English [6.1] Kinds of Adverbs Mitsa Tutoring Organization || 2021.

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INSTRUCTIONS: Determine what question the underlined adverb answers. (e.g. They
visited today. When did they visit?)
1. They were very excited to go on a field trip.
_____________________________________________
2. Andy will still perform later.
_____________________________________________
3. I’m kind of tall for my age.
_____________________________________________
4. Blathers eagerly led me to the next exhibit.
_____________________________________________
5. Joy ran downstairs when she heard the doorbell.
_____________________________________________
6. Yuta travels to his home country yearly.
_____________________________________________

Determine the objects of adverbs

Classify adverbs according to their types and the questions they answer

Know the right adverbs to use to add detail to sentences

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Adverbs
We know that adverbs are used to describe adjectives, verbs, or other adverbs,
but like adjectives, they can describe other words in different ways. Like you
answered in the Measure activity, adverbs can answer the questions when, where,
how, how much, how often, and yes or no. All of these questions correspond to the
different kinds of adverbs:
1. Adverbs of Time
2. Adverbs of Place
3. Adverbs of Manner
4. Adverbs of Degree
5. Adverbs of Frequency
6. Adverbs of Certainty

Adverbs of Time
Example 1: We moved to Manila last month.

In the example above, when did they move? The answer, last month, is the
adverb of time in the sentence. Time adverbs answer the question “when did it
happen?” or “[verb] when?” and describe both verbs and adjectives.

Example 2:
I am busy right now. (busy is an adjective)
I was excited to leave yesterday. (excited is an adjective)

In Example 2, the phrase right now modifies being busy and yesterday modifies
being excited. The act of being busy or excited may be seen as a verb, but it is a verb
of being, and the adjective is the main part of the phrase. When will you be busy?
Later. When were you excited? Yesterday.

Example 3: Start practicing when?

Next week, we start practicing.
We start practicing next week.

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NOTE:

Aside from being next to the verb or verb phrase, adverbs of time can also be placed
at the start of the sentence to be more formal.

Adverbs of Place
Adverbs of place answer the question “where did it happen?” or “[verb]
when?”. However, they shouldn’t be confused with place nouns (e.g. school, Laguna)
or prepositions (e.g. at, above) which also describe places.

Example 4:
Mark lived in Canada.
Mark lived there.

In the first sentence, in on its own is a preposition since it is connected to a

place noun, Canada, and not a verb. Answering just “in” to the question “lived where?”
would be lacking. However, “in Canada” is a prepositional phrase that functions as an
adverb, answering the question “lived where?”, which means the prepositional phrase
in the sentence as a whole is an adverb, but the words by themselves are not.

There in the second sentence modifies the verb lived, which means it is used
as an adverb. Where did Mark live? “There” and “in Canada” both answer this
question.

Example 5:
He was happier in Canada. (happier is an adjective)
Aside from verbs, place adverbs can also describe adjectives.
Where was he happier? In Canada.

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Example 6:
I look good here.
The tripod was knocked over.

NOTE:

Look [good] where? The first sentence describes the verb look, not the
adjective good.

Knocked where? “Over” may seem like an odd answer since “knocked over” is
a phrase that usually comes as one and isn’t thought of as two separate words, but it
still describes the action of being knocked, so over in this sentence is a place adverb.
This also applies to phrases like “caved in” or “go away”. It still somehow describes
where the action is going.

Adverbs of Manner
These are the most common type of adverbs since they simply describe how
an action was done, though they may get confused with the other types of adverbs
often. They also end in -ly most of the time, as seen in loudly, quickly, and proudly,
but they may also be simpler words like well or fast.

Example 8:
The performance was beautiful.
They performed beautifully.

NOTE:

Adjectives can be turned into adverbs by adding -ly at the end. We can
describe the performance as beautiful, or we can describe the way they performed as
beautifully.

How did they perform (verb)? Beautifully (adverb)

How was the performance (noun)? Beautiful (adjective).

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They most commonly describe verbs and can be placed after the word/phrase,
before the verb itself, or at the start of the sentence.

Example 9:
Jacob spoke quietly to Eric.
Jacob spoke to Eric quietly.
Jacob quietly spoke to Eric.
Quietly, Jacob spoke to Eric.

Adverbs of Degree
Degree adverbs tell us how much something is and answer the question “how
[adjective/adverb]?”. Some examples are too, very, almost, and barely.

Example 10:
I’ll wait until the water is hot enough.
The water is almost hot.
The water is too hot now.

All of the sentences describe the adjective hot and answer “how hot?”. Unlike
the first 3 kinds of adverbs described, degree adverbs describe adjectives and
adverbs more than verbs.

Example 11: James danced very gracefully.

Very (degree adv.) describes gracefully (manner adv.) which describes danced (verb).

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Example 12:
Surprisingly, I passed the exam.
The questions were surprisingly difficult.

NOTE:

There are some instances where a word can be both an adverb of manner and
degree depending on the sentence. Both of these sentences use the word
surprisingly, however the first sentence uses it with the verb passed, and the second
uses it with the adjective difficult.

How (in what way) did you pass the exam? In a surprising manner.
They were surprised they passed. Passing the exam was surprising.

How hard were the questions? Surprisingly difficult.

The questions were so difficult that it was surprising.

“Surprisingly” in the two sentences answered two separate questions. Other examples
are “amazingly” and “oddly”. Try thinking of example sentences for these.

Adverbs of Frequency
Adverbs of frequency are similar to adverbs of time, but they describe how
often an action occurs repeatedly. They can be used with verbs, adjectives, and other
adverbs. Some examples are frequently, seldom, and never.

Example 13:
I rarely order directly from abroad. (order is a verb)
International shipping is usually expensive. (expensive is an adjective)
Although, the places I buy from are never very far. (very is an adverb)

Frequency adverbs also include words that say the number of times the action
was repeated (eg. once), or how often within a specific period of time (eg. daily).

Example 14:
Sungchan goes to work weekly.
He had to change outfits twice today.

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Adverbs of Certainty
Example 15:
Johnny is not coming to school today. (coming is a verb)

What kind of adverb is the example above? What kind of question does it
answer? Not looks like a frequency or degree adverb, so let’s ask how often is he
coming to school today? How much is he coming to school today?

If we comprehend the sentence, “not coming to school today” might sound like
an answer that does fit somehow, but the structure of the questions may not fit with
this situation.

You can’t sometimes go to school today because going to school on this day is
a one time occurrence, not one that repeats, so it’s not an adverb of frequency. You
also can’t extremely come to school or any more/less intensely than normal, so it’s
not an adverb of degree (remember degree adverbs also don’t usually modify verbs).

Let’s try replacing not with definitely (Johnny is definitely coming to school
today.) The word ends in -ly, so is this an adverb of manner? How did he come to
school today? We can’t say he went in a definite way. These types of adverbs do not
fit into the other types, so they have their own kind.

These are examples of adverbs of certainty. They are also called adverbs of
affirmation and negation because they describe true or false (yes or no), or how sure
you are. Some examples are never, possibly, and certainly. Many of these words can be
used as other kinds of adverbs if they were put in different sentences.

Let’s look at the example again. Since we now know that this type of adverb
describes yes or no, let’s ask is he coming to school today? No, he is not and
definitely can be answers for this. This is the type of question certainty adverbs
answer. They may be easily confused with degree adverbs, but think of it as the
degree of true of false in the adverb rather than the degree itself. However, they are
used with degree adverbs often.

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Example 16:
The lesson is undoubtedly quite difficult. (quite is a degree adverb)
However, the mentees are surely smart enough. (smart is an adjective)

They can describe verbs, adjectives, and adverbs. The examples above answer
the questions is the lesson quite difficult? and are the mentees smart enough?

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Adverb Where Used Question answered Examples

Time adjectives, verbs when? soon, so far

Place adjectives, verbs where? nearby, everywhere

Manner verbs how? well, loudly

Degree adjectives, adverbs how much? really, quite

Frequency adjectives, adverbs, verbs how often? often, usually

probably not,
Certainty adjectives, adverbs, verbs yes or no?
certainly

INSTRUCTIONS: Underline the first adverb in the sentence and box/encircle the word
it is modifying/describing. Then identify which kind of adverb it is.

1. ____________ The mixture turned slightly green after they mixed it.
2. ____________ The ball needs to be thrown far.
3. ____________ Their predictions are occasionally creepily accurate.
4. ____________ I live here now, but I initially wanted to study in a different country.
5. ____________ The chances of finding someone willing to participate are probably
low.
6. ____________ I was confident in my skills back then.

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ANSWER KEY

MEASURE: (Other answers can be considered.)

1. How excited were they [to go on a field trip]?

2. When is Andy going to perform?
3. How tall are you [for your age]?
4. How did Blathers lead you to the next exhibit?
5. Where did Joy run to [when she heard the doorbell]?
6. How often does Yuta travel to his home country?

APPLY:

modified word: bold, adverb: underlined

1. (Degree) The mixture turned slightly green after they mixed it.
2. (Manner) The ball needs to be thrown far.
3. (Frequency) Their predictions are occasionally creepily accurate.
4. (Place) I live here now, but I initially wanted to study in a different country.
5. (Certainty) The chances of finding someone willing to participate are probably
low.
6. (Time) I was confident in my skills back then.

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REFERENCES
Adverbs of affirmation and negation. (2018, September 1). TeachingBanyan. Retrieved
October 20, 2021, from https://bit.ly/3m6p3D0

Adverbs of certainty. (n.d.). Education First. Retrieved October 20, 2021, from
https://www.ef.com/wwen/english-resources/english-grammar/adverbs-certaint
y/

Adverbs of degree. (n.d.). Education First. Retrieved October 20, 2021, from
https://www.ef.com/wwen/english-resources/english-grammar/adverbs-degree/

Adverbs of manner. (n.d.). Education First. Retrieved October 20, 2021, from
https://www.ef.com/wwen/english-resources/english-grammar/adverbs-manner
/

Adverbs of place. (n.d.). Education First. Retrieved October 20, 2021, from
https://www.ef.com/wwen/english-resources/english-grammar/adverbs-place/

Adverbs of time. (n.d.). Education First. Retrieved October 20, 2021, from
https://www.ef.com/wwen/english-resources/english-grammar/adverbs-time/

Koltai, A. (2018, July 17). MyEnglishTeacher. Retrieved October 20, 2021, from
https://www.myenglishteacher.eu/blog/types-of-adverb/

Koshal. (2011, July 24). Difference Between Adverbs and Prepositions. Difference
Between. Retrieved October 20, 2021, from https://bit.ly/3E8S0nE

The Adverb Phrase Examples. (n.d.). SoftSchools. Retrieved October 20, 2021, from
https://bit.ly/3C8pXUO

Types of Adverbs. (n.d.). MyEnglishGrammar. Retrieved October 20, 2021, from

http://myenglishgrammar.com/lesson-4-adverbs/1-types-of-adverbs.html

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