Adverbs

Types of adverbs

Adverbs of manner, place and time, frequency, degree ... Sentence adverbs, prepositional adverbs.

The children walked home quickly. They ate their supper hungrily.

We use an adverb of manner to say how something happens

Mr Barnes is going to have lunch here. You can speak to him then.

We use an adverb of place and time to say where or when something happens

The Smiths often visit us. They usually come on Sundays.

We use an adverb of frequency to say how often something happens

I'm very tired. I had to get up really early. I almost fell asleep this morning.

We use an adverb of degree to make the meaning of an adjective, adverb or verb stronger or weaker.

Maybe I'll come and see you. It'll probably be OK. I'm not very busy just now, luckily.

We use sentence adverbs to refer to a whole sentence and show what the speaker thinks about the sentence.

The Browns weren't in (They weren't in the house.) The car stopped and a woman got out. (A woman got out of the car)

Prepositional adverbs are like prepositions without a noun phrase after them

Adverb forms

Some adverbs have no special form, the same form of adjectives, the form of adjective + -ly, etc.

It'll be eight o'clock soon.

Some adverbs of time and place have no special form.

Alan is always late.

Some adverbs of frequency have no special form.

He wasn't so late last week.

Some adverbs of degree have no special form.

Perhaps he isn't coming.

Some sentence adverbs have no special form.

We'll have to talk fast.

Some adverbs of manner have the same form as adjectives.

We had to leave early this morning.

Some adverbs of time have the same form as adjectives.

We'll have to walk quickly.

We form some adverbs of manner from an adjective + -ly.

It's been very warm recently.

We form some adverbs of time from an adjective + -ly.

I usually see her at lunch time.

We form some adverbs of frequency from an adjective + -ly.

We're nearly at the house now.

We form some adverbs of degree from an adjective + -ly.

It's a bit further, actually.

We form some sentence adverbs from an adjective + -ly.

The woman was friendly. She spoke in a friendly way.

Sometimes we cannot form an adverb from an adjective which ends in -ly. Instead we can use the phrase in a ... way/manner

Rain is likely. It's probably going to rain.

Sometimes we cannot form an adverb from an adjective which ends in -ly. Instead we can use an adverb of similar meaning.

She thanked us with a smile. The game is next Saturday. I see Alex from time to time. We enjoyed the party very much indeed. In actual fact, the story was untrue.

Adverb phrases. An adverb is sometimes a whole phrase, not just one word.

The position of adverbs

There are three places in the sentence where adverbs can come. Front position, mid position, end position.

Front position

Front position is at the beginning of the sentence

Yesterday the team played well.

sometimes adverbs or adverb phrases of time and place go in front position

Usually I go to the café.

sometimes adverbs of frequency go in front position

Perhaps I'll see you later.

sometimes sentence adverbs go in front position

He slowly opened the door. I usually go to the café.

Mid position: before a verb in the simple present or simple past tense.

I don't really like fish. We've just finished the painting.

Mid position: after the first auxiliary or modal verb in the verb phrase

The story is certainly very exciting.

Mid position: after be.

They talked quietly.

End position: after the verb (if there is no direct object)

He opened the door slowly.

End position: after the verb + direct object

City played well at York yesterday.

Sometimes there is more than one adverb or phrase in end position.

Ben danced a lot with that tall girl.

We often put a short phrase (e.g. a lot) before a longer phrase (e.g. with that tall girl)

I go to the café usually.

In end position an adverb of frequency usually comes after an adverb phrase of place.

I'll see you later, perhaps.

A sentence adverb usually comes at the end of the sentence, sometimes after a comma.

Adverbs of manner

slowly, carefully, easily, loudly...

The journey was very slow. (Adjective). We travelled slowly. (Adverb).

An adjective (e.g. slow) describes a noun (e.g. journey). An adverb of manner (e.g. slowly) describes a verb (e.g. travelled)

Mr Harris is a careful driver. (Adjective). He drives his car very carefully. (Adverb).

An adverb of manner usually comes at the end of a sentence. Do not put it between the verb and the direct object.

The climb up the hill was easy. We easily climbed the hill.

An adverb of manner sometimes has mid position.

The singing was loud. They sang loudly/loud.

In informal English and in American English an adjective is sometimes used instead of an adverb.

Place and time

here, at home, in the street, over there, afterwards, again, tomorrow, last week.

At the disco they played my favourite records. Yesterday they played my favourite records. They played my favourite records at the disco. They played my favourite records yesterday.

An adverb or adverb phrase of place or of time can usually come at the beginning or end of a sentence.

They played my favourite records at the disco yesterday. We went there on Saturday evening.

Place normally comes before time in end position.

Bob will soon be here. He's just arrived.

A few adverbs of time can have mid position, e.g. soon, just, already, now, then.

Adverbs of frequency

Adverbs of frequency say how often something happens. Some examples: always, often, usually, normally, sometimes, occasionally, ever, never.

She always stays in bed on Sunday morning. Have you ever been to Greece? I sometimes listen to the news.

Adverbs of frequency usually have mid position.

Sometimes I listen to the news. I listen to the news sometimes. Do you come here often?

sometimes, usually, normally and occasionally can also have front or end position. often can have end position.

Every August they went on holiday. You have to pay the rent every week. I go to the dentist twice a year.

Adverb phrases of frequency with every and with a/an usually have front or end position.

Adverbs of degree

An adverb or adverb phrase of degree makes the meaning of an adjective, adverb or verb stronger or weaker.

The music was very loud. Why did it take so long? The shelf is too high.

With adjectives and adverbs. An adverb of degree comes before the adjective or adverb it describes.

I'm not tall enough.

But enough comes after the adjective or adverb it describes.

£25 is very/extremely expensive for a meal. £15 is rather/pretty/fairly/quite expensive. £10 is a bit/a little expensive.

very and extremely make the meaning of an adjective or adverb stronger; rather, pretty, fairly and quite make the meaning a little stronger; a bit and a little make the meaning weaker; pretty and a bit are rather informal.

The food was quite/absolutely excellent. This book is completely/totally useless.

We also use quite to give emphasis to the meaning when the adjective or adverb already has a very strong meaning.

The stadium was half empty. I'm ninety-nine per cent certain.

We sometimes use a fraction or a percentage as an adverb of degree.

You need something a bit/a little bigger than that. I did it much/a lot more easily the second time. Is your mother any better today?

With comparatives. These adverbs can come before a comparative: much, a lot, rather, a bit, a little, any, no.

I just love this record. We almost had an accident. I completely forgot about it.

With verbs. An adverb of degree that describes a verb has mid position, e.g. just, almost, completely, quite, rather.

I didn't like her first book very much, but I like this one a lot.

But much, a lot, a bit and a little have end position when they describe a verb.

Sentence adverbs

Sentence adverbs show what the speaker thinks about the sentence.

Fortunately the weather was good. Of course you can come. We certainly need some help. David will probably be there. He won't be there, actually. He isn't very well, unfortunately.

Sentence adverbs can have front position, mid position or end position. Some more examples: in fact, really, surely, possibly, maybe, perhaps, naturally, (un)luckily.

Adverbs with the same form as adjectives

hard, early, fast, high, low, deep, near, late and long

Mrs Wells is a hard worker. She works very hard. We were early. We arrived early.

hard and early are both adjectives and adverbs.

The daily newspaper arrives at seven o'clock. The newspaper arrives daily at seven o'clock.

daily, hourly, weekly, monthly and yearly are both adjectives and adverbs. We form them from the nouns day, hour etc.

high, highly; near, nearly; hard, hardly; late, lately; most, mostly

high, near, hard and late are adverbs with the same form as adjectives. most is an adverb with the same form as a quantifier. highly, nearly, hardly, lately and mostly are also adverbs, but they have different meanings from high, near etc.

The balloon didn't go very high. I'm reading a highly amusing book.

highly - very

The fish came quite near. I nearly caught one.

nearly - almost

They worked very hard. They hardly had any time for lunch.

hardly any time - almost no time

We arrived late because of bad weather. There have been a lot of storms lately.

lately - recently, in the last few days/weeks.

What I hate most about air travel is waiting at airports. On long journeys I mostly travel by plane.

mostly - mainly, usually.

Adjectives instead of adverbs after feel, look, etc.

We use an adjective (not an adverb) when we can use be instead of the verb.

I feel hungry.

I feel hungry means that I am hungry.

The garden looked very nice. This pudding tastes delicious.

We use an adjective after feel, look, taste, smell, sound, seem, appear, become, get (become) and stay.

The regular comparison of adverbs

more slowly, most accurately, earlier, fastest etc.

Could you say that more slowly, please? Tom can shoot the most accurately.

Adverbs in -ly form their comparative and superlative with more and most. But note earlier.

You'll just have to get up earlier. Sarah ran the fastest.

Adverbs with the same form as adjectives form their comparative and superlative with -er and -est.

Shout a bit louder/more loudly. You can buy them cheapest/most cheaply at Scott's.

Some adjectives can be used instead of adverbs in informal English, e.g. loud, cheap, slow, quick.

The irregular comparison of adverbs

well, better, best; badly, worse, worst; far, further/farther, furthest/farthest

Adrian can draw very well. He can draw better than I can. He can draw animals best.

Form: well, better, best.

The team played badly. They played worse than the last week. Jones played the worst.

Form: badly, worse, worst.

Martin can't swim very far. You can swim further/farther than Martin. Sarah can swim the furthest/the farthest

Form: far, further/farther, furthest/farthest.

Comparison:

as... as, less etc.

I can't do crosswords as quickly as you. The old man's son visits him less often nowadays. They went faster and faster down the hill. The more you practise, the better you'll play.

We use as... as, less etc. with adverbs as well as adjectives.

Other adverbs

yet, still, already and no longer

Has the letter come yet? No, not yet. We haven't seen our new neighbours yet.

We use yet to talk about something we are expecting. We use yet in questions and in negative statements. Yet comes at the end of a sentence.

Are you still waiting? She's fifteen, but she still takes a teddy bear to bed with her.

We use still to talk about something going on longer than the expected. still comes in mid position in questions and positive statements.

The letter still hasn't come.

still comes after the subject in negative statements.

I've already done that exercise. Have you already had lunch?

We use already to talk about something happening sooner than we expected. already comes in mid position.

I've done that exercise already. It was easy. Have you had lunch already? It's only quarter past twelve.

already comes at the end of the sentence if we want to give it more emphasis.

Mr Baker no longer lives here.

We use no longer and any longer/any more to talk about something that has come to an end. no longer has a negative meaning. It comes in mid position.

He doesn't live here any longer/any more.

We use any longer/any more in negative statements. It comes at the end of a sentence.

Other adverbs

only and even

The couple only stayed one night at the hotel. We could only get a cheese sandwich.

In informal English, only has mid position. It need not come next to the word that it refers to, e.g. one.

He's very active for an 80-year-old. He even plays golf. I can't even remember my own telephone number.

even also have mid position.

Some houses haven't got electricity even today.

even can come before the word it refers to.

Only tourists buy these things. Even the stupidest person could understand it.

When only and even refer to the subject, they come before it.

The only food we could get was a cheese sandwich.

We can also use only as an adjective.

The couple stayed only one night at the hotel.

In rather formal or careful English, only can come before the word or phrase that it refers to, e.g. one.

This car park is for customers only.

In official written English, e.g. on notices, only comes after the word or phrase that it refers to, e.g. customers.

Other adverbs

long and far

Have you been here long? How far is it to Cambridge? I won't stay long. We didn't go far.

we normally use the adverbs long and far only in questions and negative statements.

I've been waiting a long time. It's a long way to the park.

We normally use a long time and a long way in positive statements.

The meeting went on so long I missed my bus. It's too far to walk.

But we use long and far after too, so and as, even in positive statements.