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What are adverbs?
An adverb is a word that acts as a modifier to limit, qualify, or make more exact other words or word groups. That is, an adverb is a word that adds more meaning to another word or word groups.
Adverbs modify:
1. verbs
2. adjectives
3. other adverbs
4. whole sentences
They answer questions like:
"How?" (manner)
"When?" (time)
"Where?" (place)
"Why?" (Reason or purpose)
"in what order?" (degree)
"how often?"
Identification of Adverbs
Many adverbs end in -ly.
For example:
awkwardly, happily, sharply, tightly, cheerfully, loudly, swiftly, viciously.
However, this is not an exact method of identifying adverbs. Some common adverbs do not end in -ly.
For example:
everywhere, here, never, so, fast, much, rather, well.
And some words that end in -ly are not necessarily adverbs.
These include: friendly, lively, rally, folly, lonely, sickly.
The only way to be sure a word is an adverb is by looking at its function within the sentence.
Functions of Adverbs
(1) modifying verbs -
Examples:
* She sighed loudly.
How did she sigh?
Loudly.
"Loudly" is an adverb, modifying the verb, "sighed" and answering the question "how?".
* He went to Ghana yesterday.
When did he go to Ghana?
Yesterday.
"Yesterday" is an adverb answering the question "when?" and modifying the verb "went."
(2) modifying adjectives -
Examples:
* The sky was very blue.
"Very" answers the question, "How blue?" It is an adverb, modifying the adjective "blue."
* The day was completely enjoyable.
"Completely" describes how enjoyable the day was and is an adverb which modifies an adjective.
(3) modifying other adverbs -
Examples:
* He hit the ball excessively hard.
"Excessively" modifies the adverb "hard" and is also an adverb answering the question, “how hard did he hit the ball?”
* The attic smelled, somewhat suspiciously, of marijuana.
The adverb "suspiciously" is modified by the adverb "somewhat.” It (somewhat) also answers the question “how suspiciously” the attic smelled.
(4) modifying a whole sentence -
Example:
* Probably she will leave me alone now.
Here, "probably" is an adverb which is modifying the entire following sentence.
Did you learn anything new? Let me know by commenting here.
An adverb is a word that acts as a modifier to limit, qualify, or make more exact other words or word groups. That is, an adverb is a word that adds more meaning to another word or word groups.
Adverbs modify:
1. verbs
2. adjectives
3. other adverbs
4. whole sentences
They answer questions like:
"How?" (manner)
"When?" (time)
"Where?" (place)
"Why?" (Reason or purpose)
"in what order?" (degree)
"how often?"
Identification of Adverbs
Many adverbs end in -ly.
For example:
awkwardly, happily, sharply, tightly, cheerfully, loudly, swiftly, viciously.
However, this is not an exact method of identifying adverbs. Some common adverbs do not end in -ly.
For example:
everywhere, here, never, so, fast, much, rather, well.
And some words that end in -ly are not necessarily adverbs.
These include: friendly, lively, rally, folly, lonely, sickly.
The only way to be sure a word is an adverb is by looking at its function within the sentence.
Functions of Adverbs
(1) modifying verbs -
Examples:
* She sighed loudly.
How did she sigh?
Loudly.
"Loudly" is an adverb, modifying the verb, "sighed" and answering the question "how?".
* He went to Ghana yesterday.
When did he go to Ghana?
Yesterday.
"Yesterday" is an adverb answering the question "when?" and modifying the verb "went."
(2) modifying adjectives -
Examples:
* The sky was very blue.
"Very" answers the question, "How blue?" It is an adverb, modifying the adjective "blue."
* The day was completely enjoyable.
"Completely" describes how enjoyable the day was and is an adverb which modifies an adjective.
(3) modifying other adverbs -
Examples:
* He hit the ball excessively hard.
"Excessively" modifies the adverb "hard" and is also an adverb answering the question, “how hard did he hit the ball?”
* The attic smelled, somewhat suspiciously, of marijuana.
The adverb "suspiciously" is modified by the adverb "somewhat.” It (somewhat) also answers the question “how suspiciously” the attic smelled.
(4) modifying a whole sentence -
Example:
* Probably she will leave me alone now.
Here, "probably" is an adverb which is modifying the entire following sentence.
Did you learn anything new? Let me know by commenting here.
