Jen’s English Tip’s – All About Adverbs

 

Adverbs are used to give us more information and to modify verbs, clauses and other adverbs.
The difficulty with identifying adverbs is that they can appear in different places in a sentence.

The simplest way to recognize an adverb is through the common ending –ly.

Examples of –ly adverbs are: quickly, quietly, fortunately.

Most adverbs are made by adding –ly to adjectives:

careful > carefully
loud > loudly
slow > slowly

Adverbs with verbs – Here the adverbs are in bold and the verbs are in italics. Here the adverbs give us more information about the verb.

‘She slowly entered the room.’
‘He carefully drove through the city.’

Adverbs with adjectives – Here the adverbs are in bold and the adjectives are in italics. Here the adverbs give us more information about the adjective.
‘The test was extremely difficult.’
‘I’m incredibly sorry about what I did.’

Adverbs with adverbs – Here both adverbs are in bold. The first adverb gives us more information about the second.
‘The cheetah runs incredibly quickly.’
‘He talks exceptionally loudly.’

Adverbs – Adverbs can be used to change the entire meaning of a sentence. The adverbs are in bold.
‘Unfortunately, I will be out of the office for the next 3 days’.
‘Surprisingly, the team was beaten in the final.’

Adverbs answer the questions
HOW?
Easily, happily, loudly quickly, quietly, reluctantly, sadly, silently, slowly
HOW OFTEN?
Always, everyday, frequently, never, often, once, seldom, sometimes, twice
WHEN?
After, already, before, early, now, since, soon, today, yesterday
WHERE?
Away, everywhere, here, home, inside, near, outside, there