Adverbs (Lower Form)

Adverbs

• An adverb generally tells you more about a verb. On the other hand, an adjective describes a noun. Look at the examples below:

         (adjective)        Look at the fast car!                ('fast' describes the noun 'car')

         (adverb)           Look, that car is going fast!    ('fast' describes the verb 'go')

Adverbs of Manner

• You use these adverbs to describe HOW something happened.
• These adverbs are formed by adding -ly to the end of an adjective.

              adjective + ly → adverb                            

                   quick + ly → quickly

                  happy + ly → happily

• However, certain adverbs do not end in -ly. Some common ones are: fast, hard, far, well

          Example: He ran fast.       (√)

                          He ran fastly.     (×)

• Some words that end with -ly are NOT adverbs. For example: friendly, lovely, lonely, silly. These words are adjectives.
• Adverbs of manner can be used in many places in a sentence, but usually after a verb.

         Example: She walks gracefully on stage. ('walk' is the verb)

Adverbs of Time

• You use these adverbs to describe WHEN something happened.
• They are not the same as adverbs of manner. They are not formed by adding -ly to an adjective.

         Example: When did Saleh leave the house?

                         He left the house just now.

• More examples of commonly used adverbs of time:

         now, at this moment, today, in      (month)     , already, yet, before, still, just, yesterday, just now,          last night/week/month/year, this morning/evening,           ago, then, tomorrow, next           , soon,          tonight, later

Adverbs of Frequency

• You use these adverbs to describe HOW OFTEN something is done.
• Examples of commonly used adverbs of frequency: always, frequently, regularly, often, sometimes, seldom, rarely, hardly, once a           

Read the summary of a movie below, then read the notes in the box.

"E.T. phone home..." is an unforgettable line from the movie 'E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial'. The story is about an alien who is accidentally left behind on Earth. Elliot, a young boy, befriends him. E.T. has many adventures and misadventures. He is a loveable character. He is only three feet tall and waddles slowly. He speaks haltingly and often chatters unintelligibly when surprised. E.T. is eventually captured by government officials. He suffers terribly because of exposure to pollited air for too long. The neighbourhood children help to free E.T. and send him to the site where the spaceship lands to take him to his home planet. Elliot and E.T. both part tearfully as the loveable alien points to Elliot's heart and says, "I'll be right here."

**The underline words are called adverbs while the words in bold italics are verbs. Adverbs describe verbs while adjectives describe nouns. Look at how the adverbs here describe the verbs in the passage.