Adverbs and their placement

What are adverbs?
An adverb is a word that modifies verbs, adjectives and other adverbs.
Adverbs vs Adjectives
The difference between an adverb and an adjective is the following:
 An adjective modifies a noun.

Example:
"John is tall." (The adjective tall modifies the noun John)
 An adverb modifies a verb, an adjective or another adverb.

Examples:
"That idea is simply ridiculous." (The adverb simply modifies the adjective ridiculous)
"She sings nicely." (The adverb nicely modifies the verb sing)
"She did it really well." (the adverb really modifies the adverb well)
Read the passage. Highlight any adverbs you can find (Hint: there are 6 adverbs in total)
Mrs Smith immediately called the police when she saw the criminals assaulting the poor boy
aggressively. It was the most horrible scene that she had ever witnessed in her life. She had always
lived peacefully in that neighbourhood. No one had ever disturbed her quiet nights there.
What are the different types of adverbs?
Basically, most adverbs tell you how, in what way, when, where, and to what extent something is
done. In other words, they describe the manner, place, or time of an action. Here are some
examples:
 He speaks quietly. ( quietly is an adverb of manner.)
 I live here. (here is an adverb of place.)
 We'll leave tomorrow . (tomorrow is an adverb of time.)
 She never sleeps late . (never is an adverb of frequency.)

Adverb rules:
1. Regular adverbs:
Adverbs in English often end in -ly.
These adverbs are formed by adding -ly to the end of an adjective:
Adjective + ly
Examples:
Adjective Adverb
slow slowly
beautiful beautifully
careful carefully
violent violently
Spelling rules:
true → truly (the silent e is dropped and add ly)
happy → happily ( y becomes i and add ly.)
possible → possibly (e after a consonant is dropped and ly is added.)
full → fully (after ll and add y is added.)
fanatic → fanatically (after adjectives ending in -ic add -ally - there is an exception: public-publicly)
lovely – ‘in a lovey way’ (with adverbs already ending -ly, a participle phrase is used)
2. Exceptions:
However, this is not the only way to form an adverb. Many adverbs do not end in -ly.
This is a list of adverbs that don't follow the rule:
Adjective Adverb
fast Fast
hard Hard
late Late
early Early
daily Daily
Some adjectives change their form when they become adverbs:
adjective Adverb
good Well
To decide whether a word is an adverb ask questions with how, where and when.
 How does James speak Spanish? He speaks Spanish fluently.
 Where do the kids play soccer? They play soccer here.
 When did she write the email to her husband? She wrote the email immediately.
Practice 1
Adverbs of manner
Adjective or adverb?
** Be careful of verbs that are used like verb ‘be’ with adjectives (e.g. seem, look, smell etc.)
1. Think ______ about whether you want to quit this job. (calm)
2. I'm ______ he didn't mean to frighten you. It was an accident. (sure)

3. Her hair looks so ____. I'd love to know what she uses on it. (soft)
4. My wife felt rather ______ about the play she was in, but she performed wonderfully. (nervous)
5. Look in the fridge - something smells very _________. (bad)
6. The grass grew ______ because of the dry weather. (slow)
7. The new couple next door seem very ___________, don't they? (nice)
8. The company performed ______ for a few years, then got into difficulty. (strong)
Position of adverbs
1. Adverb of Manner
Examples of adverbs of manner are " nicely, beautifully, slowly, carefully, awfully..."
These adverbs come after the direct object or after the verb if there isn't any direct object.
 He did the work efficiently. (The adverb of manner efficiently comes after the direct
object the work.)
 He drove the lorry carelessly. (The adverb of manner carelessly comes after the direct
object the lorry.)
 He spoke fluently. (The adverb of mannerfluently comes after the verb spoke.)
2. Adverbs of Place
Examples of adverbs of place are "here, there, behind, above..."
Adverbs of place are like adverbs of manner. They come after the direct object or the verb.
 I met him here. (The adverb of place here comes after the direct object him.)
 He sat there. (The adverb of place there comes after the verb sat.)
3. Adverbs of Time
Examples of adverbs of time are " recently, now, then, tomorrow, yesterday..."
Adverbs of time are usually put at the end of the sentence but they may also come at the beginning
of the sentence.
 I will show you the house tomorrow.

 Tomorrow, I will show you the house.
4. Adverbs of Frequency
Examples of adverbs of frequency are "always, never, seldom, usually..."
 Adverbs of frequency come before the main verb except the main verb "to be":
 I sometimes visit my uncle.
 We have often seen him pass by the house.
 They are seldom at work.
 Occasionally, sometimes, often, frequently and usually can also go at the beginning or at
the end of a sentence:
 Sometimes, they visit him.
 I miss him occasionally.
 Rarely and seldom can also go at the end of a sentence (often with "very"):
 We see them rarely.
 John eats meat very seldom.
Practice 1:
Choose the right answer
Practice 1:
Choose the right answer
1. They usually listen/listen usually to music in the evening.
2. We always are/ are always on time.
3. I stay rarely/rarely stay out late.
4. I never have seen/have never seen such a beautiful bunch of flowers.
5. He speaks fluently English/English fluently.
6. She is rarely/rarely is at home on Sundays.
7. He went sometimes/ sometimes went to the tennis club.
8. They often have lunch/have often lunch in that restaurant.
9. She always has done/ has always don her homework.
10. she watched carefully the film/the film carefully.
Practice 2:
Our friends must write a test. (also)
I was joking. (only)
Mary watches TV. (hardly) (ever)
He drives his car. (carefully)
The children play football. (in the garden)
We went to the cinema. (yesterday)
John fell off the bike. (almost)

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What are adverbs?

An adverb is a word that modifies verbs, adjectives and other adverbs.

The difference between an adverb and an adjective is the following:

 An adjective modifies a noun.

 An adverb modifies a verb, an adjective or another adverb.

What are the different types of adverbs?

 He speaks quietly. ( quietly is an adverb of manner.)

 I live here. (here is an adverb of place.)

 We'll leave tomorrow . (tomorrow is an adverb of time.)

 She never sleeps late . (never is an adverb of frequency.)

Adverbs in English often end in -ly.

These adverbs are formed by adding -ly to the end of an adjective:

true → truly (the silent e is dropped and add ly)

happy → happily ( y becomes i and add ly.)

possible → possibly (e after a consonant is dropped and ly is added.)

full → fully (after ll and add y is added.)

This is a list of adverbs that don't follow the rule:

Some adjectives change their form when they become adverbs:

 How does James speak Spanish? He speaks Spanish fluently.

 Where do the kids play soccer? They play soccer here.

2. I'm ______ he didn't mean to frighten you. It was an accident. (sure)

5. Look in the fridge - something smells very _________. (bad)

6. The grass grew ______ because of the dry weather. (slow)

Examples of adverbs of place are "here, there, behind, above..."

 I will show you the house tomorrow.

Examples of adverbs of frequency are "always, never, seldom, usually..."

 I sometimes visit my uncle.

 We have often seen him pass by the house.

 They are seldom at work.

 Sometimes, they visit him.

 I miss him occasionally.

 We see them rarely.

 John eats meat very seldom.

Choose the right answer

Choose the right answer

1. They usually listen/listen usually to music in the evening.

2. We always are/ are always on time.

3. I stay rarely/rarely stay out late.

4. I never have seen/have never seen such a beautiful bunch of flowers.

5. He speaks fluently English/English fluently.

6. She is rarely/rarely is at home on Sundays.

7. He went sometimes/ sometimes went to the tennis club.

8. They often have lunch/have often lunch in that restaurant.

9. She always has done/ has always don her homework.

10. she watched carefully the film/the film carefully.

I was joking. (only)

Mary watches TV. (hardly) (ever)

He drives his car. (carefully)

The children play football. (in the garden)

We went to the cinema. (yesterday)

John fell off the bike. (almost)

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