Adverbs
What is an Adverb?
An adverb is a word that modifies
(describes) a verb, an adjective or
another adverb. In other words,
adverbs tell you more about a verb.
Example: Historians strongly
believe that the Chinese invented
rockets.
Strongly describes the verb believe.
Adverbs that modify Verbs
An adverb that modifies a verb will
answer one of the following
questions:
– Where?
– When?
– In What way?
– To what extent?
Examples
Where?
Travels everywhere
Went outside
When?
Arrived yesterday
Swims often
In What Way?
Works carefully
Chews noisily
To What Extent?
Hardly ate
Really surprised
Adverbs that modify Adjectives
An adverb that modifies an adjective
answers the question to what
extent?
How tall? Extremely tall
How hungry? Very hungry
Adverbs that modify other Adverbs
A sentence can have more than one
adverbs.
The purpose of one of the adverbs may be
to further explain the meaning of another
adverb.
Examples:
He moved very quickly.
The verb is move. How did he move?
Quickly. How quickly? Very quickly.
Others quite bravely explored the ocean.
Adverbs that modify adjectives or other
adverbs usually come directly before the
words they modify. They usually answer
the question to what extent.
– Marco Polo told really wonderful tales of
China.
Really modifies the adjective, wonderful.
– People were very eager to hear his
stories.
Very modifies the adjective, eager.
– They nearly always hung on every word.
Nearly modifies the adverb, always.
Adverbs can appear in different
positions in sentences.
– The tourists boarded the bus eagerly.
(after the verb)
– The tourists eagerly boarded the bus.
(before the verb)
– Eagerly, the tourists boarded the bus.
(at the beginning)
Open the red textbook
to page 136 and take
out a sheet of paper.
Identify the Adverbs…
She approached the ocean silently.
Silently (describes how she approached)
Her father was always quiet.
Always (describes when he was quiet)
Some people visit amazingly beautiful places.
Amazingly (describes how beautiful)
She is totally weird.
Totally (describes the extent of her weirdness)
I am very happy.
Very (describes how happy)