Adverb in English




 Lesson 4 

Definition of Adverb with Examples

An adverb is a word which modifies a verb, adjective (know more about adjective ) or another adverb. Adverbs answer the questions, when?, where?, how?, how often?, how much?.

In the following sentences, (Know more about sentence ) the words, ‘well’, ‘very’ and ‘very’ modify the verb, ‘writes’ the adjective, ‘good’ and another adverb, ‘well’. 

Examples:

(a) He writes well. 

(b) He is a very good guy. 

(c) He speaks English very well. 


Common Types of Adverb 

(1) Adverb of Time 

(2) Adverb of Place

(3) Adverb of Manner

(4) Adverb of Frequency

(5) Adverb of Degree

(5) Adverb of Affirmation and Negation 


Tip to Remember:- Touch your Pants and Mouth For Doing Nothing. 

Here T stands for adverb of time. P stands for adverb of place. And so on. 


1. Adverbs of time tell us about when an action is performed by the subject of a sentence. 

Adverbs of time Answer the question, when?. 

In the given below sentences, ‘tomorrow’, ‘before’ and ‘early’ are adverbs of time. 

Examples:

(a) She'll go tomorrow. 

(b) I've seen him before. 

(c) I get up early in the morning. 


2. Adverbs of place inform us of the place where an action is performed. They answer the question, where?. 

The words in the given below examples, ‘below’, ‘here’ and ‘there’ are all adverbs of place. 

Examples:

(a) Examples are given below. 

(b) I'll stay here. 

(c) You shouldn't have gone there. 


3. Adverbs of manner show us how or in what manner an action is performed. They answer the question, how?. 

‘easily’, ‘carefully’ and ‘quickly’ are adverbs of manner in the expressions given below. 

Examples:

(a) He can do it easily.

(b) She writes carefully. 

(c) Do it quickly. 


4. Adverbs of frequency tell us how frequently an action is performed. They answer the question, how often?. 

‘always’, ‘never’ and ‘usually’ are adverbs of frequency. 

Examples:

(a) I always wake up at 4 o'clock in the morning. 

(b) He never went to school. 

(c) I usually have breakfast at 8 o'clock. 


5. Adverbs of degree tell us to what extent or level an action is performed. They answer the question, how much?. 

‘Fully’, ‘totally’ and ‘extremely’ are adverbs of degree. 

Examples:

(a) She is fully prepared.

(b) I totally agree. 

(c) I'm extremely sorry. 


6. Adverbs of affirmation and negation show that something is true or false. 

‘Certainly’, ‘surely’ and ‘not’ are adverbs of affirmation and negation. 

Examples:

(a) I'll certainly do that. 

(b) He's surely a good guy. 

(c) You do not work hard.


Positions of Adverbs

1. Adverbs of time are usually used in end position. They can also be used in front position for emphasis or stress.

‘Tomorrow’ in both the sentences is adverb of time used in both end and front positions. 

Examples:

(a) I'm leaving for America tomorrow. 

(b) Tomorrow, I'm leaving for America. 


2. Adverbs of place are like adverbs of time. They usually go at the end of a sentence, and sometimes at the beginning of a sentence. 

‘There’ in end and ‘here’ in front position. 

Examples:

(a) You should go there. 

(b) Here, comes the king.


3. Adverbs of manner are usually placed in end position, but if the object is long, then they are used in the middle of the sentence. 

‘Quickly’ in end and mid positions. 

Examples:

(a) He's doing his work quickly. 

(b) I quickly did my work and went home. 


 4. Adverbs of frequency are usually placed in mid position, but can also be positioned in front and end positions. 

‘Usually’, ‘sometimes’ and ‘often’ are in mid, front and end positions respectively. 

Examples:

(a) I usually go shopping on weekends. 

(b) Sometimes, you should make decisions very fast. 

(c)  I don't see her very often. 


5. Adverbs of degree are placed in mid and end positions. 

‘Really’ in mid and ‘a bit’ in end position. 

Examples:

(a) I really like you. 

(b) We should try a bit. 


6. Adverbs of affirmation and negation are placed in mid and front positions. 

‘Definitely’ in mid, ‘No’ in front position 

Examples:

(a) I'll definitely help you. 

(b) No, I'll not go there. 


Exercise 

Specify the types of the adverbs in bold. 

(a) I have not seen him before. 

(b) The examples that have been given below are correct. 

(c) You can learn English easily if you work hard. 

(d) I rarely do it. 

(e) I totally forgot it. 

(f) Yes, I can do that. 


Answer keys:-

 (a) Adverb of Time 

(b) Adverb of Place

(c) Adverb of Manner

(d) Adverb of Frequency

(e) Adverb of Degree

(f) Adverb of Affirmation and Negation