Tips on Using Adverbs
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The document provides 10 tips for using adverbs correctly in sentences. It defines what an adverb is and the different types of adverbs including adverbs of time, manner, place, frequency, degree. It then lists the 10 tips which include rules for using adverbs like else, otherwise, never, not, nowhere as well as tips for word order and placement of adverbs like enough, rather, often in sentences. Examples are provided to illustrate each tip for proper adverb usage.
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Tips on Using Adverbs
- 1. 10 TIPS on USING ADVERBS Grammar Rules and Tips for using Adverbs
- 2. Identify the Adverbs Alisha left home early for her driving test. She drove nervously to the test centre. When the examiner asked her to set off, she drove slowly but steadily down the street. Shortly after she had started, another car came in front of her suddenly. Alisha could not see clearly but she swerved right sharply to avert collision. Her car was badly damaged after hitting the pavement. Fortunately, the examiner appreciated her presence of mind and she passed the test successfully. s u c c e s s f u l l y h a n e r v o u s l y s o s t e a d i l y b c l r s u d d e n l y d f o t g s h c l e a r l y w l b a d l y e a r l y l y t v x r s h a r p l y f o r t u n a t e l y j
- 3. Identify the Adverbs Alisha left home early for her driving test. She drove nervously to the test centre. When the examiner asked her to set off, she drove slowly but steadily down the street. Shortly after she had started, another car came in front of her suddenly. Alisha could not see clearly but she swerved right sharply to avert collision. Her car was badly damaged after hitting the pavement. Fortunately, the examiner appreciated her presence of mind and she passed the test successfully. s u c c e s s f u l l y h a n e r v o u s l y s o s t e a d i l y b c l r s u d d e n l y d f o t g s h c l e a r l y w l b a d l y e a r l y l y t v x r s h a r p l y f o r t u n a t e l y j
- 4. What is an Adverb? An Adverb is a word which modifies the meaning of a Verb, an Adjective or another Adverb. Note: Adverbs often end with “ly”. He is a very intelligent boy. ‘very’ modifies the Adjective ‘intelligent’ She acted remarkably. ‘remarkably’ modifies the Verb ‘act’ Her act was remarkable. here ‘ remarkable’ is an adjective modifying the noun ‘act’ Adverbs normally answer the following types of questions: 1. When? She always arrives early. 2. How? He drives carefully. 3. Where? They go everywhere together. 4. In what manner? She eats slowly. 5. To what extent? It is terribly hot.
- 5. Types of Adverbs Adverb of Time: describes when or for how long a certain action happened. Example words: Already, ago, before, yet, never, soon, yesterday, soon, lately. Example sentence: I have heard this before. I have not seen him since. Adverb of Frequency: describes how often something occurs, either in definite or indefinite terms. Example words: Always, once, seldom, rarely, usually. Example sentence: He often makes mistakes. (indefinite) I have told you twice. (definite) Adverb of Place: tells about where something happens or where something is. Example words: Here, everywhere, near, down, away, backward, upward. Example sentence: There was somebody standing nearby. Is that your scarf there?
- 6. Types of Adverbs Adverb of Manner: shows how or what way something happens or is done. Example words: So, slowly, badly, beautifully, delightfully, loudly, anxiously. Example sentence: The soldiers fought bravely. Is that so? Adverb of Degree: shows how much, or in what degree or to what extent of qualities, properties, states, conditions and relations. Example words: Almost, fully, rather, quite, too, enough, perfectly, lots. Example sentence: I am fully prepared. I am rather busy. Adverb of Affirmation and Negation: answers that something is true or some equivalent negative statement. Example words: Certainly, surely, apparently, obviously, no, undoubtedly. Example sentence: Surely you are mistaken. He is undoubtedly the best swimmer in the team.
- 7. Tips on using Adverbs
- 8. Else: should be followed by ‘but’. ‘Except ‘ is used before object pronoun (him, her, them, us, me) It is nothing else than sheer madness. (Wrong) It is nothing else but sheer madness. (Correct) She has no one else to look after her but me. (Wrong) She has no one else to look after her except me. (Correct) Other, Otherwise: are followed by ‘than’. There is no way of reaching the island other than by boat. A partnership cannot be ended otherwise than by mutual agreement. Tip #1: Else, Other, Otherwise Never: is always placed after the verb BE or an auxiliary verb. For all other verbs, never is placed in front of the verb. They are never late. It never rains in January. Not: is a negative adverb but the use of ‘never’ in place of ‘not’ is incorrect. I never went to Delhi last year. (Wrong) I did not go to Delhi last year. (Correct) Nowhere: is placed directly after the verb. This road goes nowhere. Tom has nowhere to go. Tip #2: Never, Not, Nowhere
- 9. Seldom or Never/Seldom, If Ever: used to describe rarely, infrequently. The export quality tea is seldom or never used in the country. I have seldom, if ever been so embarrassed. Little or Nothing/Little, If Anything: used to describe ‘hardly anything’. I can find little or nothing to fault in this book. There is little, if anything in the fridge to eat. Tip #3: Seldom Or Never, Little or Nothing Tip #4: Very, Much Very: modifies the present particle and is used as an adverb or an adjective in positive degree. He is very tired after the journey. She is the very best teacher in our school. (used in superlative degree) Much: used with comparative degree and with past participles. A much loved member of the family. She is much wiser than her mother. (before a comparative or superlative degree)
- 10. So: should always be used with ‘that’. She is so poor that she could not study further. Too: should always be used with ‘to’. She is too poor to study further. Too, As well, Also: used in the sense ‘besides’ or ‘in addition to’ . She found her bag and money too/as well. She found her bag and also money. (note: also is not used in end position) Tip #5: So, Too, Also Enough: can be used as both an adjective or an adverb. As an adverb it is always placed after the adjective it modifies. He has enough money to spend. (adjective) He was kind enough to help others with money. (adverb) Rather: is an adverb of degree. It can also be used before a noun with ‘a’ or ‘an’ placed before the noun. She is rather intelligent. It is rather a nuisance. I would rather have fruit juice. (used as preference) Tip #6: Enough, Rather
- 11. Today,Since, Later: used to tell us when or for how long an action happened. They are placed at the end. I saw Sally today. I will call you later. I have not seen you since Monday. Often, Usually, Rarely: express the frequency of an action. Placed before the main verb. I often eat vegetarian food. He rarely lies. He usually comes late. I am seldom late. Tip #7: Often, Usually, Later Tip #8: Inversion with Adverbs If an adverb is placed in front of a sentence, normal order of subject and verb is reversed, generally for emphasis. After negative adverbial expressions: Under no circumstances can we accept credit cards. After 'seldom', 'rarely', 'never', and 'little': Seldom have I seen such a beautiful view. Rarely did he pay anyone a compliment. Never had I felt so happy. Little did he imagine how dangerous it would be. After 'only' and 'not only': Only when the plane landed safely did he calm down. Not only was the car slow, it was also very uncomfortable.
- 12. Hardly, Scarcely: adverbs of frequency meaning ‘almost not at all’ She could scarcely keep her eyes open. I hardly know them. They are often used to emphasise that one event quickly followed another. Hardly ever did she go on holiday. (She hardly ever went on holiday.) Scarcely had she finished reading when she fell asleep. (She had scarcely finished reading when she fell asleep.) Barely had they won the match when the coach had a heart attack. (They had barely won the match when the coach had a heart attack.) Tip #9: Hardly, Scarcely As: should be used to introduce predicative of the verbs like regard, describe, view, know, define, treat. I regard him as my brother He treated him as his younger brother. Exceptions: ‘as’ should be avoided to introduce predicative of the verbs like name, elect, think, consider, call, appoint, make, choose. He was elected president of the committee. Yes/No: should be used according to the affirmative and negative answer to the question. Have you taken food? No, I have not taken food. (Yes, I have not taken food- Wrong) Tip #10: As, Yes/No
- 13. Spot the Errors
- 14. He plays tennis good. I am very much sorry. She angrily spoke. The room is enough spacious for us. I know them hardly. Spot the Error
- 15. He plays tennis good. He plays tennis well. I am very much sorry. I am very sorry. She angrily spoke. She spoke angrily. The room is enough spacious for us. The room is spacious enough for us. I know them hardly. I hardly know them . Spot the Error
- 16. The description was given vivid. The flower smells sweetly. He was exceedingly paid for how skilful he handled the crowd. They never are pessimistic. She nowhere has to go. Spot the Error
- 17. The description was given vivid. The description was given vividly. The flower smells sweetly. The flower smells sweet. He was exceedingly paid for how skilful he handled the crowd. He was exceedingly paid for how skilfully he handled the crowd. They never are pessimistic. They are never pessimistic. She nowhere has to go. She has nowhere to go. Spot the Error
- 18. He was enough patient to listen to every complaint. He has been in hospital for last three days. She is too beautiful. They behaved cowardly. Never I have seen such a mess. Spot the Error
- 19. He was enough patient to listen to every complaint. He was patient enough to listen to every complaint. He has been in hospital for last Tuesday. He has been in hospital since last Tuesday. She is too beautiful. She is very beautiful. They behaved cowardly. They behaved in a cowardly manner. Never I have seen such a mess. Never have I seen such a mess. Spot the Error
- 20. I considered him as a friend. He plays tennis usually. There is no way of finishing the work other by increasing team strength. She knows them scarcely. She baked the cake and as well ate. Spot the Error
- 21. I considered him as a friend. I considered him a friend. He plays tennis usually. He usually plays tennis. There is no way of finishing the work other by increasing team strength. There is no way of finishing the work other than by increasing team strength. She knows them scarcely. She hardly knows them. She baked the cake and as well ate. She baked the cake and ate it as well. Spot the Error
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Editor's Notes
- VO: 10 Tips on using adverbs
- VO: We will begin this module reading the text on screen: Alisha left home early for her driving test. She drove nervously to the test centre. When examiner asked her to set off, she drove slowly but steadily down the street. Shortly after she started, another car came in front of her suddenly. Alisha could not see clearly but she swerved right sharply to avert collision. Her car was badly damaged after hitting the pavement. Fortunately, the examiner appreciated her presence of mind and she passed the test successfully. Now, in the written piece there are some adverbs in each sentence. The same adverbs are hidden in the grid puzzle as well. Let’s find out the adverbs from the text and grid.
- VO: The answers appear in form of the highlighted words on screen. These are all different types of Adverbs. So, let first understand what is Adverb.
- VO: A word that gives more information or modifies the meaning of a verb, an adjective, or another adverb is called an Adverb. Adverbs often end with “-ly” like beautifully, shortly, carefully. But in many cases Adverb resemble very closely with Adjectives in a sentence. So follow the examples carefully. Remember that words like manly, weekly, monthly end with ‘-ly’ but they are adjectives and not adverbs. Words like fast, hard, straight, late, safe can be used both as adverb and adjective. But identifying adverbs in a sentence is not very difficult. Normally adverbs answer five types of questions for the existent verb, adjective or adverbs in a sentence: When, How, Where, In what manner and To what extent. The answers determines the types of adverbs that we will be discussing now.
- VO: In different types of Adverbs, first we will see Adverb of Time that answers the question when or for how long a certain action happened. For example, when we say ‘I have heard this before”, -’before’ indicates the time of ‘hearing’. Already, ago, before, yet, never, soon, yesterday, soon, lately are some of the examples of Adverbs of Time . Then Adverb of Frequency: describes how often something occurs, either in definite or indefinite terms. For example, when it is said-He often makes mistakes- here often depicts frequency but the number is not defined or definite. But in case of “I have told you twice”- we see that the frequency of telling is definite-twice or two times. Always, once, seldom, rarely, usually are examples of Adverb of Frequency. Adverb of Place: is the third type of adverbs that tells about where something happens or where something is. For example in the sentence “There was somebody standing nearby”- the word nearby gives information about the location of the said person. Here, everywhere, near, down, away, backward, upward are examples of Adverb of Place.
- VO: Adverb of Manner shows how or what way something happens or is done. For example, the word ‘bravely’ explains in what manner the verb ‘fight/fought’ was performed by the soldiers. So, slowly, badly, beautifully, delightfully, loudly, anxiously are examples of Adverb of Manner . Adverb of Degree: shows how much, or in what degree or to what extent of qualities, properties, states, conditions and relations. So when we say “I am fully prepared.” , here the adverb “fully” answers degree of preparation. Words like Almost, fully, rather, quite, too, enough, perfectly, lots are other examples of Adverbs of Degree. Finally, Adverb of Affirmation and Negation: answers that something is true or some equivalent negative statement. For example in the sentence ‘Surely you are mistaken.’, the adverb, ‘surely’ sort of emphasizes that you are mistaken, without any possibility of doubt. Certainly, surely, apparently, obviously, no, undoubtedly are examples of Adverbs of Affirmation and Negation
- VO: Now that we have covered the basic knowledge about Adverbs, let us get few tips on usage of some specific adverbs in different types of sentences.
- VO: le’s begin with the word ‘Else’. Remember, while using ‘else’ in a sentence, it should be followed by ‘but’. For example ; It is nothing else but sheer madness. We don’t say It is nothing else than sheer madness. But in some cases where ‘else’ indicates towards an object pronoun (him, her, them, us, me) then ‘except’ should be used before such pronouns. Foe example we say She has no one else to look after her except me. To say ‘She has no one else to look after her but me’ is wrong. Similarly remember, while using the words Other and Otherwise as adverbs in a sentence, they are always followed by ‘than’. For example--There is no way of reaching the island other than by boat. OR A partnership cannot be ended otherwise than by mutual agreement. The word Never, being an adverb of time , is generally placed before the verbs like “It never rains in January.”- here “never’ comes before the verb ‘rains’. But remember the exception, Never is always placed after the verb BE or an auxiliary verb. So we say “he is Never wrong” or “They are never late”. We don’t say “They never are late.” Now, though ‘Not’ is a negative adverb like Never but that doesn’t mean they can be replaced by each other. For example, we don’t say I never went to Delhi last year. Instead we say “I did not go to Delhi last year.”. But another negative adverb ‘Nowhere’ is always is placed directly after the verb. For example: This road goes nowhere. OR Tom has nowhere to go.
- VO: The word “Seldom’ is used to describe rarely, infrequently. But when used as an adverb in a sentence in a combination as seldom or never and seldom, if ever . When it is said The export quality tea is seldom or never used in the country- it means usage of team is very infrequent or never. But in the sentence, I have seldom, if ever been so embarrassed- it means hardly/rarely such embarrassment has taken place in the past. Similarly the combination words of Little or Nothing/Little, If Anything are used to describe ‘hardly anything’. In the example “I can find little or nothing to fault in this book” it is meant in the sense “almost nothing “. Whereas when we say “There is little, if anything in the fridge to eat.”-- "if not" is used to compare two levels or two extents to which something is true. Here it means, either there is little food left in fridge or nothing at all. Then the word “Very” serves two purposes- it modifies present particle used as adjective, adverb and adjective in positive degree. For example when it is said “She is the very best teacher in our school” – here the adjective “best” already qualifies the noun “teacher”. However, “very’ re-emphasizes this and points out distinctly, as in used in superlative degree. On the contrary, Much is used with comparative degree and past participle. In the sentence --A much loved member of the family– much is used with past particle case ‘loved’. Much is also used before a comparative or superlative degree. For example: She is much wiser than her mother—in the sense a comparison between she and her mother.
- VO: The words “So” and “Too’ are both used to describe something extreme. However, in case of adverbs, So should always be used with ‘that’. Like, She is so poor that she could not study further. Similarly Too should always be used with ‘to’. She is too poor to study further. On other hand, words like Too, As well, Also are used to describe ‘besides’ or ‘in addition to’ . Like we see in the sentence “She found her bag and money too/as well” . But note the placement of the word “also” in the sentence She found her bag and also money. “Also” is not used in end position. Enough is a tricky word as it can be used as both adjective and adverb. Note the difference in the two examples very carefully. In the sentence--He has enough money to spend. – enough quantifies the amount of the noun ’money’, hence it is an adjective. But when we say - He was kind enough to help others with money. – the word ‘enough’ emphasizes the adjective ‘kind’. So, as an adverb Enough is always placed after the adjective it modifies. In case of the word Rather it is an adverb of degree. It can also be used before a noun with ‘a’ or ‘an’ placed before the noun. For example- It is rather a nuisance. But when we say, I would rather have fruit juice- it is used as preference as if above everything else.
- VO: As we have seen in the beginning, tell us when an action happened, but also for how long, and how often. So, Adverbs of time have standard positions in a sentence depending on what the adverb of time is telling us. For example, Adverbs that tell us when are usually placed at the end of the sentence. As we see in the sentence: I saw Sally today. Similarly, Adverbs that tell us for how long are also usually placed at the end of the sentence. Usually, words like ‘for’ or ‘since’ are used to describe this, as wee in the sentence: I have not seen you since Monday. Or My mother lived in France for a year. But for words like often, usually, rarely, never- although being used adverbs of time , these words tell us how often express the frequency of an action. They are usually placed before the main verb. As we can see in the examples: I often eat vegetarian food. He rarely lies. However, there is an exception- these adverbs are placed after auxiliary verbs such as be, have, may, & must. Like we see in the sentence I am seldom late --seldom reperesents frequency of the action ‘late’ but is placed after ‘am’. Now coming to Adverbs of Inversion, it is a literary technique in which the normal order of words is reversed, generally for emphasis or special effect. So, during the formation of the sentence, the verb is placed before the subject. For example the sentence I have never seen such a beautiful rose can also be said as “Never have I seen such a beautiful rose.” to add striking or special effect. With adverbs like seldom, rarely, never, only, Not only, such techniques of inversion are used in sentences like: Seldom have I seen such a beautiful view. Rarely did he pay anyone a compliment. Only when the plane landed safely did he calm down. Note, in all these examples, the sentence begins with Adverb,
- VO: The words, Hardly, Scarcely, Barely are adverbs of frequency meaning ‘almost not at all’ or ‘only just’. Hardly is much more common than scarcely, and scarcely is more formal. As we see in the examples: She could scarcely keep her eyes open. OR I hardly know them. They are placed before the verb. However, in more formal styles, we put them in front position and invert the subject and verb. For example- while expressing She hardly ever went on holiday– to add effect we can also say- Hardly ever did she go on holiday. So, ‘ever went’ is inverted to ‘ever did she go” Remember, Negative adverbs (seldom, nowhere, rarely, hardly) should not be used with the words negative in meaning. For example, to say-She hardly knows nothing about the place- is wrong. The correct sentence is say-She hardly knows nothing about the place. The word “As” should be used to introduce predicative of the verbs like-regard, describe, view, know, define, treat. Like we see in the examples- I regard him as my brother. I regard him as my brother He treated him as his younger brother. However remember, ‘as’ should be avoided to introduce predicative of the verbs like-name, elect, think, consider, call, appoint, make, choose. For example we say- He was elected president of the committee. And not He was elected as president of the committee. Finally, the words Yes and NO should be used according to the affirmative and negative answer to the question. For example when asked -- Have you taken food? –if you want to say you have not taken food then the answer should be--No, I have not taken food. Yes, I have not taken food is wrong.
- VO: Each of the following sentences will contain a mistake in the usage of Adjectives. See if you can spot that mistake.
- VO: Can you spot the errors in these 5 sentences? Please pause the video here to see if you can spot all 5 errors.
- VO: He plays tennis good. Good is an adjective. The adverb for this meaning is well. So we say He plays tennis well. I am very much sorry is wrong. The correct sentence would be I am very sorry. This is because Very is used without much before adjectives and adverbs in the positive degree. She angrily spoke is wrong because Adverbs of manner usually go in the end-position of a sentence. So the correct sentence would be She spoke angrily. In the sentence- The room is enough spacious for us- the word enough is placed wrongly because the adverb enough goes after the adverb it modifies. So the correct sentence is The room is spacious enough for us. Similarly the correct sentence is I hardly know them . To say I know them hardly- is wrong
- VO: Can you spot the errors in these 5 sentences? Please pause the video here to see if you can spot all 5 errors.
- VO: The sentence The description was given vivid- is wrong because the word vivid is an adjective. But here we need to use the word vivid as an adverb which answers the question ‘how was the description given?’. So the correct answer would be- The description was given vividly. Similarly, when we say the flower smells sweetly it is wrong. Replace 'sweetly' with 'sweet‘ here. Note carefully After the words - taste, feel, seem, appear, look, smell, remain, adjective should be used, not adverb. So the correct answer is The flower smells sweet. He was exceedingly paid for how skilful he handled the crowd. --here the 'Skilful' is to be used an adverb that qualifies the verb 'handled'. So, the correct sentence should be: He was exceedingly paid for how skilfully he handled the crowd. In the sentence They never are pessimistic – the word never is placed incorrectly because Never is always placed after the verb BE or an auxiliary verb. So, the correct answer is They are never pessimistic. To say- She nowhere has to go- is wrong because Nowhere is placed directly after the verb. Sp the correct answer is She has nowhere to go.
- VO: Can you spot the errors in these 5 sentences? Please pause the video here to see if you can spot all 5 errors.
- VO: The sentence -He was enough patient to listen to every complaint- is wrong because Enough As an adverb is always placed after the adjective it modifies. So the correct answer is He was patient enough to listen to every complaint. We usually don’t say She is too beautiful because Too means more than it ought to be. It has a negative meaning. So we say She is very beautiful. The sentence They behaved cowardly is wrong. Some words ending in ly are adjectives, and not normally adverbs. Cowardly is one among them. Other common examples are costly, deadly, friendly, likely, lively, miserly, lovely, lonely, silly etc. There are no adverbs like cowardlily or costlily. To modify the verb behave we have to use an adverb, not an adjective. Since there is no adverb for this meaning, we use the adverb phrase in a cowardly manner. In case of the sentence, Never I have seen such a mess the rule of inversion for adverbs is not followed correctly. As we know, If a negative word/adverb is put at the beginning of a sentence, it is usually followed by auxiliary verb + subject. So the correct sentence is -Never have I seen such a mess.
- VO: Can you spot the errors in these 5 sentences? Please pause the video here to see if you can spot all 5 errors.
- VO: I considered him as a friend is incorrect because ‘as’ is not used with words like lname, elect, think, consider, call, appoint, make, choose. The correct answer is I considered him a friend. The sentence He plays tennis usually is wrong because Adverbs like “usually, often, rarely”, express the frequency of an action and they are placed before the main verb. So the correct answer is He usually plays tennis. There is no way of finishing the work other by increasing team strength is not correct. The adverbials other and otherwise are always followed by ‘than’. So the correct answer is There is no way of finish the work other than by increasing team strength. The sentence She scarcely knows them is incorrect. The correct way to say it is She hardly knows them. This is because scarcely means almost not at all. Hardly is much more common and means “only just’. Both hardly and scarcely are placed before the verb. Finally, the sentence - She baked the cake and as well ate is incorrect. Remember, words like “as well” are used in the sense ‘besides’ or ‘in addition to’ and are placed at end of the sentence . So the correct answer is She baked the cake and ate it as well.