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Adverbs

What Do Adverbs Modify?

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GRAMMAR TIPS An adverb is a word that modifies (describes) a verb (he sings loudly), an adjective
(very tall), another adverbWrite
(ended with confidence.
too quickly), or even a whole sentence (Fortunately,
I had brought an umbrella). Adverbs often end in -ly, but some (such as fast) look
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exactly the same as their adjective counterparts.

Example Tom Longboat did

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Tom is very tall.
The race finished too quickly.
Fortunately, Lucy recorded Tom’s win.
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It’s easy to identify adverbs in these sentences.
— Forbes

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Adverbs and Verbs

One of the things adverbs do is modify verbs. This means that they describe the way
an action is happening.

Example Phillip sings loudly in the shower.

My cat waits impatiently for his food.

I will seriously consider your suggestion.

The adverbs in each of the sentences above answer the question in what manner?
How does Phillip sing? Loudly. How does my cat wait? Impatiently. How will I consider
your suggestion? Seriously. Adverbs can answer other types of questions about how
an action was performed. They can also tell you when (We arrived early) and where
(Turn here).

However, there is one type of verb that doesn’t mix well with adverbs. Linking verbs,
such as feel, smell, sound, seem, and appear, typically need adjectives, not adverbs.
A very common example of this type of mixup is
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Incorrect I feel badly about what happened.
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Because “feel” is a verb, it seems to call for an adverb rather than an adjective. But
“feel” isn’t just any verb; it’s a linking verb. An adverb would describe how you
perform the action of feeling—an adjective describes what you feel. “I feel badly”
means that you are bad at feeling things. If you’re trying to read Braille through thick
leather gloves, then it might make sense for you to say “I feel badly.” But if you’re
trying to say that you are experiencing negative emotions, “I feel bad” is the phrase
you want.

Adverbs and Adjectives

Write with confidence.
Adverbs can also modify adjectives and other adverbs. Often, the purpose of the
adverb is to add a Get
degree of intensity
real-time to the adjective.
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Example The woman is quite pretty.

Getinteresting
This book is more Grammarly thanIt's
theFree
last one.
The weather report is almost always right.

The adverb almost is modifying the adverb always, and they’re both modifying right.
“Grammarly quickly and easily makes your writing better.”
Example “Is my singing too loud?” asked Phillip.
— Forbes
My cat is incredibly happy to have his dinner.
We will be slightly late to the meeting.
This bridesmaid dress is a very unflattering shade of puce.

Adverbs and Other Adverbs

You can use an adverb to describe another adverb. In fact, if you wanted to, you could
use several.

Example Phillip sings rather enormously too loudly.

The problem is that it often produces weak and clunky sentences like the one above,
so be careful not to overdo it.

Adverbs and Sentences

Some adverbs can modify entire sentences—unsurprisingly, these are called

sentence adverbs. Common ones include generally, fortunately, interestingly, and
accordingly. Sentence adverbs don’t describe one particular thing in the sentence—
instead, they describe a general feeling about all of the information in the sentence.

Example Fortunately, we got there in time.

Interestingly, no one at the auction seemed interested in bidding on the

antique spoon collection.

At one time, the use of the word hopefully as a sentence adverb (e.g., Hopefully, I’ll
get this job) was condemned. People continued to use it though, and many style
guides and dictionaries now accept it. There are still plenty of readers out there who
hate it though, so it’s a good idea to avoid using it in formal writing.
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Degrees of Comparison
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Like adjectives, adverbs can show degrees of comparison, although it’s slightly less
common to use them this way. With certain “flat adverbs” (adverbs that look exactly
the same as their adjective counterparts), the comparative and superlative forms
look the same as the adjective comparative and superlative forms. It’s usually better
to use stronger adverbs (or stronger adjectives and verbs) rather than relying on
comparative and superlative adverbs.

An absolute adverb describes something in its own right:

Example He smiled warmly

Write with confidence.
A hastily written note

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To make the comparative form of an adverb that ends in -ly, add the word more:

Example He smiled more warmly than the others.

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The more hastily written note contained the clue.

To make the superlative form of an adverb that ends in -ly, add the word most:

“Grammarly quickly and easily makes your writing better.”

Example He smiled most warmly of them all.

The most hastily written— Forbes

note on the desk was overlooked.

Placement of Adverbs

Place adverbs as close as possible to the words they are supposed to modify. Putting
the adverb in the wrong spot can produce an awkward sentence at best and
completely change the meaning at worst. Be especially careful about the word only,
which is one of the most often misplaced modifiers. Consider the difference between
these two sentences:

Example Phillip only fed the cat.

Phillip fed only the cat.

The first sentence means that all Phillip did was feed the cat. He didn’t pet the cat or
pick it up or anything else. The second sentence means that Phillip fed the cat, but
he didn’t feed the dog, the bird, or anyone else who might have been around.

When an adverb is modifying a verb phrase, the most natural place for the adverb is
usually the middle of the phrase.

Correct We are quickly approaching the deadline.

Phillip has always loved singing.

I will happily assist you.

When to Avoid Adverbs

Ernest Hemingway is often held up as an example of a great writer who detested

adverbs and advised other writers to avoid them. In reality, it’s impossible to avoid
adverbs altogether. Sometimes we need them, and all writers (even Hemingway) use
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them occasionally. The trick is to avoid unnecessary adverbs. When your verb or

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adjective doesn’t seem powerful or precise enough, instead of reaching for an adverb
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to add more color, try reaching for a stronger verb or adjective instead. Most of the
time, you’ll come up with a better word and your writing will be stronger for it.

Your writing, at its best.

Write with confidence.
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