ADVERBS

1. WHAT ARE ADVERBS?

Adverbs are words that modify a verb, an adjective or another adverb,
expressing manner, place, time or degree. It is also a word that can modify a
phrase, clause or sentence. In other words, an adverb is a word that tells us
more about a verb. It "qualifies" or "modifies" a verb, an adjective, or another
adverb. Note that adverbs can modify a whole sentence too. Some adverbs are
used to express a point of view or a personal comment too.
Modifying a verb: Juan speaks loudly.
She speaks English fluently.
Modifying an adjective: Luisa is really beautiful.
That was extremely difficult.
Modifying another adverb: She ran incredibly fast.
They sing really beautifully.
Modify a whole sentence: Obviously, I can't know everything.
2. HOW DO WE FORM ADVERBS?
In most cases, we form adverbs by adding ly to and adjective.
quick (adjective) > quickly (adverb)
careful (adjective) > carefully (adverb)
beautiful (adjective) > beautifully (adverb)
There are some basic rules about spelling for -ly adverbs. See the table below:
adjective ending

do this

adjective

adverb

most adjectives

add -ly

quick
nice
sole
careful

quickly
nicely
solely
carefully

-able or -ible

change -e to -y

regrettable
horrible

regrettably
horribly

-y

change -y to -ily

happy

happily

-ic

change -ic to -ically

economic

economically

But not all words that end in -ly are adverbs. The following -ly words, for
example, are all adjectives: friendly, lovely, lonely, neighbourly
And some adverbs have no particular form. Look at these examples: well, fast,
very, never, always, often, still.
3 KINDS OF ADVERBS
English has several types of adverbs; we are going to take a look at some of
the types.
3.1 Adverbs of Manner
Adverbs of Manner tell us the manner or way in which something happens.
They answer the question "how? Adverbs of Manner mainly modify verbs.
Adverbs of manner can be placed after the main verb or after the object.
SUBJECT

VERB

OBJECT

He
She

Plays
dances

soccer

ADVERB OF
MANNER
Well
Beautifully

He runs fast. (How does he run?)

They read the comic book happily. (How did they read the comic book?)
Andrs drove his cars fast. (How did Andrs drive his cars?)
Sometimes, adverbs of manner can be placed before a verb to add emphasis.
They quietly entered to the house in order to not wake their parents up.
TIP: We normally use Adverbs of Manner with dynamic (action) verbs, not with
state verbs (verbs that describe states, emotions, possessions, senses, or
thoughts such as: love, hate, want, have, own, want, belong, see, hear, smell,
seem, know, believe, remember
3.2 Adverbs of Place
Adverbs of Place tell us the place where something happens. They answer the
question "where?" Adverbs of Place mainly modify verbs. They are usually
placed after the main verb or after the object.

Please sit there. (Where should I sit?)

Two cars were parked outside the building. (Where were two cars parked?)
Adverbs of Time
Adverbs of Time tell us something about the time that something happens.
Adverbs of Time mainly modify verbs. They can answer the question "when?"
He will have a day off tomorrow. (When will he have a free day?)
I am in class now. (When do I have class?)
Adverbs of time can answer the question "how often?"
She goes to work every day. (How often does she go to work?)
You sometimes read a book. (How often do you read a book?)

Adverbs of Degree
Adverbs of Degree tell us the degree or extent to which something happens.
They answer the question "how much?" or "to what degree?" Adverbs of
Degree can modify verbs, adjectives and other adverbs.

The water was extremely cold.

He was just leaving.
She is running very fast.
You are walking too slowly.
Adverbs of Frequency
Adverbs of Frequency are Adverbs of Time that answer the question "How
frequently?" or "How often?" They tell us how often something happens. Some
adverbs of frequency express exactly how often something happens; with
words like daily we know exactly how often the action occurs (definite
frequency adverbs). On the other hand, words like often give us an idea about
frequency but they don't tell us exactly when the action happens, these
adverbs describe indefinite frequency.
The following are definite frequency adverbs.
hourly, daily, weekly, monthly, yearly

every second, once a minute, twice a year

once, twice, once or twice, three times
I have to pay my tuition monthly.
The engineer checks the e-mail every hour.
Teachers have a meeting weekly to review school projects progress.
Sometimes, usually for reasons of emphasis or style, some adverbs of definite
frequency may go at the FRONT, for example:
Every day, they work out in the gym for three hours.
Viewpoint and Commenting Adverbs
There are some adverbs and adverbial expressions which tell us about the
speaker's viewpoint or opinion about an action, or make some comment on the
action. These adverbs are different from other adverbs because they do not tell
us how an action occurred. Commenting and viewpoint adverbs modify entire
clauses rather than single verbs, adverbs, or adjectives. There is no real
distinction between commenting adverbs and viewpoint adverbs, except in
their sentence placement. Many adverbs that can be used as viewpoint
adverbs can also be used as commenting adverbs. However, in some cases, an
adverb is far more common as one or the other.
Viewpoint adverbs are placed at the beginning, or more rarely, at the end of
the sentence. They are usually separated from the rest of the sentence by a
comma. Commenting adverbs are placed before the main verb unless the verb
"to be" is used, in which case placement can be either before or after the verb.
Obviously, you take the wrong way home.
I'd personally rather go by bus.
ADVERB POSITION
When an adverb modifies a verb, there are usually 3 possible positions within
the sentence or clause:
1. FRONT - before
subject

2. MID - between
subject + verb

Now

I will have
something to eat.

often

go to the movies.

3. END - after
verb/object

I read the
directions

carefu
lly.

When an adverb modifies an adjective or another adverb, it usually goes in

front of the word that it modifies, for example:

She gave him a

We

adverb

adjective

really

dirty

adverb

adverb

quite

often

look.

study English.

The position of an adverb often depends on the kind of adverb (manner, place,
time, degree). The following table gives you some guidelines for placement
based on the kind of adverb.
sentence
adve
rb

usual
positi
on

kind of
adverb

mainly
modifies

Manner

verbs

She spo
ke

gentl
y.

END

Place

verbs

He lived

here.

END

sentence
kind of
adverb

mainly
modifies

Ti
me

verbs

Definit
e
Freque
ncy

Degree

verbs, adj.
and adv.

usual
positi
on

adve
rb
I'll do it

toda
y.

END

We

often

go to Par
is.

MID

nearl
y

died.

MID

It was

terri
bly

funny.

before
adj.

He
works

reall
y

fast.

TIP: Bear in mind that the previous chart is an example of where to place an
adverb; however, there are some exceptions.