THE 10 TYPES OF ADVERBS:
1. Adverbs of Time
There are two official types of adverbs of time.
a. “how long” adverbs
How long adverbs are used to describe "for how long something happens".
Some examples of how long adverbs include the following:
for a year, for a month, for a day, for an hour, for a second, for a minute, etc.
examples:
"I have been sitting here for two hours."
"She has been living here for seven years already."
The underlined phrases are the “how long adverbs", and they modify their respective verbs, "have been sitting" and "has been living".
b. “when” adverbs
These adverbs are used to tell "when", or "on what specific time something happens" like:
today, yesterday, tomorrow, in the afternoon, in the night, at one o’clock, at seven pm, next year, next month, next week, etc.
examples:
"Classes will start next week."
"I saw him at the mall yesterday."
The underlined phrase and word are “when” adverbs, and they tell when something happens: "When will classes start?", or "When did I see him at the mall?".
2. Adverbs of Frequency
Adverbs of Frequency, also known as Frequency adverbs, are partly a subset of adverbs of time but are officially separate. They are used to show or tell "how often something happens or is done" like:
rarely, occasionally, once, twice, often, every day/daily, monthly, yearly, hourly, &, etc.
examples:
"I eat an apple daily."
"We go to Grandpa’s house yearly."
The underlined words are “frequency” adverbs, and they are used to modify the verbs "eat" and "go". They tell or describe how often the actions eat and go are done.
3. Adverbs of Place
Adverbs of Place are used to describe the direction, distance, movement, or position involved in the action of a verb like the words:
behind, uphill, forward, backward, downward, upward, up, down, sideward, south, west, east, northeast, southwest, anywhere, everywhere, etc.
examples:
"I like to go anywhere as long as there is plenty of food."
"Sandy hates walking uphill."
"She is behind you."
The words underlined are the adverbs of place. They describe/modify the direction of the action words. They answer the question “where is an action done? Where is the action intended to happen?” or any question related to "where" (place).
4. Adverbs of Manner
Adverbs of Manner answer the question, “how is something done?".
These adverbs can modify verbs, adjectives, other adverbs, or clauses of a sentence.
examples:
"Lindy dances gracefully."
The word “gracefully” is an adverb, particularly an adverb of manner. It is used to tell how Lindy dances. When asked, how does Lindy dance? GRACEFULLY!
"Don slowly sips his tea."
The word “slowly” is an adverb of manner. It is used in this sentence to tell how Don sips his tea-- that is "slowly".
Now, how are Adverbs of Manner identified? And how are they formed?
Forming Adverbs of Manner
Adverbs of Manner are mostly formed by just adding “-ly” at the end of an adjective.
(refer to table below)
examples:
"Aliyah is a quick learner."
The word “quick” is an adjective. An adjective is any word that is used to “describe” something.
In the sentence, an adjective is used (quick) to describe the subject (Aliyah).
If the adjective “quick” is turned into an adverb, it will be “quickly”. An “-ly” is added.
Now the adverb “quickly” is used in the original sentence, it will be written this way:
"Aliyah learns quickly." or "Aliya quickly learns."
Either of the two is correct.
In the original sentence, “quick” is used, an adjective describing the subject "Aliyah".
In the revised sentence, “quickly” is used, an adverb telling people “HOW” the subject "Aliyah" learns—that is quickly.
5. Adverbs of Degree
Before defining “Adverbs of Degree”, the meaning of the word “degree” should be made known first.
Degree, according to The Oxford Dictionary, refers to the amount, level, or extent to which something happens or is present.
Highlighting the word “level”:
In school, there are different grade levels-- 1, 2, 3, 4, and so on.
There are also degrees by Celsius, Fahrenheit, Joules, etc.
In English grammar, there are these “Adverbs of Degree”.
Adverbs of Degree are used to indicate the intensity, degree, or extent of the verb, adjective, or adverb they are modifying. They always appear before the adjective, verb, or another adverb they describe.
Some adverbs of degree include:
really, quite, absolutely, utterly, fully, a bit, unusually, slightly, fairly, etc.
When these adverbs are used to modify or describe adjectives, they are put before the adjectives.
examples:
"This box is absolutely tiny."
The word “tiny” here is an adjective, and it is used to describe the "box".
Before the word “tiny”, there is the word “absolutely”, an adverb telling "how tiny" the box is. In this sentence, while the adjective is used to describe the noun, the adverb is used to tell the degree of the adjective. How tiny is the box? Absolutely. Which could also mean, extremely tiny.
"The exam was extremely difficult."
The word “difficult” here is an adjective that is used to describe the "exam".
And before the word “difficult”, there is the word “extremely”, an adverb describing "how difficult" the exam was.
6. Focusing Adverbs
Focusing Adverbs are used to "draw attention" or "highlight" a particular part of a clause.
Some examples include:
too, as well, at least, also, additionally, simply, merely, etc.
examples:
"I might as well attend the party."
The phrase “as well” is a Focusing Adverb, and it is used to highlight the thought or part of the sentence that "I might go to the party, too".
"She is also smart."
The word “also” is a Focusing Adverb, and it is used to emphasize that the subject (she) has that "smart" attribute too.
Adverbs According To Their Functions
There are groups of Focusing Adverbs according to their uses. The common ones are the following:
Focusing Adverbs for adding information
also
as well
too
additionally
example:
"Rod is coming to the camp, and Ryko is coming too."
Focusing Adverbs for limiting information
When there is a need to emphasize information that presents or shows limits, the following focusing adverbs are used.
• precisely
• purely
• simply
• solely
• alone
• exactly
• exclusively
• just
• merely
• not only
• only
• but
example:
“Just Rod is coming to the camp.”
Meaning: Rod is coming to the camp but is not bringing a friend or anyone else.
Focusing Adverbs for partially limiting information
There will be times when there is a need to emphasize information that isn’t completely limited,
but rather partially limited. For that purpose, the following focusing adverbs can be used.
• chiefly
• especially
• mainly
• mostly
• notably
• particularly
• in particular
• predominantly
• primarily
• at least
• for the most part
• by and large
example:
“She wants everybody to come to the wedding, especially Ariadna.”
Meaning: She wants everybody to come to the wedding, but she wants Ariadna to come the most.
7. Negative Adverbs
Negative Adverbs are used to "describe or modify" the meaning of a verb, adjective, another adverb, or an entire clause in a "negative way".
There are the two most common Negative Adverbs:
No and Not
Many scholars say that the words “no” and “not” should not be classed as adverbs, but most grammarians on the other hand would argue that they should be. Let’s find out why.
Either no or not is often used to make a certain statement negative.
example:
Somebody says,
"We should tolerate bullying."
This sentence tells us that they can and should tolerate bullying by doing so.
If this is to be opposed, no or not will be used to modify the main verb negatively. The main verb here is “tolerate”.
So, it will turn into:
"We should not tolerate bullying."
What a difference the word no or not makes!
The word “not” here acted as the modifier of the verb. It described the case of the verb as negative, so it is an adjective. And those grammarians who stood firm arguing that no and not should be classed as adverbs are correct.
It is not just the adverbs no or not that can be used to negate a certain statement.
There are also some other adverbs that are almost equal to no/not like:
hardly, barely, and scarcely for almost no
and
no longer, barely ever, hardly ever, and never for completely no.
example:
"I can read the words."
If it is to be made negative, the words hardly, barely, or scarcely can be used before the main verb “read” to mean: I cannot almost read the words.
"I can hardly read the words."
If it is to be addressed that: I cannot completely read the words, then any of these above adverbs (no longer, barely ever, hardly ever, and never) can be used and say:
"I cannot read the words."
or
"I can never read the words."
or
"I can hardly ever read the words."
8. Evaluative Adverbs
Evaluative Adverbs are also known as Commenting Adverbs.
Instead of giving information about the action itself, these adverbs are used to comment or give an opinion on something. They modify (describe) the entire clause/sentence.
Evaluative Adverbs are different from other adverbs. Other adverbs like the adverbs of time, adverbs of place, adverbs of manner, and the other ones are used to modify or describe just a certain part of a sentence like: "when" an action word happens, "where" that action happens, or “how” it happens while evaluative adverbs describe the entire clause or sentence itself.
Evaluative adverbs include but are not limited to:
clearly, frankly, carelessly, definitely, fortunately, unfortunately, fairly, doubtfully, honestly, foolishly, doubtlessly, hopefully, generously, obviously, etc.
example:
"Unfortunately, Ali can barely read the text."
In this sentence, there are two adverbs: "unfortunately" and "barely".
"Unfortunately" is an Evaluative Adverb, and "barely" is a Negative Adverb.
Just like any other type of adverb, the Negative Adverb “barely” here only describes how the verb “can read” not be done by the subject "Ali".
“Unfortunately” on the other hand describes or modifies the entire sentence or clause. It gives a comment on the situation. Even if the Evaluative Adverb (unfortunately) is removed, the sentence will still make sense and be considered complete because basically, an opinion is only given on the situation.
9. Viewpoint Adverbs
Viewpoint Adverbs are used almost the same as Evaluative Adverbs, but the two cannot be interchanged or confused.
While Evaluative Adverbs are used to give a comment or an opinion on something, Viewpoint Adverbs are used to indicate or tell whose point of view is expressed, or to specify what aspect of something is talked about.
Evaluative Adverb example sentence:
“Unfortunately, Ali can barely read the text.”
The Evaluative Adverb in this sentence is used to describe or modify the entire sentence, telling the observation of the speaker, in which, according to observation, it is “unfortunate” for Ali being not able to read the text.
For Viewpoint Adverbs, they usually use personal pronouns like:
I, you, me, her, his, him, them, they, etc.
Viewpoint adverbs include:
for me/you/him/her/them
in my/their/his/her/your/our opinion
according to him/her/them/you
according to me/you/him/her/them
as far as I/you/he/she/they am/is/are concerned
in my/your/his/her/their view
to my/your/his/her/their knowledge
from my/your/his/her/their perspective
from my/your/his/her/their point of view
personally
There are also some specific aspects to use for viewpoint adverbs like:
medically
morally
officially
outwardly
physically
politically
scientifically
technically
theoretically
visually
biologically
environmentally
ideologically
industrially
financially
formally
inwardly
linguistically
mathematically
etc.
When these adverbs are used in a sentence, it will look like this:
examples:
"For me, this dress is too small for a night out."
The same with Evaluative Adverbs, an opinion about something is given, but this time, a Viewpoint Adverb “for me” is used to tell that this opinion is "mine" or from "me".
"Medically, carbonated drinks are not good for the body."
Here, an expert opinion is expressed, and the Viewpoint Adverb “medically” is used to tell that this opinion or professional opinion/fact is from medical experts.
10. Relative Adverbs
Relative Adverbs are like Relative Pronouns. They introduce Relative Clauses that modify a noun or a noun phrase. However, while relative pronouns use (that, which, or who) to relate information to a person or a thing, Relative Adverbs use (where, when, and why) to relate information to a place, time, or the reason an action took place.
where for a place
when for time
why for reason
examples:
"Miranda, the place where I was born, is a very beautiful place."
"I have to directly buy groceries when I get to the store."
"Do you have an idea why the Earth rotates?"
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