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Adverbs
Go to The Guide to Grammar and Writing section on Adverbs.
Adverbs. What are they good for? Absolutely nothing! Right? Wrong! Adverbs, much like their kin adjectives, help a writer communicate more clearly and richly. If you don’t care for adverbs, are indifferent, or are fascinated by them (as I am), this page will help you understand their role in your writing and how they can become an invaluable tool in helping you pass the writing portion of the HSGQE.
Adverbs modify words that cannot be modified by adjectives. Adverbs modify verbs, adjectives, other adverbs, verbals, and whole sentences.
In the following sentence the adverb quickly modifies the verb run:
As we turned the corner, we saw a rabbit run quickly back into the bushes.
Here the adverb especially modifies the adjective glad:
Michelle was especially glad she had remembered her parents’ anniversary.
In this sentence the adverb very modifies the adverb soundly (soundly modifies the verb slept):
He fell onto the bed and slept very soundly for ten hours.
Here the adverb clearly modifies the gerund writing:
Helen was praised for writing clearly.
Gerunds are verbals that function as nouns. Because they are closely related to verbs, they can be modified by adverbs just as verbs can. In the next example, the adverb Surely modifies the whole sentence:
Surely the train will be late.
Here are some rules that you may find helpful:
Putting modifiers where they belong
Forming comparatives and superlatives of adjectives
Forming comparatives and superlatives of adverbs
Recognizing irregular comparatives and superlatives
Avoiding misuse of comparatives and superlatives
Using conjunctive adverbs in sentences
Avoiding run-on sentences with conjunctive adverbs
Many adverbs end in –ly:
Jon sang sweetly.
Caleb was extremely angry.
Annie spoke truthfully.
Adding the ending –ly to many adjectives turns them into adverbs:
Adjective Adverbs
sweet sweetly
extreme extremely
truthful truthfully
A few adjectives, such as true (adverb: truly) and due (adverb: duly), drop the final e before adding –ly, but most adverbs do not drop the e before –ly.
Many adverbs are not formed from adjectives and do not end in -ly
She ran fast.
Mel was too busy to go to the party.
Perhaps I spoke out of turn.
In addition, some common adjectives, such as friendly and lovely, end in –ly. Therefore, it is not possible to identify a word as an adverb based on its ending alone.
Adverbs answer a variety of questions about the words they modify. The left-hand column of the list below contains some questions answered by adverbs. The right-hand column contains an example of an adverb that answers each question:
Question Examples
How? The men worked slowly.
How often? I visited my aunt frequently.
To what degree? Sue finds math very easy.
When? Come here – now!
Where? You left your glasses there, on the sofa.
Clauses and phrases acting as adverbs also answer these questions. Look at the following sentence, for example:
As soon as my brother comes back, we will go to get a pizza.
The dependent clause “As soon as my brother gets back” acts ad an adverb modifying the verb will go. It answers the question “When?” The infinitive phrase “to get a pizza” acts as an adverb modifying will go and answers the question “Why?”
In the sentence “You left your glasses there, on the
sofa, “on the sofa” is a prepositional phrase that functions as an adverb.
It answers the question “Where?” with the verb left.
Putting modifiers where they belong
Modifiers should appear in sentences as close as possible to the words they describe. Placing them elsewhere sometimes leads to confusion. Notice the location of only in the following sentence:
I love only you.
This means “I love you, and you alone,” which is perhaps what the object of someone’s affection longs to hear. (“I love you only” means about the same thing.) But placing only elsewhere in the sentence could lead to a misunderstanding:
I only love you.
This could mean “The only emotion I feel for you is love (but not friendship or respect).” Moving the modifier still further away changes the meaning again:
Only I love you.
This sentence means “I’m the only one who loves you.”
Sometimes a modifier placed between two words might be modifying either of them:
NOT: The person summoned urgently hoped he had been chosen for the promotion.
Was the person summoned urgently or was he hoping urgently? The way the sentence is written, there is no way to tell. Rewriting it clarifies its meaning:
The person urgently summoned hoped he had been chosen for the promotion
or
The person summoned hoped urgently that he had been chosen for the promotion.
Adjectives and adverbs are both modifiers. However, an adjective should not be used where an adverb is required:
NOT: I did good on yesterday’s English test.
Good is an adjective, so it can modify only a noun or a pronoun. Using it to modify a verb (did) is not acceptable. The adverb needed here is well:
I did well on yesterday’s English test.
Using an adverb where an adjective is needed is also an error:
NOT: The kitchen smelled badly before Sherm cleaned it up.
Smelled is
sometimes a linking verb, as it is in this sentence. Therefore, the word
following it should be a subject complement. Adverbs are never subject
complements, and badly is an adverb,
so the adjective bad is required
instead:
The kitchen smelled bad before Sherm cleaned it up.
When smelled is not a linking verb, it can be modified by an adverb:
After having his nose broken five times, the ex-fighter smelled badly.
This sentence means that the ex-fighter’s sense of smell was no longer working properly. In “The ex-fighter smelled bad,” the adjective “bad” describes the fighter.
A few common compound words, such as already and everyday, are modifiers. When the two words making up the compounds appear in separated form (as in all ready and every day) they have different meanings that the compounds do. Here the adverb already means “before now:”
I already cashed my paycheck.
In this sentence already is an adverb modifying cashed.
However, in this sentence all ready mean “completely prepared:”
I was all ready to leave when the telephone rang.
Here, all is an adverb modifying the adjective ready.
In the following sentence, because everyday is an adjective modifying occurrences, it should be written as one word:
Mistakes are everyday occurrences around here.
However, every day is not an adjective in the following sentence, so it is written as two separate words:
We go through this routine every day.
Here every is an adjective modifying day.
Negatives are words such as – no, not, neither, nor, never, none, no one, and nothing. Other words – barely, hardly, and scarcely, for example – are also classified as negatives. They suggest ideas that are almost, but not quite, completely negative.
Not is an adverb that is often used to make sentences negative. In such sentences not can immediately follow forms of the verb be:
I am not ready to go yet.
You were not here to help me plan my trip.
Making sentences negative often means adding auxiliary verbs:
I do not know when the train leaves.
I have not packed yet.
Notice that in sentences like these not immediately follows the auxiliary verb and precedes the remainder of the verb phrase.
Not often combines with auxiliary verbs to form contractions, which are combinations of words in which apostrophes mark the places where letters were omitted:
I don’t want to see you again.
Never is an adverb that usually appears immediately before verbs and makes sentences strongly negative:
I never want to see you again.
Unlike not and never, other common words expressing negative ideas are not adverbs. No, for example, is usually an adjective; it modifies nouns (as in “We have no bananas”). None, no one, and nothing are pronouns that can function as subjects or objects and convey negative ideas at the same time.
We have none left.
No one Ellie knew was there.
Nothing you can say will make any difference.
The contraction ain’t is on everyone’s short list of grammatical errors. It should never be used in formal writing, and most people consider it a mistake even in informal writing or speech
One negative word is enough to make an entire sentence negative. Adding a second negative word is not only unnecessary but also unacceptable:
NOT: I didn’t do nothing.
Here, the contracted form of not is sufficient to make the entire sentence negative. The addition of a second negative word, nothing, does not help. The following version of the sentence is negative enough:
I didn’t do anything.
A double negative is the use of two negative words when one of them is unnecessary.
Barely, hardly, and scarcely are also sufficient by themselves to make sentences negative. Adding an additional negative word to a sentence already containing one of these words is an error:
NOT: I’ve had hardly no rest since school started.
In this revised version, the word hardly by itself is enough to suggest the negative idea:
I’ve had hardly any rest since school started.
Forming comparatives and superlatives of adjectives and adverbs
Many adjectives and adverbs are descriptive words, identifying the words they modify as having particular qualities. A sentence reporting that one person or thing has more of some quality than another requires a comparative form of an adjective or adverb, such as larger or more easily. When one person or thing has more of some quality than two or more others, a superlative form, such as largest or most easily, is needed.
Adjectives and adverbs form comparatives and superlatives in one of two ways. Endings may be added (-er for comparatives and –est for superlatives). Or more (for comparatives) and most (for superlatives) can be placed immediately before the adjectives or adverbs. Some adverbs, such as very and perhaps, do not form comparatives and superlatives.
Forming comparatives and superlatives of adjectives
Which comparative or superlative form of an adjective to use is usually determined by how many syllables the adjective has. Most adjectives with one syllable form the comparative by adding the ending –er. The ending –est is added to most one-syllable adjectives to form the superlative:
Bill is a tall boy for his age.
Comparative: Jim is taller than Bill.
Superlative: Frank, however, is tallest.
Some adjectives with two syllables form their comparatives and superlatives with more and most, such as modest (more modest, most modest) and varied (more varied, most varied). Others can form them both ways, such as friendly (friendlier or more friendly) and happy (happier or more happy, happiest or most happy). When in doubt, consult a dictionary to find the correct comparative and superlative forms.
More and most are used to form comparatives and superlatives of adjectives containing three or more syllables:
Meg is a successful inventor
Comparative: Beth is more successful than Meg.
Superlative: Amy, however, is most successful.
A comparative or superlative form of an adjective can be placed between a noun and its article, just as other adjectives can. Sometimes, however, a, an, or the is used with a comparative or superlative form that is not followed by a noun. In such a construction the comparative or superlative adjective modifies an unexpressed word, one:
Beth is the more successful (one) of the two.
Ellen is the tallest (one) of the three.
Forming comparatives and superlatives of adverbs
Like most one-syllable adjectives, most adverbs with one syllable form their comparatives and superlatives with the ending –er and –est:
My horse ran fast.
Comparative: Your horse ran faster.
Superlative: His horse ran fastest.
Most adverbs have two or more syllables. These adverbs form their comparatives and superlatives with more and most.
Alfred did his work quickly.
Comparative: Bob did his work more quickly than Alfred.
Superlative: Of the three, Cal did his work most quickly.
For most adjectives and adverbs, less and least are the forms used in negative comparisons:
Aaron is less intelligent than Claudia.
Of all the workers, George did the project least
efficiently.
However, fewer is used rather than less with count nouns:
count noun
There are fewer people here today than there were yesterday.
Mass nouns, on the other hand, form negative comparisons with less.
mass noun
There is less sugar in this recipe than in the other one.
Recognizing irregular comparatives and superlatives
The adjectives and adverbs in the list below have irregular comparative and superlative forms:
Irregular comparatives and superlatives
comparatives
superlatives
bad worse worst
badly worse worst
far farther farthest
further furthest
good better best
little less least
many more most
much more most
old older oldest
elder eldest
well better best
Avoiding misuse of comparatives and superlatives
Most comparative and superlative forms are easy to use. However, being aware of a few common errors will help you avoid misusing them.
Avoiding –er and –est with long adjectives and adverbs
The endings –er and –est are used only with one- or two- syllable adjectives and with one-syllable adverbs. Using these endings with longer adjectives or adverbs is not acceptable:
NOT: This picture is beautifuler than that one.
Beautiful is a three-syllable adjective, so its correct comparative form is more beautiful:
This picture is more beautiful than that one.
Avoiding double comparatives and superlatives
To form comparatives and superlatives of adjectives and adverbs, either add endings or use more and most. Using both at the same time is not acceptable:
NOT: My mother worked the most hardest of any person I ever knew.
Hard is a one-syllable adverb, so adding the ending –est is correct:
My mother worked the hardest of any person I ever knew.
Avoiding superlative forms for comparative forms
When only two people or things are being compared, it is a mistake to use a superlative form:
NOT: Greg is the kindest of the two brothers.
Since Greg and his brother are being compared, the comparative form kinder is correct:
Greg is the kinder of the two brothers.
Avoiding comparisons with words that cannot be compared
Some adjectives and adverbs name qualities that a person or thing either possesses or does not possess. These adjectives and adverbs cannot be compared because there is no way to possess more or less of the qualities they name. When George Orwell writes in his satire Animal Farm that “All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others,” his sarcastic point depends on the fact that two people, animals or things are either equal or they are not. Unique is another adjective that should never be compared: it means “the only one of its kind,” so one thing cannot be more unique than another.
Recognizing conjunctive adverbs
Good writers often indicate transitions between one idea and the next so that readers can follow their thoughts. Conjunctive adverbs, such as first, however, likewise, and finally, act as signposts to help guide readers easily from idea to idea. These adverbs modify whole sentences.
Below is a chart showing the most common conjunctive adverbs. The words grouped together on the chart are related in meaning.
addition
also besides furthermore moreover
contrast
conversely however instead nevertheless nonetheless
otherwise still
emphasis
certainly indeed surely
time
finally later meanwhile next
subsequently then first second third (and so on)
comparison
likewise similarly
consequence
accordingly consequently hence
summary
therefore thus
In addition to the one-word conjunctive adverbs on this list, phrases such as for example, on the other hand, as a result, and for instance also provide smooth transitions between ideas.
Using conjunctive adverbs in sentences
Conjunctive adverbs indicate the relationship between one idea and the next. Consider these two sentences, for example:
1. Anything can be counterfeited.
2. Shoppers should be wary of goods sold at unusually low prices.
The second of these sentences mentions one consequence of the idea expressed in the first sentence. A writer wishing to clarify the relationship between the two ideas could use a conjunctive adverb that suggests this relationship:
Anything can be counterfeited; accordingly, shoppers should be wary of goods sold at unusually low prices.
Conjunctive adverbs need not appear at the beginnings of sentences and clauses. Like many adverbs, they can be placed in different positions without changing the meaning of sentences:
People from New York are New Yorkers, and people from Philadelphia are Philadelphians. However, people from Sioux Falls are called people from Sioux Falls.
The conjunctive adverb however could be moved to a different position with no effect on the meaning of the sentence:
People from Sioux Falls, however, are called people from Sioux Falls.
Where writers put conjunctive adverbs depends on how they want to pace a sentence and what they want to emphasize.
Avoiding run-on sentences with conjunctive adverbs
When writers use conjunctive adverbs, they must be sure to avoid creating run-on sentences. In a run-on sentence two sentences are incorrectly punctuated as a single sentence. When two sentences are joined without any punctuation, the run-on sentence is called a fused sentence. When the two sentences are linked by a comma, the error is called a comma splice.
A conjunctive adverb does not affect the kind of punctuation required between two independent clauses. However, in the following example the conjunctive adverb is mistakenly used to connect two independent clauses.
NOT: An archer fish can shoot a jet of water as far as five feet, consequently, it can knock an insect from an overhanging branch.
The comma after consequently correctly separates the conjunctive adverb from the main portion of the second clause. However, the comma after feet is an error; a comma is insufficient to separate two independent clauses. If the writer does not wish to divide the passage into two separate sentences by putting a period after feet, a semicolon is necessary:
An archer fish can shoot a jet of water as far as five feet; consequently, it can knock an insect from an overhanging branch.
Adverbs modify verbs, adjectives, other adverbs, verbals, and whole sentences.
Modifiers should appear in sentences as close as possible to the words they describe.
Negatives are words such as no, not, neither, nor, never, none, no one, and nothing.
Double negatives should be avoided.
The comparative form of most adverbs (and adjectives) is usually formed by adding –er or the word more.
The superlative form of most adverbs (and adjectives) is usually formed by adding –est or the word most.
Conjunctive adverbs help guide readers from one idea to the next.