Adverb

What is an adverb?

An adverb is a describing word, but instead of describing nouns it describes verbs, adjectives or other adverbs. Adverbs add detail by answering questions like:

• How? She sang softly.
• When? We left early.
• Where? The cat hid upstairs.
• How often? He always forgets his hat.
• How much? The water was very cold.

Many adverbs end in -ly

You can make many adverbs by adding -ly to an adjective.

Be careful: not every -ly word is an adverb. Friendly, lovely, lonely and ugly are adjectives (a friendly dog). And many adverbs do not end in -ly: fast, well, soon, here, never, very, too.

Five kinds of adverbs

Adverbs of manner (how)

An adverb of manner tells how an action is done: slowly, loudly, neatly, bravely, well.
The firefighter bravely climbed the ladder.

Adverbs of time (when)

An adverb of time tells when: now, then, today, yesterday, soon, later, already.
We will eat dinner later.

Adverbs of place (where)

An adverb of place tells where: here, there, inside, outside, nearby, everywhere, away.
The kids played outside.

Adverbs of frequency (how often)

Adverbs of frequency tell how often: always, usually, often, sometimes, rarely, never.
I usually read before bed. These often sit right before the main verb.

Adverbs of degree (how much)

An adverb of degree tells how much or how strongly: very, really, quite, almost, too, extremely, barely.
The test was quite easy. She ran too fast.

Adverbs can describe adjectives and other adverbs

• Describing an adjective: a really tall tree (how tall? really tall)
• Describing another adverb: He spoke very quietly. (how quietly? very quietly)

Comparing with adverbs

Adverbs can compare actions. The comparative form compares two actions, and the superlative compares three or more.

• Short adverbs add -er and -est: fast, faster, fastest; soon, sooner, soonest.
• Most -ly adverbs use more and most: carefully, more carefully, most carefully.
• Irregular: well, better, best and badly, worse, worst.

Good and well

This is a very common mix-up.

• Good is an adjective. It describes nouns: a good game.
• Well is an adverb. It describes verbs: She played well.

Say I did well on the test, not I did good on the test.

Where do adverbs go?

Adverbs are flexible and can move around, but moving them can change the meaning.

• Only I ate the cake. (No one else ate it.)
• I only ate the cake. (I did nothing else with it.)
• I ate only the cake. (I ate nothing else.)

Place the adverb next to the word it describes.

Worked examples

Example 1: Find the adverb and the question it answers. The bus arrived late.
Late answers when?

Example 2: Turn the adjective into an adverb. She is a careful driver. → She drives carefully.

Example 3: Choose good or well. The soup smells (good / well).
→ good, because smells is a linking verb here and good describes the soup.

Common mistakes

• He runs quick. ✗ → He runs quickly. ✓
• I did good. ✗ → I did well. ✓
• Overusing very and really. very big → enormous; really tired → exhausted.
• Stacking adverbs instead of choosing a strong verb: ran very quickly → sprinted.

Try it yourself

1. Underline the adverbs: Yesterday we walked slowly home and laughed loudly.
2. Make adverbs: easy, polite, true, sudden.
3. Which kind of adverb is never?
4. Fix it: She sings beautiful.

Answers: 1. Yesterday, slowly, home, loudly. 2. easily, politely, truly, suddenly. 3. Adverb of frequency. 4. She sings beautifully.

Tip for families

Play "In the manner of the adverb." One person picks an adverb (grumpily, sleepily, excitedly) and everyone else asks them to do ordinary tasks, like brushing teeth or saying hello, in that manner until someone guesses the adverb.

Quick recap

• Adverbs describe verbs, adjectives and other adverbs.
• They answer how, when, where, how often and how much.
• Many end in -ly, but not all, and some -ly words are adjectives.
• Use well for actions and good for things.