Adverbs

Def: The word that qualifies Parts of Speech (except Noun, Pronoun and Interjection), Phrase and any sentence, is called Adverb.

Eg: He walks slowly.

* Adverb qualifying:

a) Verb: He runs fast.

b) Adjective: He is a very good boy.

c) Adverb: He runs very fast.

d) Preposition: He appeared there just after my arrival.

e) Conjunction: He was absent only because he was ill.

f) Participle: The weather is very charming.

g) Sentence: Unfortunately the boy failed.

h) Phrase: The machine is completely out of order.

* Types of Adverb:

1. Simple Adverbs:

a) Adverb of Manner: It shows how a thing is done. Eg: Carefully, Gently, Peacefully, Deeply, Strongly, Honestly, Slowly, etc.

b) Adverb of Time: It shows when a thing happens. Eg: Daily, Soon, Always, Tomorrow, Yesterday, Now, Every day, Never, at dawn, in the evening, at night, etc.

c) Adverb of Place: It shows where a thing happens. Eg: Here, Nowhere, Away, Near, After, Below, There, In, Up, Down, Forward, Backward, Within, Out, etc.

d) Adverb of Reason: It shows why a thing is done. Eg: Therefore, So that, So, Hence, That is why, etc.

e) Adverb of Affirmation and Negation: It expresses affirmation and negation. Eg: Surely, Certainly, Undoubtedly, Not, Yes, No, Never, etc.

f) Introductory Adverb: When ‘Here’ or ‘There’ is used to begin a sentence, then it is introductory adverb. Eg: Here, There.

g) Sentence Adverb: When adverb is placed at the beginning of a sentence and is used to qualify the whole sentence, it is sentence adverb. Eg: Probably, Fortunately, Hopefully, Apparently, Arguably, etc.

h) Intensifier: The adverbs that emphasizes on the verb, are intensifier. Eg: Thoroughly, Indeed, Utterly, Actually, Really, Definitely, Practically, Absolutely, etc.

i) Downtoner: The adverbs that decreases the importance of a verb, adjective or any other adverbs, are called downtoner. Eg: Nearly, Hardly Rather, Somewhat, Scarcely, almost, Seldom, etc.

2. Indicating Adverbs:

a) Interrogative: Adverbs that are used for questioning and are placed at the beginning of a sentence, are interrogative sentence. Eg: When? Where? Why? How? Etc.

b) Relative: Adverbs that joins two clauses with the reference to the noun used in the beginning of a sentence Eg: How, When, Why, Where, etc.

c) Exclamatory: When ‘How’ is used as exclamatory adverb like exclamatory pronoun. Eg: How!

3. Adverbs denoting Number and Amounts:

a) Number: Adverbs that are used to denote the number of happenings of a verb or whether it has happened or not. Eg: Once, Twice, Thrice, Often, Frequently, Repeatedly, etc.

b) Amount: Adverbs that are used to denote the quantity of degree, are adverbs denoting amount. Eg: Almost, Fully, Partly, Rather, Entirely, Enough, Quite, etc.

4. Emphasising Adverbs: Adverbs that are used to emphasize only the words before or after them, are emphasizing adverbs. Eg: Too, Only, Even.

* Rules for the position of Adverbs:

a) The adverb usually follows an Intransitive verb,

Eg: He came early.

He lives there.

But adverb of time, such as, always, seldom, never, ever, often, etc, are placed before all verbs other than the verb ‘to be’.

Eg: He frequently told me this.

He always supports me.

b) The adverb usually follows the object.

Eg: The boy felt it keenly.

He did it quickly.

But for the sake of emphasis, the adverb sometime changes its position.

Eg: Slowly and silently he entered the room.

Cheerfully he gave me the news.

c) The adverb usually comes between helping verb and principal verb.

Eg: I shall never go there.

He has carefully noticed me.

d) The adverb sits before the adjective it qualifies.

Eg: He is a very good student.

I am very happy.

e) An adverb is placed first in a sentence to qualify the whole sentence and for the sake of emphasis.

Eg: Fortunately he was present there.

Down went the Royal George.