Adverbs: The When, Where, and How of It All

Neha Karve

Adverbs tell us the when, where, and how of things. To do this, they modify (or add to the meaning of) adjectives, verbs, other adverbs, phrases, clauses, or entire sentences.

Examples
  • Anita is extremely intelligent. She is also very funny.
  • Drive carefully. We are almost there.
  • Maya wrote a new poem today.
  • Evidently, Poco thinks differently.
  • This is beautifully baked.

While many adverbs derive from adjectives and end in -ly (beautifully, completely, terribly), not all do (e.g., almost, sometimes, today, always).

Adverbs (and adverbials, discussed further below) also tell us how much, how often, for how long, and under what circumstances something happens or exists.

Examples
  • She always wakes up at dawn.
  • She is quite happy.
  • She sang for two hours. (adverbial)
  • We slept under the stars. (adverbial)

As versatile words that help describe situations and events more vividly, adverbs add nuance and detail to a narrative.

How adverbs work in sentences

Adverbs modify (add to the meaning of) other words in a sentence.

Examples
  • Lulu gave a truly wonderful performance.
    The adverb truly adds to the meaning of the adjective beautiful. Together, these two words describe the performance.
  • Rita rode her motorcycle recklessly down the mountain.
    The adverb recklessly describes how Rita rode (a verb).
  • Farley drove extremely carefully but still crashed off the bridge.
    One adverb (extremely) modifies another (carefully). How carefully? Extremely so.

Adverbs can also modify sentences and clauses.

Examples
  • Luckily, we have a backup plan.
    The adverb luckily adds to the meaning of the entire sentence.
  • Please speak because, clearly, you have something to say.
    The adverb clearly modifies a clause.

Essentially, what adverbs do is express a relationship of manner (how), time (when), place (where), duration (how long), degree (how much), circumstance, and connection (why, whether).

Examples
  • Poco yelled loudly.
    how Poco yelled
  • Poco’s eyeballs exploded today.
    when they exploded
  • Anita found the alien artifacts here.
    where she found them
  • Farley has moved temporarily to Timbuktu.
    for how long he has moved
  • Anita was utterly shocked by the news.
    how much or how shocked she was
  • We have therefore decided to cancel our trip.
    why we have decided

Adverb versus adjective

Many adverbs derive from adjectives and end in -ly. Adjectives describe people and things, or noun phrases (a happy cat), while adverbs modify other parts of a sentence (she danced happily).

Examples
  • sad → sadly
  • sweet → sweetly
  • happy → happily
  • beautiful → beautifully
  • true → truly
  • sincere → sincerely
  • truthful → truthfully
  • excited → excitedly

Of course, not all -ly words are adverbs. Here are some examples of words that end in -ly and are adjectives, not adverbs.

Examples
  • a lovely city
  • a lonely man
  • smelly socks
  • a deadly virus
  • a ghastly crime
  • a silly story

Similarly, not all adverbs end in -ly.

Examples
  • Rita runs fast.
  • Don’t speak to me of glasses that are half full.
  • I almost forgot to board the spaceship.
  • Lulu often finds pebbles on the beach.
  • Poco thinks he is never wrong.
  • I sent myself a postcard yesterday.

Interestingly, some words can be either adverbs or adjectives, depending on their function in the sentence.

Examples
  • Adjective: Is an early lunch a brunch?
    Early acts as an adjective by describing the noun lunch.
    Adverb: Anita left the party early.
    The adverb early tells us when Anita left the party.
  • Adjective: Is there life in the far reaches of the galaxy?
    Adverb: Farley hadn’t driven far before his car broke down.
  • Adjective: Rita is a fast runner.
    Adverb: Rita runs fast.

Degree of adverbs

Many adverbs show comparative and superlative degree, just like adjectives.

Examples
  • Tumkin types faster than Nesbit.
  • Farley runs fastest when chased by a cheetah.
  • Maya would travel more often if she could.
  • Snow falls most often in winter.
  • Anita has been performing better at her tasks.
  • Poco thinks leadership roles suit him best.
Note

Not all adverbs have comparative and superlative forms. In particular, those that indicate an absolute state or time (e.g., up, down, tomorrow, here, there) or already express degree (e.g., absolutely, extremely, really, very, terribly) are not comparable. There’s no downdownerdownest or more/most very.

Rules for forming comparatives and superlatives of adverbs are similar to those for adjectives. Broadly, adverbs ending in -ly use more and most to indicate degree.

Examples
  • happily — more happily — most happily
  • beautifully — more beautifully — most beautifully
  • easily — more easily — most easily
  • dangerously — more dangerously — most dangerously
  • dutifully — more dutifully — most dutifully
  • angrily — more angrily — most angrily

Adverbs that are also adjectives inflect the same either way.

Examples
  • far — farther — farthest
  • early — earlier — earliest
  • fast — faster — fastest

Gradability of adverbs

Adverbs may be qualified by other adverbs to express degree.

Examples
  • Farley drove very carefully down the mountain road.
    The adverb very grades another adverb: How carefully? Very carefully.
  • Rita drives really recklessly around hairpin turns.
  • Poco yells terribly loudly when he’s angry.
  • Farley runs extremely fast when hounded by hippos.
  • Lulu arrived surprisingly early.

Adverbials

Adverbials are words, phrases, and clauses that tell you where, when, how, or why something happens or exists. Just like adverbs, adverbial phrases and clauses add to the meaning of a verb.

Adverbial phrases

An adverbial phrase comprises two or more words that together perform the functions of an adverb.

Examples
  • Rita runs like a cheetah.
    Like an adverb, the adverbial phrase “like a cheetah” describes how Rita runs.
  • Rita runs every morning.
    when she runs
  • Rita runs to stay fit.
    why she runs
  • Rita runs in the park.
    where she runs

As you see in the examples above, noun phrases (e.g., every morning) and prepositional phrases (e.g., like a cheetah) act as adverbials, telling you the place, time, or manner in which something happens or exists.

Place
  • We met in the park.
  • The cat sat on the mat.
Time
  • We met in the park at night.
  • Nesbit arrived this afternoon.
Manner
  • Water gushed in torrents through the valley.
  • We have jackets available in seven colors.

Adverbial clauses

An adverbial clause also adds to the information conveyed by a verb, except it is not just a word or a phrase but an entire dependent clause.

Examples
  • Lulu has been dancing since she was five.
  • Farley fainted when he saw the ghost.
  • Poco will yell if you miss the deadline.
  • Tumkin is singing because he is happy.

Types of adverbs

Adverbs (and adverbial phrases and clauses) perform numerous functions in sentences.

Manner (How?)
  • Poco speaks rudely to his subordinates.
  • Farley runs like a hare when he sees Poco.
Place (Where?)
  • The treasure was buried here.
  • They live in Spain now.
Time (When?)
  • We found the treasure yesterday.
  • Maya drinks tea in the afternoon.
Duration (For how long?)
  • Tumkin is currently holidaying in Kazakhstan.
  • Farley was stuck in the hedge for an hour this morning.
Frequency (How often?)
  • Nesbit sometimes flies to Mars.
  • Lulu bakes cookies every day.
Degree (How much? To what extent?)
  • Tumkin has traveled extensively around the world.
  • I completely forgot her birthday.
  • It’s a bit dark in here, isn’t it?
Modality (possibility, necessity, etc.)
  • Poco will certainly explode when he finds out.
  • Rita will, in all probability, jump.
  • Maya has never given up on her dreams.
  • Under no circumstances will I forsake my freedom.
Opinion (judgment, evaluation, viewpoint)
  • Unfortunately, Farley forgot to tie his shoelaces.
  • Rita behaved in such a reckless manner at the rally.
Conjunctive (linking)
  • Nesbit wants a new phone; however, he has no money.
  • Farley forgot to tie his shoelaces. As a result, he fell down the stairs.

Sentence adverbs

A sentence adverb qualifies an entire statement. It usually appears at the start of a sentence and is often followed by a comma.

Examples
  • Clearly, Farley has lost his pants.
    The adverb clearly expresses the speaker’s attitude toward the entire statement. It is clear that Farley has lost his pants.
  • Fortunately, Tumkin has found his wallet.

Adverb placement

Adverbs often merge seamlessly into sentences. (See how the adverbs often and seamlessly fit in that last sentence?)

Examples
  • Please wash the dishcloth thoroughly after you use it.
  • Lulu laughed helplessly at Rita’s joke.
  • Farley rode his bicycle carefully down the street.

Adverbs are often placed beside the word or phrase they modify, but they may be placed elsewhere in the sentence without confusion.

Examples
  • Farley carefully rode his bicycle down the street.
  • Farley rode his bicycle carefully down the street.
  • Farley rode his bicycle down the street carefully.
  • Carefully Farley rode his bicycle down the street.

Conjunctive, time, and sentence adverbs are often placed at the head of a sentence.

Examples
  • Moreover, Anita is right.
  • Eventually, we canceled the trip.
  • However, we cannot guarantee the time machine will work in the future.
  • Obviously, Tumkin is a genius.
  • Yesterday, Farley ran from a rhino.
  • Clearly, Poco has lost his mind.

Many adverbs may also sound fine in mid and end positions.

Examples
  • Anita is right, moreover.
  • We canceled the trip, eventually.
  • We cannot guarantee, however, that the time machine will work in the future.
  • Tumkin is obviously a genius.
  • Farley ran from a rhino yesterday.
  • Poco has clearly lost his mind.

Misplaced modifiers

Sometimes, placing the adverb far away from the phrase it modifies can change the meaning of a sentence.

Example
  • Please wash the dishcloth thoroughly after you use it.
    wash the dishcloth thoroughly
    Please wash the dishcloth after you use it thoroughly.
    use it thoroughly

As you can see, adverb placement may affect meaning. However, the intended meaning is often clear from context.

Example
  • Common: We only want Martians to apply for the mission.
    Although the meaning is clear, an editor would correct this and place the adverb right next to the word it modifies.
    Preferred: We want only Martians to apply for the mission.
    Still xenophobic but grammatically correct: the only people you want should apply are Martians.

In the examples above, the speaker’s intended meaning was clear regardless of adverb placement. But this isn’t always the case.

Examples
  • Just Poco received a promotion.
  • Poco just received a promotion.
  • Poco received just a promotion.
    All three sentences are grammatically correct but mean quite different things.
Caution

Adverbs like just, only, almost, and nearly are routinely misplaced.

Examples
  • Only Poco received a commendation.
    versus
    Poco received only a commendation.

Adverbial phrases too are often placed incorrectly, sometimes to hilarious effect.

Example
  • Incorrect: Last night I went to the opera in my jeans.
    An opera in your jeans?
    Correct: Last night I wore jeans to the opera.

Intensifiers

Intensifiers are adverbs used to lend force or emphasis to a statement. They help make adjectives stronger.

Examples
  • Lulu was very happy with her gift.
    The intensifier very helps emphasize the adjective happy.
  • Maya is really scared of cockroaches.
  • We were all extremely hungry.

Strong adjectives (like brilliant, delighted, terrified, ravenous) already incorporate the idea of very in their meaning. For example, brilliant means very intelligent. With such adjectives, very can sound redundant.

Example
  • Tumkin is a very brilliant man.

However, you may use other intensifiers (totally, completely, absolutely, utterly, remarkably, etc.) to qualify or lend additional force to strong adjectives.

Examples
  • Tumkin is an very/exceptionally brilliant man.
  • Lulu was very/absolutely delighted with her gift.
  • Maya is very/utterly terrified of cockroaches.
Caution

Intensifiers like very and really can sound unprofessional in formal writing (such as business and academic), which demands a more objective, impersonal tone.

Examples
  • The company has performed very well in the last quarter.
  • Fiscal prudence is really necessary for the economy to survive the downturn.
  • The results of the study were terribly surprising.

Quick Quiz

Which of these sentences contains an adverb?
Choose from these answers
All done!
Which of these sentences contains an adverb?
Choose from these answers
All done!
Which of these sentences contains an adverb?
Choose from these answers
All done!
Which of these sentences contains an adverb?
Choose from these answers
All done!
Which of these contains an adverbial?
Choose from these answers
All done!
Which of these functions do adverbials perform?
Choose from these answers
All done!
Which of these contains an intensifier?
Choose from these answers
All done!
Which is correct?
Choose from these answers
All done!