Adverbs ( Note and Exercises )

Adverbs are used to modify a verb, an adjective, or another adverb:

[1] Mary sings beautifully
[2] David is extremely clever
[3] This car goes incredibly fast

In [1], the adverb beautifully tells us how Mary sings. In [2], extremely tells us the degree to which David is clever. Finally, in [3], the adverb incredibly tells us how fast the car goes.

Before discussing the meaning of adverbs, however, we will identify some of their formal characteristics.

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Formal Characteristics of Adverbs

From our examples above, you can see that many adverbs end in -ly. More precisely, they are formed by adding -ly to an adjective:

Adjective	slow	quick	soft	sudden	gradual
Adverb	slowly	quickly	softly	suddenly	gradually

Because of their distinctive endings, these adverbs are known as -LY ADVERBS. However, by no means all adverbs end in -ly. Note also that some adjectives also end in -ly, including costly, deadly, friendly, kindly, likely, lively, manly, and timely.

Like adjectives, many adverbs are GRADABLE, that is, we can modify them using very or extremely:

softly	very softly
suddenly	very suddenly
slowly	extremely slowly

The modifying words very and extremely are themselves adverbs. They are called DEGREE ADVERBS because they specify the degree to which an adjective or another adverb applies. Degree adverbs include almost, barely, entirely, highly, quite, slightly, totally, and utterly. Degree adverbs are not gradable (*extremely very).

Like adjectives, too, some adverbs can take COMPARATIVE and SUPERLATIVE forms, with -er and -est:

John works hard -- Mary works harder -- I work hardest

However, the majority of adverbs do not take these endings. Instead, they form the comparative using more and the superlative using most:

Adverb	Comparative	Superlative
recently	more recently	most recently
effectively	more effectively	most effectively
frequently	more frequently	most frequently

In the formation of comparatives and superlatives, some adverbs are irregular:

Adverb	Comparative	Superlative
well	better	best
badly	worse	worst
little	less	least
much	more	most

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Adverbs and Adjectives

Adverbs and adjectives have important characteristics in common -- in particular their gradability, and the fact that they have comparative and superlative forms. However, an important distinguishing feature is that adverbs do not modify nouns, either attributively or predicatively:

Adjective	Adverb
David is a happy child	*David is a happily child
David is happy	*David is happily

The following words, together with their comparative and superlative forms, can be both adverbs and adjectives:

early, far, fast, hard, late

The following sentences illustrate the two uses of early:

Adjective	Adverb
I'll catch the early train	I awoke early this morning

The comparative better and the superlative best, as well as some words denoting time intervals (daily, weekly, monthly), can also be adverbs or adjectives, depending on how they are used.

We have incorporated some of these words into the following exercise. See if you can distinguish between the adverbs and the adjectives.

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In each of the following pairs, indicate whether the highlighted word is an adverb or an adjective:

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1a. My train arrived late, as usual 1b. I'm watching the late film	Adverb Adjective Adverb Adjective
2a. My brother loves fast cars 2b. He drives too fast	Adverb Adjective Adverb Adjective
3a. This exercise is harder than I thought 3b. I hope you'll try harder in future	Adverb Adjective Adverb Adjective
4a. The Times is published daily 4b. The Times is a daily newspaper	Adverb Adjective Adverb Adjective
5a. You've just ruined my best shirt 5b. Computers work best if you kick them	Adverb Adjective Adverb Adjective

In each of the following sentences, indicate whether the highlighted word is an adverb of manner, time, or place.

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1. The thief crept silently across the rooftops	Manner Time Place
2. I'm not feeling well today	Manner Time Place
3. The teacher smiled enigmatically	Manner Time Place
4. We'll meet here after the match	Manner Time Place
5. My aunt never comes to visit	Manner Time Place

An adverb has been highlighted in each of the following sentences. Indicate whether it is additive, exclusive, or a particularizer.

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1. I was especially pleased to read about your award	Additive Exclusive Particularizer
2. We're only trying to help, you know	Additive Exclusive Particularizer
3. The rise in sea level is largely due to global warming	Additive Exclusive Particularizer
4. Roberts was both a coward and a thief	Additive Exclusive Particularizer
5. Realism is precisely what I'm looking for	Additive Exclusive Particularizer

Exercise on the Form of Adverbs

Find the adjective in the first sentence and fill the gap with the adverb.

1. Joanne is happy. She smiles .
2. The boy is loud. He shouts .
3. Her English is fluent. She speaks English .
4. Our mum was angry. She spoke to us .
5. My neighbour is a careless driver. He drives .
6. The painter is awful. He paints .
7. Jim is a wonderful piano player. He plays the piano .
8. This girl is very quiet. She often sneaks out of the house .
9. She is a good dancer. She dances really .
10. This exercise is simple. You have to put one word in each space.

EXERCISE - TYPES OF ADVERBS

Choose the most suitable adverb in bold to fill each blank:

angrily, enough, never, outside, yesterday

• 1. She left _____ for the university where she is doing a degree course.

• 2. We are standing _____ his house waiting for him.

• 3. He told us _____ not to walk on the grass.

• 4. I am not strong _____ to help him carry that box.

• 5. She will _____ be happy in that job.

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