HOW TO RECOGNIZE AND USE ADVERBS

1. Adverbs
/ædvərbz/
28/1/2018

2. IN GOD WE TRUST
Moustafa Mohammad Shalabi
MA. Applied Linguistics
PhD. Scholar Corpus Linguistics
Awang Had Salleh School of Graduate Studies
University Utara Malaysia, Malaysia
mostafa.shalaby1970@gmail.com

3. What are adverbs?
Adverbs are words like now, then, today, tomorrow and carefully. An adverb modifies
the meaning of a verb, an adjective or another adverb. Read the following sentences:
Noor smiled sweetly.
Those mangoes were very sweet.
Nada spoke quite loudly.
In sentence 1, the adverb quickly shows how (or in what manner),
Noor smiled. It modifies the verb smiled.
In sentence 2, the adverb very says something about the sweetness of the mangoes. It
modifies the adjective sweet.
In sentence 3, quite says something about the manner in which he spoke. It modifies the
adverb loudly.
Notethat adverbs standing at the beginning of sentences sometimes modify the
whole sentence, rather than a particular word.

4. What are adverbs?
• Adverbs modify verbs, adjectives and other adverbs
• Many adverbs end with /ly/
• Most adverbs answer the question “How?” “When?”
“Where?” “How often?” “To what extent”

5. What are adverbs?
• These are adverbs
• Eating quickly . (modifying a verb)
• Trying very hard. (modifying an adverb)
• A really big show. (modifying an adjective)
• “How?” “When?” “Where?” “How often?” “To what extent”
Nagham went to the store yesterday. (when)
Noor lefts the teddy bear on the desk. (where)
Nada eats ice cream everyday. (how often)
The boat was extremely large. (to what extent)
• Most adverbs describe an action verb.
Walk is a verb. You could:
Walk fast
Walk slow
Walk backward
Walk sideways
Fast, slow, backward, sideways – these are all adverbs because
they describe the action run.

6. What are adverbs?
• Some adverbs describe adjectives.
Pretty is an adjective.
You could say:
quite pretty
really pretty
not pretty
definitely pretty
Quite, really, not, definitely – these are all adverbs
because they describe the adjective pretty.

7. What are adverbs?
• Some adverbs also describe other adverbs.
Cowardly is an adverb.
You could say:
very cowardly
never cowardly
always cowardly
thoroughly cowardly
Very, never, always, thoroughly – these are adverbs
because they describe other adverbs.

8. Kindsofadverbs
There are very many kinds of
adverbs.

9. Adverbs of time
•
Adverbs of time answer the question ‘when’.
Examples are: today, yesterday, now, before,
daily, already, since, ago, never etc.
• I met him yesterday.
• His father died two years ago.
• I have seen him before.
• They have already come.
• We will have to start now.

10. • Adverbs of frequency answer the question
‘How often’. Examples are: often, always,
once, never, again, seldom, frequently etc.
• We seldom go out on Sundays.
• I have seen him only once.
• He called again this morning.
• We must always try to do our best.
Adverbs of frequency

11. • Adverbs of place answer the question
‘Where’. Examples are: here, there, up,
down, everywhere, out, in etc.
• She sat down.
• He looked up.
• I searched for him everywhere.
• Come in.
Adverbs of place

12. Adverbs of manner
Adverbs of manner answer the question ‘How’
or ‘in What manner’. Note that this class
includes nearly all those adverbs ending in -ly.
Examples are:
quickly, carefully, sweetly, clearly, bravely,
beautifully, well, fast etc.
• The soldiers fought bravely.
• This essay is well written.
• She walked slowly.
• The baby slept soundly.

13. Adverb or Adjective?
• An ADVERB modifies verbs, adjectives and other
adverbs.
• An ADJECTIVE modifies nouns.
Example:
The fast car is racing.
(Fast describes car(. Car is a noun.
The kind of word that describes a noun is an adjective;
therefore, in this sentence, fast is an adjective.)
Example: The car races fast.
(Fast describes how it races(. Races is a verb.
The kind of word that describes a verb is an adverb;
therefore, in this sentence, fast is an adverb.)

14. Recognizing Adjectives & Adverbs
• Many words have both an adjective and adverb form
Adjective Adverb
Happy kids Playing happily
Smooth rock Running smoothly
Good night Eating Well
Efficient workers Working efficiently
Casual dress Dressing casually
Quick meeting Talking quickly
hopeful children Waiting hopefully
Real butter Really hot

15. People often mistakenly use adjectives when
they should use an adverb and vice versa. For
example, a sentence that reads:
•He behaved very bad on the field trip.
Is incorrect, because bad is modifying or describing
behaved, which is a verb. It should read
•He behaved very badly.
On the other hand, if you said:
•His behavior is bad.
Common Errors
with Adverbs and Adjectives

16. • Confusing adverbs and adjectives
is a common error with the words
good and well.
Good and Well
• Good is an adjective that should
modify nouns (the good boy).
• Well is an adverb that modifies a
verb (he listens well), or even an
adjective (the well educated boy).

17. Don’t use adjectives when adverbs are needed
You did a real nice job
– (an adjective can’t modify another adjective)
You did a really nice job
– (the adverb “really” modifies “nice”)
He did good
He did well or
He did a good job
Fuel injection helps the car run efficient
Fuel injection helps the car run efficiently
Come quick!
Come quickly!
Hopefully, it won’t rain
– (an adverb explains how something will
happen
I hope that it won’t rain

18. Don’t use needless adverbs
• Before using any of these words, check to see if
they add anything to the sentence
 Really, very, absolutely, extremely, quite, actually,
somewhat, rather
 I am really happy to see you
 Grammar is very boring
 You are absolutely correct
 Her language was extremely crude
 You are quite intelligent
 Context will help you decide whether to retain
the underlined words
 Keep them only if they add to the meaning
 Bill Gates is very rich. I hope he gives me some money.
 Most college instructors are poor; their students are
very poor.
 Note: the terms “good success” and “real good
success” have been reserved for sports
broadcasters; do not use them

19. To practice what you've learned here, identify the adverb in
each of the following sentences.
AdverbPractice
 Haneen wanted to be the great, big house.
 Nada will miss the many wonderful people at work.
 Noor walked slowly and steadily up the hill.
 Nagham ate quickly and then felt sick.
 Hamza is very late.

20. Answers
Haneen wanted to be the great, big house. "Great" is an adverb
modifying "big," which is an adjective modifying the noun "house."
Nada will miss the many wonderful people at work. Many is the
adverb, which modifies the adjective wonderful, which modifies the
noun people.
Noor walked slowly and steadily up the hill. "Slowly" and "steadily" are
both adverbs here, describing the way Joe walked.
Nagham ate quickly and then felt sick. "Quickly" is the adverb here,
modifying the verb "ate."
Hamza is very late. "Very" is an adverb modifying late which is an
adjective modifying Joe.

21. References
• http://grammar.yourdictionary.com
• http://www.bbc.co.uk
• https://www.englishgrammar.org