Type of Adverb

What Is an Adverb?

An adverb adds to a verb; it tells us how, how often, when, or where something was done. In other words, an adverb describes, modifies or provides more information about a verb in a sentence. So, if you said "I am going to quickly run to the store," the adverb in that sentence (quickly) would be modifying the verb "run."

Adverbs can be confused with adjectives, which also modify things. However, adjectives modify nouns and pronouns. If you said "I have a nice dog," then "dog" is the noun which is being modified by the adjective "nice".

On the other hand, if you said, "My dog quickly ate his dinner," the adverb "quickly" would modify the verb "ate."

In addition to verbs, adverbs also modify adjectives, other adverbs and word groups. So, when you say "I have the most beautiful dog," then "dog" is the noun, "beautiful" is the adjective describing the noun, and "most" is the adverb describing "beautiful."

Identifying Adverbs

You may have noticed a trend among adverbs; many, though not all, end in the letters "ly."

Knowing this can help you to quickly identify adverbs in sentences. However, remember that there are always exceptions, and some frequency adverbs, such as "always", "often", "sometimes", "seldom", and "never", do not follow this rule. Similarly, some words that end in "ly", such as "family" and "monopoly," are not adverbs.

Still, keeping an eye out for the "ly" ending can be a good tip to help you get started with successfully and correctly identifying adverbs.

List of Common Adverbs

A abnormally  absentmindedly  accidentally  acidly actually  adventurously afterwards  almost  always  angrily  annually  anxiously  arrogantly  awkwardly	B badly  bashfully  beautifully  bitterly bleakly blindly  blissfully boastfully  boldly  bravely  briefly  brightly  briskly  broadly  busily	C calmly  carefully  carelessly  cautiously  certainly cheerfully  clearly  cleverly closely  coaxingly  colorfully  commonly continually  coolly  correctly  courageously  crossly  cruelly  curiously	D daily  daintily dearly  deceivingly  delightfully deeply  defiantly  deliberately  delightfully  diligently  dimly doubtfully  dreamily	E easily  elegantly  energetically  enormously  enthusiastically  equally  especially even  evenly  eventually  exactly  excitedly  extremely
F fairly  faithfully  famously  far  fast  fatally  ferociously  fervently  fiercely  fondly  foolishly  fortunately  frankly  frantically freely frenetically  frightfully fully furiously	G generally generously gently gladly  gleefully  gracefully  gratefully greatly  greedily	H happily  hastily  healthily  heavily  helpfully  helplessly  highly  honestly  hopelessly  hourly  hungrily	I immediately  innocently  inquisitively  instantly  intensely  intently  interestingly  inwardly  irritably	J jaggedly jealously joshingly joyfully joyously  jovially jubilantly judgementally justly
K keenly kiddingly kindheartedly kindly kissingly knavishly knottily knowingly knowledgeably kookily	L lazily  less  lightly  likely  limply lively loftily longingly  loosely lovingly  loudly  loyally	M madly  majestically  meaningfully  mechanically  merrily  miserably  mockingly  monthly  more  mortally  mostly  mysteriously	N naturally  nearly  neatly needily  nervously  never  nicely noisily  not	O obediently  obnoxiously  oddly offensively officially often  only  openly  optimistically overconfidently owlishly
P painfully  partially  patiently  perfectly  physically  playfully  politely  poorly  positively potentially powerfully  promptly  properly punctually	Q quaintly quarrelsomely queasily queerly questionably questioningly quicker quickly quietly quirkily quizzically	R rapidly  rarely  readily really  reassuringly recklessly  regularly  reluctantly repeatedly  reproachfully restfully righteously rightfully rigidly  roughly  rudely	S sadly  safely  scarcely  scarily  searchingly  sedately  seemingly  seldom  selfishly  separately seriously  shakily  sharply sheepishly  shrilly  shyly  silently  sleepily  slowly  smoothly  softly solemnly  solidly sometimes  soon  speedily  stealthily  sternly  strictly successfully suddenly  surprisingly suspiciously sweetly  swiftly  sympathetically	T tenderly tensely  terribly thankfully thoroughly thoughtfully tightly tomorrow  too  tremendously triumphantly truly truthfully
U ultimately unabashedly unaccountably unbearably unethically unexpectedly  unfortunately unimpressively unnaturally unnecessarily utterly upbeat upliftingly upright upside-down upward upwardly urgently usefully uselessly usually utterly	V vacantly vaguely vainly valiantly vastly verbally very  viciously victoriously  violently vivaciously  voluntarily	W warmly weakly  wearily  well  wetly wholly wildly willfully wisely woefully wonderfully worriedly wrongly	Y yawningly yearly  yearningly yesterday yieldingly youthfully	Z zealously  zestfully  zestily

1 Adverbs of Degree

For adverbs that answer “how much” or to “what extent”, the are adverbs of degree. For example, they usually modify other verbs, adjectives or adverbs making them stronger or weaker.

These types of adverbs modify adjectives but not the other way around. In other words, adverbs can combine with other adverbs to put more emphasis on the verb. When you use ‘more’, ‘most’ and ‘least’, they can show degree when describing a verb.

ADVERBS OF DEGREE EXAMPLES:

• He’s very good at playing the piano.
• She’s almost always late arriving at school.
• It’s pretty interesting to see the history of China.
• The English test was extremely difficult.
• When he wears his running shoes, he moves more quickly among everyone.

2 Adverbs of Frequency

Adverbs of frequency express “how often” something takes place. In other words, it explains the intensity of occurrence that an event happens. Adverbs of frequency are usually in this form: Subject + Adverb + Verb

Adverb of Frequency	How Often
Never	0%
Hardly Ever	10%
Rarely	20%
Seldom	30%
Occasionally	40%
Sometimes	50%
Often	60%
Frequently	70%
Usually	90%
Always	100%

In addition, adverbs like “daily”, “weekly”, “monthly” and “yearly” describe frequency. But these adverbs of frequency answer “how often” in a more specific way.

ADVERBS OF FREQUENCY EXAMPLES:

• I usually go to the gym on weekends.
• She always wake up at 7:00 am.
• The family rarely eat brown rice for dinner.
• I never take sick days.

3 Adverbs of Manner

Adverbs of manner express how something happens. In most cases for adverbs of manner, you can take an adjective and simply add -ly to form an adverb. For example, if you take take the sentence – “The cat is quick (adjective).”

Instead of describing a noun, an adverb describes or modifies a verb. In this case, the noun is the word ‘cat’. Because adverbs describe verbs, you need to add a verb in the sentence. For example, you can use the verb “to run” in this form – “The cat runs quickly.”

Adverbs of manner tell us the way or how to do something. However, not all adverbs end with -ly. For example, the words ‘fast’ and ‘well’ describe verbs but do not end in -ly.

ADVERBS OF MANNER EXAMPLES:

• The cat runs quickly.
• She plays the violin terribly.
• The horse moved fast.
• She plays the piano well.

4 Adverbs of Place

Adverbs of Place describe “where” an action takes place. In addition, we usually find adverbs of place after the main verb.

For example, “indoors”, “next week” and “still” all describe where something happens. Again, we often find these adverbs of place after a verb in a sentence.

ADVERBS OF PLACE EXAMPLES:

• If you want to see the hot air balloon, you will have to go outside.
• When she entered the classroom, she sat down.
• I searched everywhere but I couldn’t find him.
• He walks downstairs to meet his father.

5 Adverbs of Time

As with all adverbs, they tell us more about the verb. For adverbs of time, they tell us when the verb happened or will happen. For example, “afterwards”, “every day” and “recently’ are adverbs of time and describe “when”.

On the other hand, adverbs of time can describe the duration of an event occurs. Also, it can show when an action is complete.

ADVERBS OF TIME EXAMPLES:

• We’ll go to the festival tomorrow.
• Yesterday, we played in the basketball tournament.
• She’ll eventually finish studying and go to university.
• They ate popcorn and watched movies all day.

 Other Example of  adverbs

Adverb of time

An adverb of time tells us when something is done or happens. We use it at the beginning or at the end of a sentence. We use it as a form of emphasis when we place it at the beginning.

Adverbs of time include afterwards, already, always,immediately, last month, now, soon, then, and yesterday.
   

Examples:

• He collapsed and died yesterday.
• His factory was burned down a few months ago.
• Last week, we were stuck in the lift for an hour.

Adverb of place

An adverb of place tells us where something is done or happens. We use it after the verb, direct object or at the end of a sentence. Adverbs of place include words such as above, below, here, outside, over there, there, under, and upstairs. 

Examples:

• We can stop here for lunch.
• The schoolboy was knocked over by a school bus.
• They rushed for their lives when fire broke out in the floor below.

Adverb of manner

An adverb of manner tells us how something is done or happens. Most adverbs of manner end in –ly such as badly, happily, sadly, slowly, quickly, and others that include well, hard and fast.

Examples:

• The brothers were badly injured in the fight.
• They had to act fast to save the others floating on the water.
• At the advanced age of 88, she still sang very well.

Adverb of degree

An adverb of degree tells us the level or extent that something is done or happens. Words of adverb of degree are almost, much, nearly, quite, really, so, too, very, etc.

Examples:

• It was too dark for us to find our way out of the cave. (Before adjective)
• The referee had to stop the match when it began to rain really heavily. (Before adverb)
• Her daughter is quite fat for her age.
• The accident victim nearly died from his injuries.
• After all these years, she is still feeling very sad about her father’s death.

 

 

 

Adverb of frequency

An adverb of frequency tells us how often something is done or happens. Words used as adverbs of frequency include again, almost, always, ever, frequently, generally, hardly ever, nearly,   nearly always,   never,   occasionally,   often, rarely,   seldom, sometimes,   twice,   usually and weekly.
 

Examples:

• They were almost fifty when they got married.
• He hardly ever says something nice to his wife.
• While overseas, he frequently phoned home.
• She is not nearly always right although she thinks she is always right.
• He complained that she never smiled back.
• We only write to each other very occasionally..
• Peter seldom reads the Bible.
• Sometimes 
   
  he stays late in the office to complete his work.
   .
• Our cat was bitten twice by the same dog.
• A man usually proposes marriage.