What is an Adverb?

An adverb is a word that is used to change or qualify the meaning of an adjective, a verb, a clause, another adverb, or any other type of word or phrase with the exception of determiners and adjectives that directly modify nouns.

Traditionally considered to be a single part of speech, adverbs perform a wide variety of functions, which makes it difficult to treat them as a single, unified category. Adverbs normally carry out these functions by answering questions such as:

• When? She always arrives early.
• How? He drives carefully.
• Where? They go everywhere together.
• In what way? She eats slowly.
• To what extent? It is terribly hot.

This is called adverbial function and may be accomplished by adverbial clauses and adverbial phrases as well as by adverbs that stand alone.

There are many rules for using adverbs, and these rules often depend upon which type of adverb you are using. Remember these basics, and using adverbs to make sentences more meaningful will be easier for you.

• Adverbs can always be used to modify verbs. Notice that the second of these two sentences is much more interesting simply because it contains an adverb:
  • The dog ran. (You can picture a dog running, but you don’t really know much more about the scene.)
  • The dog ran excitedly. (You can picture a dog running, wagging its tail, panting happily, and looking glad to see its owner. You can paint a much more interesting picture in your head when you know how or why the dog is running.)
• Adverbs are often formed by adding the letters “-ly” to adjectives. This makes is very easy to identify adverbs in sentences. There are many exceptions to this rule; everywhere, nowhere, and upstairs are a few examples.
• An adverb can be used to modify an adjective and intensify the meaning it conveys. For example:
  • He plays tennis well. (He knows how to play tennis and sometimes he wins.)
  • He plays tennis extremely well. (He knows how to play tennis so well that he wins often.)

As you read the following adverb examples, you’ll notice how these useful words modify other words and phrases by providing information about the place, time, manner, certainty, frequency, or other circumstances of activity denoted by the verbs or verb phrases in the sentences.

Examples of Adverbs

As you read each of the following adverb examples, note that the adverbs have been italicized for easy identification. Consider how replacing the existing adverbs with different ones would change the meaning of each sentence.

1. She was walking rapidly.
2. The kids love playing together in the sandbox.
3. Please come inside now.
4. His jokes are always very funny.
5. You don’t really care, do you?

Adverbs Exercises

The following exercises will help you gain greater understanding about how adverbs work. Choose the best answer to complete each sentence.

1. The driver stopped the bus _______________.
   1. Financially
   2. Exactly
   3. Abruptly
   4. Now
   Answer: C. The driver stopped the bus abruptly.
2. During autumn, colorful leaves can be seen falling ______________ from trees.
   1. Everywhere
   2. Very
   3. Gently
   4. Loudly
   Answer: C. During autumn, colorful leaves can be seen falling gently from trees.
3. My grandmother always smiled _______________.
   1. Cheerfully
   2. Sadly
   3. Never
   4. Yesterday
   Answer: A. My grandmother always smiled cheerfully.
4. After the party, confetti was strewn _________________.
   1. Blandly
   2. Everywhere
   3. Later
   4. Carefully
   Answer: B. After the party, confetti was strewn everywhere.
5. It’s time to go ____________.
   1. Before
   2. Now
   3. Yesterday
   4. Lightly
   Answer: B. It’s time to go now.

Adverbs List

There are many different words that function as adverbs. The following list is broken down into segments which list adverbs by function. After reading, you will be able to think of additional adverbs to add to your own list – after all, there are thousands.

Many adverbs end in “-ly”. This makes it very easy to spot the adverbs in most sentences.

Abruptly

Boldly

Carefully

Deliberately

Excitedly

Financially

Horribly

Mildly

Naughtily

Openly

Poorly

Quickly

Sadly

Terribly

Willingly

Yearly

Some adverbs tell us where the action happened. These are known as adverbs of place.

Everywhere

Here

Inside

There

Underground

Upstairs

Certain adverbs let us know when or how often the action happened. These are known as adverbs of time and adverbs of frequency.

After

Always

Before

Later

Now

Today

Yesterday

Many adverbs tell us the extent of the action.

Almost

Enough

So

Too

Quite

Rather

Very

Some adverbs are used as intensifiers.

Absolutely

Certain

Completely

Heartily

Really

Certain adverbs called adverbs of manner tell us about the way in which something was done.

Briskly

Cheerfully

Expectantly

Randomly

Willingly

Some groups of words serve the same functions as adverbs. These are known as adverb clauses. Be sure to read the adverb clause section to learn new ways to make your sentences even more interesting.

What is verb?

VERBS

Verbs have traditionally been defined as words that show action or state of being.
            
            
Verbs can also sometimes be recognized by their position in a sentence.
In the following two sentence frames, only a verb can be put into the empty slot.

            NOUN __________                            THERE ________ NOUN

                            (verb)                                                        (verb) 

         

Often, prefixes and suffixes (affixes)  will signify that a word is a verb.  For example, the suffixes -ify, -ize, -ate, or -en usually signify that a word is a verb, as in typify, characterize, irrigate, and sweeten.  Prefixes such as be-, de-, or en-  may signify that a word is a verb, as in bestow, dethrone, and encourage.  
These affixes, often inconsistent from verb to verb, are called derivational affixes. Added to a word, they either change the word's part of speech
     Example:
      

or change the word's meaning
     Example:

The base form of a verb is derived from the verb’s infinitive:  to  +  verb
             
        
Four suffixes consistently added to a verb’s base create all forms of a verb used in all tenses:

1. -s          creates 3rd person singular / present tense  (He talks.)

2. -ing       creates the present participle / used with be  (He is talking.)

3. -ed        creates the simple past  (He talked.)

4. -en        creates the past participle / used with have  (He has talked.)

Note:

The -en verb ending used with a form of to have as an auxiliary is generally written -ed, as in has talked.

    

Unlike the derivational affixes, these inflectional suffixes are consistently used with all verbs, even though their form may look different from verb to verb.

Because many verbs in English are irregular; as result, their –ed and/or –en  endings may not follow any obvious pattern.

Examples:
(to write)	Smith writes short stories at home. (-s ending)
	Smith is writing short stories at home. (-ing ending)
	Smith wrote short stories at home. (-ed ending)
	Smith has written short stories at home. (-en ending)
	*
(to buy)	Jones buys a newspaper each day.  (-s ending)
	Jones is buying a newspaper today.  (-ing ending)
	Jones bought a newspaper yesterday. (-ed ending)
	Jones has bought newspapers every day.  (-en ending)
	*
(to go)	Students go to the library often. (-s ending)
	Students are going to the library often. (-ing ending)
	Students went to the library often. (-ed ending)
	Students have gone to the library often. (-en ending)

  
    
The majority of verbs are regular and consistently use -ed and -en to form their simple past tense and past participles. (e.g. talked, has talked)
  
Many verbs are irregular, however, and follow no consistent pattern in creating their -ed and/or -en forms.  A list of the major irregular verbs is shown below.

Present	Past (-ed form)	Past Participle (-en form)
arise	arose	arisen
ask	asked	asked
attack	attacked	attacked
awaken	awakened OR awoke	awakened
bear	bore	borne/born
begin	began	begun
blow	blew	blown
break	broke	broken
bring	brought	brought
burst	burst	burst
choose	chose	chosen
cling	clung	clung
come	came	come
dive	dived OR dove	dived
do	did	done
drag	dragged	dragged
draw	drew	drawn
drink	drank	drunk
drive	drove	driven
drown	drowned	drowned
eat	ate	eaten
fall	fell	fallen
fly	flew	flown
forgive	forgave	forgiven
freeze	froze	frozen
get	got	got OR gotten
give	gave	given
go	went	gone
grow	grew	grown
hang (things)	hung	hung
hang (people)	hanged	hanged
happen	happened	happened
know	knew	known
lay	laid	laid
lead	led	led
lie	lay	lain
loosen	loosened	loosened
lose	lost	lost
pay	paid	paid
ride	rode	ridden
ring	rang	rung
rise	rose	risen
run	ran	run
see	saw	seen
set	set	set
shake	shook	shaken
shrink	shrank OR shrunk	shrunk OR shrunken
sing	sang	sung
sink	sank OR sunk	sunk
sit	sat	sat
speak	spoke	spoken
spin	spun	spun
spit	spat	spat
spring	sprang OR sprung	sprung
steal	stole	stolen
sting	stung	stung
stink	stank OR stunk	stunk
strive	strove	striven
study	studied	studied
swear	swore	sworn
swim	swam	swum
swing	swung	swung
take	took	taken
tear	tore	torn
throw	threw	thrown
wake	woke OR waked	woken OR waked
wear	wore	worn
weave	wove	woven
wring	wrung	wrung
write	wrote	written

  

A verb phrase is defined as the main verb together with all its auxiliaries (helping verbs).

Auxiliary verbs always precede the main verb.

There are two types of auxiliary verbs:

1. Inflected auxiliary verbs: 

be

have

do

2. Modal auxiliaries (considered more fully under (auxiliary verbs)

present	past	no tense
will	would	must
shall	should
can	could
may	might

    

Examples of verb phrases:

He has taken the test.	(auxiliary has  +  main verb  take.)
He is taking the test.	(auxiliary is  +  main verb  take)
He did take the test.	(auxiliary do  +  main verb take)
He has been taking the test.	(auxiliaries has been + main verb take)

Verbs may be divided into three types:

A.     Action verbs - show an action -- either physical or mental

             

B.   Verbs of being (forms of be - is, are, was, were, has/have/had been, will be) - show a state of existence:

          

C.  **Linking verbs - link a subject with its complement 

            (A subjective complement "completes" / "equals" the subject.)

            Linking verbs:  appear, taste, smell, feel, look, sound, grow, seem, remain, become

    

        NOTE:  Most linking verbs can also be used as action verbs.

    
            

Action verbs may be either transitive or intransitive.

A.  A transitive verb is one that is followed by a direct object.

  Example: 

  
        

B.  An intransitive verb is one that is NOT followed by a direct object.

   Example:
   

              

Caution:  An intransitive verb may be followed by adjectives, adverbs, and/or prepositional phrases.  As long as the verb is not followed by a noun or pronoun functioning as the direct object, the verb is intransitive.

   Example:   

    

          

NOTE:  Some action verbs may be either transitive or intransitive.

  Example:  (left) 

         
        

          Another example (read):                   

            
              
          


Verbs have three moods:  indicative, imperative, and subjunctive.
A. The indicative mood states a fact, asks a question, or exclaims.
          

B. The imperative mood gives a command.  The subject is always "you" understood.
          

C. The subjunctive mood occurs in two instances:

1. The sentence indicates a situation contrary to fact.

          

2. The sentence

shows a wish, desire, or demand

in a nominal clause beginning with that

following verbs such as desire, demand, request, suggest

            

Types of Pronouns: Personal Pronouns

Explanation of Personal Pronouns

In a sentence, a personal pronoun can be used in place of a noun that is mentioned earlier in that sentence. You should also know that personal pronouns can have two functions—they can act as either the subject or the object in the sentence. With this, it can be further categorized into two kinds: the subjective personal pronoun (used as the subject) and the objective personal pronoun (used as the direct object, indirect object, or object of the preposition).

In order to use personal pronouns effectively and avoid confusion, you must make sure that the personal pronoun that you will use agrees in number (singular: I, you, me, she, he, it, him, her; plural: you, they, we, them, us), gender (feminine, masculine, neuter), and person (first person, second person, third person).

Examples of Personal Pronouns

The underlined words in the sample sentences below show how personal pronouns are used.

• He bought a new gaming laptop.
• Can you take him to the hospital?
• You gotta be kidding me!
• Honestly, I think he won’t make it.
• They are the worst groupmates I ever had!
• Will you join with us?
• She pushed the little kid down the stairs.
• We are going to the coffee shop. Do you want to come with us?
• Michael and I got it from the novelty shop.
• Get them something to drink.

Examples of Personal Pronouns in Literature

All of the sentences from famous literary works provided below contain examples of personal pronouns (underlined words).

• “Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another: “What! You too? I thought that no one but myself . . .”” – C.S Lewis, The Four Loves
• “You love me. Real or not real?”
  I tell him, “Real.” – Suzanne Collins, Mockingjay
•  “That’s the thing about pain,” Augustus said, and then glanced back at me. “It demands to be felt.” – John Green, The Fault in Our Stars
• “In vain have I struggled. It will not do. My feelings will not be repressed. You must allow me to tell you how ardently I admire and love you.” – Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice
• “So, I love you because the entire universe conspired to help me find you.” – Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist
• “I believe that life is a game, that life is a cruel joke, and that life is what happens when you‘re alive and that you might as well lie back and enjoy it.” – Neil Gaiman, American Gods
• “Why did you do all this for me?’ he asked. ‘I don’t deserve it. I‘ve never done anything for you.’ ‘You have been my friend,’ replied Charlotte. ‘That in itself is a tremendous thing.” – E.B White, Charlotte’s Web
• “What I want is to be needed. What I need is to be indispensable to somebody. Who I need is somebody that will eat up all my free time, my ego, my attention. Somebody addicted to me. A mutual addiction.” – Chuck Palahniuk, Choke
• “Nothing of me is original. I am the combined effort of everyone I‘ve ever known.” – Chuck Palahniuk, Invisible Monsters
• “It‘s just that I don’t want to be somebody’s crush. If somebody likes me, I want them to like the real me, not what they think I am. And I don’t want them to carry it around inside. I want them to show me, so I can feel it too.” – Stephen Chbosky, The Perks of Being a Wallflower

Function of Personal Pronouns

The main function of the personal pronoun is to take the place of a noun in a sentence. It can be used as a subject or an object (direct, indirect, object of the preposition) in a text/speech, and can serve as a good way to help you avoid repetition of specific nouns. Thus, it can be considered as a tool that can help ease the flow of words and sentences in your speech or writing.