Adverbs

 
  Adverbs  
 

 Words that modify a verb, an adjective, or another word to indicate the manner, time, place, cause, or degree an action is done and answer questions such as 'when', 'where', and 'how'.

Adverbs can be formed from adjectives by adding '-ly'.

 
     

 

  There are three types of adverbs  
 
(a)   Adverbs of manner
(b)   Adverbs of time
(c)   Adverbs of place
 
     

 

 
7.1  Adverbs of Manner
 
  • You use these adverbs to describe 'how' something happened.
  • These adverbs are formed by adding '-ly' to the end of an adjective.
  • If adjective ends with '-y', change it to '-i' and add '-ly'.
 
adjective + ly adverb
quick quickly
happy happily

 

However, certain adverbs do not end in '-ly'. Some common ones are: fast, hard, far, well.
 
She ran fast. /
She ran fastly.  x
 
  • Some words that end with '-ly' are NOT adverbs. For examples: friendly, lovely, lonely, silly. These words are adjectives. 
  • Adverbs of manner can be used in many places in a sentence, but usually after a verb. Example: Alice walks gracefully on the stage. ('walk' is the verb)
 
7.2  Adverbs of Time
 
  • You use these adverbs to describe 'when' something happened. 
  • They are not the same as adverbs of manner. They are not formed by adding '-ly' to an adjective.
  • Example:

(a) When did Mimi leave the house?

(b) She left the house just now. 

  • More examples of commonly used adverbs of time:
  • already
  • at this moment
  • before
  • just
  • just now
  • last night/week/month/year
  • now
  • soon
  • still
  • then
  • this morning/ evening
  • today
  • tomorrow
  • tonight
  • yesterday
  • yet
 
7.3  Adverbs of Place
 
  • Adverbs of place tell us 'where' something happened. 
  • These are usually placed after the verb.
  • Examples:

(a) The girls found the puppy here.

(b) There is rubbish everywhere. 

  • More examples of commonly used adverbs of place:

(a) here

(b) there

(c) somewhere

(d) outside

(e) inside

 
7.4  Order of Adverbs
 
The usual order of adverbs in a sentence is as follows: Manner, Place, Time
 

Example:

They arrived safely (manner) in Paris (place) yesterday (time). 

 
7.5  Adverbials
 
  • Adverbials are phrases that have the same function as adverbs.
  • Basically, adverbials also answer questions that begin with 'how', 'when', and 'where' like adverbs. 
  • Examples:

(a) They arrived at 12 noon yesterday. (Time)

(b) They come here every night. (Time)

(c) They rested inside the room. (Place)