Running head: The Syntactic Sub-categories of Adverbs in English

UNIVERSITY OF THE WEST INDIES OPEN CAMPUS

LING6008: Introductory Morphology and Syntax for Graduate Students

NAME OF ASSIGNMENT: Research Paper - The Syntactic Sub-categories of Adverbs in

English

Group One Members:

Ronalda Wong (I.D. Number: 320057261)

Fransisca Alexander-Holder (I.D. Number:320007305)

Rochelle Porter-Gardner (I.D. Number: 320033104)

LECTURER: Dr. Nicole Scott

DUE DATE: November 19, 2022

The Syntactic Sub-categories of Adverbs in English 1

Introduction

Adverbs are one of the many syntactic categories that exist in the English language. Over

the years, much research has been done to better understand it and its use in the ever-evolving

modern English. It is now believed to have various subcategories which may function differently

and appear in different locations within a sentence. This can be problematic for non-native

English speakers who may try to learn and use them. In addition to the issues faced by non-

native speakers, the topic of adverbs is usually challenging even to English speakers. It is

imperative that persons understand the syntax of adverbs (that is, their correct placement within

sentences), as they have the ability to alter sentences semantically, if used incorrectly

(Hernandez, 2007). Therefore, this research aims to discover the syntactic subcategories of

adverbs in English and their location in sentences. This will aid in expanding our general

understanding of adverbs and its use in modern English.

The study consists of an overview of adverbs and a brief literature review, which explores

notable works on adverbs. The methodology section highlights the steps and techniques which

were employed in order to collect and analyze suitable data. The research’s findings were

carefully analyzed and discussed. Finally, the paper outlined some restrictions of adverbs as it

relates to their co-occurrence in sentences.

The Syntactic Sub-categories of Adverbs in English 2

Overview of Adverbs

The word ‘adverb’ is a derivative of the Latin word 'adverbium’, from which two parts

consist, namely: ‘ad’ to express addition and, ‘verbum’ which signifies ‘word, utterance, verb’

(Ellis, 2022). Bing (1989) defines this word class as a word that modifies a verb, an adjective, or

another adverb. They answer the questions of how, when, where, and why, due to their

modification of actions, states, or qualities (Hernandez, 2007). Generally, adverbs are formed by

the addition of the suffix ‘ly’ to adjectives (Pantcheva, 2019). They are also classified into

various groups or types which include: manner, degree, frequency and time among others.

However, some scholars deem adverbs as one of the most crucial and diverse word

classes in English Grammar (Ellis, 2022 and Costa, n.d). Ko (2016) credits this dilemma to the

complex and varying syntactic positions that they occupy in sentences as well as the semantic

properties of the adverbs themselves. Costa (n.d) purports that they are not all morphologically

the same, and thus, have considerable differences in their meaning and location. Yet, amidst the

plethora of views, Ellis (2022) opines that the presence of adverbs makes a piece of writing more

interesting and descriptive.

The Syntactic Sub-categories of Adverbs in English 3

Methodology

This research focuses on the syntax of adverbs among members of the Masters in English

Language programme. The existing data presents itself in a raw state; that is, a list of 17 adverbs,

belonging to different categories. Additional primary data for this study was gathered from a

corpus generated from all the students in a class of thirteen (13) fifth graders enrolled at the

Leeward District SDA Primary School (St. Vincent) during a Grammar class on Adverbs. The

participants are ages 9 - 10 consisting of eight (8) boys and five (5) girls. These participants were

selected based on their availability (convenience) to one of the researchers. To collect this data,

an Adverbs worksheet was given to the students. On this worksheet, students were presented

with 13 sentences and were required to complete the sentences by inserting appropriate adverbs.

The researchers selected the 13 most common adverbs students gave on the worksheets. Data

recorded was then put in a table (see Appendix I) which outlined the different syntactic

categories of adverbs and was further tested and analyzed.

The Syntactic Sub-categories of Adverbs in English 4

Discussion of the Syntactic Subcategories of Adverbs in English

Adverb placement in languages like French and English, is relatively free in that adverbs

can occur in a number of different positions within the sentence, although there are semantic and

syntactic restrictions on which adverbs appear in which positions (Jackendoff, 1972).

i) Adverbs and Subjects of the Sentence

Adverbs positioned before the subject of a sentence, emphasize not just a single word,

but the entire sentence (O’ Brien, n.d).

Example:

1a) She honestly believed that he was making life easier for them. (modifying - believed)

1b) Honestly, honey, I am not upset. (modifying an entire sentence)

Adverbs at the initial stage, also reveal the speaker’s attitude and or opinion.

Hernandez (2019):

2a) She talks frankly about herself.

2b) Frankly, she talks too much about herself.

In sentence 2b) the writer’s opinion of the female in question is undoubtedly revealed.

Therefore, the syntactic position of an adverb before the subject of a sentence must be carefully

considered. “The meaning can change when the adverb . . . is fronted” (Hernandez, 2017, p.

275). Words such as: never, rarely, always, seldom and hardly cannot be placed at the start of a

declarative sentence (Pantcheva, 2019). Additionally, adverbs of degree (completely, entirely,

extremely, really) must never be used initially (Hernandez, 2017). On the contrary, the adverbs

‘maybe’ and ‘perhaps’ usually come at the beginning of a clause. Nonetheless, Hernandez (2019)

also purports that some adverbs of time, place, frequency and certainty or obligation can be
The Syntactic Sub-categories of Adverbs in English 5

placed at the front position. Some of these adverbs are: today, outside, sometimes and certainly,

respectively.

ii) Adverbs between the Auxiliary and the Verb

Pantcheva (2019) posits that there are two positions - immediately before and

immediately after - in which an adverb can appear in relation to a verb. To be more direct in its

placement, adverbs of frequency are placed after the verb ‘be’; with other verbs,

they usually come before the main verb. For example:

1. The young lady has never worked with toddlers.

2. Have you ever visited Iowa?

According to Engels (2004) these adverbs assume a narrow scope when they are in the post-

auxiliary position. That is, they are placed to the immediate right of a modal or finite auxiliary

(can, could, may, might, will, shall, should, must) (Potsdam, 1998). Example:

1. George will certainly show up late.

2. They can always visit the garden.

Engels (2004) also states that these adverbs can not be placed to the right of an auxiliary that is

non-finite. Example:

* Jack’s son has been probably called to the bar.

* My computer is being possibly hacked.

iii) Adverbs and Objects of the Sentence

The Syntactic Sub-categories of Adverbs in English 6

When an adverb modifies a verb, it usually appears front (pre-subject), mid (between

subject and verb) and end (after the verb or object). Moreover, the syntactic position of the

adverb depends on the type of adverb. For instance, when there is an object in the sentence,

adverbs of manner usually appear after the object.

In English, adverbs typically do not appear between the verb and the direct object.

E.g., *Mary watches often the television.

An adverb can however, be used to avoid ambiguity by separating the verb and the object of the

sentence. Example:

1. We will study carefully the meanings of the words we will use.

Ambiguity will arise if the adverb ‘carefully’ was placed after the verb ‘use’ instead of the verb

‘study’:

2. We will study the meanings of the words we will use carefully.

Close (1998) further explains that, aside from ambiguity, placing some adverbs at the end of

sentences unnecessarily delays the introduction of the object in the sentence, as seen in example

2 above.

Adverbs in English, generally come after the verb or object, if the sentence has one.

Examples -

(The places with a # identifies a position in the sentence where the adverb can appear)

1. ‘Longingly’:

They # gazed # out the window at the beach #.

Table Showing Adverbs That Appear After the Object

The Syntactic Sub-categories of Adverbs in English 7

Adverb of Manner Adverb of Time Adverb of Frequency

earnestly, yesterday, frequently,

intently, again,
patiently, often
demandingly

iv) Adverbs and Ditransitives with Prepositional Phrases (PP) in Sentences

Crystal (1995) defines ditransitives as “verbs that take two objects”. The study revealed

that the following adverbs could appear between an object and a PP in a ditransitive:

Luckily, earnestly, intently, frequently, patiently, again, frankly, demandingly, yesterday,

usually, often, sometimes, entirely, apparently, undoubtedly

For examples:

1. I wash my hands sometimes in the kitchen.

2. He emptied the chips entirely on the floor.

3. I crossed the finish line apparently before my friends.

4. James saved the man yesterday in the pool.

In the examples above, the adverbs (‘sometimes’, ‘entirely’, ‘apparently’, ‘again’) are

modifying the prepositional phrases and expounding on the main verb in the sentence. In

sentence 1, the adverb describes the frequency of the hand washing in a particular location (in

the kitchen). In sentence 2, the adverb describes the extent (or manner) to which the emptying of

the chips was done in a particular location (on the floor). In sentence 3, the adverb describes the

supposed (or affirmation) crossing of the speaker before his/her friends (at the finish line). In

sentence 4, the adverb describes when the saving was done in a particular location (in the pool).

Upon examining these sentences, it is evident that using these types of adverbs in this particular
The Syntactic Sub-categories of Adverbs in English 8

position enables the sentence to provide additional details about the action that is being carried

out, as well as the location that it takes place in. Though it is known that prepositional phrases

provide details about location in sentences, it is the ideal positioning of the adverb that truly

connects it to the main verb of the sentence. This therefore extends and completes the meaning

or message of the sentence.

Notably the adverbs that were able to function in the sentence position mentioned earlier,

were from four of the adverbial subcategories: manner, frequency, time and affirmation.

Adverbs of Manner Adverbs of Adverbs of Time Adverbs of

Frequency Affirmation

luckily, earnestly, frequently, again, yesterday, usually, apparently

intently, patiently, usually, often, often, sometimes
frankly, demandingly, sometimes
entirely, undoubtedly

Table 3: Table showing the adverbs that could appear between an object and a PP in a
ditransitive.

The Restrictions on the Co-occurrence of Adverbs in Various Positions in Sentences

The Syntactic Sub-categories of Adverbs in English 9

i) Adverbs and Subjects of the Sentence

In subject-oriented adverbs co-occurrence can take place. However, not all subject -

oriented adverbs can be modified by another adverb. Those that can co-occur are adverbs of

time and an adverb of degree that precedes an adverb of manner. Example:

Early yesterday, it began to rain. (two adverbs of time)

Quite carefully, she opened the parcel. (an adverb of degree and manner respectively).

The limitation of being unable to use two adverbs of the same class, simultaneously, also

presents itself with another syntactic subcategory; that is, the ditransitive with prepositional

phrases.

ii) Adverbs between the Auxiliary and the Verb

Similarly, to those placed at the beginning of a sentence, two adverbs can also co-occur between

an auxiliary and a verb. These verbs are also restricted to the types as seen in the examples

below.

- The committee has quite often been forced to change its decision. (an adverb of degree

and frequency respectively)

He was very heavily influenced by his friends. (an adverb of degree and manner

respectively)

iii) Adverbs and Objects of the Sentence

The Syntactic Sub-categories of Adverbs in English 10

The adverbs that can appear after the object are: earnestly, intently, frequently, patiently,

again, demandingly, yesterday, often.

The co-occurrence of adverbs appearing after the object of a sentence can be restricted by

morphological factors. That is, when two subsequent adverbs carry the same suffix at the end of

the adverb (Engels, 2004), it can result in confusion. For example:

*She will complete the exam probably quickly.

iv) Adverbs and Ditransitives with Prepositional Phrases (PP) in Sentences

According to Sweet (1898) “[i]n English, the distinction between direct and indirect

object is expressed, not by inflection, but imperfectly by word-order, the indirect coming before

the direct object”.

A restriction which can arise between an object and a PP in a ditransitive form through

the verb that is used within the sentence; it can somewhat dictate the type and number of adverbs

used within the sentence. For instance, the verb ‘emptied’ could accept a manner, frequency,

time or affirmation adverb.

E.g. He emptied the chips (entirely/ again/ yesterday/ apparently) on the floor.

He put the chips (*entirely/ again/ yesterday/ *apparently) on the floor.

Allerton (1982) postulates that the verb determines the number and type of relevant

constituents within sentences. The different complementation patterns of ditransitive verbs are

therefore lexically determined and sub-categorised for (Allerton, 1982). As such, adverbs are

somewhat dependent on the verb (or word choice) used in the sentence as it can affect it and a

potential adjunct PP.

The Syntactic Sub-categories of Adverbs in English 11

Conclusion

This research set out to explore the various syntactic subgroups of adverbs in English;

that is, adverbs appearing pre-subject, mid (between auxiliary and main verb), end (after object),

and between an object and prepositional phrase in a ditransitive (See appendix II). The

researchers discovered that indeed, there were correlations between adverbs classes and different

constituents in the sentence.

The Syntactic Sub-categories of Adverbs in English 12

References
Allerton, D.J. (1982). Valency and the English Verb. Academic Press: London.

Bing, J. (1989). English Grammar in Context. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall Regents.

Close, R.A. (1998). A Teachers’ Grammar: The Central Problems of English. London:

Language

Teaching Publications

Costa, J. (n.d.). ADVERBS AND THE SYNTAX-SEMANTICS INTERPLAY. Crystal, D. (1995).

The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English language.

Ellis. (2022). Everything You Need to Know to Master Adverbs in English | Langster.

Engels, E. (2004). Adverb placement: an Optimality Theoretic approach (Doctoral dissertation,

Universität Potsdam).

Ko. (2016). A Corpus-Based Study of Variation and Change in Adverb Placement Across World

Englishes. ProQuest Dissertations Publishing.

Lakoff, G. (1968). Instrumental adverbs and the concept of deep structure. Foundations of

language, 4-29.

O’Brien, E. (n.d.). The Amazing Sentence Adverb. Pantcheva, M. (2019). Adverbs and adverb

phrases: position - English Grammar Today - Cambridge Dictionary. Cambridge

Potsdam, E. (1998). A syntax for adverbs. In The proceedings of the twenty-seventh western

conference on linguistics (pp. 397-411).

Soliz Hernandez, M. (2007). The Position of adverbs in English: Trying to solve a major

problem most language learners usually face. Filología Y Lingüística XXXII, 1(ISSN:

0377-628X), 271–286. https://revistas.ucr.ac.cr/index.php/filyling/article/view/4332

The Syntactic Sub-categories of Adverbs in English 13

Sweet, H. (1898). A New English Grammar (2 vols.), OUP: Oxford.

The Syntactic Sub-categories of Adverbs in English 14

Appendices
Appendix I: Corpus Data Collected for Analysis (Word list) per Participant

Table showing the list of adverbs collected per participant

Participants Adverb(s) provided

R1 Luckily, Earnestly, Intently

R2 Frequently, Frankly

R3 Patiently, Necessarily

B1 Hopefully

B2 Probably

B3 Certainly, Surely

B4 Entirely, Apparently

B5 Extremely

B6 Always, Generally

B7 Completely, Rarely

B8 Almost, Sometimes

G1 Again, Never

G2 Evidently, Seldom

G3 Often, Undoubtedly

G4 Demandingly, Usually

G5 Yesterday, Obviously
 The Syntactic Sub-categories of Adverbs in English 15

Appendix II: Table of Adverbs and Functional Positions in Sentences

Table showing adverbs collected and their grammatically functional positions in sentences
ADVERBS CAN IT APPEAR CAN IT APPEAR CAN IT CAN IT APPEAR
BEFORE BETWEEN THE APPEAR BETWEEN THE
SUBJECT? AUXILIARY? AFTER THE OBJECT AND A PP
OBJECT? IN A
DITRANSITIVE?
Luckily Yes yes no yes
Earnestly no yes yes yes
Intently no yes yes yes
Hopefully yes yes no no
Probably no yes no no
Certainly yes yes no no
Frequently yes yes yes yes
Patiently yes yes yes yes
Always no yes no no
Completely yes yes no no
Almost yes yes no no
Again yes yes yes yes
Evidently yes yes no no
Frankly yes yes no yes
Demandingly no yes yes yes
Yesterday yes no yes yes
Necessarily no yes no no
Usually yes yes no yes
Often yes yes yes yes
Seldom yes yes no no
Never yes yes no no
 The Syntactic Sub-categories of Adverbs in English 16

Sometimes yes yes no yes

Rarely yes yes no no
Generally yes yes no no
Extremely no no no no
Entirely no yes no yes
Surely yes yes no no
Obviously yes yes no no
Apparently yes yes no yes
Undoubtedly yes yes no yes

Appendix III: Table of Adverbs and Categories

Table showing the adverbs and their various categories

ADVERBS Time Manner Frequency Place Degree Affirmation Probability

Luckily *
Earnestly *
Intently *
Hopefully *
Probably *
Completely *
Entirely * *
Surely * * *
Certainly * * *
Patiently *
Frankly *
Demandingly *
Generally *
Extremely * *
Obviously * * *
The Syntactic Sub-categories of Adverbs in English 17

Undoubtedly *
Yesterday *
Frequently *
Always * *
Almost * *
Again *
Often * *
Usually * *
Seldom *
Never * *
Sometimes * *
Rarely * *
Evidently *
Necessarily *
Apparently *