Lesson 7
Parts of Speech: Adverbs
Adverbs modify (describe, qualify, limit) verbs, adjectives, and other adverbs:
Verb:
Adjective:
Adverb:
He sent the specifications promptly. (How were they sent? Promptly.)
Their grievously late report will not be accepted. (How late was the report?
Grievously late.)
He ran very quickly. (How quickly did he run? Very quickly.)
Most adverbs are formed simply by adding ly to the end of an adjective (with the last letter of the
adjective sometimes dropped or changed): highly, quickly, truly, nicely, poorly, and so on. But some
familiar adverbs—such as quite, too, very, almost, often, well, soon, so, and many—do not end in ly.
In the following exercises, underline the adverbs:
1. An unstable person is an obviously poor choice for this difficult job.
2. They are quite certain that the spaces will fill soon.
3. She often stays late to finish her rapidly accumulating paperwork.
4. Curly hair is yours with our newly developed perms.
5. A well organized report is soon read.
6. Too many of our customers have complained vigorously about her surly manner.
7. Trapped in a slowly shrinking market, the company is certainly doomed to fail eventually.
8. The market for anatomically correct dolls is too small.
9. Give the letter a quick review before you blithely send it.
10. A correctly operating bottom-of-the-line model is much better than a malfunctioning top-of-the-line
model.
Some adverbs are difficult to distinguish from adjectives. For example, in the following sentences is the
underlined word an adverb or an adjective?
They worked well.
The baby is well.
In the first sentence, well is an adverb modifying the verb worked. In the second sentence, well is an
adjective modifying the noun baby.
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English Essentials
The secret to choosing correctly between adverbs and adjectives in this situation is to be able to identify
such being verbs as appear, be, become, feel, look, seem, smell, sound, and taste. Being verbs link a noun
to an adjective describing the noun. In contrast, an adverb is used if the verb that separates it from the
noun is an action verb. Here is another example:
Adjective:
Adverb:
This balance sheet looks strange. (The balance sheet does not itself use eyes to look; this
sentence means that the balance sheet is strange.)
She looks at us strangely. (Here looks is an action verb, and strangely tells how she
performs that action.)
If you can tell the difference between an adjective and an adverb in situations like these, you should have
no trouble deciding when to use good, real, and slow (adjectives modifying nouns) as opposed to well,
really, and slowly (adverbs modifying verbs, adjectives, and adverbs). For example:
Adjective:He is a good worker. (What kind of worker is he?)
Adverb: He works well. (How does he work?)
Adjective:It is a real computer. (What kind of computer is it?)
Adverb: It really is a computer. (To what extent is it one?)
Adjective:The traffic is slow. (What quality does the traffic have?)
Adverb: The traffic moves slowly. (How does the traffic move ? )
In the following exercises, circle the correct choice:
11. Their performance has been good/well.
12. I sure/surely do not know how to help you.
13. He feels sick/sickly again today.
14. Customs dogs are chosen because they smell good/well.
15. The redecorated offices look good/well.
Like adjectives, adverbs can be used to compare items. Generally, the basic adverb is combined with
more or most, just as long adjectives are—although some adverbs have one-word comparative forms:
One Item
Two Items
Three Items
quickly
sincerely
fast
well
more quickly
less sincerely
faster
better
most quickly
least sincerely
fastest
best
In these exercises, provide the correct form of the adverbs that are provided:
16. Which of the two programs computes (fast) _____________?