2. Adverb formation
1. John ate quickly.
2. Most restaurants will happily accept payment by
cheque.
3. The telephone rang, and he answered it immediately.
structure
Many adverbs are formed by adding ly to the
corresponding adjective.
A final y changes to i
A final e is retained before ly
3. Use of adverbs
1. He writes slowly.
2. This book is more interesting than the last one.
3. Is my singing too loud?
An adverb is
a word that modifies (describes) a verb (he
writes slowly), an adjective (more interesting ),
another adverb (too loud), or even a whole sentence.
4. 1. She dances gracefully.
2. He gave her the money reluctantly.
3. She carefully picked up all the bits broken glass.
adverb type
Gracefully, reluctantly and, carefully describe how the action is
done.
adverb of manner
The position of adverbs of manner
Adverbs come Immediately after the verb or the object.
If the object contains a number of words we put the adverb
before the verb.
Types and position of adverbs
5. 1. She went away.
2. I have seen that man somewhere.
3. The parrot sat on the perch.
4. Nowhere will you find better roses than these.
Adverb type
Away, somewhere, on the perch and, nowhere tell us where
things happen and always answer the question where =
adverbs of place
adverbs of place position
If there is no object, adverbs are usually placed after the
verb.
Adverb phrases, formed of preposition+ noun, follow the
same rule.
If the adverb is placed at the beginning, it is followed by an
inverted verb.
6. 1. Eventually he came.
2. He came eventually.
3. Immediately the rain stops we will set out.
4. I will go immediately.
5. The president has recently returned from France.
Eventually, immediately and, recently describe when an action
happened.
Adverbs of time
An adverb of time describes when, how long or how often a
certain action takes place.
Adverbs of time position
Adverbs of time are usually placed at the very beginning or at
the very end of the clause.
7. 1. He is always on time for meals.
2. They sometimes stay up all night.
3. You have often been told not to do that.
Always, sometimes, and often describe how often
something happens: Adverbs of frequency
Adverbs of frequency position
Adverbs of frequency are normally placed after the
verb to be.
With simple tenses, they are placed before the verb.
With compound tenses, they are placed after the
auxiliary.
8. 1. You are absolutely right.
2. I am almost ready.
3. Time goes very quickly.
4. The box is not big enough.
These adverbs modify an adjective or another adverb.
=Adverbs of degree
The position of adverbs of degree
Adverbs of degree are placed before the adjective or
adverb they modify.
But enough follows its adjective or adverb.
9. 1. The disease was spreading rapidly.
2. Jim works harder than his brother.
3. Everyone in the race ran fast, but john ran the fastest
of all.
4. The teacher spoke more slowly to help us
understand.
5. The first stage of divorce passes the most quickly.
Comparative and superlative adverb forms
10. tell whether the adverb modifies a verb, an
adjective, or another adverb.
1. Patricia slept peacefully.
2. Our teachers are very happy with the results.
3. Larry’s unusually good cooking skills came in
handy last weekend.
4. He ran swiftly away from the tackler.
5. She danced so gracefully in the competition.
6. They sang beautifully during the entire winter
concert .
7. My aunt was extremely hungry after we completed
the three-hour hike.
11. 8. We had met somewhat earlier than you
think.
9. Are they going away ?
10. His rather clever remarks were not
appreciated.
11. These stories seem strangely familiar to me
12. They will hardly try to win.
13. Francine earns high grades quite often.
14. Do not walk alone in the forest.
15. We met only recently.
