Adverbs in English: Summary of 7 important knowledge to remember

Definition What is an adjective in English?

Adverbs are words that modify the meaning of a verb, adjective, an adverb or even a complete sentence. Adverbs usually appear after the word or the clause it has to alter. However, depending on the situation that the sentences are in, one could add it after the sentence.

Eg:

They carefully examined the product. (They scrutinized the items carefully.)

Film was swiftly lost to time. (The film was soon disappeared.)

She’s really not inviting However, she’s a very nice woman inside. (She’s not attractive however, inside she’s an extremely nice lady.)

The dial should be turned clockwise. (Turn it clockwise.)

The system actually worked. (The system actually worked.)

My work was mostly administrative. (My job is mostly administrative.)

Certain compounds are able to be easily removed. (Some substances are easily broken down.)

He replied in a casual and uninformed manner. (He replies sloppily and unambiguously.)

She is a decent writer of children’s books for children. (She creates fantastic children’s books.)

He’s a horribly naughty child. (He was a very reckless child.)

Adverbs are also referred to as Adverbs in English are identified by Adv (abbreviation from Adverb). When you are forming adverbs it is important to be aware of these rules:

1. Adjective + -ly – Adverb.

Eg:

Perfect -> perfectly

Be careful and take your time (carefully)

2. If the adjective is ending in the letter -y, and you want to change it into an adverb you’ll need to change it to the suffix -ily.

Example: happy = happily (happily)

3. If the adjective begins with the letter -ic, and you want to change it into an adverb you must change it to -ic.

For example: enthusiastic> > enthusiastic (enthusiastic) extreme (aggressively) (aggressively ),…

4. If the adjective begins with the digits -le or ue, when it becomes an adverb, you must drop the -e and replace it with -y.

For example: terrible> horribly (in an extremely negative way) and true and truly (honestly ),…

Grouping: How many types of adverbs are there in English?

Based on each purpose as well as usage, adverbs in English are divided into 8 groups as follows:

All common adverbs in English

Here is a table of common adverbs in English:

Above is a list of adverbs that are often used and often encountered in the test, so you should review them regularly to memorize them!

Position of adverbs in English

As a modifier for a subject phrase, an adverb usually comes before a word or clause. However, there are also cases where adverbs are placed at the beginning or end of a sentence.

Where do adverbs in English stand?

The order of how to arrange English adverbs

If there are two or more adverbs in a sentence, you need to master the order of the adverbs in the sentence so as not to make basic mistakes in English grammar.

1. When there is more than one adverb modifier in a sentence, they will be arranged in the following order:

Adverb of manner →  Adverb of place →  Adverb of frequency →  Adverb of time →  Adverb of purpose/reason

(Adverbs of manner →  Adverbs of place →  Adverbs of frequency →  Adverbs of time →  Adverbs of purpose/reason)

Eg:

I have to run quickly (manner) down the street (place) each morning (frequency) after breakfast (time) in order to catch my bus to school (purpose).

→ I have to run fast (how) down the street (place) every morning (level) after breakfast (time) to catch the bus to school (purpose).

2. Short adverbs usually come before long adverbs no matter which adverb group they belong to.

Eg:

I lived with my parents (place) to save money (purpose) while I was working on my doctorate (time).

→ I lived with my parents (location) to save money (purpose) while I was doing my PhD (time).

He dances every night (frequency) in the most extraordinary way (manner).

→ He dances every night (frequency) in the most extraordinary way (how).

3. For adverbs of the same type, we arrange them in a specific order to be placed first.

Eg:

On my father’s ranch (place), I often (frequency) helped gather the animals at the end of the day (specific time) when I was younger (non-specific time).

→ At my dad’s farm (location), I used to (how often) help collect animals at the end of the day (specific time) when I was young (unspecified time).

I lived at home (more specific place) with my parents (less specific place) to save money (purpose) while I was working on my doctorate (time).

→ I live at home (more specific location) with my parents (more specific location) to save money (purpose) while I am doing my PhD (time).

How to use adverbs in English

So in what cases should we use and should not use adverbs in sentences? The content below will help you solve this question.

When to use adverbs in a sentence?

1. Adverbs used to modify verbs: The use of adverbs in a sentence will make the verb in question become clearer.

Example: The dog ran excitedly. (The dog runs happily)

2. Adverbs used to modify other adverbs: An adverb can also provide additional information, add meaning to another adverb to clarify the level of the previous verb.

Example: He plays tennis extremely well. (He plays tennis extremely well.)

The comparative form of the adverb

Similar to the comparative form of adjectives, adverbs also have a double comparative form.

Eg:

We are going more and more slowly. (We’re getting slower and slower.)

He is working harder and harder. (He is working harder and harder.)

I’ve been waiting for her longer than you. (I’ve been waiting for her longer than you.)

For the comparative form, other than adjectives, adverbs ending in -ly will be compared as polysyllabic (two or more syllables) adjectives.

Eg:

Quickly – more quickly – most quickly

Beautiful – more beautifully – most beautifully

When is it necessary to “AVOID” without using an adverb?

Usually, we all use adverbs when making sentences or in communication. However, if the verb or adjective in the sentence already has the meaning, we don’t need to use the adverb anymore.

How to make sentences with simple adverbs

To make complete sentences using adverbs, you need to do the following steps:

Step 1: Identify the main subject and object you want to talk about.

Step 2: Identify the components in the predicate including: verb, adverb, object,…

Step 3: Arrange the words in the appropriate order and combine them into sentences.

How to recognize adverbs in English

There are many ways to make it easier for you to use adverbs in a sentence, here are 3 basic telltale signs:

1. Adverbs with -ly suffix: carefully, mostly, actually,…

2. Some adverbs do not have the suffix -ly such as: well, very, often, never,…

3. Some adverbs have the same form as adjectives: early, fast, hard,…

Here are some special cases to keep in mind:

Some words end in -ly but are not adverbs, usually adjectives.

For example: friendly, ugly, manly, lonely, lovely, silly

Some words are both adverbs and adjectives depending on different use cases

For example: hourly (hourly), daily (daily), nightly (nightly), weekly (nightly), monthly (monthly), quarterly (quarterly) and yearly (annually).

Some irregular adverbs

1. Good → Well

Example: He’s a good brother. He treats me well. (He’s a good brother. He treats us well.)

Note: Well when used as an adjective means okay, healthy.

2. Fast → Fast

Example: I had headache last week but I’m well now. (I had a headache last week but I’m fine now.)

3. Hard → Hard

The adverb of hard is hard which means hard work, or difficulty. A lot of people confuse the adverb of hard as hardly. The word hardly means rarely happens, so the meaning is different.

Example: His father works hard so he can have a good life. (His father works hard so that he can have a good life.)

Exercises on adverbs in English

To master all adverbs in English, besides memorizing the above knowledge, you need to practice them through exercises. Here are some types of cards that Monkey has compiled.

Exercise 1: Apply the knowledge you have learned about adverbs to circle the correct answer.

1. An adverb is a word that can tell us more about

a. a noun

b. a verb

2. Adverbs can also modify

a. adjectives and other adverbs

b. pronouns and other nouns

3. “Our team will win the game easily.” Which is the adverb?

a. will

b. easily

4. Which are adverbs describing “how” someone worked?

a. quickly, slowly, badly

b. quick, slow, bad

5. Which are adverbs describing “when” someone worked?

a. often, yesterday, afterwards

b. morning, afternoon, weekend

6. Which are adverbs describing “where” someone worked?

a. office, factory, home

b. locally, here, everywhere

7. “The boys were really dirty.” The adverb “really” is modifying

a. an adjective

b. a verb

8. “They spoke incredibly quickly.” The adverb “incredibly” is modifying

a. a verb

b. another adverb

9. “Cheetahs run really fast, but they tire quickly.” This sentence has

a. two adverbs

b. three adverbs

10. “Suddenly, this loud noise made everyone jump!” The adverb “suddenly” is modifying

a. a whole sentence

b. two different verbs

Exercise 2: Fill in the correct comparative form of the following adverbs.

1. fast → ________________ → ________________

2. well → ________________ → ________________

3. carefully → ________________ → ________________

4. often → ________________ → ________________

5. badly → ________________ → ________________

6. hard → ________________ → ________________

7. clearly → ________________ → ________________

8. little → ________________ → ________________

9. much → ________________ → ________________

10. early → ________________  → ________________

Exercise 3: Rewrite the complete sentences using the suggested adverbs in brackets.

1. Our friends must write a test. (also)

→ _______________________________.

2. I was joking. (only)

→ _______________________________.

3. Did you enjoy the flight? (both)

→ _______________________________.

4. Mary watches TV. (hardly) (ever)

→ _______________________________.

5. He drives his car. (carefully)

→ _______________________________.

6. The children play football. (in the garden)

→ _______________________________.

7. We went to the cinema. (yesterday)

→ _______________________________.

8. John fell off the bike. (almost)

→ _______________________________.

9. Her boyfriend will buy her some flowers. (probably)

→ _______________________________.

10. My uncle is moving to Stockholm soon. (definitely)

→ _______________________________.

Exercise 4: Use the following adverbs to complete the sentences below.

1. Come here ____________. You have to see this!

2. We knew that she had got the job when we saw her _________ talking on the phone.

3. He ______________ put the vase on the table. It fell to the floor.

4. Sharon is throwing a party on Saturday. She ___________ finished her PhD.

5. Let’s walk ________________. I don’t want to be the first one at the meeting.

6. Alex _____________ put up the bookshelves. It was too difficult for me to do it on my own.

7. Everything happened so ______________. We had to move to California in less than a month.

8. Why does he always have to talk so ____________. You can hear him in the next room!

9. Although she speaks five languages, she did not do ___________ on the translation exam.

10. I was so surprised. His new apartment was _____________ decorated.

Exercise 5: Fill in the blanks with the correct form of the following words.

1. Jack is (terrible) _________ upset about losing his keys

2. Ours basketball team played (bad) __________ last Friday.

3. Maria (slow) _________ opened her present.

4. He is a (careful) _________ driver. He drives the car (careful) _________.

5. They learn English (easy) _________. They think English is an (easy) _________ language.

6. Max is a (good) __________singer. He sings (good)__________ .

7. He (quick)__________ built a house out of straw.

8. Although the student worked very (hard) __________, he failed the exam.

9. During the cold winter months, the three little pigs lived (extreme)_________ (good)_________ in their house.

10. Kevin is (pretty) _________ clever.

Answers to adverbs exercises in English

Exercise 1:

Exercise 2:

1. fast → faster → fastest

2. well → better → best

3. carefully → more carefully → most carefully

4. often → more often → most often

5. badly → worse → worst

6. hard → harder → hardest

7. clearly → more clearly → most clearly

8. little → less → least

9. much → more → most

10. early → earlier → earliest

Exercise 3:

1. Our friends must also write a test.

2. I was only joking.

3. Did you both enjoy the flight?

4. Mary hardly ever watches TV.

5. He drives his car carefully.

6. The children play football in the garden.

7. We went to the cinema yesterday.

8. John almost fell off the bike.

9. Her boyfriend will probably buy her some flowers.

10. My uncle is definitely moving to Stockholm soon.

Exercise 4:

Exercise 5:

Through the article about adverbs in English, you must have gained knowledge and experience when applying this grammar topic to the writing process.