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

That is a good movie.

• WELL = adverb

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

Interrogative Adverbs

(ask a question.)

why, where, how, when

• Why did you come to class early?
• When are you arriving?
• Where is the party tonight?

Relative Adverbs

(The first word in an adjective

clause)

where, when, why

• This is the place (where we met.)
• He did not tell me (why he was

absent.)

• This is the time (when I like to

sleep.)

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

carefull

y

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.

Adver

b

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.

Adver

b

Comparative Adverb

Superlative Adverb

well

better

best

badly

worse

worst

far

farther/further

farthest/furthest