Types of adverbs

<span class='text_page_counter'>(1)</span>Adverbs are words that can describe: . verbs. → Read the instructions carefully.. . adjectives. . other adverbs. . whole sentences. → I am terribly sorry about what happened.. There are different types of adverbs:  Adverbs of manner. How?. → He speaks very quickly. → Apparently, he has forgotten our appointment.. happily  Adverbs of place Where? here.  after the main verb if there is no direct object. He sings badly.. Adverbs of place answer the questions beginning with Where…? Where are the kids? They are outside. Some adverbs of place are: here, there, somewhere, anywhere, everywhere, away, outside, inside, downstairs, upstairs…. Position They are usually placed at the end of the sentence. They go: . after the verb if there isn’t any object. Pam went downstairs.. . after verb+object or verb+preposition+object. I saw them there. We looked for the keys everywhere.. Position They are usually placed at the end of the sentence, although they can appear at the beginning of the sentence for emphasis. I am leaving today. Tomorrow they are getting married. The adverbs just, still and already appear in the middle of the sentence, between the auxiliary and the verb. They are still reading. She has just finished her homework. I have already seen that film. The adverb yet appears at the end of the sentence. It is used in interrogative and negative sentences. They haven’t called us yet.. Adverbs of frequency answer the que beginning with How often…? How often do you go to the theatre? I the theatre. occasionally.  after the direct object. She did her homework quietly.. Some adverbs of time are: today, tomorrow, yesterday, soon, now, then, recently, lately, just, still, already, yet…. rarely. These adverbs are placed:. seldom. Position. Adverbs of time answer questions beginning with When…? When is she coming back? She is coming back tomorrow.. hardly ever. We form these adverbs by adding –ly to the adjective. For example: slowly, quietly, carefully, beautifully, sadly….  Adverbs of time. never. Adverbs of manner answer questions beginning with How…? How does she speak? She speaks loudly.. sometimes. These are the most common frequenc often. They appear before the adjective or the adverb they modify. He is a rather clever boy. She dances quite well. If they modify a verb, they go: . before the main verb. I slipped and nearly fell.. . after auxiliary verbs, modal verbs and the verb to be. He can hardly see without his glasses. She didn’t really like the book.. always. Position. usually. Some adverbs of degree are: hardly, nearly, almost, very, really, much, fairly, quite, rather, pretty, extremely, incredibly…. frequently. Adverbs of degree are used to show the degree to which somebody or something has a characteristic. It is really cold this morning.. 100%75%50%25%0%. Position These adverbs are placed: before the main verb. I usually go out on Saturday nights.. I don’t often eat meat. after the verb to be or auxiliary ver She is always late for school. He has never seen that film..

<span class='text_page_counter'>(2)</span> Sentence adverbs are adverbs that modify a whole sentence. They are used to express how sure we are about what is said. Apparently, he won’t be here on time. Some sentence adverbs are: certainly, obviously, clearly, definitely, surely, probably, possibly…. Position They can appear in any position in the sentence. Actually, I didn’t buy anything. She’ll probably be late. She can dance well, obviously. When they are in the middle of the sentence, they are placed before the main verb or after the auxiliary. He definitely hates beer. They will probably arrive late.. We form most of adverbs (especially adverbs of manner) by adding –ly to their corresponding adjectives. wonderful – wonderfully kind – kindly slow – slowly nice – nicely BUT true – truly. When there are more than one adverb or adverbial phrases in a sentence, then we use them in the following order:. manner – place – time She worked hard at school (*) yesterday. But when the main verb of the sentence is a verb of movement, for example: go, leave, arrive, come…, then we use the adverbs in the following order:. place – manner – time He arrived here early this morning. (*) Prepositional phrases can also be used as adverbs: I go to school by bus.. Some adverbs are not formed according to the rule, while some others have the same form as their adjective.. Adjective. Adverb. Adjective. Adverb. good. well. late. late. But there are some rules:. fast. fast. early. early.  Adjectives which end in consonant + y change the –y to –i and add –ly. heavy – heavily easy – easily. far. far. near. near. hard. hard. high. high.  Adjectives which end in –ble or –le change the –e to –y. probable – probably gentle – gently BUT whole – wholly  Adjectives which end in –ic add –ally. tragic- tragically basic – basically public – publicly. Some adjectives end in –ly: deadly, elderly, friendly, lively, lonely, lovely, silly… The adverb of these adjectives is formed with “in a … way”. He is very friendly He behaved in a friendly way.. BUT. Some words ending in –ly are both adjectives and adverbs: hourly, daily, early, weekly, monthly, yearly… I bought a weekly magazine.  Adjectives which end in –ll ad –y. We play chess twice weekly. Some adjectives have two adverbs: one with the same form as the adjective and another in –ly. But the meaning of these adverbs is different.. AdjectiveAdverbAdverb deepdeep (a long way down)deeply (greatly) easyeasy (slowly, gently)easily (without difficulty) freefree (without cost)freely (with freedom) hardhard (with a lot of effort)hardly (scarcely, barely) highhigh (a long way up)highly (very much) lastlast (after all the others)lastly (finally) latelate (not early)lately (recently) nearnear (close)nearly (almost) suresure (certainly)surely (undoubtedly) wrongwrong (not correctly)wrongly (unjustly). I always work hard and pass my exams, but my sister hardly studies and she always fails her exams..

<span class='text_page_counter'>(3)</span> Short adverbs. There are some adverbs which don’t follow the rules and have irregular comparative and superlative forms.. One-syllable adverbs and adverbs with the same form as adjectives form their comparative by adding –er and their superlative by adding –est to the positive form of the adverb. fast. -. early. -. -. wellbetterbest. the fastest. badlyworseworst. earlier. soon. AdverbComparativeSuperlative. faster. littlelessleast. the earliest -. the soonest. sooner. muchmoremost farfarther / further farthest / furthest. Long adverbs Adverbs with more than two-syllables (adverbs ending in –ly) form their comparative with more and their superlative with most before the adverb.. Remember!  less + adverb + than, in the comparative degree, shows inferiority. It is the opposite of more … than. I see Brian less often than Daniel.  the least + adverb + of / in, in the superlative degree, shows inferiority. It is the opposite of the most … of. Diana works the least hard in the class..  Use than after the comparative and of or in after.  as + adverb + as shows similarity. He runs as fast as his sister (does).. the superlative degree.  Use the article the before the.  not as / so + adverb + as shows dissimilarity. She doesn’t swim as / so fast as her brother (does). superlative degree.. Write the words in brackets in the correct place.. I have cereal for breakfast. (usually). The children played in the afternoon. (upstairs). __________________________________________. ___________________________________________. Sandra is going to participate in the competition.. Andrew ate his sandwich. (quickly). (definitely). ___________________________________________. __________________________________________. The football match had started when we arrived at the. I was glad to see Mary after so many years. (really). stadium. (already). __________________________________________. __________________________________________. We go to the cinema on Saturdays. (hardly ever). My sister will go to Egypt in summer. (probably). __________________________________________. __________________________________________. The two girls were talking when I arrived. (happily). Peter and Sam meet every day. (here). __________________________________________. __________________________________________. My mother felt tired this morning. (extremely). It is impossible that Ann arrives on time. (almost). __________________________________________. __________________________________________. I have an appointment with the doctor. (tomorrow). The factory workers are on strike. (still). __________________________________________. __________________________________________. My brother is complaining about everything. (always). Karen opened her presents on her birthday. (eagerly). __________________________________________. __________________________________________.

<span class='text_page_counter'>(4)</span> Write the words in the correct order and make sentences.. often / in the afternoon / go / for a walk / I. in front of the TV / comfortably / Mrs. Jones /. __________________________________________. / is sitting / now. his dinner / Ben / hungrily / ate / at the restaurant. __________________________________________. __________________________________________. all night / the baby / peacefully / in his cradle /. the classroom / left / noisily / the students /. / slept. / two minutes ago. __________________________________________. __________________________________________. always / carefully / her motorbike / rides / Susan. played / yesterday / the children /in the garden /. __________________________________________. / happily. very quickly / Janet / her homework /last night / did. __________________________________________. __________________________________________. carefully / examined / the doctor / the patient. very / the plane / late / at the airport / arrived. __________________________________________. __________________________________________. my father / hard / always / in his office / works. certainly / is / today / to the meeting / going / Paul. __________________________________________. __________________________________________. Alex / every day / to school / by bus / goes. my father / in the morning / early / usually / gets up. __________________________________________. __________________________________________. I / go / tomorrow / probably / shopping / will. Pam / wonderfully / at the concert / sang / last night. __________________________________________. __________________________________________. Choose for each sentence the appropriate adjective, then complete the sentences with the adverbs of these adjectives.. 2. 1 David was very bad at tennis, but he plays __________ now. Please, drive __________. The road is very wet. I’m a bit worried, the child is playing very __________, I can’t hear him. Let’s run __________.The bus is coming!. (good – bad). 3. (dangerous - careful). 4. When Lisa got the phone call, she smiled __________. Alison has got new glasses. Now she can see things __________. I saw Tim at the dentist’s. He was sitting __________.. (noisy - quiet). (slow - fast). Thomas took an umbrella because it was raining __________. Sam arrived at home late last night and his wife was waiting __________.. 5. Eddie works as a chef, but he cooks ________.. 6. Emily didn’t have breakfast so she ate her lunch __________. (happy - sad). Daniel looks sad. I think he did __________ in the exam.. 12. 11. 10. 9. (bad - clear). 7. 8 (good - bad). (slow - hungry). (terrible - good). (angry - happy). (quick - heavy). (nervous - happy).

<span class='text_page_counter'>(5)</span> Complete the blanks with the correct form of the adverbs. POSITIVE. COMPARATIVE. SUPERLATIVE. fast. ___________________. ___________________. quietly. ___________________. ___________________. ___________________. ___________________. the most slowly. early. ___________________. ___________________. ___________________. worse. ___________________. cheaply. ___________________. ___________________. ___________________. ___________________. the most beautifully. correctly. ___________________. ___________________. ___________________. ___________________. the best. ___________________. farther. ___________________. politely. ___________________. ___________________. ___________________. harder. ___________________. ___________________. ___________________. the most cleverly. wisely. ___________________. ___________________. ___________________. more quickly. ___________________. Complete the blanks with the comparative or superlative of the adverbs in brackets.. Write sentences using as…as and as/so…as, as in the examples.. Susan is studying __________ (hard) than she did last year.. Sophie studies / hard / Phil Sophie studies as hard as Phil.. Amanda eats __________ (healthily) than his brother. Maggie paints __________ (well) in the class. Alex walked __________ (far) than Alexis in the excursion.. . . Mark drives / fast / Helen Mark doesn’t drive as /so fast as Helen.. Diana behaved __________ (cheerfully) of all the people in the party. Cheetahs can run __________ (fast) of all animals.. Carol sings / beautifully / Kate. . ____________________________________________. She dressed __________ (expensively) than she could afford. Alan speaks Italian __________ (fluently) than Jack. Charlie played __________ (badly) of all in the team. The teacher treats Anne __________ (well) than the other students. My little sister goes to bed __________ (early) in the family. Your daughter danced __________ (gracefully) of all in her class. Helen drives __________ (carelessly) than she used to. My father sleeps __________ (soundly) of all the people I. Tony came / soon / he could. . ____________________________________________. Martin’s book is sold / well / Lucy’s. . ____________________________________________. The parents behaved / stupidly / their children. . ____________________________________________. know.. . Planes can fly __________ (high) than birds.. Tim plays football / badly / Peter. She speaks __________ (politely) of all my friends.. ____________________________________________. John stayed at the party / late / Sandra. . ____________________________________________. Melissa gets up / early / her mother. . ____________________________________________.

<span class='text_page_counter'>(6)</span> Choose the correct alternative for each sentence.. You should eat __________ if you want to lose weight. leastb) littlec) less Our team played __________ of all in the Championship. worseb)the worstc) badly My new motorbike doesn’t cost as __________ as yours. moreb) mostc) much The postman came __________ than I had expected. earlierb) earlyc) earliest Today the children are playing __________ than yesterday. more quietb) more quietlyc) quieter Colin speaks French less __________ than I do. wellb) goodc) better It has been raining __________ for weeks. If it doesn’t stop soon, we will have a flood. hardb) hardlyc) harder Could you please speak __________? I can’t understand you. more slowb)slowc) more slowly Alan missed the train because he arrived __________ at the railway station. lateb) laterc) lately The air-hostess spoke to us __________. friendlyb) in a friendly wayc) in a friend way My dog barks __________ than my neighbour’s dog. more loudb) loudlyc) less loudly Although Henry studied __________ he could, he failed the exam. as hard asb) hardc) hardly John was so tired that he could __________ keep his eyes open. hardb) hardlyc) harder We had a map, so we found the hotel __________. easilyb) easierc) easy My neighbour plays the music the __________ of all in the neighbourhood. more loudlyb)most loud c) most loudly.

<span class='text_page_counter'>(7)</span> ANSWER KEY. 1. 2 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16.. well carefully quietly fast happily clearly nervously heavily angrily terribly hungrily badly. 3. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15.. 5. 1. 2. 3.. I usually have cereal for breakfast. Sandra is definitely going to participate in the competition. I was really glad to see Mary after so many years. We hardly ever go to the cinema on Saturdays. The two girls were talking happily when I arrived. My mother felt extremely tired this morning. I have an appointment with the doctor tomorrow. My brother is always complaining about everything. The children played upstairs in the afternoon. Andrew ate his sandwich quickly. The football match had already started when we arrived at the stadium. My sister will probably go to Egypt in summer. Peter and Sam meet here every day. It is almost impossible that Ann arrives on time. The factory workers are still on strike. Karen opened her presents eagerly on her birthday.. 4. harder more healthily the best farther / further the most cheerfully the fastest more expensively more fluently the worst better the earliest the most gracefully more carelessly the most soundly higher. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15.. 16. Pam sang wonderfully at the concert last night.. POSITIVE fast quietly slowly early badly cheaply beautifully correctly well far politely hard cleverly wisely quickly. 6. I often go for a walk in the afternoon. Ben ate his dinner hungrily at the restaurant. The students left the classroom noisily two minutes ago. The children played happily in the garden yesterday. The doctor examined the patient carefully. My father always works hard in his office. Alex goes to school by bus every day. I will probably go shopping tomorrow. Mrs. Jones is sitting comfortably in front of the TV now. The baby slept peacefully in his cradle all night. Susan always rides her motorbike carefully. Janet did her homework very quickly last night. The plane arrived at the airport very late. Paul is certainly going to the meeting today. My father usually gets up early in the morning.. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9.. COMPARATIVE faster more quietly more slowly earlier worse more cheaply more beautifully more correctly better farther / further more politely harder more cleverly more wisely more quickly. SUPERLATIVE the fastest the most quietly the most slowly the earliest the worst the most cheaply the most beautifully the most correctly the best the farthest / the furthest the most politely the hardest the most cleverly the most wisely the most quickly. Carol sings as beautifully as Kate. Tony came as soon as he could. Martin’s book isn’t sold as / so well as Lucy’s. The parents behaved as stupidly as their children. Tim doesn’t play football as badly as Peter. John didn’t stay at the party as late as Sandra. Melissa gets up as early as her mother.. 16. the most politely. 7. 1. c. 2. b. 3. c. 4. a. 5. b. 6. a. 7. a. 8. c. 9. a. 10. b. 11. c. 12. a.

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