Adverbs 2

Adverbs 2

　Position of Adverbs　


　Adverbs of Manner　

(slowly, carefully, awfully, loudly, well…)

1.Adverbs of manner normally go in end position (at the end of a clause). 

　Example　

・She wrote the letter well.
・You talked loudly.
・She swam slowly.
・He peneterated it skillfully.
・She speaks English well.

2.An adverb of manner modifying an adjective or another adverb normally goes before it.

　Example　

・The man is seriously mad.
・I was terribly cold.

Notes:

1. Adverbs of manner can come in mid position if the adverb is not important to the meaning of the verb.

　Example　 ・She angrily tore up the letter.
(The manner in which she tore up the letter is not important.)

・His health slowly began to improve.

2. If there is a preposition before the object, we can place the adverb either before the preposition or after the object.

　Example　

・The man walked happily towards his home.
・The man walked towards his home happily.

3. To emphasize the point, sometimes, an adverb of manner is placed before the main verb.

　Example　

・He gently woke up the woman.

4. Some writers put adverbs of manner at the beginning of a sentence to catch our attention.


・Happily Tom went home.
・Slowly he walked away.

　Adverbs of Place　

(here, there, behind, above, ahead, upstairs, out, away…)


They are normally placed at the end of a clause.

　Example　

・She took him out.
・They all went away.
・We went ahead.
・The children were playing upstairs.
・He jumped out. 

They can also come at the beginning of a clause. This is common in literary writing.

　Example　

・On the hilltop an old castle stood majestically.
・At around the corner there is a big banyan tree.
・Out he jumped.
・Upstairs the children were playing.

　Adverbs of Place　

(recently, now, then, yesterday, tomorrow…)

Adverbs of time are usually put at the end of the sentence.

　Example　

・I met him yesterday.
・He died last year.
・They are leaving for England tomorrow.
・He visits us daily.
・I haven't seen him lately.

　If you don't want to put emphasis on the time, you can also put the adverb of time at thebeginning of the sentence.

　Example　

・Yesterday I met him.
・Tomorrow I am leaving for the US.

　Adverbs of Frequency　

(always, never, seldom, usually…)

　Adverbs of frequency are put directly before the main verb.

　If 'be' is the main verb and there is no auxiliary verb, adverbs of frequency are putbehind 'be'. Is there an auxiliary verb, however, adverbs of frequency are put before 'be'.

　Example　

I often go swimming in the evenings.
He doesn't always play tennis.
We are usually here in summer.
I have never been abroad.

　Adverbs of Degree　

(almost, little, enough, much, too, so, rather, quite, nearly, just, too, hardly, very…)

　Adverbs of degree normally come in mid position with the verb.
　They are placed after the auxiliary verbs and before other verbs.
　If there are two auxiliary verbs, the adverb comes after the first.

　Example　

・He had hardly begun.
(auxiliary verb + adverb + main verb)

・My work is almost finished.
(is/am/are/was/were + adverb)

・I just asked.
(adverb + main verb)

・She hardly realized what she was doing.
(adverb + main verb)

・He is entirely right.
(is/am/are/was/were + adverb)

・She was rather busy.
(is/am/are/was/were + adverb)

An adverb of degree qualifying an adjective or another adverb normally goes before it. 

　Example　

・She is very beautiful.
・Those mangoes were very sweet.
・I am extremely sorry.

Enough is an exception to this rule. It is placed after the adjective or adverb it qualifies.

　Example　

・You are not old enough to marry.
・This is good enough to be true.

　Adverbs of probably　


(certainly, definitely, probably, undoubtedly, clearly, obviously…)


　Adverbs of probably usually go in mid position.
　They are placed after auxiliary verbs and before other verbs.
　 When there are two or more auxiliaries, the adverb goes after the first.

　Example　

・He is undoubtedly a great leader.
(is/am/are/was/were + adverb)

・She will probably come.
(auxiliary verb + adverb + main verb)

・It will certainly rain this evening.
(auxiliary verb + adverb + main verb)

・I certainly feel better today.
(adverb + main verb)

・You have definitely been working too hard.
(first auxiliary + adverb + second auxiliary + other verb)

Perhaps and maybe are exceptions to this rule.
They usually go at the beginning of a clause.

　Example　

・Perhaps she will come.
・Maybe you are right.

　Focusing Adveb　 


(also, just, even, only, mainly, mostly, either, neither etc.)


　As focusing adverbs point to a particular part of a sentence, the meaning conveyed often depends upon their position. It is best to place them in front of and next to the word or words modified by them.

　Example　

・Only John helped me to buy the house.
(= Only John and no one else helped me.)

・John only helped me to buy the house.
(= John helped me to buy the house, but didn't actually buy it for me.)

Points:

1.In English we never put an adverb between the verb and the object. 

　Example　

・We often play soccer.(correct)

・We play often soccer.(incorrect)

2.The three main positions of adverbs in English sentences

1. Adverb at the beginning of a sentence
・Unfortunately, we could not see Mount Snowdon.

2. Adverb in the middle of a sentence
・The children often ride their bikes.

3. Adverb at the end of a sentence
・Andy reads a comic every afternoon.

3.More than one adverb at the end of a sentence

If there are more adverbs at the end of a sentence, the word order is normally:

Manner ▶ Place ▶ Time


・Peter sang the song happily in the bathroom yesterday evening. 


　Comparison of Adverbs　 Adverbs, like adjectives, have three degrees of comparison 

・positive
・comparative
・ superlative


　Short adverbs having just one syllable form the comparative and the superlative by the addition of –er and –est to the positive.

1. all adverbs with one syllable

・hard - harder - (the) hardest
・high - higher - highest
・fast - faster - fastest

2. early

・early - earlier - earliest

2.Adverbs ending in –ly


Adverbs which end in –ly take "more" for the comparative and "most" for the superlative. 

・carefully - more carefully - most carefully

・happily - more happily - most happily

・certainly - more certainly - most certainly

・joyfully - more joinfully - most joinfully

3.Irregular adverbs

・well - better - best
・badly - worse - worst
・much - more - most
・little - less - least
・late - later - last
・far - farther (further) - farthest (furthest)

Note:

In informal English some adverbs are used without -ly
There are two forms of comparison possible, depending on the form af the adverb:

formal　　cheaply - more cheaply - most cheaply
informal　　cheap - cheaper - cheapest