ADVERBS

An adverb is a word that tells us more about a verb. It "qualifies" or "modifies" a verb (The man ran quickly). In the following examples, the adverb is in bold and the verb that it modifies is in italics.

- John speaks loudly. (How does John speak?)

- Afterwards she smoked a cigarette.(When did she smoke?)

- Mary lives locally. (Where does Mary live?)

But adverbs can also modify adjectives (Tara is really beautiful), or even other adverbs (It works very well). Look at these examples:

Modify an adjective:

- He is really handsome. (How handsome is he?)

- That was extremely kind of you.

Modify another adverb:

- She drives incredibly slowly. (How slowly does she drive?)

- He drives extremely fast.

Adverbs of Manner

Adverbs of Manner tell us the manner or way in which something happens. They answer the question "how?". Adverbs of Manner mainly modify verbs.

- He speaks slowly. (How does he speak?)

- They helped us cheerfully. (How did they help us?)

- James Bond drives his cars fast. (How does James Bond drive his cars?)

Adverbs of Place

Adverbs of Place tell us the place where something happens. They answer the question "where?". Adverbs of Place mainly modify verbs.

- Please sit here. (Where should I sit?)

- They looked everywhere. (Where did they look?)

- Two cars were parked outside. (Where were two cars parked?)

Adverbs of Degree

Adverbs of Degree tell us the degree or extent to which something happens. They answer the question "how much?" or "to what degree?". Adverbs of Degree can modify verbs, adjectives and other adverbs.

- She entirely agrees with him. (How much does she agree with him?)

- Mary is very beautiful. (To what degree is Mary beautiful? How beautiful is Mary?)

- He drove quite dangerously. (To what degree did he drive dangerously? How dangerously did he drive?)

Adverbs of Time

Adverbs of Time tell us something about the time that something happens. Adverbs of Time mainly modify verbs.

They can answer the question "when?":

- He came yesterday. (When did he come?)

- I want it now. (When do I want it?)

Or they can answer the question "how often?":

- They deliver the newspaper daily. (How often do they deliver the newspaper?)

- We sometimes watch a movie. (How often do we watch a movie?)

1. As with adjectives, adverbs have three degrees of comparison.

(a) The positive degree is for one object.

(b) The comparative degree is for two objects that are not the same.

(c) The superlative degree is for three or more objects that are not the same.

2. The comparisons of adjectives are formed in the following ways.

(a) For words that end in ly, add more for the comparative degree and most for the superlative degree.

Positive	Comparative (+ more)	Superlative (+ most)
- angrily - easily - gladly - patiently - fiercely - sweetly	more angrily more easily more gladly more patiently more fiercely more sweetly	most angrily most easily most gladly most patiently most fiercely most sweetly

(b) For one-syllable words, add -er for the comparative form and -est for the superlative form. 

Positive	Comparative (+ -er)	Superlative (+ -est)
- hard - late - near - soon	harder later nearer sooner	hardest latest nearest soonest

(c) For some words, the comparative and superlative form is different from the positive form.

Positive	Comparative	Superlative
- badly - early	worse earlier	worst earliest

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