English grammar - Roger Berry 2012
B4.1 Distinguishing adverb types
B4 Types of adverb
Section B Development
As was said in A4, adverbs have different types and functions, and it is hard to capture them all in one description. Here is a list of some prominent types of adverb; it is not exhaustive.
Central adverbs
These are the adverbs of time, manner and place described in A4 that are traditionally regarded as being the most typical. They ’modify’ the verb or whole sentence:
I quickly left the room. (manner, answering the question ’how?’)
She’ll arrive shortly. (time, answering the question ’when?’)
He lives locally. (place, answering the question ’where?’)
We can also mention here frequency adverbs such as always, often, usually, sometimes, rarely, seldom, never, which answer the question ’how often?’
It seldom rains here.
One feature of such adverbs is that they can be one-word answers to questions.
When did he leave? Recently.
And they can be focused on in cleft (see A11) sentences:
It was recently that he left.
Degree adverbs
One type of degree adverbs, namely intensifiers, was first mentioned in A4 in the section on adjectives, since they function very closely with them: very happy. Intensifiers also modify adverbs: very happily. Many words such as this and that can be intensifiers:
I swear: it was this big.
However, we need to extend the class to include other words that do not ’intensify’, but refer to other types of degree, such as slightly (he’s slightly crazy).
Some adverbs can be degree adverbs as well as central adverbs:
It’s awfully cold. It’s perfectly horrible. (degree)
She writes awfully /perfectly. (central, manner)
Some degree adverbs can also be used with verbs:
He’s completely crazy. He ignored me completely.
Modal adverbs
You may have heard of modal auxiliaries. Modal adverbs cover some of the same ideas, such as certainty, probability and possibility. Examples are certainly, definitely, probably, possibly:
I probably won’t come.
Maybe and perhaps belong to this group but they tend to be placed at the start of the sentence:
Maybe I will come.
The reading in D6 (sections 146c and e) lists a number of other adverbs which are modal in nature in that they are used to weaken (e.g. generally) or strengthen (e.g. obviously) an argument.
Comment adverbs
Comment adverbs comment on the sentence as a whole, and are often separated from it by a comma, especially if placed at the start of a sentence.
Fortunately, he had another credit card with him. (= it is fortunate that . . .)
They stupidly left it behind. (= it was stupid of them to leave it behind)
They offer a way for the speaker/writer to get their opinion into a sentence without mentioning themselves expressly.
Frankly, it’s disgusting. (this is the speaker’s opinion)
Such words are often confused with central adverbs, because they are formed by the addition of -ly to adjectives, but in the examples above they are not referring to
manner, time or place; see Activity B4.1 below. Some, of course, can be central adverbs as well:
He spoke frankly.
They behaved stupidly.
They can also consist of a phrase: personally speaking, curiously enough.
Curiously enough, when I got there, everyone had left.
Linking adverbs
These are used to show a particular relationship between the sentence in which they occur and the preceding one. There are different types of linking ideas; here are just a few examples:
□ concession or contrast: however, though, nevertheless:
This sentence would be an entirely natural utterance if I were at home telling someone where John was at that moment. However, I would be much less likely to say this if I were actually in the supermarket . . .
□ result or consequence: therefore, thus, as a result:
Conjunctions make the link between clauses in the same sentence; therefore, the link appears stronger.
□ addition: in addition, also.
In addition [to a previous point about adverbs], there are some adverbs that have the same form as adjectives . . .
Moreover and furthermore are often placed in this group, but they have the idea of something which goes beyond what has been said before, not simply something added.
Linking adverbs are similar to some conjunctions in meaning (see A9), but they behave different grammatically. Conjunctions make the link between clauses in the same sentence; therefore, the link appears stronger.
Even though they link a sentence to the previous one, they do not always occur at the beginning; they may also occur in the middle or at the end of the sentence. The use of commas in writing is normal.
B4.1 Distinguishing adverb types
Many adverbs may belong to more than one type, as in these examples:
a) Adverb of time: Then we left.
b) Linking adverb: As the table shows, there are several cases which would appear to break the rules quite significantly. First of all, then, identify the most significant exceptions.
c) Comment adverb: Happily, she smiled at him.
d) Adverb of manner: She smiled at him happily.
In b) then indicates that the second sentence is a consequence of the first. In c) happily indicates the speaker’s feeling (relief) about her smile, while in d) it indicates the manner in which she smiled.
Activity B4.1
It is sometimes said that hopefully should not be used as a comment adverb, only as an adverb of manner (meaning ’in a hopeful way’), e.g. ’He travelled hopefully’, not ’Hopefully, it won’t rain’. However, this use is quite common, and many other -ly adverbs are used in this way, e.g. happily, as we have seen. See if you can distinguish the two uses in the sentences below.
1. They pressed their noses hopefully against the shop window.
2. Hopefully we will do well.
3. ’The train won’t be late’, he said hopefully.
4. Hopefully, I can take the chance with both hands.
5. These seats will hopefully be more comfortable.
Activity B4.2
Look at these sentences for ’however’ and distinguish between its two uses. You are probably familiar with one of them, but the other may be unknown; see if you can identify and name it according to the types described above.
1. One thing that was always clear, however, was his singing.
2. However strange you find it, do not be distracted.
3. You must put up with the pain, however terrible.
4. However, he is sceptical about its practical value.
5. There was no room in the house for exercise, however.
Activity B4.3
Look at the adapted concordance lines for so below and work out what types of adverbs each represents. On one line it is not an adverb.
1. That bit doesn’t feel so bad.
2. But it’s softer than it was before. So that’s good.
3. I’m not so young as I used to be.
4. And we have no relatives there, so we can’t even travel to West Germany.
5. I’m so not going to that party.
Terminology
One of the problems you face when learning about scientific English grammar is the way in which different terms are used to refer to the same concept, i.e. cases of synonymy. Some that you may be familiar with pedagogically already are:
continuous and progressive (for verb forms)
reported speech and indirect speech
But in scientific grammar such cases are common. Agreement and concord (see A8) are one example.
This is particularly true for types of adverb. Here in this section what I have called comment adverbs are also known as sentence adverbs or disjuncts. Linking adverbs are also called conjuncts by some grammarians (not to be confused with conjunctions).