular Adverbs
Some adverbs do not use the –ly ending. These adverbs do not have a
particular form. Following is a list of some of the most common
irregular adverbs: already, also, always, here, never, not, now, often,
quite, seldom, soon, still, then, there, too, very well.
Adverb Placement
Adverbs are flexible in their placement; therefore, they can be placed
just about anywhere within the sentence.
At the beginning of a sentence or a clause
Example: Clearly, John has a problem arriving to work on time.
At the end of a sentence or a clause
Example: Sarah and John attend the opera frequently.
After the verb
Example: Bob and John have always participated in the soccer
tournament.
Between the subject and the verb
Example: Sarah rarely forgets to call home when she is out late.
