Language Arts: Adverbs - Tutorial
Some Helpful Tools
Types of Adverbs
Functions of an Adverb
An adverb can modify a verb.
Well and Good
Well and good are two words that are often confused.
Well describes a person's health, or it describes how the verb in the sentence is or was performed.
This section will identify adverbs and show how they are used.
happily
slightly
noisily
quickly
kindly
loudly
quietly
honestly
sympathetically
Adverbs modify verbs, adjectives, and other adverbs. They tell why, how, when, where, and to what extent. Most adverbs end in ly.
Adverbs modify verbs, adjectives, and other adverbs. They tell when, where, or how something happens. Most adverbs end in ly.
soon
before
later
now
tomorrow
today
Below are examples of adverbs that are not so easy to recognize.
only
barely
merely
seldom
almost
scarcely
hardly
never
just
nearly
ever
quite
Adverbs that represent a limited amount.
Adverbs that describe an extent or degree.
extremely
exceedingly
absolutely
little
mostly
frequently
rather
very
often
in the morning (tells when)
to the store (tells where)
with relish and cheese (tells how)
Below are examples of prepositional phrases that are functioning as adverb phrases.
good - an adjective
well - an adverb
Rules for Adverbs
positive
quietly
badly
well
little
comparative
more quietly
worse
better
less
superlative
most quietly
worst
best
least
This sentence tells the reader that Pam's diet has been limited to eating
only crackers with cheese and nothing else.
She took a little tour around the museum.
See a list of prepositions in the Some Helpful Tools section below.
Good describes a noun.
That was a good book.
Janet is not feeling well today.
Chad plays the saxophone well.
Izzy recited her lines in the play very well.
Performance:
Health:
The carpenter worked diligently to finish the job.
The adverb diligently describes how the carpenter worked. In this case, the adverb answers how.
An adverb can modify an adjective.
Stephanie is extremely talented.
Talented is an adjective. Extremely modifies talented. It tells what degree of talent Stephanie possesses.
An adverb can modify an adverb.
The train will be arriving very soon.
The two adverbs placed together describe when the train is expected to arrive.
Adverbs follow the same form as adjectives when used to make a comparison.
In this sentence, tour is a noun and little modifies tour. Therefore, little is used as an adjective.
Reminder: Place your adverb close to the word that it is modifying.
In the sentence above, putting only after cheese, tells the reader that Pam eats only cheese with her crackers.
Let's move only in front of eats.
Pam eats crackers with cheese only.
Pam only eats crackers with cheese.
Note:
When tomorrow is used as in the day following today, it is a noun.
When tomorrow is used as in sometime in the future, it is an adverb.
Note: Adverbs never modify nouns or pronouns.
