How to use adverbs in English? | Studio English

In this article, we will learn How to use adverbs in English? What do they mean and what are their different types? Let’s get started.

Adverbs are used to modify verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs to give more information about the action.

Here’s how to use adverbs in different cases:

1.     To modify a verb:

Most of the time adverbs are used to modify a verb and indicate how the action happened, for example:

•       He talks angrily.
•       He sings cheerfully.
•       She walks fast.
•       She sings happily.
•       The kid speaks loudly.

In all the above sentences you can find the adverb by asking ‘how’. How does he talk? The answer is “angrily”. How does he sing? “cheerfully”.  How does she walk? Fast. How does she sing? Happily. How does the kid speak? Loudly. Adverbs are also used to give information about time and place.

2.     To modify adjectives:

Adverbs can also be used to modify adjectives. They are used to show how intense the adjective is, here are some examples:

•       The girl is really beautiful.
•       The book is very interesting.
•       The weather is almost always cold in winter.

3.     To modify other adverbs:

Adverbs can also be used to modify other adverbs. Here are some examples:

•       My sister runs very fast.

What does adverb mean in English?

English adverbs are defined in the Oxford dictionary as: “a word or phrase that modifies or qualifies an adjective, verb, or other adverb or a word group, expressing a relation of place, time, circumstance, manner, cause, degree, etc. (e.g., gently, quite, then, there).”

Adverbs are words or phrases that are used to give us more information about other words. And it’s usually used with verbs to show when, how, where, and how often the action or something was done. Additionally, it comes after the verb.

How many Adverbs are in English?

Adverb in English grammar can be classified based on the information they give to us. Mainly they can be divided into 6 types and they are: 

1.     Adverbs of manner
2.     Adverbs of time
3.     Adverbs of place
4.     Adverbs of frequency
5.     Adverbs of degree
6.     Conjunctive adverbs

Let’s understand more about each one of them.

How many types of adverbs are there in English?

Adverbs of Manner: they are used to show how something is done, and to make it easy just ask how and the answer will be the adverb. Here are some examples:

 

angrily	he talks angrily.
anxiously	walks anxiously.
awkwardly	eats awkwardly.
badly	play badly.
beautifully	draw beautifully.
calmly	speaks calmly.
carefully	drive carefully
carelessly	play carelessly.
cautiously	act cautiously
cheerfully	sings cheerfully.
clearly	explain the lesson clearly
closely	look closely
correctly	write something correctly
deliberately	make a mistake deliberately.
eagerly	listen eagerly
easily	cries easily.
enthusiastically	react enthusiastically
fast	walk fast
fondly	remember someone fondly
frankly	speak frankly
gently	touch the flower gently
happily	sings happily
healthily	live healthily
innocently	spell a wod innocently.
kindly	ask kindly.
loudly	speak loudly
mysteriously	speak mysteriously.
naturally	walk naturally
neatly	dress neatly.
nervously	walks nervously
noisily	eat noisily

 

Adverbs of Time: this one is used to tell when something happened or happened. To know it asks ‘when’.

now	frequently
then	generally
today	infrequently
tomorrow	never
tonight	normally
yesterday	occasionally
annually	often
daily	rarely
fortnightly	regularly
hourly	seldom
monthly	sometimes
nightly	regularly
quarterly	usually
weekly	already
yearly	before
always	early
constantly	earlier
ever	eventually
late	finally
later	first
lately	formerly
next	just
previously	last
recently	since
yet	soon

 

Adverbs of Place: this is used to define where the action happened, and to know it ask ‘where’. Here are some examples:

Aside:	he put the bags aside to open the door.
Abroad:	he will study abroad.
Away	go away and let me sleep.
Ahead	you have a great future ahead of you
Far	she lives far from work.
Back	he came back from the airport.
Indoors	we stayed indoors all night because of the rain.
Close	stay close.
Downstairs	bring the billow from downstairs.
Upstairs	he is upstairs studying.
Nearby	my house is nearby.
Outdoors	it’s too cold, don’t go outdoors.
In front of	there was a cat in front of the house.
Beyond:	the beauty of the island is beyond anything else.
Under	the book is under the table.
Over here	come over here.
Up	go up to your room
Homeward	setting off homeward
Everywhere	there is a mess everywhere
Forward	move a bit forward.

 

Adverbs of Frequency: this one is used to show how often the action or something is done. To know it ask yourself ‘how often’. Here are some examples of the common adverbs in English:

Almost always	the bus almost always comes late.
Almost never	He almost never talked to anyone outside work.
Always	He always walks home alone.
Annually	he travels annually.
Constantly	she sings Constantly.
Continuously	he speaks Continuously
Continually	he keeps annoying me Continually
Daily	she works out daily.
Eventually	you will understand it Eventually.
Ever	have you ever talked to someone you don’t know?
Frequently	she works out Frequently.

 

Adverbs of Degree: this one is use to describe adverbs and adjectives to indicate how intense an action is done. Here are some examples:

extremely	I was extremely angry.
terribly	she was terribly sad.
horribly	he sang horribly.
spectacularly	she was spectacularly amazing tonight.
wonderfully	she played the piano wonderfully.
insanely	he acted insanely.
especially	the play was terrible, especially the last dance.
uncommonly	it’s uncommonly to rain in summer.
unusually	the dog was unusually quiet this morning
particularly	the play was terrible, particularly the last dance.
remarkably	the movie was remarkably amazing.
fairly	She was fairly good at singing.
pretty	she did pretty well on the exam

 

Conjunctive Adverbs: this type is different from all other types. It’s used to link two sentences or clauses together. Here are some examples: However, nevertheless, meanwhile, therefore, instead, likewise, notably, subsequently, rather, namely, on the other hand, incidentally, in addition to, etc.

Where to place adverbs in English?

Adverb placement in English comes right after or close to the word they modify. Putting it in the wrong place will form a completely different meaning. Here’s an example to prove to you:

Max only fed the dog.

Max fed the dog only.

In the first sentence, we understand that max didn’t do anything but feed the cat, didn’t play with it or anything. While in the second sentence we understand that among his pets he only fed the cat. Therefore, you should be careful where to place the adverb or you will form a different meaning.

What is adverb clause in English grammar?

An adverbial clause in English is a group of words that functions together as an adverb. They are used to give more information about a verb, adjective, or another adverb. And they are always dependent, meaning that they can’t form a sentence on their own. Here’s an example:  

He bakes cakes before he leaves for work every morning.

What is adverb in English grammar with examples?

Adverb in English Grammar is words or phrases used to indicate how, when, where, and how often something happens. Here are some examples:

•       he talks angrily.
•       walks anxiously.
•       eats awkwardly.
•       play badly.
•       draw beautifully.
•       speaks calmly.
•       drive carefully
•       play carelessly.
•       act cautiously
•       sings cheerfully.
•       explain the lesson clearly.

 

Here’s a list of adverbs in English:

always	yesterday
usually	today
normally/generally	tomorrow
often/frequently	tonight
sometimes	now
on occasion/occasionally	then
seldom/hardly ever	this morning
rarely, and	before
never.	later
daily	since
weekly	soon
monthly	still
yearly	yet
every day	early
every two hours	earlier
once a week.	eventually
gladly	recently
gently	previously
quietly	finally
safely	above
truthfully	behind
warmly	below
wildly	on
carefully	down
wisely	up
hard	far
fast	in
straight	outside
well	towards
angrily	under
boldly	upstairs
daringly	back
off	over

 

How to change adjectives to adverbs in English?

Changing adjectives to adverbs in English is easy. Adverbs in English are mostly formed by adding ‘ly’ at the end of the adjective. As follows:

Adjective	Adverb
cheap	cheaply
quick	quickly
slow	slowly

 

 That’s it for today’s article, for more information or if you have any questions visit our website Studio English.

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