Adverbs and Their Function

Adverbs play a vital role in every language.

Adverbs are words which describe or modify other verbs (The thief ran quickly). Adverbs
also modify adjectives (The really dumb thief looked right into the security
camera). Adverbs may also modify other adverbs (The police very easily arrested the dumb
thief). Adverbs will often indicate frequency: often, never, always, usually. Adverbs can
generally be identified by their:

1) Function (how, when, where)

2) Form

3) Position

1. Function

– an adverb modifies other verbs(verbs are in bold/adverbs are in italics)

The thief acts stupidly. (answers the question:how?)

The thief never shoots, because he has no gun.(answers the question:

when?)

The thief robs locally. (answers the question:where?)

-an adverb modifies other adjectives (adjectives are in bold/adverbs are in italics)

The thief is extremely stupid.

This very dumb thief is now in jail.

 -an adverb modifies other adverbs (adverbs in italics)

The thief walks incredibly clumsily.

The thief acts really stupidly.

Adverbs also have other functions. You may see them modify a prepositional phrase :

The thief was arrested just outside the apartment.

You may find an adverb modifying an entire sentence:

Certainly,the thief chose the wrong profession.

2. Form

-Many adverbs are recognized by form. Many are formed from adjectives by
adding 'ly:

slowly,carefully, likely, eagerly

-But don't be fooled. Not all words ending in 'ly' are adverbs:

friendly, ugly, homely

-Some adverbs are not easily recognized by form:

some, very,well, often, never

3. Position
 -You will find adverbs occupying multiple positions within a sentence:

Now,get in the police car. (front)

The thief was immediately arrested. (before the verb)

The thief sat nervously after being arrested. (after the verb)

After the botched robbery, the thief decided to give up crime completely.
(end)

Exercise:

Please identify the adverb(s) in each of the following sentences.

FORM AND FUNCTION OF ADVERBS

 Adverbials are usually adverbs, adverb phrases, or prepositional phrases.
 Adverbials of manner, place, and time are used to say how, where, or when something
happens.
 Adverbials usually come after the verb, or after the object if there is one.
 The usual order of adverbials is manner, then place, then time.

1. An adverbial is often one word, an adverb.

Sit there quietly, and listen to this music.

However, an adverbial can also be a group of words:

o an adverb phrase

He did not play well enough to win.

o a prepositional phrase

The children were playing in the park.

o a noun group, usually a time expression

 Come and see me next week.

2. We use an adverbial of manner to describe the way in which something happens or is

done.

They looked anxiously at each other.

She listened with great patience as he told his story.

You use an adverbial of place to say where something happens.

A plane flew overhead.

No birds or animals came near the body.

You use an adverbial of time to say when something happens.

She will be here soon.

He was born on 3 April 1925.

3. We normally put adverbials of manner, place, and time after the main verb.

She sang beautifully.

The book was lying on the table.

The car broke down yesterday.

If the verb has an object, you put the adverbial after the object.

I did learn to play a few tunes very badly.

Thomas made his decision immediately.

He took the glasses to the kitchen.

If you are using more than one of these adverbials in a clause, the usual order is manner,
then place, then time.

They were sitting quite happily in the car. (manner, place)

She spoke very well at the village hall last night. (manner, place, time)
4. We usually put adverbials of frequency, probability, and duration in front of the main
verb.

She occasionally comes to my house.

You have very probably heard the news by now.

They had already given me the money.

A few adverbs of degree also usually come in front of the main verb.

She really enjoyed the party

5. When we want to focus on an adverbial, we can do this by putting it in a different place

in the clause:

o we can put an adverbial at the beginning of a clause, usually for emphasis

Slowly, he opened his eyes.

In September I travelled to California.

Next to the coffee machine stood a pile of cups.

Note that after adverbials of place, as in the last example, the verb can come in
front of the subject.

o we can sometimes put adverbs and adverb phrases in front of the main verb for
emphasis, but not prepositional phrases or noun groups

He deliberately chose it because it was cheap.

I very much wanted to go with them.

o we can change the order of adverbials of manner, place, and time when you want
to change the emphasis

They were sitting in the car quite happily. (place, manner)

At the meeting last night, she spoke very well. (place, time, manner)
1. The young student gladly followed the instructions of his teacher. young gladly

2. The lifeguard noticed that the little girl was almost in the water. water almost

3. The ugly portrait had been frantically painted by a frantic student. ugly frantically

4. The very pale plant wasn't getting sunlight. very

5. The basketball player rather easily scored the first three points of the game. first
rather easily

6. Ideally, the tourists will all make the choice to see Big Ben. see ideally

7. The teacher fulfilled her assignment admirably. teacher admirably

8. The young child hardly ever does what he is told. hardly ever

9. Would you rather go to Scotland or to Ireland? rather

10. He fulfilled his assignment instinctively. instinctively

11. His younger sister sat at the hockey game, behind the glass, just off center ice.
behind just

12. The homely, little puppy quickly ate his doggy biscuit. quickly

13. Although he failed his calculus test, he had really hoped for a better score. for
really

14. The war hero is a never forgotten figure in the nation's history. war never

15. The younger of the two brothers patiently waited for the arrival of the bus.
patiently

16. Now, here's the rest of the story. of Now

17. Rather few men qualified for acceptance, based on their poor eyesight. poor
Rather

18. The dancer always gets good marks in competition. good always
19. Choosing not to pay the high tuition of Harvard University, the student elected to
study locally. high locally

20. Adverbs are often misunderstood, while easily learned with minimal effort. with
often easily