1. Adverb An adverb answers these questions: How? In what manner? When?
patiently, boldly, slowly, softly, enthusiastically
When?
recently, later, finally, daily, again, formerly
Where?
outside, here, down, forward, up, away
To what extent? To what degree?
extremely, very, too, rarely, completely, frequently
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2. Adverbs—Modify Verbs
Place the adverb before or after the verb that is modified.
When businesses knowingly deceive customers, they are violating ethical standards.
Do not illegally copy paper or electronic documents.
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3. Adverbs—Modify Adjectives
Place the adverb immediately before the adjective.
The courtesy of greeting others within your own firm is universally acceptable in the United States.
In some countries, greetings are very expressive and elaborate.
Downsizing is becoming an increasingly popular way for businesses to lower expenses.
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4. Adverbs—Modify Other Adverbs
Place the adverb immediately before the adverb being modified.
We very precisely judged the commute time to our new client’s office.
Ruby did extremely well on the ethics section of her real estate exam.
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5. Descriptive Adjectives Before Nouns
Add ly to an adjective root to form the majority of adverbs.
Adjective Adverb
cautious cautiously
extreme extremely
perfect perfectly
skillful skillfully
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6. Noun Base Used to Form Adjectives Ending in ly
Use root words to identify words ending in ly as adjectives or adverbs.
Noun Adjective
brother brotherly
neighbor neighborly
earth earthly
world worldly
love lovely
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7. Adverbs Formed From Adjectives Ending in y
Change the y to i and add ly to an adjective ending in y to form an adverb.
Adjective Adverb
busy busily
easy easily
heavy heavily
merry merrily
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8. Adverbs Formed From Adjectives Ending in ible or able
Drop the final e on adjectives that end in able or ible before adding the y to form the adverb.
Adjective Adverb
forcible forcibly
terrible terribly
possible possibly
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9. Adverbs Formed From Adjectives Ending in ic
Add ally to adjectives ending in ic to form the adverb.
Adjective Adverb
chronic chronically
logic logically
magic magically
scenic scenically
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10. Adverbs—Modify Adjectives
The following list includes some adverbs that do not end in ly.
again more sometimes
almost much soon
always near then
down now there
far nowhere too
fast often twice
hard once up
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11. Verbs—Both Linking and Action
Clarify the intent of the sentence before making a decision about such verbs as look, taste, or feel.
Use adverbs when these words are action words.
He hurriedly looked for the contract on his desk.
Use adjectives when these words function as linking verbs.
Things looked bad for Jerome after he lost his job.
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12. Adjectives and Adverbs With the Same Form
Some adverbs and adjectives that have the same form include fast, first, last, early, and right.
Use an adjective to modify a noun or pronoun.
Turn left at the first stop sign.
Use an adverb to modify verbs, adjectives, and other adverbs.
Return Andrew’s phone call first.
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13. One-Syllable Adverbs
Add er to the positive form for its comparative degree.
Add est to the positive form for its superlative degree.
Positive
Comparative
Superlative
fast faster fastest
late later latest
soon sooner soonest
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14. Two-Syllable Adverbs
Add er or the word more or the word less before the positive form for the comparative degree.
Add est or the word most or the word least for the superlative degree.
Positive
Comparative
Superlative
quickly more quickly (quicker) most quickly (quickest)
nearly more nearly most nearly
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15. Three-Syllable Adverbs
Add the word more or the word less before the positive form to form its comparative degree.
Add the word most or the word least before the positive form to form its superlative degree.
Positive
Comparative
Superlative
efficiently more efficiently most efficiently
dangerously more dangerously most dangerously
Reliably more reliably most reliably
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16. Irregular Adverbs Use irregular comparisons for some adverbs.
Positive
Comparative
Superlative
well better best
badly worse worst
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17. Absolute Adverbs Some adverbs do not allow for comparisons
no now past basically
there here partly sometimes
too very annually
We feel that we need more telephone lines now.
Ethics concerns today are similar to those in the past.
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18. Cautions for Using Not and Never
Use not in a negative statement.
Place not between the helping verb and the main verb in a sentence.
Some employees do not treat all customers with respect.
Use never as a stronger word than not to mean “at no time.”
Being rude to a customer is never acceptable.
Refrain from using never if not will suffice.
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19. Cautions for Using Contractions
Use an apostrophe to take the place of the missing letter or letters in such words as
aren’t doesn’t can’t isn’t
wouldn’t hasn’t don’t
He doesn’t anticipate rewriting the code of ethics for several years.
She hasn’t missed a day of work this year.
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20. Double Negatives
Double negatives are two negative words used in a sentence. This combination gives the clause a positive meaning rather than the intended negative meaning.
I have not seen no evidence of employee theft.
Incorrect
I have seen no evidence of employee theft.
I have not seen any evidence of employee theft.
Correct
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21. Double Negatives Incorrect Correct Incorrect Correct continued
I couldn’t hardly believe that the computer was missing.
Incorrect
I could hardly believe that the computer was missing.
I could not believe that the computer was missing.
Correct
I can’t go nowhere until I help these customers.
Incorrect
I can go nowhere until I help these customers.
I cannot go anywhere until I help these customers.
Correct
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22. Placement of Only
Place the adverb only immediately before the word or group of words it modifies.
Only long-time employees can take vacations during June.
Long-time employees can take vacations only during June.
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23. Adverb Clauses
Use subordinating conjunctions such as after, although, before, because, if, unless, when, and while to introduce dependent adverb clauses.
Place the adverb clause as closely as possible to the words modified.
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24. continued
Adverb Clauses
Use commas after introductory adverb clauses that precede independent clauses.
Although he broke no laws, his actions were still unethical.
Do not use commas to set aside adverb clauses that follow independent clauses.
Plan to arrive 10 minutes before the meeting begins.
We will start the meeting after serving refreshments.
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25. Farther/Further (Adverbs)
Use farther to refer to physical distance.
We traveled farther from the airport than we anticipated to find our hotel.
Use further to mean additional or additionally.
He explained further the reasons for adjusting our work schedules.
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26. Good/Well Use good as an adjective. Use well as an adverb.
Making ethical choices is often more than being a good person.
Use well as an adverb.
The new code of ethics has worked very well during the past year.
Use well as an adjective in reference to the state of someone’s health.
Although Anna was not well, she stayed at work long enough to complete writing the payroll checks.
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27. Most/Almost Use almost as an adverb to mean “nearly.”
Use almost if the word nearly can be substituted satisfactorily.
Almost all of us use our yearly vacation time.
Use most as a limiting adjective to modify a noun.
Most new supervisors have trouble with ethical situations.
Use most as the superlative degree in a comparison.
The speaker answered the question most effectively.
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28. Real/Really Use real as a descriptive adjective to mean “genuine.”
Do not use real to modify another adjective.
We never knew the real reason for losing the Manila contract.
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29. Real/Really Use really as an adverb to mean “genuinely.”
continued
Real/Really
Use really as an adverb to mean “genuinely.”
Substitute very for the word really to determine if really is the correct word.
Cynthia is really supportive of our efforts to improve customer satisfaction.
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30. Sometime/Sometimes/Some Time
Use sometime as an adverb to mean “at some unscheduled time” or “in the future.”
Sometime next week we are meeting to revise our customer service policy.
Use sometimes as an adverb to mean “on some occasions.”
We sometimes waive late payment charges.
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31. Sometime/Sometimes/ Some Time
continued
Sometime/Sometimes/ Some Time
Use some time as a phrase in which the adjective some modifies the noun time. Some time designates an “amount of time.”
The revision of the ethics policy will take some time.
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32. Sure/Surely Use sure as an adjective.
They thought a lock on the supply cabinet was the sure solution for reducing theft.
Use surely as an adverb to mean “without a doubt.”
Ellen surely makes an excellent impression on customers.
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