Adverb Rules
Adverbs are words that modify:
• a verb
(He drove slowly. — How did he drive?)
• an adjective
(He drove a very fast car. — How fast
was his car?)
• another adverb
(She moved quite slowly down the aisle.
— How slowly did she move?)
Types of Simple Adverbs:
•
•
•
•
•
•
Manner
Place
Time
Degree
Affirmation
Negation
1. Adverbs of Manner
(answer the question“how”)
(often end in “ly”)
She moved slowly and spoke quietly.
2. Adverbs of Place
(answer the question “where”)
These often look like prepositions without an
object.
Look below to see the flowers.
She still lives there now
3. Adverbs of Time
(answer the question“when” or “how often”)
It's starting to get dark now.
She finished her tea first.
She left early.
She often goes by herself.
4. Adverbs of Degree
(answer questions “how much” or “how little of” )
These often are the adverbs that modify other
modifiers (adj. or adv.)
She sleeps very quietly.
We swim quite often.
5. Adverbs of Negation
(make a verb negative) no, never, not, n’t
We never go to the theme parks.
We did not study for the test.
6. Adverbs of Affirmation
(make a verb more strongly positive. )
Yes, we love that game.
You certainly did well on that test.
Sarah obviously knew the answer to the
question.
You did well indeed.
Some Tricky Adverbs
• FARTHER denotes physical advancement in distance.
(We walked farther into the dessert.)
• FURTHER denotes advancement to greater degree
(I will look further into my research)
• BAD = Adjective (often an adjective subject compliment)
Susan felt bad after the argument.
That is a bad apple.
• BADLY = Adverb
I performed badly in the play.
• GOOD = adjective
• WELL = adverb
That is a good movie.
Susan acted well in the movie.
Stay away from using double
negatives:
• INCORRECT: Susan is not never in the class.
• CORRECT: Susan is not ever in the class.
• INCORRECT: We didn’t ask no one to the
dance.
• CORRECT: We didn’t ask anyone to the dance.
• INCORRECT: The class did not get nothing in
its mailbox.
• CORRECT: The class did not get anything in its
mailbox.
Adverbs vs. Adjectives:
• Adjectives are used to modify nouns:
The dog is loud.
• Adverbs are used to modify verbs,
adjectives or other adverbs:
The dog barks loudly.
• Adjective -> careful / Adverb -> carefully
• Adjective -> quick / Adverb -> quickly
The Degree of Adverbs:
• With LY adverbs we usually form the
comparative and superlative forms with
more and most or less or least.
• Never drop “ly” from an adverb when changing its
degree. (Quietly does NOT become quieter.)
Adverb
Comparative Adverb
Superlative Adverb
quietly
more quietly
most quietly
carefully
less carefully
least carefully
happily
more happily
most happily
The Degree of Adverbs:
• For some other adverbs, we add “-er” to
form the comparative and “-est” to form
the superlative.
Adverb
Comparative Adverb
Superlative Adverb
hard
harder
hardest
fast
faster
fastest
early
earlier
earliest
The Degree of Adverbs:
• Some adverbs are irregular adverbs,
and they change in form.
Adverb
Comparative Adverb
Superlative Adverb
well
better
best
badly
worse
worst
far
farther/further
farthest/furthest