ADVERBS

Adverb is a word or phrase that modifies or qualifies an adjective, verb, or other adverb or a
word group, expressing a relation of place, time, circumstance, manner, cause, degree, etc.
Adverbs range in meaning from words having a strong lexical content (those that describe the
action of the verb, or those that indicate such meanings as time and place) to those that are used
merely for emphasis. They range in function form close to loose modifiers of the verb; from
close modifiers of single words, prepositional phrases or clauses, to loose modifiers of the entire
sentences.
Adverbs can be single words, or they can be phrases or clauses. Adverbs answer one of these
four questions: How? When? Where? and Why?
Here are some single-word examples:

Lenora rudely grabbed the last chocolate cookie.

(The adverb rudely fine-tunes the verb grabbed.)

Tyler stumbled in the completely dark kitchen.

(The adverb completely fine-tunes the adjective dark.)

Roxanne very happily accepted the ten-point late penalty to work on her research essay
one more day.
(The adverb very fine-tunes the adverb happily.)

Surprisingly, the restroom stalls had toilet paper.

(The adverb surprisingly modifies the entire main clause that follows.)

Many single-word adverbs end in ly. In the examples above, you saw peacefully, rudely,
completely, happily, and surprisingly. Not all ly words are adverbs, however. Lively, lonely,
and lovely are adjectives instead, answering the questions What kind? or Which one?
Many single-word adverbs have no specific ending, such as next, not, often, seldom, and then.
If you are uncertain whether a word is an adverb or not, use a dictionary to determine its part of
speech.
Adverbs can also be multi-word phrases and clauses. Here are some examples:

At 2 a.m., a bat flew through Deidre's open bedroom window.

(The prepositional phrase at 2 a.m. indicates when the event happened. The second
prepositional phrase, through Deidre's open bedroom window, describes where the
creature traveled.)

With a fork, George thrashed the raw eggs until they foamed.
(The subordinate clause until they foamed describes how George prepared the eggs.)

Sylvia emptied the carton of milk into the sink because the expiration date had long
passed.
(The subordinate clause because the expiration date had long passed describes why
Sylvia poured out the milk.)

A. Types of Adverbs
Although there are thousands of adverbs, each adverb can usually be categorized in one
of the following groupings:
1. Adverbs of Time

Press the button now

(now adverb of time)

I have never been

(never adverb of time)

I tell him daily

(daily adverb of time)

2. Adverbs of Place

Daisies grow everywhere

(everywhere adverb of place)

I did not put it there

(there adverb of place)

3. Adverbs of Manner

He passed the re-sit easily

(easily adverb of manner)

The lion crawled stealthily

(stealthily adverb of manner)

4. Adverbs of Degree

That is the farthest I have ever jumped

(farthest adverbs of degree)

He boxed more cleverly.

B. Flat adverbs
Adjectives that do not change form (add -ly) to become adverbs are called "flat adverbs."
Typical flat adverbs are early, late, hard, fast, long, high, low, deep, near.

To determine whether these words are functioning as adjectives or adverbs, one must determine

1) what the word is describing (noun or verb)

2) what question the word is answering
The following examples illustrate the distinction.

Early as adjective:

Early describes the noun train and answers the question "which one?"

Early as adverb:

Early describes the verb arrived and answers the question "when?"

Hard as adjective:

Hard describes the noun pass and answers the question "what kind?"

Hard as adverb:

Hard describes the verb threw and answers the question "how?"
(more cleverly adverb of degree and manner)

REFERENCES
http://www.grammar-monster.com/lessons/adverbs.htm
http://www.towson.edu/ows/adverbs.htm
http://www.chompchomp.com/terms/adverb.htm