Adverbs

Definition Adverb: a word that describes a verb, an adjective, or another adverb. Example: She drives carefully. She’s a very good driver. She drives really well.

Place of adverbs An adverb usually goes right after the verb it describes. Examples: The apartment rented quickly. verb + adverb An adverb usually goes right before the adjective or adverb it describes. Examples: It’s an extremely interesting book. adverb + adjective They ran very fast. adverb + adverb

She decorated X beautifully the house. Kinds of adverbs Adverbs of manner Use adverbs of manner to describe or give information about action verbs. These adverbs often answer “How?” questions. Examples: A: How did they decorate the apartment? B: They decorated it beautifully! BE CAREFUL! Do not put an adverbs of manner between the verb and the object. Example: She decorated the house beautifully. verb object adverb NOT She decorated X beautifully the house. X

Adverbs of manner Adverbs of manner are often formed by adding –ly to adjectives: adjective + -ly = adverb Example: We need a quick decision. adjective You should decide quickly. adverb >>BE CAREFUL! Some adjectives also end in –ly, for example: friendly, lonely, lovely, and silly. Example: It’s a lovely apartment. Some adverbs of manner have two forms: one with –ly and one without –ly. The form without –ly is the same as the adjective. Examples: slowly OR slow quickly OR quick loudly OR loud  Don’t speak so loudly. OR Don’t speak so loud. clearly OR clear USAGE NOTE: The form without –ly is common in informal speech.

Some exceptions Some common adverbs of manner are not formed by adding –ly to adjectives: A. The adverb form of good is well. He’s a good driver. He drives well. adjective adverb B. A few adjectives and adverbs have the same form, for example: early, fast, hard, late, and wrong. She is a hard worker. She works hard. adjective adverb The visitor was late. He woke up late.

ATTENTION BE CAREFUL! Hardly is not the adverb form of hard. Hardly means “almost not” >There’s hardly enough room for a bed. (There’s almost not enough room for a bed.) Lately is not the adverb form of late. Lately means “recently.” > We haven’t seen any nice houses lately. We’re getting discouraged.

Adverbs of frequency Use adverbs of frequency to say how often something happens. Example: She usually rents to students. Adverbs of frequency usually go before the main verb. They usually go after a form of be. Examples: They always share a house with friends. My neighbors are always home on Sunday.