English Grammar Drills - Mark Lester 2009
The use and meaning of adverbs
12 Adverbs
Part 2 Verb Phrases
In the previous section we saw that there are three different forms of adverbs: single-word adverbs, adverb phrases, and adverb clauses. All of these forms of adverbs are used to modify verbs. Virtually all adverbs that modify verbs have a single point of origin in the sentence. They are the final component of the verb phrase, following the verb and its complement as shown in the following diagram:
Optional adverbs can be single-word adverbs, adverb prepositional phrases, adverb infinitive phrases, or adverb clauses. For example:
Single-word adverb: John met Mary recently
Adverb prepositional phrase: John met Mary on the weekend
Adverb infinitive phrase: John met Mary to borrow her computer
Adverb clause: John met Mary when he was on campus
One of the defining characteristics of adverbs that modify verbs is that they are moveable. All of the other grammatical components (including adverbs used as complements) are fixed in place. Only adverbs that modify verbs can be shifted forward to other positions in the sentence. For example:
Single-word adverb
Original: John met Mary recently.
Shifted: Recently John met Mary.
Shifted: John recently met Mary.
Adverb prepositional phrase
Original: John met Mary on the weekend.
Shifted: On the weekend, John met Mary.
Adverb infinitive phrase
Original: John met Mary to find out what was going on at school.
Shifted: To find out what was going on at school, John met Mary.
Adverb clause
Original: John saw Mary when he was on campus.
Shifted: When he was on campus, John saw Mary.
Exercise 12.8
Underline the adverb at the end of each sentence. Confirm your answer by shifting the adverb to the beginning of the sentence.
Jason located the missing computer later that same afternoon.
Later that same afternoon, Jason located the missing computer.
1. Sally gained five pounds between Christmas and New Year’s.
2. The zookeeper replaced the cover quickly.
3. I had everything ready before I went into the meeting.
4. We took a later train to avoid the morning rush.
5. The public health department was able to halt the disease by a rigid quarantine.
6. There is a report of a serious forest fire in the mountains to the east of us.
7. He will undergo treatment sometime during the winter.
8. We have decided to drop the suit after getting advice from counsel.
9. The streets flood whenever we get a heavy spring rain.
10. We have made significant improvements over the past six months.
11. The roads were nearly impassable after the last ice storm.
12. We could afford a new car if I got a raise this year.
13. The company rented another office to get more storage space.
14. The family goes for a drive on nice Sunday afternoons.
15. We got some good news finally.
Adverbs categorized by meaning
All adverbs fall into four broad categories of meaning: time, place, reason, and manner. Here are some examples (single-word, prepositional phrase, and adverb clause) of each type:
Adverbs of time (single word)
They went home Tuesday.
I came to the office early.
I haven’t been feeling well recently.
Adverb prepositional phrase
I only work on weekends.
We will be on vacation during the last two weeks in August.
They left here about six o’clock.
Adverb clause
We visit my sister’s family whenever we get the chance.
They were in Chicago when John gave his talk at the conference.
I’ll stay as long as I am needed.
Adverbs of place (single word)
I just had lunch there.
I talked to Gary outside.
We finished exercising indoors.
Adverb prepositional phrase
A problem has come up at the office.
I could hear people talking in the living room.
There is a big oak tree behind the garage.
Adverb clause
Let’s talk where it is quieter.
I need to sit down where I can rest for a minute.
They advertised the concert everywhere they could put up a poster.
Adverbs of reason (single word)
There are no single-word adverbs of reason.
Adverb prepositional phrase
We only did it out of a sense of duty.
I took the job for the benefits.
Ralph went to the wedding because of family obligation.
Adverb infinitive phrase
I went back to the office to get my briefcase.
We approached them to see if they would consider an offer.
I shook the tree to get the last walnuts off.
Adverb clause
He went home because he wasn’t feeling well.
I bought a video recorder so that I could take pictures of the party.
We did it since it was part of our job description.
Adverbs of manner (single-word)
They turned down the offer politely.
He acted alone.
She acknowledged the reward gracefully.
Adverb prepositional phrase
We made the plane with time to spare.
We only succeeded through good teamwork.
They took the bad news without complaint.
Adverb clause
They did it as well as anyone could have.
We rowed as if our lives depended on it.
John reacted as though he had never heard of the idea before.
Exercise 12.9
Underline the adverbs in the following sentences. Above each adverb write the meaning of the adverb (time, place, reason, or manner).
1. I bought lunch at the station before getting on the train.
2. We searched the Internet to find the cheapest fares.
3. He works in the office most mornings.
4. You must practice hard every day.
5. I completed the course at the university this spring.
6. You managed a difficult situation quite well today.
7. She watched thoughtfully for a few minutes.
8. She ordered a book from Amazon today because the local store didn’t have it.
9. Charles measured the space carefully to make sure the rug would fit.
10. The kids were disappointed this morning because they couldn’t go.
11. We made everyone happy recently by extending the deadline.
12. I loaned a friend your book last week because he needed it for a research project.
13. The kids were playing noisily in the backyard all afternoon.
14. The dog registered his displeasure by growling at us every time we came near him.
15. We shared a cab this morning because we were all going to the same place.
Order of adverbs
There is a strong tendency to use the different classes of adverbs in a certain left-to-right order. People usually follow this order when they use more than one class of adverb: (1) manner, (2) place, (3) time, (4) reason.
Here are some examples:
Exercise 12.10
Move the adverbs in each of the following sentences to follow the proper manner-place-time- reason left-to-right order.
because it was so hot in our kitchen last night at a restaurant We ate dinner.
We ate dinner at a restaurant last night because it was so hot in our kitchen.
1. over the weekend at the gym I hurt my knee.
2. this afternoon by replacing the circuit board They fixed my computer.
3. because the flow is so restricted loudly all the time The river roars.
4. at the Marriott since our offices were being repainted We had our sales presentation.
5. because he was calling from his cell phone so loudly He talked.
6. to keep current with their needs every year carefully We survey all of our customers.
7. since we had dealt with that issue before at once I recognized the problem.
8. for their generous leave policy a lot Everyone liked the company.
9. before we took any action thoroughly We investigated the problem.
10. this afternoon at the gym because it was so hot I got very tired.
11. for a few minutes to give them time to get organized Can you postpone the meeting?
12. every weekend at school Our son is taking advanced placement courses.
13. because the material was new to us a great deal Everyone enjoyed the lecture.
14. to get any real compliance seriously You must enforce your policies.
15. to collect antiques every year We tour Italy.
16. when we explained to him again perfectly He understood the idea.
17. in order to head off a bigger problem later right now You must solve the problem.
18. since it has major cost implications carefully They will review your proposal.
19. when you leave in order to save electricity Please turn off the lights in the office.
20. tonight to take Anne to a movie Can I borrow the car?