Adverb definition – What is an adverb?

Let’s start by explaining what the definition of an adverb is… Am I right in thinking that you were taught that an adverb modifies a verb and ends in ‘ly’? Although this is correct, adverbs go much deeper than that. Adverbs of manner tend to end in ‘ly’, but guess what? There is more than one type of adverb which we’ll go into later.

 

Firstly, they are one of the ‘parts of speech’. Their function is to provide information about how, how often, when, or where something happens. Adverbs can modify adjectives, other adverbs, determiners, clauses, prepositions, verbs or sentences.

what is an adverb - adverb meaning and definition
adverb uses and adverb function

FUN FACT: There are over 250 adverbs in English. Some words however are not always used as an adverb (depending on the sentence construction). They can be adjectives, conjunctions, interjections, nouns, prepositions, or pronouns.

adverb examples

Right, let’s start learning adverbs. I’ll kick off with some easy examples:

  • He runs quickly – the adverb ‘quickly’ modifies the verb ‘run’.
  • He runs very quickly – the adverb ‘very’ modifies the adverb ‘quickly’
  • He is an extremely quick runner – the adverb ‘extremely’ modifies the adjective ‘quick’.
English adverbs - adverb uses
English adverbs - adverb uses

adverbs that modify verbs

You’ve seen some examples of adverbs in use, let’s delve deeper… When an adverb modifies a verb, it usually tells us how, when, where, in what manner, or to what extent the action is performed. Let’s take a look.

adverb examples - adverb sentences modifying verbs

Let’s look at some more examples of adverbs modifying verbs. Remember, verbs are action words.

adverb examples - adverb sentences modifying verbs
adverb examples - adverb sentences modifying verbs
adverb examples - adverb sentences modifying verbs
adverb examples - adverb sentences modifying verbs

adverbs that modify adjectives

Adverbs can also modify adjectives. The purpose is to add a degree of intensity to the adjective. Let’s take a look at some examples.

adjectives and adverbs - adverbs modifying adjectives examples
adjectives and adverbs - adverbs modifying adjectives examples
adjectives and adverbs - adverbs modifying adjectives examples

adverbs that modify other adverbs

They can also modify other adverbs as seen in the pictures below.

adverbs modifying adverbs example sentences
adverbs modifying adverbs example sentences

different types of adverbs

Now you know what an adverb does and how to spot one. Let’s look a little deeper into the different types of adverbs including:

  • adverbs of frequency
  • adverbs of time
  • adverbs of manner
  • adverbs of place

 

Click on the links below to learn about the different types of adverbs with picture examples.

adverbs of frequency
how often something takes place
adverbs of time
when something takes place
adverbs of manner
how something takes place
adverbs of place
where something takes place