Rules for writers, Tenth edition - Diana Hacker, Nancy Sommers 2021

Adverbs
Parts of speech
Grammar Basics

An adverb is a word used to modify, or qualify, a verb (or verbal), an adjective, or another adverb. It usually answers one of these questions: When? Where? How? Why? Under what conditions? To what degree?

Adverbs modifying adjectives or other adverbs usually intensify or limit the intensity of the word they modify.

The words not and never are classified as adverbs.

EXERCISE 47-4

Underline the adjectives and circle the adverbs in the following sentences. If a word is a noun or pronoun functioning as an adjective, underline it and mark it as a noun/adjective or pronoun/adjective. Also treat the articles a, an, and the as adjectives. Answers appear in the back of the book.

a. Generalizations lead to weak, unfocused essays.

b. The Spanish language is wonderfully flexible.

c. The wildflowers smelled especially fragrant after the steady rain.

d. I’d rather be slightly hot than bitterly cold.

e. The cat slept soundly in its wicker basket.