Clarity on Adverbs

An adverb is a word or phrase that adds more detail to a verb, adjective, or another adverb. Some adverbs can change the meaning of a phrase, a clause, or even a whole sentence. While most adverbs are easily noticeable because they end with ‘-ly’, others are more difficult to find. Let’s discuss adverbs in detail with their examples and types. 

What is an adverb? 

Apart from determiners and adjectives, an adverb is a word that transforms, modifies, or qualifies a variety of words, such as an adjective, a verb, a clause, other adverbs, or a word or phrase which directly changes nouns. Adverbs are words that provide context. Adverbs are used to express how, where, when, how, and to what extent something is done or occurs. Adverbs can also be joined in several different ways.

Adverb examples

Adverbs are highlighted for easy identification in the following adverb examples. Consider how the meaning of each sentence would change if the existing adverbs were replaced with new ones.

• She was moving quickly.

• In the sandbox, the youngsters enjoy playing together.

• His quips are always very quiet. 

Types of adverb

1. Adverbs of manner

Adverbs of manner define how something occurs. For example, the act of running or walking can be defined by the adverbs of manner quickly or slowly.

Examples:

• She passed the exam easily.

• The dinner party went nicely.

2. Adverbs of place

An adverb of place always refers to where the verb’s activity occurs. Adverbs of place can represent direction, distance, or the location of an object with respect to another thing. Below, between, above, behind, through and around are some examples of adverbs of place.

Example:

• I looked here and there at first, but they were nowhere to be found.

3. Adverbs of frequency

An adverb of frequency is an adverb that expresses how frequently something happens or has happened. Always, frequently, hardly ever, never, often, regularly, scarcely, rarely, sometimes, or generally are examples of adverbs of frequency.

Examples:

• I shall always adore you.
• I can take your picture usually.

4. Adverbs of time

Adverbs of time not only tell us when something has happened but also how long it has taken for it to happen and how often it happened. Adverbs of time are unchangeable.

Examples:

• I’m leaving now
• We first met Simran last year.

5. Adverbs of purpose

Adverbs of purpose, also known as adverbs of reason, are words that explain the reason for a particular activity or its goal (objective). Adverbs of purpose may take the shape of a single word or a series of phrases (group of words).

Examples: 

• I was not feeling good, thus didn’t go to work today.

Position of adverbs

The placement of adverbs is not predetermined. Adverbs can come in various places in a sentence. However, several guidelines assist in determining where an adverb can be placed in a sentence. The guidelines are based on the type of the adverb and whether the adverb is modifying an adjective, adverb, or a verb. The instances of positional adverbs in the following sentence is highlighted for easy identification:

• It was quite rainy that night. 

Here, the adverb quite modifies the adjective rainy.

Conclusion

Adverbs are words that modify or add more detail to verbs, adjectives or adverbs. They pretty adaptable. They can change not only verbs, adjectives, and adverbs but entire meanings of phrases. Moreover, they can be used at different places in a sentence. Some guidelines help to place adverbs correctly in multi-word verb forms.