5.1 Adverbials
Writers often confuse the function of adverbials and adjectivals. It must be remembered that the word, adverbial or adverb, refers to a word that gives added information about a verb, adjective or another adverb. For example, take the verb, speak. We could construct a sentence such as the following:
The man on the phone speaks.
We may then wish to give a little more information on how the man speaks on the phone. Does he speak loudly or clearly or quickly or menacingly or rudely or how? Each of these listed words is adding information to the verb, speak and if used, gives a clearer picture of what is happening. For example:
The man on the phone speaks loudly.
Notice how each of these adverbs, which are called adverbs of manner, end in the suffix, -ly. Take it as a rule of thumb that the vast majority of adverbs of manner end in this suffix. An exception to the rule is a word such as fast which means very quickly. So if the writer were using fast as an adverb, the sentence would read as follows:
The man on the phone speaks fast.
Sometimes we draw some effective comparatives using adverbs of manner. For example:
The man on the phone speaks as clearly as a bell.
Although the adverb of manner, clearly, is used to tell us about how the man speaks, an added dimension comes with his speaking clearly that is, with this action of speaking being compared with the ringing of a bell.
A FURTHER NOTE ON ADVERBS:
Most adverbs end in -ly and are formed by adding -ly to the adjective, i.e., strange - strangely; annual - annually.
However, if the adjective ends in -ll, simply add -y, for example: full - fully; dull - dully.
Then if the adjective ends in -y , change the -y to -i and then add the -ly, happy - happily; weary - wearily.
Further, if the adjective ends in -ue, drop the -e before you add the -ly. For example: due - duly; true - truly.
Finally, there are adjectives that end in -ic. In this case add ally, for example, sarcastic - sarcastically; ironic - ironically; BUT there is an exception: public - publicly.
Be on the alert for common adverbs that are not formed from other words, for example:
- soon
- there
- then
- too
- off
- quite
- very
- now
Some kinds of adverbs:
| time: | now, yesterday, soon, later |
| place: | here, there, indoors, outside |
| manner: | coolly, casually, swiftly, violently |
| degree: | rather, very, too, hardly, slightly |
| cause: | thus, therefore, accordingly, hence |
| accompaniment: | alone, together |
Confusing adverbs with adjectives:
Jack was real pleased. (incorrect)
Jack was really pleased. (correct)
She has always swum good in her races at school. (incorrect)
She has always swum well in her races at school. (correct)