Adverbs
An adverb is a word that modifies a whole clause or answers the following questions:
- When?
- Where?
- In what manner?
- To what degree?
- How frequently?
Manner adverbs describe actions and end in -ly:
- It was greatly exaggerated.
| Question | Example |
|---|---|
| When? | I saw him yesterday. |
| Where? | Rick is inside. |
| In what manner? | The day came together beautifully. |
| To what degree? | The glass was very cold. |
| Modify whole clause* | Luckily, we hit a green light. |
| Modify whole clause* | Futhermore, we concluded that no action was necessary. |
The last two examples are sentence adverbs bc they modify the entire sentence. Within sentence adverbs are conjunctive adverbs that join clauses while adding information like the logical connection between ideas:
- furthermore
- therefore
vs Adverbials
Adverbials are not necessarily classified as an adverb, but they function as adverbs:
- I’ll see you Wednesday.
Wednesday is a noun, but it functions as one in the previous sentence: it answers the question “When?”.
Prepositional phrases as adverbials
Entire prepositional phrases can function as an adverb:
- Do not wear your shoes in the rain.
- Leave your car in the yard.
Postmodifiers, premodifiers, & adverbials
| Function | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Postmodifier | Comes after the word it modifies. | June came slowly. |
| Premodifier | Precedes the word it modifies. | John happily said “yes”. |
| Adverbial | Add information about when, where, and degree to the whole clause. | Do it now. |
Adjuncts, conjuncts, and disjuncts
- Adjuncts
- Integral to the sentence, you cannot just remove them or the sentece does not make sense:
Put it here.
- Conjuncts
- Optional modifiers of whole clauses or sentences that create logical connections between thoughts:
- however
- therefore
- consequently
- nevertheless
- additionally
- in addition to
- Disjuncts
- Essentially sentence adverbs that do not logically link clauses together, but provide overview information such as commentation to the whole clause or sentence:
- Honestly, I am not sure how you do it.
- Frankly, you are annoying me.
- To be honest, I am not sure how you do it.
- To be frank, you are annoying me.
Copular verbs + adjective
Copular verbs point back to the subject. The subject is always a noun phrase, which must be modified with an adjective and not an adverb:
- I am sad, not I am sadly.
- He looks bad, not He looks badly.