Many adverbs are formed by adding -ly to an adjective :
Adjective Adverb
certain certainly
extreme extremely
exact exactly
mad madly
quick quickly
slow slowly
soft softly
However, by no means all adverbs end in -ly. In particular, many adverbs referring to time and place have no distinctive ending. These include:
afterwards now
away soon
back there
here today
inside tomorrow
never yesterday
Note also that some adjectives end in -ly, including costly, deadly, friendly, kindly, lively, timely.
The words hard and fast can be used as both adverbs and adjectives:
Adverb: John works hard.
Peter drives fast.
Adjective: John is used to hard work.
Peter drives a fast car.
Adverbs are most commonly used to modify:
1 A verb:
Amy speaks softly.
David works quickly.
Paul will arrive soon.
2 An adjective:
fairly slow
terribly warm
extremely rude
3 Another adverb:
fairly slowly
very closely
extremely badly
Gradable adverbs
Many adverbs are gradable, that is, they can take a modifying word such as fairly or very which locates the adverb on a scale of intensity:
fairly slowly very slowly extremely slowly
fairly suddenly very suddenly extremely suddenly
Comparative and superlative adverbs
Some adverbs exhibit three forms, the base form, the comparative form (ending in -er) and the superlative form (ending in -est):
Base Comparative Superlative .
form form form .
John works hard. Mary works harder. Paul work hardest.
John drives fast. Mary drives faster. Paul drives fastest.
However, most adverbs express comparison using the words more and most:
Base Comparative Superlative .
form form form .
importantly more importantly most importantly .
probably more probably most probably .
recently more recently most recently .
Intensifiers
An intensifier is a special type of adverb which is used to express intensityin an adjective or in another adverb. The most common intensifier is very:
very cold very suddenly
very eager very soon
Other intensifiers include
almost, completely, entirely, extremely, fairly, highly, quite, slightly totally, utterly
In informal use, the word pretty is often used as an intensifier:
The weather was pretty dreadful.
You’ll have to move pretty quickly.
The meanings of adverbs
Adverbs express three major types of meaning:
1 Manner adverbs indicate how something happens:
Amy was playing happily in the garden.
Paul writes beautifully.
The thief crept silently along the roof.
The passengers waited calmly for the lifeboats.
Other manner adverbs include
carefully, clearly, dangerously, heavily, heroically, patiently, quietly, quickly, rapidly, scientifically, slowly, softly, spontaneously.
2 Time adverbs indicate when something happened, as well as
frequency of occurrence:
We visited Rome recently.
Bernard has an interview tomorrow.
I’m hoping to retire soon.
Sometimes we go to Joe’s in the High Street.
Other time adverbs include:
afterwards, again, always, never, now, often presently,rarely, then
previously, today, yesterday.
3 Place adverbs indicate a place or a direction:
Leave your coat there.
Why are you still here?
She just turned and walked away.
The car shot forward when I released the clutch.
Other place adverbs include:
backwards, downwards, everywhere, inside, outside, somewhere
Adjective Adverb
certain certainly
extreme extremely
exact exactly
mad madly
quick quickly
slow slowly
soft softly
However, by no means all adverbs end in -ly. In particular, many adverbs referring to time and place have no distinctive ending. These include:
afterwards now
away soon
back there
here today
inside tomorrow
never yesterday
Note also that some adjectives end in -ly, including costly, deadly, friendly, kindly, lively, timely.
The words hard and fast can be used as both adverbs and adjectives:
Adverb: John works hard.
Peter drives fast.
Adjective: John is used to hard work.
Peter drives a fast car.
Adverbs are most commonly used to modify:
1 A verb:
Amy speaks softly.
David works quickly.
Paul will arrive soon.
2 An adjective:
fairly slow
terribly warm
extremely rude
3 Another adverb:
fairly slowly
very closely
extremely badly
Gradable adverbs
Many adverbs are gradable, that is, they can take a modifying word such as fairly or very which locates the adverb on a scale of intensity:
fairly slowly very slowly extremely slowly
fairly suddenly very suddenly extremely suddenly
Comparative and superlative adverbs
Some adverbs exhibit three forms, the base form, the comparative form (ending in -er) and the superlative form (ending in -est):
Base Comparative Superlative .
form form form .
John works hard. Mary works harder. Paul work hardest.
John drives fast. Mary drives faster. Paul drives fastest.
However, most adverbs express comparison using the words more and most:
Base Comparative Superlative .
form form form .
importantly more importantly most importantly .
probably more probably most probably .
recently more recently most recently .
Intensifiers
An intensifier is a special type of adverb which is used to express intensityin an adjective or in another adverb. The most common intensifier is very:
very cold very suddenly
very eager very soon
Other intensifiers include
almost, completely, entirely, extremely, fairly, highly, quite, slightly totally, utterly
In informal use, the word pretty is often used as an intensifier:
The weather was pretty dreadful.
You’ll have to move pretty quickly.
The meanings of adverbs
Adverbs express three major types of meaning:
1 Manner adverbs indicate how something happens:
Amy was playing happily in the garden.
Paul writes beautifully.
The thief crept silently along the roof.
The passengers waited calmly for the lifeboats.
Other manner adverbs include
carefully, clearly, dangerously, heavily, heroically, patiently, quietly, quickly, rapidly, scientifically, slowly, softly, spontaneously.
2 Time adverbs indicate when something happened, as well as
frequency of occurrence:
We visited Rome recently.
Bernard has an interview tomorrow.
I’m hoping to retire soon.
Sometimes we go to Joe’s in the High Street.
Other time adverbs include:
afterwards, again, always, never, now, often presently,rarely, then
previously, today, yesterday.
3 Place adverbs indicate a place or a direction:
Leave your coat there.
Why are you still here?
She just turned and walked away.
The car shot forward when I released the clutch.
Other place adverbs include:
backwards, downwards, everywhere, inside, outside, somewhere
