Adverbs of degree

Adverbs of degree or quantity

Adverbs of degree answer the question ‘how much’ or ‘in what degree’ or ‘to
what extent’. Examples are: very, too, fully, quite, rather, enough, any, partly, almost, utterly, as, entirely etc.

• That was very tragic.
• I have almost finished.
• He was rather busy.
• Is he any good?
• You are partly right.
• You are entirely wrong.

Adverbs of reason

Adverbs of reason answer the question ‘why?’. Examples are: therefore, hence, consequently etc.

• Consequently he refused to go.
• Therefore they decided to boycott the meeting.
• He is hence unable to refute the charge.

Adverbs of affirmation or negation

Examples are: surely, certainly, not, probably, indeed etc.

• You are certainly right.
• I am not going.
• He is a fool indeed.

Interrogative adverbs

Adverbs which are used for asking questions are called interrogative adverbs.  Examples are: when, where, how, why etc.

• When will you go to New York? (Interrogative adverb of time)
• How long will you stay here? (Interrogative adverb of time)
• Where are my keys? (Interrogative adverb of place)
• How often does the committee meet? (Interrogative adverb of number)
• How did he behave? (Interrogative adverb of manner)
• How far did he go? (Interrogative adverb of quantity)
• Why did you resign? (Interrogative adverb of reason)

Relative adverbs

Read the following sentences:

Do you know the place where the meeting will be held?

In this sentence, where is an adverb as it modifies the verb will be held. Where is also a relative as it connects the two clauses of the sentence and at the same time refers back to its antecedent, place. Where is therefore called a relative adverb. Note that a relative adverb connects an adjective clause to the main clause.

Adverbs

Adverbs are words like now, then, today, tomorrow and carefully. An adverb modifies the meaning of a verb, an adjective or another adverb. Read the following sentences:

Alice smiled sweetly.
Those mangoes were very sweet.
He spoke quite loudly.

In sentence 1, the adverb quickly shows how (or in what manner) Alice smiled. It modifies the verb smiled.

In sentence 2, the adverb very says something about the sweetness of the mangoes. It modifies the adjective sweet.

In sentence 3, quite says something about the manner in which he spoke. It modifies the adverb loudly.
Note that adverbs standing at the beginning of sentences sometimes modify the whole sentence, rather than a particular word.

• Unfortunately no one was present there. (= It was unfortunate that no one was present there.)
• Probably I am mistaken. (= It is probable that I am mistaken.)

Kinds of adverbs
There are very many kinds of adverbs.

Adverbs of time
Adverbs of time answer the question ‘when’. Examples are: today, yesterday, now, before, daily, already, since, ago, never etc.

• I met him yesterday.
• His father died two years ago.
• I have seen him before.
• They have already come.
• We will have to start now.

Adverbs of frequency

Adverbs of frequency answer the question ‘how often’. Examples are: often, always, once, never, again, seldom, frequently etc.

• We seldom go out on Sundays.
• I have seen him only once.
• He called again this morning.
• We must always try to do our best.

Adverbs of place

Adverbs of place answer the question ‘where’. Examples are: here, there, up, down, everywhere, out, in etc.

• She sat down.
• He looked up.
• I searched for him everywhere.
• Come in.

Adverbs of manner
Adverbs of manner answer the question ‘how’ or ‘in what manner’. Note that this class includes nearly all those adverbs ending in -ly. Examples are:
quickly, carefully, sweetly, clearly, bravely, beautifully, well, fast etc.

• The soldiers fought bravely.
• This essay is well written.
• she walked slowly.
• The baby slept soundly.