ADVERBIALS

From the point of view of the message that is to be expressed in a clause, a good deal of the information to be
conveyed can only be expressed by means of adverbials. Adverbials fulfil a wide variety of functions: some of them
can be used to express when and where the event represented by the proposition took place, while others can be
used to express other accompanying circumstances, such as manner, cause and reason. Others again are used to
focus on a particular part of a clause, to express the speaker’s (or writer’s) evaluation of the proposition, or to
indicate the semantic relationship between the current clause and an earlier clause in the text.

The following sections will primarily address the distinction between adverbs and adverbials, the different types of
adverbials we can recognize, the different positions in the clause at which adverbials occur, and the semantic
content expressed by different types of adverbials.

1. Adverbs, adverb phrases and adverbials

Adverb is the term we use for a particular word class. The vast majority of adverbs are formed from adjectives by
addition of the suffix –ly: happily, quickly, reluctantly. But there are also a number of very common adverbs
which are not marked in any way to help us recognize them as adverbs, such as again, always, often, sometimes,
seldom, never, now, then, here, there, therefore, thus, also, too, very, and several others. These form a closed set;
new adverbs are typically formed by means of the suffix –ly.

Adverbial phrase is the term for a phrase with an adverb as Head. The adverb phrase can contain modifiers of
various kinds, as in

This happens very rarely. Nevertheless, it happens too often for my taste.

or it can consist of only an adverb, as in

They sometimes take a walk along the river.

Adverbial is the term for a clause element or, if you like, a syntactic function, comparable to Subject, Verb, Direct
Object, etc.
Note that there is no simple one-to-one correspondence between adverb (the word class) and adverbial (the
clause element): at least some adverbs can function as Noun Phrase postmodifiers, as in the lecture today, and
many of them can function as modifiers in Adjective Phrases and Adverb Phrases, as in extremely happy, very
rarely, stupidly enough.

Adverbials, for their part, can have a number of different realisations: adverb phrases (remember that even
single adverbs count as adverb phrases when they function as adverbials!), prepositional phrases, as in Mary
went to Paris, or noun phrases, as in Mary went to Paris last year.
In addition, adverbials can be realised by clauses: finite clauses, as in John went home because he was tired,
non-finite clauses, as in John stopped for a moment to catch his breath, or verbless clauses, as in If
necessary, repeat the procedure.

Summary:
2. Adverbial types

From a syntactic point of view, we can recognise three types of adverbials in English, namely adjuncts,
conjuncts, and disjuncts. Of these, adjuncts are more closely integrated in the structure of the clause, whereas
conjuncts and disjuncts are peripheral to the clause.

 Disjuncts are primarily used to provide some kind of comment on what is expressed in the clause, as in

Fortunately, I found the ticket on time.

 Conjuncts are used to specify the semantic relation between the proposition expressed by the clause in
which they occur and the proposition expressed by another clause in the text, as in the example

John loves Chinese food; Mary, on the other hand, can’t stand it,

where the conjunct on the other hand expresses the contrast between the two propositions.

 Adjuncts provide information about the circumstances in which the event took place (time, place, reason,
manner, etc.), or modify the meaning of the whole, or part of, the proposition:

After saying goodbye, she walked hesitantly towards the door.

The first adjunct in the example above indicates when the event took place (time), the second adjunct
indicates the manner in which the action was performed, and the third adjunct indicates the direction of
her movement (place/direction).

The greater degree of integration of adjuncts in the structure of the clause can be shown in several ways. It is only
among the adjuncts that we find adverbials that are syntactically obligatory. Examples of this type are:

The milk is in the fridge.

We keep the milk in the fridge.

Unlike disjuncts and conjuncts, most adjuncts are affected by clause negation and can be the focused part in
cleft constructions. In the examples below, D, C, and A represent disjunct, conjunct, and adjunct, respectively.

D C A A
Fortunately, however, she got to Harrods before they closed.
Fortunately, however, she didn’t get to Harrods before they closed.

Note that the meaning of the disjunct remains constant: in both cases, Fortunately indicates that the speaker
regards the content of the following clause (regardless of what that is) as ‘a good thing’. The only way to negate the
disjunct is by adding the prefix un- to the adverb. Similarly, the conjunct however also remains unaffected by the
clause negation: in both cases, it indicates that there is some contrast between the current clause and an earlier
part of the test (a natural lead-up to the first example might be She left home much later than she had intended, to
the second, She had been spending far too much money during her day in London).
The two adjuncts, on the other hand, are clearly affected by the negation: the second example above may be
interpreted either as ‘she got to Harrods, but not before they closed’, or as ‘she got to some other department
store before they closed, but not to Harrods’.

3. Semantic categories for adverbials

All the three major types of adverbials –adjuncts, disjuncts, conjuncts– can express a number of different
semantic categories, or meaning categories. The group of adjuncts exhibits the greatest amount of variation in this
respect.

 ADJUNCTS – The major semantic categories of adjuncts are:

- Time adjuncts – used to specify various temporal characteristics of the event or situation represented by
the clause, such as its location in time (He first met her in 1982), a time span in relation to the speech
moment (I’ve been here since last Friday, and I’m staying until Tuesday), duration/extension in time
(Mary lived in Sheffield for eight years), and frequency (They go to Brighton every summer).

- Place adjuncts – used to specify the location of an event or situation (They live in a small village),
and various features of movement, such as source/starting point, path, distance, and goal (They
walked from the church along the river to the market square –source, path, goal)

- Process adjuncts – specify various important characteristics of the action expressed by the verb phrase,
such as manner (He wiped his hands carefully with the towel), instrument (He signed the letter with a
leaking fountain-pen), means (By spreading some nasty rumours he tried to discredit his opponent), and
agent (Last year, 16 sheep were killed by wolverines here).

- Contingency adjuncts – this category comprises adjuncts that are usually realized as subclauses (finite,
non-finite and verbless): adjuncts of reason (Sue stayed at home because she had a cold), purpose (John
stopped to catch his breath), condition (If necessary, repeat the procedure) and concession/contrast
(It was cold, though the sun was shining)

- Degree adjuncts – used to indicate what we may call the intensity of the verbal action, either
strengthening it (John needed the money badly) or weakening it (Little did he know what the future
held in store for him)

- Focusing adjuncts – used in order to focus our attention on a particular part of the clause (Additive
adjuncts: also, equally, even, likewise, similarly, too), or to restrict the reference of the focused element
(Restrictive adjuncts: alone, exclusively, just, merely, only, solely, chiefly, especially, mainly, notably,
primarily, specifically)

- Viewpoint adjuncts – are used to specify a particular point of view from which the proposition is to be
seen (Scientifically, the project was a great success – ‘scientifically’=‘from a scientific point of view’).

- Respect adjuncts – are used to indicate in what respect the action described in the clause is/was/will
be carried out, or in what respect a characterization is true. They are realized by prepositional phrases or
subordinate clauses of the type as far as X is concerned (As far as travelling facilities are concerned, we
have obviously made a popular decision; but with respect to the date, many people are expressing
dissatisfaction. / He was in a thoroughly sound condition as regards intellect)

 DISJUNCTS - The semantic categories of adjuncts are:

- Fact-evaluation disjuncts – used to express the speaker’s evaluation, in emotional terms, of an event or
situation that is taken to be a fact (Fortunately, no lives were lost in the fire / Sadly, they never met again
after the war).
 - Modal disjuncts – are used to express the speaker’s views on how likely it is that the proposition is true;
hence they are sometimes called truth-evaluation disjuncts (Apparently, they never received your letter. /
Obviously, he must have misunderstood you. / She may possibly be at home).

- Subject-evaluating disjuncts – used to express the speaker’s subjective evaluation of the actions of the
referent of the subject (He sensibly refrained from further comments)

- Style disjuncts – used to express the speaker’s comment on how the message is worded (briefly, to put it
gently, not to put too fine a point on it, etc.) or how the utterance is to be interpreted (frankly, honestly,
seriously, etc.)

- Comment disjunct – are used to provide a comment on the content of the rest of the clause. They can be
realized in the form of a comment clause which is generally a short, formulaic expression (you know, you
see, as you may have heard, as I keep saying) or in the form of a sentential relative clause /
coordinate relative clause (…, which is ridiculous / …, which she was to regret latter)

 CONJUNCTS – Conjuncts differ from other adverbials in that their impact goes beyond the individual
clause or sentence; thus they serve to mark semantic relationships between propositions expressed by
different clauses, or between larger sections of a text.

Examples include:

ADDITION additionally, again, along with X, also, as well, apart from X, besides, further,
furthermore, in addition, moreover, together with X, too, what’s more, …

COMPARISON likewise, similarly, in the same way, …

CONTRAST at the same time, by comparison, by contrast, in contrast to X, instead, on the

contrary, on the one hand, on the other hand, …

CONCESSION after all, all the same, despite X, in spite of X, even X, even so, however, nevertheless,
notwithstanding X, still, yet,…

ENUMERATION first, second, to begin with, furthermore, next, then, finally, lastly, to conclude,…

EXAMPLE for example, for instance, for one thing, …

INFERENCE if so/if not, in other words, in that case, otherwise, then, …

RESULT accordingly, as a consequence/result, consequently, hence, so, therefore, thus,…

SUMMARY all in all, in brief, in conclusion, in short, on the whole, to conclude/summarise, to

sum up, …

TRANSITION by the way, incidentally, now; as for X, as regards X, with reference to X, with respect
to X.