Adverbs

An adverb describes or gives extra information about a verb, adjective, adverb, or phrase.

Examples:

She was a very happy child.

He ate the hamburger quickly.

Her latest movie is absolutely terrifying!

Don't be gone for too long.

The old, dark house gave me a bad feeling.

Adverbs of Place

Adverbs of place tell us the location something happens and do not change the meaning of adjectives or adverbs.

Examples:

about	downstairs	on
above	east (etc)	out
abroad	elsewhere	outside
anywhere	far	over
away	here	there
backwards (also backward)	indoors	under
Behind	inside	up
below	near	upstairs
down	nearby	where
off

The suffixes "...wards" or "...ward" usually express movement in the specified direction.

Upwards	The balloon floated upwards when she let it go.
Downward	The downward dog is his favourite yoga position.
Backwards	He fell backwards off the horse.
Forward	Please move forward so I may get by.
Westward	The westward facing house was the one they liked the most.

The suffix "...where" is also used with some adverbs of place.

Nowhere	I have nowhere to go on the weekend, I need to make a plan.
Anywhere	Is there anywhere you would like to visit while you're here?
Somewhere	I have to find somewhere with a washroom.
Everywhere	I've looked everywhere for it.

Adverbs of Time

These adverbs tell us when something happened. Adverbs of time also tell us how often or for how long something happened.

Examples:

When adverbs	How often adverbs	How long adverbs
now	sometimes	ages
then	always	all day
today	usually	since last month
tomorrow	yearly	for several days
tonight	hourly	for many years
	daily	since the '90s
	infrequently	many hours

I have a meeting with him tomorrow.

We should go to the train station now.

He visits his grandmother yearly.

Ella sometimes adds strawberries to her yoghurt.

I have been using the app since last month.

Miguel has lived in New York since the '90s.

Adverbs of Manner

Adverbs of manner tell us how something happened.

Examples:

angrily	badly	beautifully	calmingly
carefully	cautiously	cleverly	dangerously
eagerly	excitedly	foolishly	fast
furiously	happily	greedily	hard
hurriedly	kindly	nervously	politely
quickly	quietly	secretly	silently
slowly	softly	stupidly	unhappily
well	wickedly	willingly	wisely

Violet secretly hoped she wouldn't have to go to work.

He nervously played with his pen waiting to open the exam booklet.

The car was driving dangerously close to the sidewalk.

They quickly stopped talking when the teacher came in.

He stupidly forgot his car keys and had to go back.

Adverbs of Degree

Adverbs of degree tell us the degree or extent to which something happens. These kinds of adverbs can modify verbs, adjectives and adverbs.

Examples:

Really	Slowly	Fairly	Quickly
Just	Very	Quite	Enough

Adverbs modifying verbs:

He was slowly walking to the park.

They had done enough dancing for one night.

Jenna quickly hid the book behind her back.

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Adverbs modifying adjectives:

The kids were very kind to the lost dog.

The hotel ballroom was quite beautiful.

He was fairly happy at his new job.

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Adverbs modifying adverbs:

She had learned to play chess very well.

The birds ate the seed quite quickly.

The game was really cleverly created.

Adverbs of Certainty

Adverbs of certainty show how certain or sure we are about something.

Examples:

Certainly	Definitely	Probably	Clearly
Undoubtedly	Obviously	Surely

I'm definitely going to get tickets for that show.

He is clearly feeling guilty about lying to her.

You're obviously not enjoying this movie, let's turn it off.

I'll probably go to the gallery opening on the weekend.

Forming Adverbs from Adjectives

Most of the time we can form adverbs by adding "-ly" to the end of the adjective.

Replace the "y" with "i" and add "-ly" if the adjective ends in "y".

If the adjective ends in "-able", "-ible", or "-le", replace the "-e" with "-y".

If the adjective ends in "-ic", we add "-ally".

Adjective	Adverb
happy	happily
gentle	gently
tragic	tragically
slow	slowly

Relative Adverbs

Relative adverbs join sentences or clauses. The relative adverbs are "when", "where" and "why".

Do you know the reason why he is so upset?

The day when we will have the event is supposed to be sunny.

There is a beautiful library in the university where we met.

Interrogative Adverbs

We use interrogative adverbs "when", "where", "why" and "how" to form questions.

When does the next bus arrive?

Where will you go for summer vacation?

How do I get to the nearest beach?

Why doesn’t he want to come out to dinner with us tonight?