0Adverbs
There are several different classes of adverbs :
- Degree
- Duration
- Frequency
- Manner
- Place
- Probability
- Time
- Adverbial
- Comparative
- Superlative
1. Adverbs can tell you where, when, how, why and to what extent something happens:
- They are often formed from adjectives or nouns by adding the suffix -ly.
- For example: quick becomes quickly, sudden becomes suddenly, intelligent becomes intelligently.
- To form an adverb from adjectives ending in -y change the y to i before adding the -ly.
- For example: angry becomes angrily, busy becomes busily.
- To form an adverb from adjectives ending in -e drop the -e before adding the -ly.
- For example: Feeble becomes feebly, true becomes truly.
- Some adjectives ending in -ly need no changes.
- For example: Heavenly.
- However there are exceptions.
- For example: sly becomes slyly, shy becomes shyly.
- Some adverbs do not end in -ly.
- For example: fast, hard, straight.
| Adjective | Pretty | Serious | Fast | Quiet |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Example | She was a pretty girl. | He was a serious boy. | It was a fast car. | They were quiet children. |
| Adverb | Prettily | Seriously | Fast | Quietly |
| Example | The bird sang prettily. | The policeman spoke seriously. | Schumacher drives fast. | The woman spoke quietly. |
2. Adverbs can modify adjectives:
- An adjective can be modified by an adverb, which precedes the adjective.
- For example:
- That's really nice.
3. Adverbs can modify adverbs
- Some adverbs can modify others. As with adjectives, the adverb precedes the one it is modifying.
- For example:-
- She did it really well.
4. Adverbs can modify nouns:
- Adverbs can modify nouns to indicate time or place.
- For example:
- The concert tomorrow.
- The room upstairs.
5. Adverbs can modify noun phrases:
- Some adverbs of degree such as quite, rather, so, such ... can modify noun phrases.
- For example:
- We had quite a good time.
- They're such good friends.
6. Adverbs can modify determiners, numerals and pronouns:
- Adverbs such as almost, nearly, hardly, about, etc., can be used:
- For example:
- Nearly everyone, who was invited, came to the party.
7. Adverbs can modify sentences:
- Some adverbs modify a whole sentence, not just a part of one.
- For example:
- Luckily the car stopped in time. In this sentence luckily modifies the whole sentence, it shows that it was good luck that the car stopped in time.
