Types of Adverbs
Adverbs give us a description of a verb in a sentence. There are five basic types of adverbs in the English language.
What Are Adverbs?
Types of Adverbs
Here are the types of adverbs in the English language:
- Adverbs of Manner
- Adverbs of Time
- Adverbs of Movement and Direction
- Adverbs of Frequency
- Adverbs of Degree
- Adverbs of Place
- Adverbs of Probability
- Demonstrative Adverbs
- Relative Adverbs
- Interrogative Adverbs
- Conjunctive Adverbs
- Viewpoint and Commenting Adverbs
- Intensifiers and mitigators
- Adverbial nouns
Adverbs of Manner
Adverbs of Time
An adverb of time tells us about 'when' a verb takes place; it also tells us for 'how long'. They are extremely common in English. Adverbs of time are usually placed at the beginning or end of a sentence.
When?
Adverbs answering to the question 'when?' are usually placed at the end of the sentence.
Where are you living
She's leaving
I've got a piano lesson later
Putting an adverb of time at the end of a sentence is the most common position, but these adverbs can be put in other positions to give a different emphasis.
How Long?
Adverbs answering to the question 'how long?' are also usually placed at the end of the sentence.
I was waiting here
Sometimes adverbial phrases that answer to the question 'how long?' is followed by two propositions: for and since.
- for is always followed by an expression of duration,
- since is always followed by an expression of a point in time.
Adverbs of Movement and Direction
Adverbs of movement describe a verb that implies an activity or a certain movement.
Adverbs of direction point to a particular direction.
We are taking the dog
They are putting the phone
Adverbs of Frequency
Adverbs of frequency tell us 'how often' is the frequency of an action.
They are usually placed:
- before the main verb
- after auxiliary verbs
- after the verb 'to be'
She
You must
I'm
Adverbs of Degree
Degree adverbs express the degree or level of the action in the sentence. They answer the question 'how much is the action performed?'. Adverbs of degree are usually placed before the adjective, adverb, or verb that they modify, but that is not always the case.
It's
I'm
I was
Adverbs of Place
Adverbs of place are used to indicate where an action or event occurred. Note that adverbs of place do not modify adjectives or other adverbs.
I was trying to tell her to stay
He should be at the hospital. He said was going
Adverbs of Probability
Adverbs of probability (also known as adverbs of certainty) express the level of our certainty towards a certain action or event. Most of these adverbs are attached to -ly (not all of them follow this rule).
It
Demonstrative Adverbs
There are only two demonstrative adverbs:
'This' and 'that' indicate the distance of an event or situation.
I had no idea she is
My last workplace wasn't
Relative Adverb
Relative adverbs join clauses together. Three main relative adverbs include:
This is
I remember
Interrogative Adverbs
Interrogative adverbs ask questions. These questions may be direct or indirect. We have different types of interrogative adverbs.
- interrogative adverbs of time
- interrogative adverbs of place
- interrogative adverbs of reason
- interrogative adverbs of manner
Conjunctive Adverbs
Conjunctive adverbs are adverbs or adverbial phrases that link two clauses. They can be used to express cause and effect, time, comparison, and contrast. These adverbs include: because, besides, however, and therefore.
I love this jacket. However, it is too expensive.
He was popular
Viewpoint and Commenting Adverbs
Adverbs modify the verb of a sentence. However, viewpoint and commenting adverbs modify the sentence as a whole. These adverbs indicate the attitude of the speaker towards a particular situation.
He is
Review
Adverbs are words that modify verbs, adjectives, and other adverbs. There are several types of adverbs as follows:
- Adverbs of Manner
- Adverbs of Time
- Adverbs of Place and Direction
- Adverbs of Frequency
- Adverbs of Degree
adverbs of manner | answer the question 'how is the action performed?' |
He shouted |
---|---|---|
adverbs of time | tells us about 'when' a verb takes place; it also tells us for 'how long'. |
I have an important exam, |
adverbs of frequency | tell us 'how often' is the frequency of an action |
I can |
adverbs of degree | express the degree or level of the action in the sentence. |
He couldn't speak in English |