Everything that you need to know about adverbs

What is an adverb?

An adverb is a part of speech that provides greater description to a verb, adjective, another adverb, a phrase, a clause, or a sentence.

A great way to pick out an adverb from a sentence is to look for the word ending in -ly. Although that's not universally true, it's a great place to start. Also, given their function, these fundamental elements of the English language are usually placed right before or after the verb in the sentence.

Adverbs are intensifiers and they can even come in the form of an adverb phrase. That just means you're looking at two or more words that act as an adverb. Let's take some time to dive (v.) deeply (adv.) into these popular modifiers.

Defining an Adverb

What is an adverb? Well, first, it's important to understand the words adverbs work closely with, starting with verbs, adjectives, and other adverbs.

• A verb is a word that expresses action or a state of being, i.e. jump, run, swim, ski, fish, talk.

• An adjective is a word that describes or clarifies a noun, i.e. pretty, happy, silly, sunny.

• A noun is a person, place or thing - in its simplest definition, i.e. girl, dog, mom.

Once you see a few examples, it'll be easy to see how adverbs function in a sentence. To simplify things, they explain the action.

Here are some examples of adverbs modifying verbs:

• He runs quickly.

• She walks slowly.

• He's happily chattering over there in the corner.

Adverbs can also modify adjectives or other adverbs. They provide more information about that other descriptive word. For example:

• He runs very quickly.

In this sentence, the adverb "very" is describing the adverb "quickly" ("very quickly" can be used as an adverb phrase).

• An incredibly pretty girl sat down next to me.

In this sentence, the adverb "incredibly" is describing the adjective "pretty."

Identifying an Adverb

So, you can tell whether or not a word is an adverb by considering its function in the sentence. If it is describing a verb, adjective or another adverb, it's an adverb.

Let's talk a little bit more about that -ly ending. While that's a popular way to identify these modifiers, it's important to remember that isn't universally true. Don't forget adverbs such as "always", "often", "sometimes", "seldom", and "never." You've also got conjunctive adverbs such as "also," "besides," "meanwhile," and "likewise."

But, since the -ly form is very common.

• The dog messily ate his dinner.

• I happily handed in my test.

• She quickly washed the dishes.

You can tell that these words are adverbs because they're describing the verbs in the sentence and they end in -ly.

Many high-frequency words are also adverbs. For example, "very," "much," "more," and "many" can all be adverbs.

• The puppy's behavior was very bad.

• The much smarter boy won the spelling bee.

• I so want to go to that concert tonight.

Common Errors with Adverbs and Adjectives

Since adverbs and adjectives both modify other words, people often mistakenly use an adjective when they should use an adverb and vice versa. For example, the following sentence is incorrect:

• He behaved very bad on the field trip.

This is incorrect because "bad" is an adjective being used to describe "behaved," which is a verb. It should read:

• He behaved very badly on the field trip.

On the other hand, this would be correct:

• His behavior was bad on the field trip.

Here, the adjective "bad" is correctly describing the noun "behavior."

List of Common Adverbs

Many adverbs can be formed simply by adding -ly to the end of what was once an adjective. Anxious becomes anxiously, for example, and poor becomes poorly. But adverbs that describe how often something occurs, such as never or always, don't always follow that rule. Check out these examples of common adverbs.

Positive Adverbs

If you need a word that shows how an action was done in a positive way, look no further. These adverbs can turn a boring paragraph into a sunbeam with their sunny outlook. Try them out in your writing:

• boldly

• bravely

• brightly

• cheerfully

• deftly

• devotedly

• eagerly

• elegantly

• faithfully

• fortunately

• gleefully

• gracefully

• happily

• honestly

• innocently

• justly

• kindly

• merrily

• obediently

• perfectly

• politely

• powerfully

• safely

• victoriously

• warmly

• vivaciously

Negative Adverbs

If life isn't looking so positive for you or your characters, you might need an adverb that suits a more negative tone. Here's a list of adverbs that have negative connotations.

• angrily

• anxiously

• badly

• boastfully

• foolishly

• hopelessly

• irritably

• jealously

• lazily

• obnoxiously

• poorly

• rudely

• selfishly

• wearily

Adverbs About Time

Adverbs can also convey how often something happens. They vary from very often (e.g., always, frequently, regularly) or not very often (e.g., rarely, seldom, never). For example:

• always

• eventually

• finally

• frequently

• hourly

• never

• occasionally

• often

• rarely

• regularly

• seldom

• sometimes

• usually

• weekly

• yearly

Adverbs That Describe Speed

Describing how fast an item moves is a great way to modify a verb! Use these adverbs when you're talking about the speed of a verb.

• promptly

• quickly

• rapidly

• slowly

• speedily

• tediously

Other Adverbs

Some adverbs need context to create tone. Use these adverbs when you need to paint a very clear picture of how the reader should imagine your verbs. Some adverbs include:

• accidentally

• awkwardly

• blindly

• coyly

• crazily

• defiantly

• deliberately

• doubtfully

• dramatically

• dutifully

• enormously

• evenly

• exactly

• hastily

• hungrily

• inquisitively

• loosely

• madly

• mortally

• mysteriously

• nervously

• only

• seriously

• shakily

• sharply

• silently

• solemnly

• sternly

• technically

• unexpectedly

• wildly