Adverbs

An adverb that modifies an adjective—as in really sad—or another adverb—as in very carelessly—appears immediately in front of the word it modifies. Adverbs can modify a verb or adjective in several ways, by providing information about emphasis, manner, time, and frequency.

Adverbs are often formed by adding -ly to an adjective, such as:

• Beautiful > beautifully
• Careful > carefully

However, some adjectives don't change in the adverb form, such as fast and hard. Many common adverbs like just, still, and almost do not end in -ly. Good is probably the most important example. The adverb form of good is well, as in:

• He is good at tennis.
• He plays tennis well.

In the first sentence, good is an adjective that modifies the pronoun he; while in the second, well is an adverb that modifies plays (explains how he plays tennis).

NOTE: Not all words that end in -ly are adverbs, such as friendly and neighborly, which are both adjectives.

Adverbs of manner indicate how something is done. They are usually placed at the end of a sentence or before the main verb, as in:

• Tom drives quickly.
• She slowly opened the door.
• Mary waited for him patiently.

Other examples of adverbs of manner include quietly, beautifully, and carefully.

Adverbs of time tell you when or at what time something is done. They can be used at the beginning of a sentence followed by a comma.

• The meeting is next week.
• Yesterday, we decided to take a walk.
• I've already bought my tickets for the concert.

These adverbs are used with other time expressions, such as days of the week. The most common adverbs of time include: yet, already, yesterday, tomorrow, next week (or month or year), last week (or month or year), now, and ago.

Adverbs of frequency tell you how often something is repeatedly done. They include usually, sometimes, never, often, and rarely. Adverbs of frequency are often placed directly before the main verb:

• She rarely goes to parties.
• I often read a newspaper.
• He usually gets up at 6 o'clock.

Sometimes, adverbs of frequency are placed at the beginning of a sentence:

• Sometimes, I enjoy staying at home instead of going on vacation.
• Often, Peter will telephone his mother before he leaves for work.

Adverbs of frequency follow the verb to be:

• He is sometimes late for work.
• I am often confused by computers.

This page uses YouGlish links to help you hear pronunciation in context. You can choose your regional pronunciation, or select ALL to hear many different accents from around the world. If you want to choose a specific accent, click on the region:

US = The United States

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Anglais pré-collégial © 2023 by Rebecca Peters, Cégep Édouard-Montpetit/Entente Canada-Québec is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/