What are Adverbs in Grammar? A Complete Guide

In English, some words modify other words to provide more information in the sentence. Adverbs are among such words. They modify verbs, adjectives, and other adverbs to add more detail to the sentence and tell us a bit more about the things that happened in the sentence.

In this article, you will learn what an adverb is, why we use adverbs in sentences, different types of adverbs, and how to use them properly.

What is an Adverb?

An adverb in English is a word that is used to describe or modify a verb, another adverb, an adjective, or even the whole sentence.

Take a look at the following examples to see how an adverb functions in a sentence:

• He ran immediately.
• He is very honest with his work.
• They finished their work too quickly.
• Accordingly, he finished his work.
• Suddenly, the door was closed.

In these examples, we used adverbs:

• immediately
• very
• quickly
• accordingly
• suddenly

You can quickly identify these adverbs in the above sentence and see how they modify the meaning of the sentence by modifying the verb, adjective, another adverb, or even the whole sentence.

These adverbs provide us with more detail in the sentences. If we remove these adverbs from the sentences, they will look like this:

• He ran.
• He is honest with his work.
• They finished their work.
• He finished his work.
• The door was closed.

So, without using adverbs properly, we don’t get key details in these sentences. Instead, these are simple statements. Thus, we use adverbs to make our sentences more elaborate and explanatory.

Adverb Examples

Most of the adverbs are easy to recognize in the sentence because they usually end in -ly. However, some adverbs do not end in -ly. Take a look at the following examples:

• rarely, often, frequently
• suddenly, immediately, instantly, quickly
• really, interestingly, surprisingly,
• very, quite, almost, rather, 
• here, there, everywhere, anywhere
• well, bad, worst, 
• early, abruptly, similarly
• today, yesterday, every day, someday
• exactly, absolutely, completely, totally

Types of Adverbs

Adverbs are further classified into different groups based on the time, manner, degree, and more.  The common types of adverbs are:

• Adverbs of Frequency
• Adverbs of Time 
• Adverbs of Place
• Adverbs of Manner
• Adverbs of Degree
• Conjunctive Adverbs

Adverbs and Verbs

Adverbs often modify verbs. This means that they describe the way an action is happening.

For example;

• I will definitely read the book. 
• She waits impatiently for us. 
• They quickly finished their work and went home. 
• They suddenly left us in the rain. 

In the above sentences, you might have noticed that adverbs modify the meaning of a verb by adding more detail and information for the reader or listener. The reader or listener will understand how the actions are happening in the sentence.

Exception of the rule – Linking Verbs

Adverbs do not mix well with linking verbs. Linking verbs are verbs that precede adjectives, not adverbs. The most common examples of linking verbs are;

• feel
• smell
• sound
• seem
• appear

Let’s take a look at the following example;

• It smells terrible.
• It appears delicious.
• He sounds fluent in English. 
• It seems better to work together. 
• He feels good while recovering from his ailment. 

Adverbs and Adjectives

Adverbs also modify adjectives in the sentence. When they modify adjectives, they provide more details in the sentence by describing the adjectives in their intensity and qualification.

Examples

• Your story is more interesting than others.
• He speaks very fast.
• He is a really honest person.
• She is very happy with her job.
• The art gallery is quite impressive.

Here, interesting, fast, honest, happy, and impressive are all adjectives, and we used more, very, really, very, and quite respectively with these adjectives to add more intensity and detail in the sentences.

Adverbs and Other Adverbs

Sometimes, we use an adverb to modify another adverb in these sentences. As we learned from the definition of adverbs, adverbs can also modify other adverbs in a sentence.

Therefore, you can use an adverb to describe another adverb. See the following examples using adverbs to modifly other adverbs:

• He answered the question almost completely. 
• He started his story very interestingly.
• He is almost always late for work.
• They would rather quietly leave.
• He opens the door quite suddenly. 

In fact, if you wanted to, you could use several adverbs to modify another adverb.

However, that often produces weak and clunky sentences like the one above, so be careful not to overdo it.

Sentence Adverbs

Some adverbs modify the meaning of the entire sentence. These adverbs are known as sentence adverbs.

Most commonly, sentence adverbs are used at the beginning of the sentence, and they provide us with more detail about the meaning of the entire sentence. Here are some examples of sentence adverbs:

• Generally
• Interestingly
• Accordingly
• Luckily
• Fortunately

You may have encountered these types of adverbs while reading. They are used frequently at the start of the sentence. In addition to modifying the entire sentence, these sentence adverbs help us to connect sentences and create a flow of thoughts in our paragraphs. 

See the examples below to learn how sentence adverbs are used.

• Fortunately, we arrived there in time.
• Interestingly, we look at the whole collection.
• Accordingly, she prepared for the exam.
• Luckily, he submitted his application before the deadline.

Degrees of Comparision

Adverbs can also be used in their comparative and superlative degrees, like adjectives. Some adverbs look similar to adjectives, and they share the same degrees. Let’s take a look at the degrees of adverbs in more detail.

A positive or absolute adverb describes something in its own right.

• He welcomes us warmly.
• He presents the gift beautifully.
• He works at the store happily.

To make the comparative form of an adverb that ends in -ly, add the word more:

• He worked more happily.
• He wrote his assignment more hastily.
• She told the story more surprisingly.

Add the word most to make the superlative form of an adverb that ends in -ly.

• The painting is most beautifully created.
• He hugged me most warmly.
• He welcomed his class most warmly.

How to Use Adverbs in Sentences

Placement of Adverbs

The general rule is that an adverb must be placed close to the verb that it is modifying in the sentence. If you place the adverb too far away from the verb, the sentence will look awkward and may create a different meaning than you are supposed to convey.

Example 1:

• He almost finished all his work assignments
• He finished almost all his work assignments.

Example: 2

• He suddenly approached the door.
• He approached suddenly the door.

If an adverb is used to modify a verb phrase in the sentence, place the adverb in the middle of the phrase that it intends to modify.

• She will definitely learn rules from the book. 
• He has often told us to work hard for the exam. 
• They would certainly help us.

Conclusion

An adverb is a word that modifies or describes a verb, adjective, or another adverb in the sentence. The primary purpose of using an adverb in a sentence is to provide more detail to the sentence. By doing so, it helps us better understand the meaning of the sentence.

Adverbs are further categorized into two different types based on describing time, place, manner, and more. 

Therefore, learning how to use adverbs in a sentence is extremely important for improving communication skills. 

Frequently Asked Questions

Here are some of the most frequently asked questions.

What is an adverb?

An adverb is a word that modifies or describes a verb, an adjective, another adverb, or the whole sentence.

What are some examples of adverbs in English?

Here are some examples of commonly used adverbs in English:

• Generally
• Suddently
• Happily
• Quickly
• Surprisingly
• Effectively

How to use adverbs in a sentence?

Generally, an adverb is placed close to the verb, adjective, or other adverb that it intends to modify. Therefore, placing an adverb too far away from the verb, adjective, or another adverb may create an awkward sentence and produce a different meaning entirely.

I hope this article helped you learn the meaning and definition of an adverb, the common types of adverbs, and how to properly use adverbs in sentences.

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• Adverbs of Degree
• Adverbs of Place
• Adverbs of Time
• Adverbs of Frequency
• Adverbs of Manner
• Conjunctive Adverbs: How to Use Them?