+ To adverb or not to adverb? She went home
home = adverb, answers question where? and explains the location of where she went
He swam yesterday.
yesterday = adverb, answers question when? and explains the time he swam
He drove the car carefully.
He drove carefully
carefully = adverb, answers question how? and explains the manner in which he drove
I will tell you the story tomorrow.
Tomorrow I will tell you the story.
tomorrow = adverb, answers question when? and explains time during which you’ll tell the story
+ To adverb or not to adverb? I was wrong today, and because language is unclear, we sometimes have to pause and consult other
sources. For the swim sentences, I did two things. (1) I looked up swim in the dictionary, which pointed
out that swim is a verb that can be used with and without objects. (2) I asked myself the Jeopardy
questions for adverbs (when? where? why? how? how long?). Are these now entirely clear with no
ambiguity? No, but now we all know why: parsing the difference in a verb that can and cannot take
objects isn’t clear either. You won’t be tested over this verb, and we’ll try and avoid these unclear
examples going forward.
She swam the seven seas.
the seven seas = adverbial noun phrase; answers where? giving us her location and also explains the
means of her exercise; here, read the emphasis on her moving in water by moving her of limbs.
Another adverbial noun phrase sentences? He swam home. We can’t say “He swam a home” because
home is giving us a direction here (or a location). Adverb.
He swam the ocean.
the ocean = direct object; answers what? and explains what he moved across (a body of water);
emphasis is on moving along in or crossing a body of water.
Other direct object sentences? He swam the lake. She swam laps. We can say “He swam a lake” or “She
swam a lap” because these are nouns: they swam what?
+ To adverb or not to adverb? I had to consult with the High Priestess of Grammar and look up here and there in the dictionary to get
my head wrapped around those words again. When you read below, what I hope you’ll see is how
complicated these two words can be, and rest assured, you will not be tested on here or there as adverbials.
There is fair game, however, as a transformation.
I did not see him here. She was there. He stayed here. He went there.
here = adverb, answers question where? and explains the location of where he wasn’t seen, where she
went, and even where he stayed.
There could be pointed at (as in a particular location), and there may also mean in or at that place.
He is from here. He stayed here. He went there.
here = adverbial prepositional phrase; explains the place, or location, from which he came, where he
stayed, and the condition he created, as in “Oh, he went there.”
Here is the object of a preposition (from), which we know must be a noun.
Here is not indicating a particular place (because we don’t have enough information) so we’ll
assume it is a location reference.
There may be suggesting a state or condition he created, and it’s the idiomatic “went” that can make
us hear that there as a noun.
+ Elimina1ng Ambiguity My friend from summer camp sent me a postcard from Spain.
from summer camp = adjectival prepositional phrase; modifying my friend; answers question which
one?
This works if we are assuming the friend, to which you are referring, if from summer camp.
from Spain = adjectival prepositional phrase; modifying a postcard; answers question what kind?
This works if we want to clarify what kind of postcard was sent; we could test this by converting
the adjectival prepositional phrase into an adjective: a Spanish postcard.
But, if we wanted to emphasize that my friend was in Spain or even of Spanish descent, then we
need to rewrite the sentence and be more clear. Again, our goal here is to see how words
function so that we can make choices as writers.
My Spanish friend from summer camp sent me a postcard.
My camp friend mailed me a postcard from Spain.
+ Clauses All sentences are clauses, but not all clauses are sentences.
Sentence = 1 subject + 1 predicate = complete
The cats ate.
The birds sang.
We were in love.
(Independent) clause
= 1 subject + 1 predicate = complete
The cats ate.
The birds sang.
We were in love.
Dependent (or subordinate) clause
Before the cats ate, ...
After the birds sang, ...
When we were in love, ...
= 1 subject + 1 predicate = incomplete
+ Sentences (and clauses) Complex Sentence = 1 dependent clause + 1 independent clause
Before the cats ate, they stalked the birds.
After the birds sang, they stalked the cats.
When we were in love, we adored our cats.
Compound Sentence = 2 independent clauses
The cats ate, and they stalked.
The birds sang, and they stalked the cats.
We were in love, and we adored our cats.
Compound-Complex Sentence = 1 dependent + multiple independent
Before you eat that taco, you should add salsa, and put on a bit more guacamole.
The cats were hungry, and they were screeching at us because we were still asleep.
Expanding sentences: modifica2on, noun phrase subs2tu2on, coordina2on. + Adverbial Clauses Subordinating Conjunctions, tell us when? and why?
n 
If
n 
After
Because
n 
n 
n 
n 
Before
Since
So
n 
Until
When
n 
While
n 
Expanding sentences: modifica2on, noun phrase subs2tu2on, coordina2on. + Iden1fying and Diagramming Adverbials 1) 
The chicken clucked softly.
2) 
The chicken clucked very softly.
3) 
The chicken sometimes clucked softly.
4) 
The chicken sometimes clucked shortly after midnight.
5) 
On Sunday nights the chicken clucked after midnight.
6) 
Sally and Susan cook most nights after the news and eat during the
news on weekends.
7) 
Sally cooks to give Susan a break.
8) 
Susan cooks for Sally to hone her knife skills and to learn new
techniques.
9) 
She came to the house yesterday to cook for Sally.
10) 
Susan spends her time cooking Sally fancy dinners.
+ Iden1fying and Diagramming Adverbials 1) 
Because Sally cooks, Susan gets a break.
2) 
Until Susan hones her knife skills and learns new techniques, Sally
cooks dinner alone every night.
Punctuating Adverbials
1) 
Yesterday she came to the house to cook for Sally.
2) 
Most nights Susan spends her time cooking Sally fancy dinners.
3) 
On Sunday nights the chicken clucked after midnight.
4) 
To save time Sally shops alone.
5) 
After the news on weekdays and on weekends during the news
Sally and Susan cook.
6) 
When Sally called home Susan ignored the ringing phone.