Grammar Topic 11(a) - Types of Adverbs

Grammar – Topic 11(a)

Types of Adverbs

Adverbs are words that modify verbs, adjectives and other adverbs.

She spoke firmly to her students.

(The adverb ‘firmly’ modifies the verb ‘spoke’.)

The English teacher was extremely pleased with the results of her students’ English test. (The adverb ‘extremely’ modifies the adjective ‘pleased’.)

The sales assistant served the customers very efficiently.

(The adverb ‘very’ modifies the other adverb ‘efficiently’.)

John walked slowly to the park.

Mason ate the pasta greedily.

Here is a list of adverbs of manner.

adoringly	easily	healthily	politely	slowly
accidentally	elegantly	honestly	poorly	smoothly
angrily	enormously	hurriedly	powerfully	softly
anxiously	enthusiastically	inadequately	promptly	speedily
awkwardly	enormously	innocently	quickly	stealthily
badly	equally	inquisitively	quietly	sternly
beautifully	exactly	irritably	rapidly	straight
boldly	faithfully	joyously	rarely	stupidly
bravely	fast	kindly	really	suspiciously
busily	fatally	lazily	reluctantly	swiftly
calmly	fondly	loosely	repeatedly	tenderly
carefully	foolishly	loudly	rightfully	thoughtfully
cautiously	fortunately	madly	rudely	tightly
cheerfully	frankly	mysteriously	sadly	truthfully
clearly	frantically	neatly	safely	unexpectedly
closely	generously	naturally	selfishly	violently
correctly	gently	nervously	sensibly	vivacious
courageously	gladly	noisily	seriously	warmly
daringly	greedily	openly	sharply	weakly
deliberately	happily	painfully	shyly	wearily
doubtfully	hard	patiently	silently	well
eagerly	hastily	perfectly	sleepily	wisely

Tom visits the library weekly.

Occasionally, Jill will bake muffins and pies.

Here is a list of adverbs of frequency.

always	seldom	infrequently	now and then	daily
usually	never	intermittently	almost never	yearly/annually
often	hardly	periodically	quarterly	fortnightly
normally	constantly	rarely	weekly	biannually
occasionally	continually	regularly	monthly	biennially
sometimes	frequently	generally	once	twice

Recently, my sister has been returning home late from school.

Have you been going to the gym lately?

Here is a list of adverbs of time.

today	yesterday	tonight	soon	this morning
tomorrow	now	next	last week	long ago
later	then	after	last night	day after tomorrow

She waited all day for her father to return home from the airport.

The supervisor spoke to the workers briefly.

Here is a list of adverbs of duration.

all day	for hours	since Sunday	for a week	briefly
all morning	since last week	since last year	for a long time	for a short time
all night	since yesterday	for two days	for a while	temporarily

I saw the homeless elderly lady there.

The bus travelled northwest.

across	there	ahead	down	outside
below	nearby	in	up	inside
eastwards	around	out	indoors	behind
here	above	back	outdoors	under

I felt extremely cold walking outdoors in winter without a thick jacket.

We have almost finished our work.

Here is a list of adverbs of degree.

almost	entirely	intensely	quite	terribly
absolutely	extremely	just	rather	thoroughly
barely	fairly	least	really	too
completely	fully	much	scarcely	totally
decidedly	greatly	nearly	simply	utterly
deeply	hardly	perfectly	so	very
enough	highly	pretty	somewhat	well
enormously	incredibly	purely	strongly	virtually

Let’s Practice

Circle the adverbs in each sentence.

1.      The audience laughed heartily at the comedian’s jokes.

2.      The house was just built by a famous architect.

3.      The young girl spoke quietly but politely.

4.      The train will arrive at the station soon.

5.      The man crept stealthily into the empty house.

6.      We have been playing all day.

7.      Let’s play outdoors once the rain stops.

8.      You should exercise frequently because it is very good for your health.

9.      The guide courageously went in search for the missing group member despite the extremely cold weather.

10.   Although the wind was blowing strongly, I hardly felt cold as I was wearing a terribly thick jacket.

Answers:

1.      heartily

2.      just

3.      quietly, politely

4.      soon

5.      stealthily

6.      all day

7.      outdoors

8.      frequently, very

9.      courageously, extremely

10.   strongly, hardly, terribly