Adverbs in English

2. YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT
oTHE DEFINITION OF ADVERBS
oTYPES OF ADVERBS
oCOMPARISON OF ADVERBS
oORDER OF ADVERBS

3. THE DEFINITION
Adverbs are words that modify:
• a verb ( He drives slowly )
• an adjective ( David is extremely clever)
• another adverb ( She moved very slowly down the aisle )
• a whole sentence ( Luckily, the car stopped in time )
Adverbs often tell when , where , why , how or how much
something happens or happened.

4. Type Example Answer the
question
Other adverbs
Adverb of manner She sings
beautifully
How ? Slowly , clearly ,
easily
Adverb of place The concert was
held outdoors
Where ? Away , here , up ,
there
Adverb of time I’ll see you
tomorrow
When ? Later , now , soon
Adverb of
frequency
I never arrive late How often? Always , usually ,
forever
Adverb of degree It was too hot! How much? Extremely, so ,
very , almost

5. Many adverbs are formed by adding –ly to an adjective
Adjective slow beautiful quiet easy specific
Adverb slowly beautifully quietly easily specifically
Note :
There are some adjectives also end in –ly, including costly,
manly, deadly, friendly, lively, and timely.
These are not
adverbs

6. Forming comparative and superlative adverbs
Ly adverbs:
Adjective Adverb Comparative adverb Superlative adverb
quiet quietly less quietly than the most quietly
careful carefully more carefully than the least carefully
happy happily more happily than the most happily
I speak English more fluently now than last year.
She visited one of the most quietly beautiful places on earth.
He drives less carefully than his brother.

7. Other adverbs :
Adjective Adverb Comparative
adverb
Superlative adverb
hard hard harder than the hardest
fast fast faster than the fastest
early early earlier than the earliest
He worked harder than ever before.
The earliest we could arrive there is 7:30.
He came earlier than always.

8. Con you tell me where is the adjective and where is the
adverb?!
I’ll catch the early train.
I woke up early this morning.
This is the adj. because it comes before the noun.
This is the adv. because it comes after the verb.

9. Adjective Adverb Comparative
adverb
Superlative
adverb
good well better than the best
bad badly worse than the worst
far far further/farther
than
the
furthest/farthest
Irregular adverbs :
He walked farther than me.
Our team played worst of all.
She can dance much better than she has!

10. Position of adverbs :
Adverb of manner :
- It comes after the verb or at the end of the sentence.
She sneaks quietly out of the house.
Their teacher speaks quietly.
Adverb of time :
- It usually comes at the end of the sentence.
I will tell you the story tomorrow.
- But if you want to put more emphasis, you should put it at the
beginning of the sentence.
Tomorrow, I will tell you the story .
• Adverb of place :
- It comes after the object.
I didn’t see him here.
- If there is no object, it comes after the main verb.
He stayed behind.

11. Adverb of degree :
- It comes before what it modifies.
The exam was so difficult .
It was too hot.
Adverb of frequency :
- It comes before the main verb.
I always get up at 6:00.
- Or between the auxiliary and the main verb.
He doesn’t always play tennis.
Mandy can usually play football on Sundays.
- Or after the verb to be.
Susan is never late.
Note: The adverbs often, usually, sometimes and occasionally can also
go at the beginning of the sentence.
Sometimes, I go swimming.
-The adverbs rarely and seldom can go at the end of a sentence.
He eats fish very seldom .

12. Order of adverbs:
There is a basic order in which adverbs will
appear when there is more than one
verb manner place frequency time
Dad walks impatiently into town every
afternoon
before
supper
to get a
newspaper

13. Exercise:
1- Find the adjective in the first sentence and fill the gap with the adverb:
happily
•Joanne is happy. She smiles……………..
•The boy is loud. He shouts…………….
loudly
•Her English is fluent. She speaks English……………..
fluently
•Our mum was angry. She spoke to us…………..
angrily
•My neighbor is a careless driver. He drives…………….
carelessly
•The painter is awful. He paints ………….
awfully
•Jim is a wonderful piano player. He plays the piano……………..
wonderfully
•This girl is very quiet. She often sneaks out of the house……………
quietly
•She is a good dancer. She dances really………….
well
•This exercise is simple. You……….. have to put one word in each space.
simply

14. 2- Rewrite each sentence with the adverb in brackets in its correct position:
1) Our friends must write a test. (also)
2) I was joking. (only)
3) Did you enjoy the flight? (both)
4) Mary watches TV. (hardly ever)
5) He drives his car. (carefully)
6) The children play football. (well)
7) We went to the cinema. (yesterday)
8) John fell off the bike. (almost)
9) Her boyfriend will buy her some flowers. (probably)
10) My uncle is moving to Stockholm soon. (definitely)

15. For f : urther practice, go to
http://www.ego4u.com/en/cram-up/grammar/adjectives-adverbs
http://theenglishcafe.blogspot.com.es/search/label 
/Adverbs
http://www.bbc.co.uk/skillswise/topic/adverbs 
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglis 
h/flatmates/episode85/languagepoint.shtml
http://www.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish/english/cou 
rse/lower-intermediate/unit-4/session-2
http://www.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish/english/cou 
rse/lower-intermediate/unit-4/session-3