Business English at Work
© 2003 Glencoe/McGraw-Hill
Adverbs
Identify adverbs and the words they modify.
Objectives
Differentiate between
the use of adjectives
and adverbs.
Recognize the importance of the placement
of adverbs.
Form the comparative and superlative
degrees of regular and irregular adverbs.
continued
Business English at Work
PP 13-1a
Adverbs
continued
Recognize and correct double negatives and
Objectives
other incorrect
uses of negative words.
Use special adverbs correctly.
Business English at Work
PP 13-1b
Adverbs
Adverb
An adverb answers these questions:
How? In what manner?
patiently, boldly, slowly, softly, enthusiastically
When?
recently, later, finally, daily, again, formerly
Where?
outside, here, down, forward, up, away
To what extent? To what degree?
extremely, very, too, rarely, completely, frequently
Business English at Work
PP 13-2
Adverbs
Adverbs—Modify Verbs
Place the adverb before or after the verb that
is modified.
When businesses knowingly deceive customers,
they are violating ethical standards.
Do not illegally copy paper or electronic
documents.
Business English at Work
PP 13-3
Adverbs
Adverbs—Modify Adjectives
Place the adverb immediately before the
adjective.
The courtesy of greeting others within your own firm
is universally acceptable in the United States.
In some countries, greetings are very expressive
and elaborate.
Downsizing is becoming an increasingly popular
way for businesses to lower expenses.
Business English at Work
PP 13-4
Adverbs
Adverbs—Modify Other Adverbs
Place the adverb immediately before the
adverb being modified.
We very precisely judged the commute time to our
new client’s office.
Ruby did extremely well on the ethics section of her
real estate exam.
Business English at Work
PP 13-5
Adverbs
Descriptive Adjectives
Before Nouns
Add ly to an adjective root to form the majority
of adverbs.
Adjective
cautious
extreme
perfect
skillful
Business English at Work
Adverb
cautiously
extremely
perfectly
skillfully
PP 13-6
Adverbs
Noun Base Used to Form
Adjectives Ending in ly
Use root words to identify words ending in ly
as adjectives or adverbs.
Noun
Adjective
brother
neighbor
earth
world
love
brotherly
neighborly
earthly
worldly
lovely
Business English at Work
PP 13-7
Adverbs
Adverbs Formed From
Adjectives Ending in y
Change the y to i and add ly to an adjective
ending in y to form an adverb.
Adjective
busy
easy
heavy
merry
Business English at Work
Adverb
busily
easily
heavily
merrily
PP 13-8
Adverbs
Adverbs Formed From Adjectives
Ending in ible or able
Drop the final e on adjectives that end in able
or ible before adding the y to form the adverb.
Adjective
forcible
terrible
possible
Business English at Work
Adverb
forcibly
terribly
possibly
PP 13-9
Adverbs
Adverbs Formed From Adjectives
Ending in ic
Add ally to adjectives ending in ic to form the
adverb.
Adjective
chronic
logic
magic
scenic
Business English at Work
Adverb
chronically
logically
magically
scenically
PP 13-10
Adverbs
Adverbs—Modify Adjectives
The following list includes some adverbs that do not
end in ly.
again
almost
always
down
far
fast
hard
Business English at Work
more
much
near
now
nowhere
often
once
sometimes
soon
then
there
too
twice
up
PP 13-11
Adverbs
Do Not Hyphenate Adverbs
Ending in ly
Examples
a carelessly written memo
a richly deserved award
an internationally recognized sign
a highly successful business
Business English at Work
PP 13-12
Adverbs
Verbs—Action Versus Linking
Use an adverb to modify action verbs.
Tucker intentionally withheld confidential information.
The employee thoughtlessly made an inappropriate comment
to Julie.
Use an adjective, not an adverb, after a linking
verb to describe the subject.
The manager felt bad about the dependence on temporary
workers.
Karen seems distraught over the missing computer disk.
Business English at Work
PP 13-13
Adverbs
Verbs—Both Linking and Action
Clarify the intent of the sentence before making a
decision about such verbs as look, taste, or feel.
Use adverbs when these words are action words.
He hurriedly looked for the contract on his desk.
Use adjectives when these words function as
linking verbs.
Things looked bad for Jerome after he lost his job.
Business English at Work
PP 13-14
Adverbs
Adjectives and Adverbs
With the Same Form
Some adverbs and adjectives that have the same
form include fast, first, last, early, and right.
Use an adjective to modify a noun or pronoun.
Turn left at the first stop sign.
Use an adverb to modify verbs, adjectives,
and other adverbs.
Return Andrew’s phone call first.
Business English at Work
PP 13-15
Adverbs
One-Syllable Adverbs
Add er to the positive form for its comparative
degree.
Add est to the positive form for its superlative
degree.
Positive
fast
late
soon
Business English at Work
Comparative
faster
later
sooner
Superlative
fastest
latest
soonest
PP 13-16
Adverbs
Two-Syllable Adverbs
Add er or the word more or the word less before
the positive form for the comparative degree.
Add est or the word most or the word least for
the superlative degree.
Positive
quickly
nearly
Business English at Work
Comparative
Superlative
more quickly (quicker) most quickly (quickest)
more nearly
most nearly
PP 13-17
Adverbs
Three-Syllable Adverbs
Add the word more or the word less before the
positive form to form its comparative degree.
Add the word most or the word least before the
positive form to form its superlative degree.
Positive
efficiently
dangerously
Reliably
Business English at Work
Comparative
Superlative
more efficiently
more dangerously
more reliably
most efficiently
most dangerously
most reliably
PP 13-18
Adverbs
Irregular Adverbs
Use irregular comparisons for some adverbs.
Positive
well
badly
Business English at Work
Comparative
better
worse
Superlative
best
worst
PP 13-19
Adverbs
Absolute Adverbs
Some adverbs do not allow for comparisons
no
there
too
now
here
very
past
partly
annually
basically
sometimes
We feel that we need more telephone lines now.
Ethics concerns today are similar to those in the
past.
Business English at Work
PP 13-20
Adverbs
Cautions for Using Not and Never
Use not in a negative statement.
Place not between the helping verb and the main
verb in a sentence.
Some employees do not treat all customers with respect.
Use never as a stronger word than not to mean
“at no time.”
Being rude to a customer is never acceptable.
Refrain from using never if not will suffice.
Business English at Work
PP 13-21
Adverbs
Cautions for Using Contractions
Use an apostrophe to take the place of the
missing letter or letters in such words as
aren’t
wouldn’t
doesn’t
hasn’t
can’t
don’t
isn’t
He doesn’t anticipate rewriting the code of ethics for
several years.
She hasn’t missed a day of work this year.
Business English at Work
PP 13-22
Adverbs
Double Negatives
Double negatives are two negative words used in a
sentence. This combination gives the clause a
positive meaning rather than the intended negative
meaning.
Incorrect
I have not seen no evidence of employee theft.
Correct
I have seen no evidence of employee theft.
I have not seen any evidence of employee theft.
Business English at Work
PP 13-23a
Adverbs
continued
Double Negatives
Incorrect
I couldn’t hardly believe that the computer was missing.
Correct
I could hardly believe that the computer was missing.
I could not believe that the computer was missing.
Incorrect
I can’t go nowhere until I help these customers.
Correct
I can go nowhere until I help these customers.
I cannot go anywhere until I help these customers.
Business English at Work
PP 13-23b
Adverbs
Placement of Only
Place the adverb only immediately before the
word or group of words it modifies.
Only long-time employees can take vacations
during June.
Long-time employees can take vacations only
during June.
Business English at Work
PP 13-24
Adverbs
Adverb Clauses
Use subordinating conjunctions such as after,
although, before, because, if, unless, when,
and while to introduce dependent adverb
clauses.
Place the adverb clause as closely as possible
to the words modified.
Business English at Work
PP 13-25a
Adverbs
continued
Adverb Clauses
Use commas after introductory adverb clauses
that precede independent clauses.
Although he broke no laws, his actions were still
unethical.
Do not use commas to set aside adverb
clauses that follow independent clauses.
Plan to arrive 10 minutes before the meeting begins.
We will start the meeting after serving refreshments.
Business English at Work
PP 13-25b
Adverbs
Farther/Further (Adverbs)
Use farther to refer to physical distance.
We traveled farther from the airport than we
anticipated to find our hotel.
Use further to mean additional or additionally.
He explained further the reasons for adjusting our
work schedules.
Business English at Work
PP 13-26
Adverbs
Good/Well
Use good as an adjective.
Making ethical choices is often more than being a good
person.
Use well as an adverb.
The new code of ethics has worked very well during the past
year.
Use well as an adjective in reference to the
state of someone’s health.
Although Anna was not well, she stayed at work long enough
to complete writing the payroll checks.
Business English at Work
PP 13-27
Adverbs
Most/Almost
Use almost as an adverb to mean “nearly.”
Use almost if the word nearly can be substituted
satisfactorily.
Almost all of us use our yearly vacation time.
Use most as a limiting adjective to modify a noun.
Most new supervisors have trouble with ethical
situations.
Use most as the superlative degree in a comparison.
The speaker answered the question most effectively.
Business English at Work
PP 13-28
Adverbs
Real/Really
Use real as a descriptive adjective to mean
“genuine.”
Do not use real to modify another adjective.
We never knew the real reason for losing the
Manila contract.
Business English at Work
PP 13-29a
Adverbs
continued
Real/Really
Use really as an adverb to mean “genuinely.”
Substitute very for the word really to
determine if really is the correct word.
Cynthia is really supportive of our efforts to
improve customer satisfaction.
Business English at Work
PP 13-29b
Adverbs
Sometime/Sometimes/Some Time
Use sometime as an adverb to mean “at
some unscheduled time” or “in the future.”
Sometime next week we are meeting to revise
our customer service policy.
Use sometimes as an adverb to mean “on
some occasions.”
We sometimes waive late payment charges.
Business English at Work
PP 13-30a
Adverbs
continued
Sometime/Sometimes/
Some Time
Use some time as a phrase in which the
adjective some modifies the noun time.
Some time designates an “amount of time.”
The revision of the ethics policy will take some
time.
Business English at Work
PP 13-30b
Adverbs
Sure/Surely
Use sure as an adjective.
They thought a lock on the supply cabinet was
the sure solution for reducing theft.
Use surely as an adverb to mean “without a
doubt.”
Ellen surely makes an excellent impression on
customers.
Business English at Work
PP 13-31
End of
Business English at Work
© 2003 Glencoe/McGraw-Hill