We continue our series of the parts of speech today (when on earth was the last post about parts of speech???)
Adverbs, like adjectives, modify or describe other words. Adjectives describe nouns (or pronouns). Adverbs describe verbs — and sometimes adjectives and other adverbs. They often answer the questions where? when? how? to what extent? Here are a few examples of adverbs modifying those three parts of speech:
- She sang loudly. (Loudly is an adverb describing the verb sang. How did she sing?)
- She sang very loudly. (Very is an adverb describing the adverb loudly. How loudly? To what extent of loud?)
- Jan was extremely intelligent. (Extremely is an adverb describing the adjective intelligent. How intelligent?)
End in -ly
Many adverbs end in -ly, but not all of them. Many adverbs are a form of the adjective with -ly added. Here are some adverbs that are adjectives that add -ly: slowly, grimly, beautifully, helpfully, quickly. Here are some adverbs that do not end in -ly: now, then, soon, afterwards. Here are some words that end in -ly, but are adjectives, not adverbs: lovely, lonely, daily, ugly.
Sometimes also prepositions
Sometimes prepositions turn into adverbs. Prepositions that are not in prepositional phrases are adverbs:
- The balloons are inside the house. (Inside is a preposition in the phrase inside the house. The phrase is, however, called an adverbial phrase.)
- The balloons are inside. (Inside is an adverb here; there is no prepositional phrase.)
Don’t use them
People who are talking about the craft of writing often warn writers not to use adverbs. They mean not to overuse adverbs. Using strong verbs is more effective than having to describe a verb with an adverb, so use adverbs sparingly: He spoke loudly to his son. He screamed at his son. The first sentence uses an adverb. The second uses a more descriptive verb.
Stay away from filler adverbs
Some adverbs are filler words like um. Avoid them. We use them in conversation, but try not to use them in writing. Or use them very sparingly. Such adverbs include very, really, especially, basically, actually.
Transition words
Words like firstly, secondly, and lastly are often used in writing as transition words. Use first, second, and last instead. And don’t use “first off.”
Placement
Often there is more than once place in a sentence to put an adverb without changing the meaning:
Slowly the snake crept toward the boy.
The snake slowly crept toward the boy.
The snake crept slowly toward the boy.
The snake crept toward the boy slowly.
Doesn’t really make any difference which one you choose.
But sometimes it make a big difference where you put the adverb:
She is only baking the birthday cake. (Although most of us would say this to mean she isn’t baking anything except the birthday cake, technically it means she is baking it, and not doing anything else with it. )
Only she is baking the birthday cake. (No one else is baking the birthday cake.)
She is baking only a birthday cake. (She is not baking anything else.)
And — only is an adverb in the first sentence above because it describes the verb baking. But it is an adjective in the second sentence, modifying she.
Comparative and superlative
Like adjectives, adverbs have comparative and superlative forms. Adverbs use less, least, more, and most for comparative and superlative. Some adjectives do as well, but many adjectives add -er and -est for comparative and superlative.
Adjective: quick, quicker, quickest
Adverb: quickly, more quickly, the most quickly, less quickly, the least quickly
Flat adverbs
Sometimes you will hear someone say, “She drives slow,” rather than “She drives slowly.” In this example, slow is used as an adverb, just like the adverb slowly. But slow is generally an adjective: She is a slow driver.
Is this usage wrong? Well, not exactly. The adjective form used as an adverb is called a flat adverb. Here are some flat adverbs: She drives slow. (probably came into use as an opposite to She drives fast. Fast is both an adverb and an adjective, since there is no fastly.) He learns quick. She sings pretty.
Next week’s post: Writing an essay
And the week after: Halloween post
Next month: The rest of the parts of speech.
And yes, I have now moved to Florida.
Hello Arlene,
Congratulations on your move.
I have a question: you touched on flat adverbs. Are they okay to use? Is there meaning of “flat” that they are wrong or should be avoided? I have been teaching my bridge player students that sometimes they should be leading passive or playing passive when I mean that they should be making a passive play. Do I need to say play passively rather than play passive. This is kind of a technical word of art belonging to the world of competitive bridge but I’m wondering if I need to say “passively” instead. Are flat adverb bad? Hope to hear from you. Bruceblakely@earthlink.net
Hi, Bruce – Never got to meet up with you before I left! I will likely be back for a week or so in November to clean up my house, see my son, and have Thanksgiving with friends. As for your question, no, as far as I know, flat adverbs are not actually incorrect. In fact, they used to be used more than they are now. Although “play passive” sounds odd to me – because I don’t play bridge – it is probably to the point. And then, you would say “play smart” instead of “play smartly.” So sometimes a flat adverb is the colloquial one to use.